The plumed serpent

Summary
The plumed serpent

Quetzalcoatl, the serpent god, was the king of the city of the gods. Quetzalcoatl’s cunning brother, Tezcatlipoca, was infuriated by his perfect goodness. With some friends, Tezcatlipoca decided to play a dirty trick on Quetzalcoatl and turn him into a pleasure-seeking rascal. Quetzalcoatl, who had never drunk alcohol before, soon became drunk. In a drunken stupor, he made love to his sister. When Quetzalcoatl awoke, he was bitterly ashamed of what he had done. Quetzalcoatl went to the sea and there he put his coat of quetzal feathers and the turquoise mask. When Quetzalcoatl died, the dawn did not rise for four days, because Quetzalcoatl had descended to the land of the dead his double, Xolotl, to see his father, Mictlantecuhtli. Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl took the precious bones, and made their way back to the land of the living. As dawn rose once more, Quetzalcoatl sprinkled his blood over the bones and gave them life. Quetzalcoatl taught humankind many important things.

Hey cool, the MsWord’s auto summarize feature really does it nicely.

See below for the whole story, which I got from a book of mythology. Will search for and post the pictures later.
Notes: (some from the original)
-The story is totally pointless, and has definitely been edited from a longer version
He felt guilty, like gods did not fuck their sisters all the time.
-Promotes suicide
-If he made the people, then how did Tezcatlipoca model him after the humans in the first place.
- Tezcatlipoca gets away just like that
-There is only one other place in which Venus is a guy, In the Tolkein’s middle earth, Earendil the mariner is Venus. Did Tolkein know of this story?
-The manner of his departure (sailing east over water) and the phrase “some say he will com back” are very like the end of King Arthur.
-The feathers of the quetzal bird are used in ceremonies by the Aztecs,
-Montezuma wore a headdress made of quetzal feathers. In 1519, he gave the headdress to the Spanish adventurer Cortes, thinking Quetzalcoatl had returned. Two years later, the Spanish had conquered the empire.
-A king named Quetzalcoatl ruled the Toltecs, who were conquered by the Aztecs. He was a man of exceptional myth, similar to King Arthur of Celtic myth (hey! Cool). The Aztecs believed they were his successors and many legends grew up about him.
-Xolotl is the eveningstar (In Lotr, Arwen known as “the eveningstar” is a descendant of Earendil)
-Tezcatlipoca, according to Aztec myth, was the god of warriors, the night sky, and the thunderbolt. His name, “smoking mirror”, comes from his magic mirror, in which he could see everything, as well as read people’s thoughts.
-Quetzalcoatl was the god of creation, learning, and the wind. The Aztecs believed that they lived beneath the sun of Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent god. The sun moved only when carried by his breath. When warriors died, their souls became rare feathered birds after four years, and flew to meet this sun.

The plumed serpent

Quetzalcoatl, the serpent god, was the king of the city of the gods. He was totally pure, innocent and good. No task was too humble for him. He even swept the paths for the rain gods, so that they might come and rain.
Quetzalcoatl’s cunning brother, Tezcatlipoca, was infuriated by his perfect goodness. With some friends, Tezcatlipoca decided to play a dirty trick on Quetzalcoatl and turn him into a pleasure-seeking rascal. “We will give him a human face and body”, he grinned.
They showed Quetzalcoatl his new features in a smoking mirror. As soon as Quetzalcoatl looked into the mirror and saw his face, he felt himself possessed by all the worldly desires that afflict mankind.
He cried out in horror. “I am no longer fit to be king. I cannot appear like this before my people.” He called the coyote Xolotl to him. Xolotl, who was as close to Quetzalcoatl as his own shadow, made him a coat of green, red and white feathers from the Quetzal bird.
He also made him a turquoise mask, and a wig, and a beard of blue and red feathers. He reddened the king’s lips, painted his forehead with yellow dye, and drew on his teeth to make them look like serpent’s teeth. And so Quetzalcoatl was disguised as a plumed serpent.
However, Tezcatlipoca had thought of a new trick to play on his brother. He gave Quetzalcoatl wine, telling him it was a potion to cure his malady. Quetzalcoatl, who had never drunk alcohol before, soon became drunk. While he was in a stupor, Tezcatlipoca persuaded him to make love to his own sister, the beautiful Quetzalpetatl.
When Quetzalcoatl awoke, he was bitterly ashamed of what he had done. “This is an evil day,” he said, and he resolved to die.
Quetzalcoatl ordered his servants to make a stone box, and he lay in it for four days. Then he arose and told the servants to fill the box with all his rarest treasures and seal it up.
Quetzalcoatl went to the sea and there he put his coat of quetzal feathers and the turquoise mask. And he set fire to himself until there was nothing left but ashes on the shore. From these ashes, rare birds rose to the sky.
When Quetzalcoatl died, the dawn did not rise for four days, because Quetzalcoatl had descended to the land of the dead his double, Xolotl, to see his father, Mictlantecuhtli. He told his father, the lord of the dead, “I have come to take the precious bones that you have here to people of the Earth.”
And the lord of the dead replied, “It is well.”
Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl took the precious bones, and made their way back to the land of the living. As dawn rose once more, Quetzalcoatl sprinkled his blood over the bones and gave them life. The bones became the first people.
Quetzalcoatl taught humankind many important things. He found maize, which the ants had hidden, and stole a grain of it to give the people he had created so that they could grow food for themselves. He taught them how to polish jade, how to weave fabrics, and make mosaics. Best of all he taught them how to measure time and understand the stars, and he laid down the course of the year and the seasons.
At last it was time for Quetzalcoatl to leave humans and fend for themselves. When the day dawned, there appeared in sky, the star Quetzalcoatl, which we know as Venus. For this reason, Quetzalcoatl was called lord of the dawn. Some say Quetzalcoatl sailed to the east on a raft of serpents, and will one day return.