The Stone of the Fifth Sun
Narrator: The year is 1790. The place is Mexico City, the bustling capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. The city is undergoing a massive renovation under the orders of the Viceroy. Streets are being leveled, and new drainage systems are being installed in the Zócalo, the city's central plaza. Little do the workers know that beneath the heavy paving stones lies a secret buried for centuries—a massive relic of the lost Aztec Empire.
Mateo: (Wiping sweat from his brow) Luis, hand me that pickaxe. This section of the plaza is harder than the rest. I feel like I am trying to dig through a mountain rather than a city square.
Luis: (Leaning on his shovel) It is the heat, Mateo. The sun is unforgiving today. But you are right; the ground here feels different. Every time I strike the earth, the vibration travels all the way up my arms. It is as if the earth is pushing back.
Mateo: (Strikes the ground with a heavy thud) Listen to that! That is not the sound of dirt or loose gravel. That is the sound of solid stone. And not just a small boulder. Give me a hand; we need to clear this mud away.
- Monolithic:
- Formed of a single large block of stone.
- Cosmological:
- Relating to the origin and structure of the universe.
- Cataclysm:
- A large-scale and violent event in the natural world, such as a flood or earthquake.
- Artifact:
- An object made by a human being, typically one of cultural or historical interest.
- Basalt:
- A dark, fine-grained volcanic rock often used in ancient carvings.
- arduous:
- Extremely difficult and requiring a great deal of strenuous effort or physical labor.
- indigenous:
- Originating or occurring naturally in a particular region; native to a specific land or culture.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 1What specific work were Mateo and Luis performing when they discovered the stone?
- 2Why did the ground feel different to Luis before they uncovered the stone?
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About this reader's theater passage for Middle School
“The Stone of the Fifth Sun” is a reader's theater reading passage about Aztec Sun Stone Discovery, written for Middle School. It takes about 8 minutes to read (1,158 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.