It is with some hesitation that I offer this volume to the scientific public. The text of the ancient songs which it contains offers extreme and peculiar difficulties to the translator, and I have been obliged to pursue the task without assistance of any kind. Not a line of them has ever before been rendered into an European tongue, and my endeavors to obtain aid from some of the Nahuatl scholars of Mexico have, for various reasons, proved ineffectual. I am therefore alone responsible for errors and misunderstandings.

Nevertheless, I have felt that these monuments of ancient native literature are so interesting in themselves, and so worthy of publication, that they should be placed at the disposition of scholars in their original form with the best rendering that I could give them at present, rather than to await the uncertain event of years for a better.

The text itself may be improved by comparison with the original MS. and with the copy previously made by the Licentiate Chimalpopoca, referred to on page 48. My own efforts in this direction have been confined to a faithful reproduction in print of the MS. copy of the Abbé Brasseur de Bourbourg.

The Notes, which might easily have been extended, I have confined within moderate compass, so as not to enlarge unduly the bulk of the volume.

To some, the Vocabulary may seem inadequate. I assume that those persons who wish to make a critical study of the original text will provide themselves with the Nahuatl Dictionaries of Molina or Siméon, both of which are now easily obtainable, thanks to Mr. Julius Platzmann for the reprint of Molina. I also assume that such students will acquaint themselves with the rules of grammar and laws of word-building of the tongue, and that they will use the vocabulary merely as a labor-saving means of reaching the themes of compounds and unusual forms of words. Employed in this manner, it will, I hope, be found adequate.

In conclusion, I would mention that there is a large body of Nahuatl literature yet unpublished, both prose and poetry, modern and ancient, and as the Nahuatl tongue is one of the most highly developed on the American continent, it is greatly to be desired that all this material should be at the command of students. The Nahuatl, moreover, is not a difficult tongue; for an Englishman or a Frenchman, I should say it is easier to acquire than German, its grammar being simple and regular, and its sounds soft and sonorous. It has special recommendations, therefore, to one who would acquaint himself with an American language.

The passionate love with which the Nahuas cultivated song, music and the dance is a subject of frequent comment by the historians of Mexico. These arts are invariably mentioned as prominent features of the aboriginal civilization; no public ceremony was complete without them; they were indispensable in the religious services held in the temples; through their assistance the sacred and historical traditions were preserved; and the entertainments of individuals received their chief lustre and charm from their association with these arts.

The profession of the poet stood in highest honor. It was the custom before the Conquest for every town, every ruler and every person of importance to maintain a company of singers and dancers, paying them fixed salaries, and the early writer, Duran, tells us that this custom continued in his own time, long after the Conquest. He sensibly adds, that he can see nothing improper in it, although it was condemned by some of the Spaniards.¹ In the training of these artists their patrons took a deep personal interest, and were not at all tolerant of neglected duties. We are told that the chief selected the song which was to be sung, and the tune by which it was to be accompanied; and did any one of the choir sing falsely, a drummer beat out of time, or a dancer strike an incorrect attitude, the unfortunate artist was instantly called forth, placed in bonds and summarily executed the next morning!²

With critics of such severity to please, no wonder that it was necessary to begin the training early, and to set apart for it definite places and regular teachers. Therefore it was one of the established duties of the teachers in the calmecac or public school, "to teach the pupils all the verses of the sacred songs which were written in characters in their books."³ There were also special schools, called cuicoyan, singing places, where both sexes were taught to sing the popular songs and to dance to the sound of the drums.⁴ In the public ceremonies it was no uncommon occurrence for the audience to join in the song and dance until sometimes many thousands would thus be seized with the contagion of the rhythmical motion, and pass hours intoxicated (to use a favorite expression of the Nahuatl poets) with the cadence and the movement.

After the Conquest the Church set its face firmly against the continuance of these amusements. Few of the priests had the liberal views of Father Duran, already quoted; most of them were of the opinion of Torquemada, who urges the clergy "to forbid the singing of the ancient songs, because all of them are full of idolatrous memories, or of diabolical and suspicious allusions of the same character."⁵

To take the place of the older melodies, the natives were taught the use of the musical instruments introduced by the Spaniards, and very soon acquired no little proficiency, so that they could perform upon them, compose original pieces, and manufacture most of the instruments themselves.⁶

To this day the old love of the song and dance continues in the Indian villages; and though the themes are changed, the forms remain with little alteration. Travelers describe the movements as slow, and consisting more in bending and swaying the body than in motions of the feet; while the songs chanted either refer to some saint or biblical character, or are erotic and pave the way to orgies.⁷

The Nahuatl word for a song or poem is cuicatl. It is derived from the verb cuica, to sing, a term probably imitative or onomatopoietic in origin, as it is also a general expression for the twittering of birds. The singer was called cuicani, and is distinguished from the composer of the song, the poet, to whom was applied the term cuicapicqui, in which compound the last member, picqui, corresponds strictly to the Greek ποιητὴς, being a derivative of piqui, to make, to create.⁸ Sometimes he was also called cuicatlamantini, "skilled in song."

It is evident from these words, all of which belong to the ancient language, that the distinction between the one who composed the poems and those who sang them was well established, and that the Nahuatl poetry was, therefore, something much above mere improvisation, as some have thought. This does not alter the fact that a professed bard usually sang songs of his own composition, as well as those obtained from other sources. This is obvious from the songs in this collection, many of which contain the expression ni cuicani, I, the singer, which also refers to the maker of the song.

In the classical work of Sahagun, the author describes the ancient poet: "The worthy singer has a clear mind and a strong memory. He composes songs himself and learns those of others, and is always ready to impart either to the fellows of his craft. He sings with a well-trained voice, and is careful to practice in private before he appears before the public. The unworthy singer, on the other hand, is ignorant and indolent. What he learns he will not communicate to others. His voice is hoarse and untrained, and he is at once envious and boastful."⁹

From what he could learn about them some two centuries or more after the Conquest, the antiquary Boturini classified all the ancient songs under two general heads, the one treating mainly of historical themes, while the other was devoted to purely fictitious, emotional or imaginative subjects.¹⁰ His terse classification is expanded by the Abbé Clavigero, who states that the themes of the ancient poets were various, some chanting the praises of the gods or petitioning them for favors, others recalled the history of former generations, others were didactic and inculcated correct habits of life, while others, finally, were in lighter vein, treating of hunting, games and love.¹¹

His remarks were probably a generalization from a chapter in Torquemada's Monarquia Indiana, in which that writer states that the songs at the sacred festivals differed in subject with the different months and seasons. Thus, in the second month of their calendar, at its stated festival, the people sang the greatness of their rulers; in the seventh month all the songs were of love, of women, or of hunting; in the eighth the chants recalled the noble deeds of their ancestors and their divine origin; while in the ninth month nothing was heard but verses fraught with lamentation for the dead.¹² With less minuteness, Father Duran gives almost the same information. He himself had often heard the songs which Montezuma of Tenochtitlan, and Nezahualpizintli of Tezcuco, had ordered to be composed in their own honor, describing their noble lineage, their riches, their grandeur and their victories. These songs were in his day still sung at the public dances of the natives, and he adds, "although they were filled with laudation of their ancient rulers, it gave me much pleasure to hear the praises of such grandeur." There were other poets, he observes, who lived in the temples and composed songs exclusively in honor of the gods.¹³

These general expressions may be supplemented by a list of terms, specifying particular classes of songs, preserved by various writers. These are as follows:—

melahuacuicatl: this is translated by Tezozomoc, "a straight and true song."¹⁴ It is a compound of melahuac, straight, direct, true; and cuicatl, song. It was a beginning or opening song at the festivals, and apparently derived its name from its greater intelligibility and directness of expression. A synonym, derived from the same root, is tlamelauhcayotl, which appears in the title to some of the songs in the present collection.

xopancuicatl: this term is spelled by Ixtlilxochitl, xompacuicatl, and explained to mean "a song of the spring" (from xopan, springtime, cuicatl, song). The expression seems to be figurative, referring to the beginning or early life of things. Thus, the prophetic songs of Nezahualcoyotl, those which he sang when he laid the foundation of his great palace, bore this name.¹⁵

teuccuicatl: songs of the nobles (teuctli, cuicatl). These were also called quauhcuicatl, "eagle songs," the term quauhtli, eagle, being applied to distinguished persons.

xochicuicatl: flower-song, one singing the praises of flowers.

icnocuicatl: song of destitution or compassion.

noteuhcuicaliztli: "the song of my lords." This appears to be a synonymous expression for teuccuicatl; it is mentioned by Boturini, who adds that on the day sacred to the god Xiuhteuctli the king began the song so called.¹⁶

miccacuicatl: the song for the dead (miqui, to die, cuicatl). In this solemn chant the singers were seated on the ground, and their hair was twisted in plaits around their heads.¹⁷

In addition to the above terms drawn from the subject or character of the songs, there were others, of geographical origin, apparently indicating that the song, or its tune, or its treatment was borrowed from another locality or people. These are:—

Huexotzincayotl: a song of Huexotzinco, a Nahuatl town, situated east of the Lake of Tezcuco. This song was sung by the king and superior nobles at certain festivals, and, in the prescribed order of the chants, followed a melahuaccuicatl.¹⁸

Chalcayotl: a song of Chalco, on the lake of the same name. This followed the last mentioned in order of time at the festivals.

Otoncuicatl: a song of the Otomis. These were the immediate neighbors of the Nahuas, but spoke a language radically diverse. The songs so-called were sung fourth on the list.

Cuextecayotl: a song of the country of the Cuexteca, or Cuextlan, a northern province of Mexico.

Tlauancacuextecayotl: a song of the country of the Tlauancacuexteca.

Anahuacayotl: a song of Anahuac, that is, of a country near the water, either the valley of Mexico, or the shores of the ocean.

Some very ancient sacred songs were referred to by Tezozomoc as peculiar to the worship of Huitzilopochtli, and, indeed, introduced by this potent divinity. From their names, cuitlaxoteyotl, and tecuilhuicuicatl,¹⁹ I judge that they referred to some of those pederastic rites which still prevail extensively among the natives of the pueblos of New Mexico, and which have been described by Dr. William A. Hammond and other observers.²⁰ One of these songs began,

But the old chronicler, who doubtless knew it all by heart, gives us no more of it.²¹

The assertion is advanced by Boturini that the genuine ancient Nahuatl poetry which has been preserved is in iambic metre, and he refers to a song of Nezahualcoyotl in his collection to prove his opinion. What study I have given to the prosody of the Nahuatl tongue leads me to doubt the correctness of so sweeping a statement. The vocalic elements of the language have certain peculiarities which prevent its poetry from entering unencumbered into the domain of classical prosody.

The quantity of Nahuatl syllables is a very important element in the pronunciation of the tongue, but their quantity is not confined, as in Latin, to long, short, and common. The Nahuatl vowels are long, short, intermediate, and "with stress," or as the Spanish grammarians say, "with a jump," con saltillo. The last mentioned is peculiar to this tongue. The vowel so designated is pronounced with a momentary suspension or catching of the breath, rendering it emphatic.

These quantities are prominent features in the formal portions of the language, characterizing inflections and declinations. No common means of designating them have been adopted by the grammarians, and for my present purpose, I shall make use of the following signs:—

The general prosodic rules are:—

1. In polysyllabic words in which there are no long vowels, all the vowels are intermediate.

2. The vowels are long in the penultimate of the plurals of the imperatives when the preterit of the verb ends in a vowel; the ā of the cān of the imperatives; the ī of the tī; of the gerundives; the last vowel of the futures when the verb loses a vowel to form them; the penultimates of passives in lo, of impersonals, of verbals in oni, illi, olli and oca, of verbal nouns with the terminations yan and can; the ō of abstract nouns in otl in composition; and those derived from long syllables.

3. Vowels are "with stress" when they are the finals in the plurals of nouns and verbs, also in the perfect preterite, in possessives ending in â, ê, ô, and in the penultimate of nouns ending in tli, tla and tle when these syllables are immediately preceded by the vowel.²²

The practical importance of these distinctions may be illustrated by the following examples:—

It is, however, evident from this example that the quantity of Nahuatl syllables enters too much into the strictly formal part of the language for rules of position, such as some of those above given, to be binding; and doubtless for this reason the eminent grammarian Carlos de Tapia Zenteno, who was professor of the tongue in the University of Mexico, denies that it can be reduced to definite rules of prosody like those of the Latin. ²³

Substituting accent for quantity, there would seem to be an iambic character to the songs. Thus the first words of Song I, were probably chanted:—

Nino' yolno' notza' campa' nicŭ iz' yec tli' ahui aca' xochitl': etc.

But the directions given for the drums at the beginning of Songs XVIII, XIX, etc., do not indicate a continuance of these feet, but of others, as in XIX:—

u—, u—, u—, uu—, u—, u—, u—, etc.

Indeed, we may suppose that the metre varied with the subject and the skill of the poet. This, in fact, is the precise statement of Father Duran,²⁴ who speaks of the native poets as "giving to each song a different tune (sonada), as we are accustomed in our poetry to have the sonnet, the octava rima and the terceto."

Descriptions of the concerts so popular among the Nahuas have been preserved by the older writers, and it is of the highest importance to understand their methods in order to appreciate the songs presented in this volume.

These concerts were held on ceremonial occasions in the open air, in the village squares or in the courtyards of the houses. They began in the morning and usually continued until nightfall, occasionally far into the night. The musicians occupied the centre of the square and the trained singers stood or sat around them. When the sign was given to begin, the two most skillful singers, sometimes a man and a woman, pronounced the first syllables of the song slowly but with a sharp emphasis;²⁵then the drums began in a low tone, and gradually increased in strength as the song proceeded; the other singers united their voices until the whole chorus was in action, and often the bystanders, to the numbers of thousands, would ultimately join in the words of some familiar song, keeping time by concerted movements of the hands and feet.

Each verse or couplet of the song was repeated three or four times before proceeding to the next, and those songs which were of the slowest measure and least emotional in character were selected for the earlier hours of the festivals. None of the songs was lengthy, even the longest, in spite of the repetitions, rarely lasting over an hour.²⁶

The tone in which the words were chanted is described by Clavigero, Mühlenpfordt and other comparatively recent travelers as harsh, strident and disagreeable to the European ear. Mendieta calls it a "contra-bass," and states that persons gifted with such a voice cultivated it assiduously and were in great demand. The Nahuas call it tozquitl, the singing voice, and likened it to the notes of sweet singing birds.

The Nahuas were not acquainted with any stringed instrument. They manufactured, however, a variety of objects from which they could extract what seemed to them melodious sounds. The most important were two forms of drums, the huehuetl and the teponaztli.

The word huehuetl means something old, something ancient, and therefore important and great. The drum so-called was a hollow cylinder of wood, thicker than a man's body, and usually about five palms in height. The end was covered with tanned deerskin, firmly stretched. The sides were often elaborately carved and tastefully painted. This drum was placed upright on a stand in front of the player and the notes were produced by striking the parchment with the tips of the fingers.

A smaller variety of this instrument was called tlapanhuehuetl, or the half drum, which was of the same diameter but only half the height.²⁷ Still another variety was the yopihuehuetl, "the drum which tears out the heart,"²⁸ so called either by reason of its penetrating and powerful sound, or because it was employed at the Yopico, where that form of human sacrifice was conducted.

The teponaztli was a cylindrical block of wood hollowed out below, and on its upper surface with two longitudinal parallel grooves running nearly from end to end, and a third in the centre at right angles to these, something in the shape of the letter I. The two tongues left between the grooves were struck with balls of rubber, ulli, on the ends of handles or drum sticks. These instruments varied greatly in size, some being five feet in length, and others so small that they could conveniently be carried suspended to the neck. The teponaztli was the house instrument of the Nahuas. It was played in the women's apartments to amuse the noble ladies, and the war captains carried one at the side to call the attention of their cohorts on the field of battle (Sahagun). The word is derived from the name of the tree whose wood was selected to make the drum, and this in turn from the verb tepunazoa, to swell, probably from some peculiarity of its growth.²⁹

A much superior instrument to the teponaztli, and doubtless a development from it, was the tecomapiloa, "the suspended vase" (tecomatl, gourd or vase, piloa, to hang or suspend). It was a solid block of wood, with a projecting ridge on its upper surface and another opposite, on its lower aspect; to the latter one or more gourds or vases were suspended, which increased and softened the sound when the upper ridge was struck with the ulli.³⁰ This was undoubtedly the origin of the marimba, which I have described elsewhere.³¹

The musical properties of these drums have been discussed by Theodor Baker. The teponaztli, he states, could yield but two notes, and could not have been played in accord with the huehuetl. It served as an imperfect contra-bass.³²

The omichicahuaz, "strong bone," was constructed somewhat on the principle of a teponaztli. A large and long bone was selected, as the femur of a man or deer, and it was channeled by deep longitudinal incisions. The projections left between the fissures were rasped with another bone or a shell, and thus a harsh but varied sound could be produced.³³

The tetzilacatl, the "vibrator" or "resounder," was a sheet of copper suspended by a cord, which was struck with sticks or with the hand. It appears to have been principally confined to the sacred music in the temples.

The ayacachtli was a rattle formed of a jar of earthenware or a dried gourd containing pebbles which was fastened to a handle, and served to mark time in the songs and dances. An extension of this simple instrument was the ayacachicahualiztli, "the arrangement of rattles," which was a thin board about six feet long and a span wide, to which were attached bells, rattles and cylindrical pieces of hard wood. Shaking this produced a jingle-jangle, agreeable to the native ear. The Aztec bells of copper, tzilinilli, are really metallic rattles, like our sleigh bells. They are often seen in collections of Mexican antiquities. Other names for them were coyolli and yoyotli.

Various forms of flutes and fifes, made of reeds, of bone or of pottery, were called by names derived from the word pitzaua, to blow (e.g., tlapitzalli, uilacapitzli), and sometimes, as being punctured with holes, zozoloctli, from zotl, the awl or instrument used in perforating skins, etc. Many of those made of earthenware have been preserved, and they appear to have been a highly-esteemed instrument, as Sahagun mentions that the leader of the choir of singers in the temple bore the title tlapitzcatzin, "the noble flute player."

Large conches were obtained on the seashore and framed into wind instruments called quiquiztli and tecciztli, whose hoarse notes could be heard for long distances, and whistles of wood, bone and earthenware added their shrill notes to the noise of the chanting of the singers. The shell of the tortoise, ayotl, dried and suspended, was beaten in unison with such instruments.

Recent researches by competent musical experts conducted upon authentic specimens of the ancient Mexican instruments have tended to elevate our opinion of their skill in this art. Mr. H.T. Cresson, of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, has critically examined the various Aztec clay flutes, whistles, etc., which are there preserved, and has reached the following conclusions:—

"I. That upon the four-holed clay flageolets the chromatic and diatonic scales can be produced with a full octave.

"II. That the clay whistles or pitch pipes, which may be manipulated in quartette, will produce an octave and a fourth.

"III. From the facts above shown, the Aztecs must have possessed a knowledge of the scales as known to us, which has been fully tested by comparison with the flute and organ."³⁴

This result indicates for the instrumental accompaniment a much higher position in musical notation than has hitherto been accepted.

All the old writers who were familiar with the native songs speak of their extreme obscurity, and the difficulty of translating them. No one will question the intimate acquaintance with the Nahuatl language possessed by Father Sahagun; yet no one has expressed more strongly than he the vagueness of the Nahuatl poetic dialect. "Our enemy on earth," he writes, "has prepared a thick woods and a dangerous ground full of pitfalls, wherein to devise his evil deeds and to hide himself from attack, as do wild beasts and venomous serpents. This woods and these pitfalls are the songs which he has inspired to be used in his service, as praises to his honor, in the temples and elsewhere; because they are composed with such a trick that they proclaim only what the devil commands, and are understood only by those to whom they are addressed. It is well known that the cavern, woods or depths in which the devil hides himself were these chants or psalms which he himself has composed, and which cannot be understood in their true significance except by those who are accustomed to the peculiar style of their language."³⁵

Not less positive are the expressions of Father Diego Duran, contemporary of Sahagun, and himself well versed in the native tongue. "All their songs," he observes, "were composed in such obscure metaphors that scarcely any one can understand them unless he give especial attention to their construction."³⁶ The worthy Boturini was puzzled by those which he had collected, and writes, "the songs are difficult to explain, because they mystify historical facts with constant allegorizing,"³⁷ and Boturini's literary executor, Don Mariano Echevarria y Veitia, who paid especial attention to the poetic fragments he had received, says frankly: "The fact is, that as to the songs I have not found a person who can fully translate them, because there are many words in them whose signification is absolutely unknown to-day, and moreover which do not appear in the vocabularies of Molina or others."³⁸

The Abbé Clavigero speaks in somewhat more definite terms of the poetic forms and licenses of the language. He notes that in the fragments of the ancient verses which had been preserved until his day there were inserted between the significant words certain interjections and meaningless syllables, apparently to fill out the metre. Nevertheless, he considered the language of the chants, "pure, pleasant, brilliant, figurative and replete with allusions to the more pleasing objects in nature, as flowers, trees, brooks, etc."³⁹ It is quite evident from the above extracts that in the translation of the ancient songs in the present volume we must be prepared for serious difficulties, the more so as the Nahuatl language, in the opinion of some who are the best acquainted with it, lends itself with peculiar facility to ambiguities of expression and obscure figures of speech.⁴⁰ Students of American ethnology are familiar with the fact that in nearly all tribes the language of the sacred songs differs materially from that in daily life.

Of the older grammarians, Father Carochi alone has left us actual specimens of the ancient poetic dialect, and his observations are regretably brief. They occur in his chapter on the composition of nouns and read as follows:⁴¹—

"The ancient Indians were chary in forming compounds of more than two words, while those of to-day exceed this number, especially if they speak of sacred things; although in their poetic dialect the ancients were also extravagant in this respect, as the following examples show:—

1. Tlāuhquéchōllaztalēhualtò tōnatoc.

1. It is gleaming red like the tlauhquechol bird.

2. Ayauhcoçamālōtōnamēyòtimani.

2. And it glows like the rainbow.

3. Xiuhcóyólizítzîlica in teōcuitlahuēhuētl.

3. The silver drum sounds like bells of turquoise.

4. Xiuhtlapallàcuilōlāmoxtli manca.

4. There was a book of annals written and painted in colors.

5. Nic chālchiuhcozcameca quenmach tòtóma in nocuic.

5. I see my song unfolding in a thousand directions, like a string of precious stones."

From the specimens presented in this volume and from the above extracts, I would assign the following peculiarities to the poetic dialect of the Nahuatl:—

I. Extreme frequency and richness of metaphor. Birds, flowers, precious stones and brilliant objects are constantly introduced in a figurative sense, often to the point of obscuring the meaning of the sentence.

II. Words are compounded to a much greater extent than in ordinary prose writing.

III. Both words and grammatical forms unknown to the tongue of daily life occur. These may be archaic, or manufactured capriciously by the poet.

IV. Vowels are inordinately lengthened and syllables reduplicated, either for the purpose of emphasis or of meter.

V. Meaningless interjections are inserted for metrical effect, while others are thrown in and repeated in order to express emotion.

VI. The rhetorical figure known as aposiopesis, where a sentence is left unfinished and in an interjectional condition, in consequence of some emotion of the mind, is not rare and adds to the obscurity of the wording.

In a passage already quoted,⁴² Sahagun imparts the interesting information that the more important songs were written down by the Nahuas in their books, and from these taught to the youth in the schools. A certain branch of the Mexican hieroglyphic writing was largely phonetic, constructed on that method to which I have applied the adjective ikonomatic, and by which it was quite possible to preserve the sound as well as the sense of sentences and verses.⁴³ Such attention could have been bestowed only on the sacred, royal, or legendary chants, while the compositions of ordinary poets would only be disseminated by oral teaching.

By one or both of these methods there was a large body of poetic chants the property of the Nahuatl-speaking tribes, when they were subjugated by the Europeans. Among the intelligent missionaries who devoted their lives to mastering the language and translating into it the doctrines of Christianity, there were a few who felt sufficient interest in these chants to write some of them down in the original tongue. Conspicuous among these was the laborious Bernardino de Sahagun, whose works are our most valued sources of information on all that concerns the life of the ancient Nahuas. He collected a number of their sacred hymns, translated them into Spanish, and inserted them into the Appendix to the Second Book of his History of New Spain; but this portion of his work was destroyed by order of the Inquisition, as a note in the original MS. expressly states.⁴⁴

A certain number, however, were preserved in the original tongue, and, as already noted, we find the able grammarian Horatio Carochi, who published his Grammar of the Nahuatl in 1645, quoting lines from some as furnishing examples of the genuine ancient forms of word-building. He could not, therefore, have doubted their antiquity and authenticity.

A number of these must have come to the knowledge and were probably in the possession of the eminent mathematician and antiquary Don Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora, who lived in the latter half of the same century (died 1700). It was avowedly upon the information which he thought he gleaned from these ancient chants that he constructed his historical theory of the missionary labors of St. Thomas in Mexico in the first century of our era. The title of the work he wrote upon this notion was as follows:—

Fenix del Occidente San Thomas Apóstol, hallado con el nombre de Quetzalcoatl entre las cenizas de antiguas tradiciones, conservadas en piedras, en Teoamoxtles Tultecas, y en cantares Teochichimecas y Mexicanos."

For many years this curious work, which was never printed, was supposed to be lost; but the original MS. is extant, in the possession of the distinguished antiquary Don Alfredo Chavero, of the City of Mexico.⁴⁵ Unfortunately, however, the author did not insert in his work any song in the native language nor a literal translation of any, as I am informed by Señor Chavero, who has kindly examined the work carefully at my request, with this inquiry in view.

Half a century later, when Boturini was collecting his material, he found but very few of the old poems. In the catalogue of his MSS. he mentions (XIX, 1) some fragments of ancient songs, badly written, on European paper, but he does not say whether in the original or translated. The same doubt might rest on the two songs of Nezahualcoyotl named in his Catalogue (V, 2). He does not specifically state that they are in the original. The song of Moquihuix, King of Tlatilulco, in which he celebrated his victory over the Cuextla, which Boturini states in his text (p. 91) as in his possession, is not mentioned at all in his Catalogue, and it is uncertain whether his copy was in Nahuatl.

His literary friend, however, Don Mariano Echevarria y Veitia, removes the uncertainty about the two songs of Nezahualcoyotl, as he informs us that they were in the original tongue, and adds that he had inserted them in his History without translation.⁴⁶ I have examined the manuscript of his work, now in the Lenox Library, New York City, but it does not contain these texts, and evidently the copy used by Bustamente did not.⁴⁷

Boturini included the translations of the two odes of Nezahualcoyotl in a work on the Virgin of Guadelupe, only a fragment of which has been preserved. One of the chapters in this Latin Essay is entitled De Indorum Poetarum Canticis sive Prosodiis, in which he introduces Ixtlilxochitl's translation and also a song in the original Nahuatl, but the latter is doubtless of late date and unimportant as a really native production.⁴⁸

The fragments of Boturini's library collected by M. Aubin, of Paris, contain a number of the original ancient songs of the highest importance, which make us regret the more that this collection has been up to the present inaccessible to students. In his description of these relics published in 1851, M. Aubin refers to the Historical Annals of the Mexican Nation (§ VIII, 10, of Boturini's Catalogue) as containing "historical songs in a dialect so difficult that I have not been able to translate them entirely," and adds that similar songs are preserved in others of the ancient annals in his hands.⁴⁹

The most distinguished figure among the Nahuatl poets was Nezahualcoyotl, ruler of Tezcuco. His death took place in 1472, at the age of eighty years. His father, Ixtlilxochitl, had been deprived of his possessions and put to death by Tezozomoc, King of the Tepanecas, and until the death of the latter at an advanced age in 1427, Nezahualcoyotl could make but vain efforts to restore the power of his family. Much of the time he was in extreme want, and for this reason, and for his savage persistence in the struggle, he acquired the name "the fasting or hungry wolf"— nezahualcoyotl. Another of his names was Acolmiztli, usually translated "arm of the lion," from aculli, shoulder, and miztli, lion.

A third was Yoyontzin, which is equivalent to cevetor nobilis, from yoyoma (cevere, i.e., femora movere in re venered); it is to be understood figuratively as indicating the height of the masculine forces.

When his power became assured, he proved himself a liberal and enlightened patron of the arts and industries. The poetry and music of his native land attracted him the more as he felt within himself the moving god, firing his imagination with poetic vision, the Deus in nobis, calescimus, agitant'illo. Not only did he diligently seek out and royally entertain skilled bards, but he himself had the credit of composing sixty chants, and it appears that after the Conquest there were that many written down in Roman characters and attributed to him. We need not inquire too closely whether they were strictly his own composition. Perhaps they were framed on themes which he furnished, or were selected by him from those sung at his court by various bards. The history of the works by royal authors everywhere must not be too minutely scanned if we wish to leave them their reputation for originality.

He was of a philosophic as well as a poetic temperament, and reflected deeply on the problems of life and nature. Following the inherent tendency of the enlightened intellect to seek unity in diversity, the One in the Many, he reached the conclusion to which so many thinkers in all ages and of all races have been driven, that underlying all phenomena is one primal and adequate Cause, the Essence of all Existence. This conclusion he expressed in a philosophic apothegm which was preserved by his disciples, in these words:—

Ipan in chicunauitlamanpan meztica in tloque nahuaque palne nohuani teyocoyani icel teotl oquiyocox in ixquex quexquex in ittoni ihuan amo ittoni.

"In the ninth series is the Cause of All, of us and of all created things, the one only God who created all things both visible and invisible."⁵⁰

To perpetuate the memory of this philosophic deduction he caused to be constructed at Tezcuco a stone tower nine stories in height, the ruins of which were visible long after the Spanish occupation. To this tower he gave the name Chililitli, a term of uncertain meaning, but which we find was applied in Tenochtitlan to a building sacred to the Nine Winds.⁵¹ To explain the introduction of this number, I should add that a certain school of Nahuatl priests taught that the heaven above and the earth below were each divided into nine concentric arcs, each leading farther and farther away from the conditions of the present life. Hence, there were nine heavens, abodes of the gods, and nine lower regions, abodes of the souls of the dead. Another school taught that there were not nine but thirteen of these stages.

The sixty poems by Nezahualcoyotl are mentioned by various writers as in existence after the Conquest, reduced to writing in the original tongue, and of several of them we have translations or abstracts.⁵² Of four the translations claim to be complete, and were published entire for the first time in the original Spanish by Lord Kingsborough in the ninth volume of his great work on the Antiquities of Mexico. Since then they have received various renderings in prose and verse into different languages at the hands of modern writers.

I shall give a literal prose translation from the Spanish, numbering the poems and their verses, for convenience of reference, in the order in which they appear in the pages of Lord Kingsborough.

The first is one referred to, and partly translated by Ixtlilxochitl, in his Historia Chichimeca (cap. 47). He calls it a xopancuicatl (see ante, p. 15), and states that it was composed and sung on the occasion of the banquet when the king laid the foundations of his great palace. He gives the first words in the original as follows:—

Tlaxoconcaguican ani Nezahualcoyotzin;

And the translation:—

"Hear that which says the King Nezahualcoyotl."

Restoring the much mutilated original to what I should think was its proper form, the translation should read:—

"Listen attentively to what I, the singer, the noble Nezahualcoyotl, say:"—

1. Listen with attention to the lamentations which I, the King Nezahualcoyotl, make upon my power, speaking with myself, and offering an example to others.

2. O restless and striving king, when the time of thy death shall come, thy subjects shall be destroyed and driven forth; they shall sink into dark oblivion. Then in thy hand shall no longer be the power and the rule, but with the Creator, the All-powerful.

3. He who saw the palaces and court of the old King Tezozomoc, how flourishing and powerful was his sway, may see them now dry and withered; it seemed as if they should last forever, but all that the world offers is illusion and deception, as everything must end and die.

4. Sad and strange it is to see and reflect on the prosperity and power of the old and dying King Tezozomoc; watered with ambition and avarice, he grew like a willow tree rising above the grass and flowers of spring, rejoicing for a long time, until at length, withered and decayed, the storm wind of death tore him from his roots, and dashed him in fragments to the ground. The same fate befell the ancient King Colzatzli, so that no memory was left of him, nor of his lineage.

5. In these lamentations and in this sad song, I now call to memory and offer as an example that which takes place in the spring, and the end which overtook King Tezozomoc; and who, seeing this, can refrain from tears and wailing, that these various flowers and rich delights are bouquets that pass from hand to hand and all wither and end even in the present life!

6. Ye sons of kings and mighty lords, ponder well and think upon that which I tell you in these my lamentations, of what takes place in spring and of the end which overtook King Tezozomoc; and who, seeing this, can refrain from tears and wailing that these various flowers and rich delights are bouquets that pass from hand to hand and all wither and end even in the present life!

7. Let the birds now enjoy, with melodious voices, the abundance of the house of the flowery spring, and the butterflies sip the nectar of its flowers.

The second song is preserved in a Spanish metrical translation only, but which from internal evidence I should judge to be quite literal. The words of the poem do not represent it as a composition by the royal poet, but one which was sung before him, and addressed to him. It admonishes him to rejoice in the present moment, as the uncertainties of life and fate must at some time, perhaps very soon, deprive him of their enjoyment.

1. I wish to sing for a moment, since time and occasion are propitious; I hope to be permitted, as my intention merits it, and I begin my song, though it were better called a lamentation.

2. And thou, beloved companion, enjoy the beauty of these flowers, rejoice with me, cast out fears, for if pleasure ends with life, so also does pain.

3. I, singing, will touch the sonorous instrument, and thou, rejoicing in the flowers, dance and give pleasure to God the powerful. Let us be happy in the present, for life is transitory.

4. Thou hast placed thy noble court in Acolhuacan, thine are its lintels, thou hast decked them, and one may well believe that with such grandeur thy state shall increase and grow.

5. O prudent Yoyontzin, famous king and peerless monarch, rejoice in the present, be happy in the springtime, for a day shall come in which thou shall vainly seek these joys.

6. Then thy destiny shall snatch the sceptre from thy hand, thy moon shall wane, no longer wilt thou be strong and proud, then thy servants shall be destitute of all things.

7. In this sad event, the nobles of thy line, the provinces of might, children of noble parents, lacking thee as their lord, shall taste the bitterness of poverty.

8. They shall call to mind how great was thy pomp, thy triumphs and victories, and bewailing the glory and majesty of the past, their tears will flow like seas.

9. These thy descendants who serve thy plume and crown, when thou art gone, will forsake Culhuacan, and as exiles will increase their woes.

10. Little will fame have to tell of this wondrous majesty, worthy of a thousand heralds; the nations will only remember how wisely governed the three chieftains who held the power,

11. At Mexico, Montezuma the famous and valorous, at Culhuacan the fortunate Nezahualcoyotl, and at the stronghold of Acatlapan, Totoquilhuatli.

12. I fear no oblivion for thy just deeds, standing as thou dost in thy place appointed by the Supreme Lord of All, who governs all things.

13. Therefore, O Nezahualcoyotl, rejoice in what the present offers, crown thyself with flowers from thy gardens, hear my song and music which aim to please thee.

14. The pleasures and riches of this life are but loaned, their substance is vain, their appearance illusory; and so true is this that I ask thee for an answer to these questions:

15. What has become of Cihuapan? Of the brave Quantzintecomatzin? Of Conahuatzin? What of all these people? Perhaps these very words have already passed into another life.

16. Would that we who are now united by the ties of love and friendship could foresee the sharp edge of death, for nothing is certain, and the future ever brings changes.

The third is a "spring song" in which the distinguished warriors of the king are compared to precious stones. Such jewels were believed by the Nahuas to possess certain mysterious powers as charms and amulets, a belief, it is needless to say, found among almost all nations. In verse 18 there is a reference to the superstition that at dawn, when these jewels are exposed to the first rays of the sun, they emit a fine vapor which wafts abroad their subtle potency. The poem is in Spanish verse, and the original is said to have been written down by Don Fernando de Avila, governor of Tlalmanalco, from the mouth of Don Juan de Aguilar, governor of Cultepec, a direct descendant of Nezahualcoyotl.

1. The flowery spring has its house, its court, its palace, adorned with riches, with goods in abundance.

2. With discreet art they are arranged and placed, rich feathers, precious stones, surpassing in luster the sun.

3. There is the valued carbuncle, which from its beauteous center darts forth rays which are the lights of knowledge.

4. There is the prized diamond, sign of strength, shooting forth its brilliant gleams.

5. Here one sees the translucent emerald suggesting the hope of the rewards of merit.

6. Next follows the topaz, equaling the emerald, for the reward it promises is a heavenly dwelling.

7. The amethyst, signifying the cares which a king has for his subjects, and moderation in desires.

8. These are what kings, princes and monarchs delight to place upon their breasts and crowns.

9. All these stones with their varied and singular virtues, adorn Thy house and court, O Father, O Infinite God!

10. These stones which I the King Nezahualcoyotl have succeeded in uniting in loving liens,

11. Are the famous princes, the one called Axaxacatzin, the other Chimalpopoca, and Xicomatzintlamata.

12. To-day, somewhat rejoiced by the joy and words of these, and of the other lords who were with them,

13. I feel, when alone, that my soul is pleased but for a brief time, and that all pleasure soon passes.

14. The presence of these daring eagles pleases me, of these lions and tigers who affright the world,

15. These who by their valor win everlasting renown, whose name and whose deeds fame will perpetuate.

16. Only to-day am I glad and look upon these rich and varied stones, the glory of my bloody battles.

17. To-day, noble princes, protectors of the realm, my will is to entertain you and to praise you.

18. It seems to me that ye answer from your souls, like the fine vapor arising from precious stones,—

19. "O King Nezahualcoyotl, O royal Montezuma, your subjects sustain themselves with your soft dews.

20. "But at last a day shall come which will cut away this power, and all these will be left wretched orphans.

21. "Rejoice, mighty King, in this lofty power which the King of Heaven has granted you, rejoice and be glad.

22. "In the life of this world there is no beginning anew, therefore rejoice, for all good ends.

23. "The future promises endless changes, griefs that your subjects will have to undergo.

24. "Ye see before you the instruments decked with wreaths of odorous flowers; rejoice in their fragrance.

25. "To-day there are peace, and goodfellowship; therefore let all join hands and rejoice in the dances,

26. "So that for a little while princes and kings and the nobles may have pleasure in these precious stones,

27. "Which through his goodness the will of the King Nezahualcoyotl has set forth for you, inviting you to-day to his house."

The fourth song has been preserved in an Otomi translation by the Mexican antiquary Granados y Galvez⁵³ and in an abstract by Torquemada.⁵⁴ The latter gives the first words as follows:—

Xochitl mamani in huehuetitlan:

Which he translates:—

"There are fresh and fragrant flowers among the groves."

It is said to have been composed at the time the king dedicated his palace.

1. The fleeting pomps of the world are like the green willow trees, which, aspiring to permanence, are consumed by a fire, fall before the axe, are upturned by the wind, or are scarred and saddened by age.

2. The grandeurs of life are like the flowers in color and in fate; the beauty of these remains so long as their chaste buds gather and store the rich pearls of the dawn and saving it, drop it in liquid dew; but scarcely has the Cause of All directed upon them the full rays of the sun, when their beauty and glory fail, and the brilliant gay colors which decked forth their pride wither and fade.

3. The delicious realms of flowers count their dynasties by short periods; those which in the morning revel proudly in beauty and strength, by evening weep for the sad destruction of their thrones, and for the mishaps which drive them to loss, to poverty, to death and to the grave. All things of earth have an end, and in the midst of the most joyous lives, the breath falters, they fall, they sink into the ground.

4. All the earth is a grave, and nought escapes it; nothing is so perfect that it does not fall and disappear. The rivers, brooks, fountains and waters flow on, and never return to their joyous beginnings; they hasten on to the vast realms of Tlaloc, and the wider they spread between their marges the more rapidly do they mould their own sepulchral urns. That which was yesterday is not to-day; and let not that which is to-day trust to live to-morrow.

5. The caverns of earth are filled with pestilential dust which once was the bones, the flesh, the bodies of great ones who sate upon thrones, deciding causes, ruling assemblies, governing armies, conquering provinces, possessing treasures, tearing down temples, flattering themselves with pride, majesty, fortune, praise and dominion. These glories have passed like the dark smoke thrown out by the fires of Popocatepetl, leaving no monuments but the rude skins on which they are written.

6. Ha! ha! Were I to introduce you into the obscure bowels of this temple, and were to ask you which of these bones were those of the powerful Achalchiuhtlanextin, first chief of the ancient Toltecs; of Necaxecmitl, devout worshiper of the gods; if I inquire where is the peerless beauty of the glorious empress Xiuhtzal, where the peaceable Topiltzin, last monarch of the hapless land of Tulan; if I ask you where are the sacred ashes of our first father Xolotl; those of the bounteous Nopal; those of the generous Tlotzin; or even the still warm cinders of my glorious and immortal, though unhappy and luckless father Ixtlilxochitl; if I continued thus questioning about all our august ancestors, what would you reply? The same that I reply—I know not, I know not; for first and last are confounded in the common clay. What was their fate shall be ours, and of all who follow us.

7. Unconquered princes, warlike chieftains, let us seek, let us sigh for the heaven, for there all is eternal, and nothing is corruptible. The darkness of the sepulchre is but the strengthening couch for the glorious sun, and the obscurity of the night but serves to reveal the brilliancy of the stars. No one has power to alter these heavenly lights, for they serve to display the greatness of their Creator, and as our eyes see them now, so saw them our earliest ancestors, and so shall see them our latest posterity.

It will be seen that the philosophy of these songs is mostly of the Epicurean and carpe diem order. The certainty of death and the mutability of fortune, observations which press themselves upon the mind of man everywhere, are their principal staples, and cast over them a hue of melancholy, relieved by exhortations to enjoy to the utmost what the present moment offers of pleasure and sensual gratification. Here and there a gleam of a higher philosophy lights the sombre reflections of the bard; his thoughts turn toward the infinite Creator of this universe, and he dimly apprehends that by making Him the subject of his contemplation, there is boundless consolation even in this mortal life.

Both these leading motifs recur over and over again in the songs printed in the original in the present volume, and this similarity is a common token of the authenticity of the book.

The most recent Mexican writers formally deny that any ancient Mexican poetry is now extant. Thus the eminent antiquary, Don Alfredo Chavero, in his elaborate work, México á través de los Siglos, says, "the truth is, we know no specimens of the ancient poetry, and those, whether manuscript or printed, which claim to be such, date from after the Conquest."⁵⁵ In a similar strain the grammarian Diario Julio Caballero, writes: "There has never come into our hands a single poetic composition in this language. It is said that the great King Nezahualcoyotl was a poet and composed various songs; however that may be, the fact is that we have never seen any such compositions, nor met any person who has seen them."⁵⁶

It is important, therefore, to state the exact provenance of the specimens printed in this volume, many of which I consider to have been composed previous to the Conquest, and written down shortly after the Nahuatl language had been reduced to the Spanish alphabet.

All of them are from a MS. volume in the library of the University of Mexico, entitled Cantares de los Mexicanos y otros opusculos, composed of various pieces in different handwritings, which, from their appearance and the character of the letter, were attributed by the eminent antiquary Don José F. Ramirez, to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The copy I have used is that made by the late Abbé Brasseur (de Bourbourg). It does not appear to be complete, but my efforts to have it collated with the original have not been successful. Another copy was taken by the late well-known Mexican scholar Faustino Chimalpopoca, which was in the possession of Señor Ramirez and sold at the vendue of his books in 1880. It is No. 511 of the catalogue.

The final decision of the age of the poems must come from a careful scrutiny of the internal evidence, especially the thoughts they contain and the language in which they are expressed. In applying these tests, it should be remembered that a song may be almost wholly ancient, that is, composed anterior to the Conquest, and yet display a few later allusions introduced by the person who preserved it in writing, so as to remove from it the flavor of heathenism. Some probable instances of this kind will be pointed out in the Notes.

The songs are evidently from different sources and of different epochs. There are two notes inserted in the MS. which throw some light on the origin of a few of the poems. The first is in connection with No. XII. In my copy of the MS, the title of this song is written twice, and between the two the following memorandum appears in Spanish:

"Ancient songs of the native Otomis, which they were accustomed to sing at their festivals and marriages, translated into the Mexican language, the play and the spirit of the song and its figures of speech being always retained; as Your Reverence will understand, they displayed considerable style and beauty, better than I can express with my slight talent; and may Your Reverence at your convenience approve and be entertained by them, as a skilled master of the tongue, as Your Reverence is."

From its position and from the titles following, this note appears to apply only to No. XII.

The second note is prefixed to No. XIV, which has no title. It is in Nahuatl, and reads as follows:—

Nican ompehua in cuicatl motenehua melahuac Huexotzincayotl ic moquichitoya in tlatoque Huexotzinca mani mecatca; yexcan inic tlatlamantitica, teuccuicatl ahnoço quauhcuicatl, xochicuicatl, icnocuicatl. Auh inic motzotzona huehuetl cencamatl mocauhtiuh, auh in occencamatl ipan huetzi yetetl ti; auh in huel ic ompehua centetl ti; auh inic mocuepa quiniquac iticpa huehuetzi y huehuetl, zan mocemana in maitl; auh quiniquac iyeinepantla occeppa itenco hualcholoa in huehuetl; tel yehuatl itech mottaz, ynima ynaquin cuicani quimati iniuh motzotzona; auh yancuican yenoceppa inin cuicatl ychan D. Diego de Leon, Governador Azcapotzalco; yehuatl oquitzotzon in D. Frco Placido ypan xihuitl 1551, ypan in ezcalilitzin tl Jesu Christo.

This may be freely translated as follows:—

"Here begins a song called a plain song of Huexotzinco as it was recited by the lords of Huexotzinco. These songs are divided into three classes, the songs of the nobles or of the eagles, the flower songs, and the songs of destitution. (Directions follow for beating the drum in unison with the voices.) This song was sung at the house of Don Diego de Leon, Governor of Azcapotzalco; he who beat the drum was Don Francisco Placido; in the year of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ 1551."

This assigns beyond doubt the song in question to the first half of the sixteenth century, and we may therefore take its phraseology as a type of the Nahuatl poetry shortly after the Conquest. It is also stated to be a native composition, and from its contents, it was clearly composed by one of the converts to the Christian faith.

The song is an allegory, portraying the soul-life of the poet. By the flowers which he sets forth to seek, we are to understand the songs which he desires to compose. He asks himself where the poetic inspiration is to be sought, and the answer is the same as was given by Wordsworth, that it is to the grand and beautiful scenes of Nature that the poet must turn for the elevation of soul which will lift him to the sublimest heights of his art. But this exaltation bears with it the heavy penalty that it disqualifies for ordinary joys. As in medieval tales, he who had once been admitted to fairyland, could nevermore conquer his longing to return thither, so the poet longs for some other condition of existence where the divine spirit of song may forever lift him above the trials and the littleness of this earthly life.

There is no sign of Christian influence in the poem, and it is probably one handed down from a generation anterior to the Conquest.

1. The word peuhcayotl from peua, to begin, intimates that this was a song chanted at the beginning of a musical entertainment. The verses are longer, and the phraseology plainer than in many of those following. There is also an absence of interjections and lengthened vowels, all of which indicate that the time was slow, and the actions of the singer temperate, as was the custom at the beginning of a baile. (See Introd., p. 20.)

1. Ninoyolnonotza, a reflexive, frequentative form from notza, to think, to reflect, itself from the primitive radicle no, mind, common to both the Nahuatl and Maya languages. The syllable yol is for yollotl, heart, in its figurative sense of soul or mind. The combination of yolnonotza is not found in any of the dictionaries. The full sense is, "I am thinking by myself, in my heart."

ahuiaca, an adverbial form, usually means "pleasant-smelling," though in derivation it is from the verb ahuia, to be satisfied with.

quetzal, for quetzalli, a long, handsome blue feather from the quetzal bird, often used figuratively for anything beautiful or precious.

chalchiuh for chalchiuitl, the famous green-stone, jade or emerald, so highly prized by the Mexicans; often used figuratively for anything noble, beautiful and esteemed.

huitzitzicatin, a word not found in the dictionaries, appears to be from tzitzilca, to tremble, usually from cold, but here applied to the tremulous motion of the humming bird as it hovers over a flower.

zacuan, the yellow plumage of the zacuan bird, and from similarity of color here applied to the butterfly. The zacuan is known to ornithologists as the Oriolus dominicensis. These birds are remarkably gregarious, sometimes as many as a hundred nests being found in one tree (see Eduard Mühlenpfort, Versuch einer getreuen Schilderung der Republik Mexiko, Bd. I, p. 183).

acxoyatzinitzcanquauhtla; composed of acxoyatl, the wild laurel; tzinitzcan, the native name of the Trogon mexicanus, renowned for its beautiful plumage; quauhtli, a tree; and the place-ending tla, meaning abundance.

tlauquecholxochiquauhtla; composed of tlauquechol, the native name of the red, spoon-billed heron, Platalea ajaja; xochitl, flower; quauhtli, tree; and the place-ending tla.

tonameyotoc, the root is the verb tona, to shine, to be warm; tonatiuh, the sun; tonameyotl, a ray of the sun, etc. As warmth and sunlight are the conditions of growth and fertility, many derivatives from this root signify abundance, riches, etc.

mocehcemelquixtia; mo is the reflexive pronoun, 3d sing., often used impersonally; cehcemel, is a reduplicated form of the numeral ce, one; it conveys the sense of entire, whole, perfect, and is thus an interesting illustration of the tendency of the untutored mind to associate the idea of unity with the notion of perfection; quixtia is the compulsive form of quiza, to go forth.

onechittitique; 3d person plural, preterit, of the causative form of itta, to see; ittitia, to cause to see, to show; nech, me, accusative form of the pronoun.

nocuexanco; from cuexantli, the loose gown worn by the natives, extending from the waist to the knees. Articles were carried in it as in an apron; no-cuexan-co, my-gown-in, the terminal tli being dropped on suffixing the postposition.

tepilhuan; from pilli, boy, girl, child, young person, with the relative, indefinite, pronominal prefix te, and the pronominal plural termination huan, to take which, pilli drops its last syllable, li; hence, te-pil-huan, somebody's children, or in general, the young people. This word is of constant occurrence in the songs.

teteuctin, plural with reduplication of teuctli, a noble, a ruler, a lord. The singer addresses his audience by this respectful title.

2. ixochicuicatzini; i, poss. pron. 3d sing.; xochitl, flower; cuicatl, song; tzin, termination signifying reverence or affection; "their dear flower-songs."

yuhqui tepetl, etc. The echo in the Nahuatl tongue is called tepeyolotl, the heart or soul of the mountain (not in Simeon's Dictionnaire, but given by Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana, p. 202).

meyaquetzalatl; from meya, to flow slowly, to trickle; quetzalli, beautiful; atl, water.

xiuhtotoameyalli; the root xiuh meant originally green (or blue, as they were not distinguished apart); hence xiuitl, a leaf or plant, the green herbage; as where the Nahuas then were this was renewed annually, xiuitl came to mean a year; as a comet seems to have a bunch of fiery flames growing from it, this too was xiuitl, and a turquoise was called by the same term; in the present compound, it is employed adjectively; xiuh-totol, turquoise-bird, is the Guiaca cerulea, Linn.; ameyalli, from atl, water, meya, to trickle, and the noun ending.

mo-motla; to throw one's self, to dash one's self against something, etc.

centzontlatolli; literally," four hundred speeches." The numeral four hundred was employed, like the Greek "myriad," to express vaguely any extraordinary number. The term may be rendered "the myriad-voiced," and was the common name of the mocking-bird, called by ornithologists Turdus polyglottus, Calandria polyglotta, and Mimus polyglotta.

coyoltototl, literally, "the rattle-bird," so called from its peculiar notes (coyolli = a rattle), is one of the Tanegridae, probably the Piranga hepatica.

ayacachicahuactimani; composed of ayacachtli, the rattle (see ante, page 24); and icahuaca, to sing (of birds); to the theme of this verb is added the connective syllable ti, and the verb mani, which, in such connection, indicates that the action of the former verb is expended over a large surface, broadly and widely (see Olmos, Gram. de la Langue Nahuatl, p. 155, where, however, the connective ti is erroneously taken for the pronoun ti).

hueltetozcatemique; composed of huel, good or well; tetozca, from tozquitl, the singing voice; and temo, to let fall, to drop; que is the plural verbal termination.

3. ma n-amech-ellelti, vetative causative from elleloa, to cause pain.

cactimotlalique, appears to be a compound of caqui, to listen, to hear, and tlalia, to seat, to place.

amohuampotzitzinhuan, a compound based on the pronoun of the second person plural, amo, the particle po, which means similarity or likeness, and the reduplicated reverential plural termination. The same particle po, appears a few lines later in toquichpohuan; potli = comrade, compeer.

4. Tepeitic, from tepetl, mountain, ititl, belly, from which is derived the proposition itic, within, among. The term is applied to a ravine or sequestered valley.

5. quauhtliya ocelotl, the expression quauhtli, ocelotl, is of frequent occurrence in the ancient Nahuatl writers. The words mean literally "eagle, tiger." These were military titles applied to officers commanding small bodies of troops; figuratively, the words mean control, power, and dignity; also, bravery and virtue. Comp. Agustin de Vetancurt, Teatro Mexicano, Tratado II, cap. 3.

6. in tloque in nahuaque; this expression, applied by the ancient Nahuas to the highest divinity, is attributed by some to Nezahualcoyotl (see above, p. 36). It is composed of two postpositions tloc and nahaac, and in the form given conveys the meaning "to whom are present and in whom are immanent all things having life." See Agustin de la Rosa, Analisis de la Platica Mexicana sobre el Mislerio de la Santisima Trinidad, p. 11 (Guadalajara, 1871). The epithet was applied in heathen times to the supreme divinity Tonacateotl; see the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, in Kingsborough's Mexico, Vol. VI, p. 107.

8. ximoayan; this word does not appear in the dictionaries of Molina or Simeon, and is a proof, as is the sentiment of the whole verse, that the present poem belongs to a period previous to the Conquest. The term means "where all go to stay," and was the name of the principal realm of departed souls in the mythology of the ancient Nahuas. See Bartholome de Alva, Confessionario en Lengua Mexicana, fol. 13 (Mexico, 1634); Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana, cap. 55; D.G. Brinton; The Journey of the Soul (in Aztec and Aryan Myths), Philadelphia, 1883.

yhuintia, causative form of ihuinti, to make drunk. The Nirvana of the Nahuas was for the soul to lie in dense smoke and darkness, filled with utter content, and free from all impressions ("en lo profundo de contento y obscuridad," Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana, cap. 55).

On the signification of the titles given to this poem see the Introduction, § 3.

1. yehnan Dios; literally "who are God;" the introduction of the Spanish Dios, God, is in explanation of in tloque in nahuaque; so far from proving that this song is of late date, this vouches for its genuine ancient character, through the necessity for such explanation.

2. nelhuayotl, the essence or source of something, its true nature; probably from nelli, true.

teoquecholme; the prefix teotl, divine, is often added as an expression of admiration. Sahagun mentions the teoquechol as a bird of brilliant plumage.

The poet recalls a recent attendance on the obsequies of an acquaintance, and seeks to divert his mind from the gloomy contemplation of death and the ephemeral character of mortal joys by urging his friend to join in the pleasure of the hour, and by suggesting the probability of an after life.

1. xochicalco; compounded of xochitl, flower; calli, house; and the postposition, co. The term was applied to any room decorated with flowers; here, to the mortuary chamber, which Tezozomoc tells us was decked with roses and brilliant feathers.

ipalnemohuani, literally "the one by whom life exists." The composition is i, possessive pronoun, third person, singular; pal, postposition, by; nemoani, singular of the present in ni of the impersonal form of the verb nemi, to live, with the meaning to do habitually that which the verb expresses. It is an ancient epithet applied to the highest divinity, and is found in the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, Kingsborough's Mexico, Vol. VI, p. 128, note.

tolquatectitlan, from toloa, to lower, to bow; quatequia, to immerse the head; tlan, place ending. In the ancient funeral ceremonies the faces of the assistants were laved with holy water. On this rite see the note of Orozco y Berra to his edition of the Cronica Mexicana of Tezozomoc, p. 435 (Mexico, 1878).

xoyacaltitlan; from xoyaui, to spoil, to decay, whence xoyauhqui, rank, unpleasant, like the odor of decaying substances.

xochicopal tlenamactli, "the incense of sweet copal," which was burned in the funeral chamber (see Tezozomoc's description of the obsequies of Axayaca, Cron. Mex., cap. 55).

2. The translation of this verse offers some special difficulties.

A poem of unusually rich metaphors is presented, with the title "A Song of the Mexicans, after the manner of the Otomis." It is a rhapsody, in which the bard sings his "faculty divine," and describes the intoxication of the poetic inspiration. It has every inherent mark of antiquity, and its thought is free from any tincture of European influence.

2. miahuatototl, literally, "the corn-silk bird," miahua being the term applied to the silk or tassel of the maize ear when in the milk. I have not found its scientific designation.

6. poyomatl; the poyomatli is described by Sahagun (Hist. de la Nueva España, Lib. X, cap. 24) as a species of rose, portions of which were used to fill the cane tubes or pipes used for smoking. He names it along with certain fungi employed for the same purpose, and it probably produced a narcotic effect.

From the wording, this appears to be one of the lost songs of Nezahualcoyotl, either composed by him or sung before him. (See the Introduction, p. 35.) It is a funeral dirge, dwelling on the fact of universal and inevitable death, and the transitoriness of life. There is in it no hint of Christian consolation, no comfortable hope of happiness beyond the grave. Hence it dates, in all likelihood, from a period anterior to the arrival of the missionaries.

1. tonequimilol; I take this to be a derivative from quimiloa, to wrap up, especially, to shroud the dead, to wrap the corpse in its winding sheets, as was the custom of the ancient Mexicans. The word, however, seems an archaic form, as it does not lend itself readily to analysis.

The expression in Dios, I explain as in the note to II, 1, and do not consider that it detracts from the authentic antiquity of the poem.

2. yoyontzin; on the significance of this appellation of Nezahualcoyotl, see Introduction, p. 35.

3. ti Nezahualcoyotl; "thou Nezahualcoyotl." The princely poet may have addressed himself in this expression, or we may suppose the song was chanted before him.

5. Nopiltzin; the reference is to Quetzalcoatl, the famous "fair God" of the Nahuas, and in myth, the last ruler of the Toltecs. See D.G. Brinton, American Hero Myths (Philadelphia, 1882). The term means "my beloved Lord." On Tezozomoc, see Introduction, p. 35.

6. The text of the latter part or refrain of verses 5 and 6 is corrupt, and my translation is doubtful.

Most of the poems in this collection are not assigned to any author, but this, and apparently the one following, are recorded as the compositions of Tetlapan Quetzanitzin. He is evidently the personage spoken of by Sahagun as "King of Tlacopan," as present with Montezuma on the occasion of his first interview with Cortez. Later in the struggle Tetlapan appears as the associate of Quauhtemoctzin, the "King of Mexico." (See Sahagun, Hist. de la Nueva España, Lib. XII, cap. 16 and 40.) M. Rémi Simeon explains the name to mean "he who deceives the people by magic;" deriving it from quetza, he places; te, the people, tlepan, on the fire. A simpler derivation seems to me possible from tetlapanqui, miner, or quarryman (literally, stone-breaker), and quetzalli, red; quetzatzin, the lord or master of the miners.

Both this and the following are war songs, and have marked similarity in thought and wording. The introduction of the Spanish Dios was doubtless substituted by the scribe, for the name of some native god of war, perhaps Huitzilopochtli.

1. Aua; this word I take to be a form of the interjection yahue, or, as Olmos gives it in his Grammar, aa.

2. nepohualoyan; "the place of counting or reckoning," from pohua, to count. The reference is not clear, and the translation uncertain. In some parts of ancient Mexico they used in their accounting knotted cords of various colors, like the Peruvian quipus. These were called nepohualtzitzin.

4. This verse is remarkable for its sonorous phrases and the archaic forms of the words. Its translation offers considerable difficulty.

xontlachayan, I take to be an imperative form from tlachia, to look, with the euphonic on.

teoatl tlachinolli, literally "the divine water (i.e. blood), the burning," and the expression means war, battle. In one of his sermons Fray Juan Bautista describes the fall of Jericho in the words, otlaltitechya in altepetl teuatl tlachinolli ye opoliuh, and explains it, "the town was destroyed with fire and blood" (Sermones en Lengua Mexicana, p. 122). The word tlachinolli is from chinoa, to burn.

quetzalalpilo; a compound of quetzalli, a beautiful feather, and tlalpiloni, the band which passed around the head to keep the hair in place.

5. melchiquiuhticaya; "he who presented his breast," an imperfect, reflexive form. Molina gives melchiquiuh petlauhqui, with the translation despechugado. Vocabulario Mexicana, s.v.

The second specimen from the muse of Tetlapan Quetzanitzin is the noblest war song in the collection. It is an appeal to his friends to join in a foray to Chiapas. The intoxication of the battle field is compared to that produced by the strong white wine prepared from maguey, which was drunk only on solemn occasions. The bard likens the exhaustion of his fellow warriors from previous conflicts, to the stupor which follows a debauch, and he exhorts them to throw it aside.

1. oamaxque, o, pret. am, you, axque, 2d pl. pret. from ay, to do.

octicatl, apparently an old form from octli, the intoxicating beverage prepared from the maguey.

oanquique, 2d pl. pret. from cui, to take.

ohuican, a place of difficulty and danger. The frequent addition of the terminal o in this and the succeeding verses is merely euphonic.

2. teoatl tlachinolli; see note VI, 4.

in maquiztli tlazotetl, the beloved jewels, a phrase which indicates that the broken stones and splintered emeralds referred to are the young warriors who fall in battle, the pride of their parents' hearts, who are destroyed in the fight.

The tizaoctli, white wine (tizatl, chalk, hence white, and octli, wine), referred to in this passage, is said by Sahagun to have been drunk especially at the feast of the god Papaztac, one of the many gods of the wine cup. Hist. de Nueva España. Lib. II, App. Tezozomoc mentions it as handed to the mourners at funeral ceremonies. Cronica Mexicana, cap. 55.

3. xochitlalticpacilhtuicacpao; in this long compound of xochitl, flower, tlalti, earth, and ilhuicatl, sky, with various postpositions and the euphonic terminal o, the final pa gives the sense of location, towards, in the direction of.

chimalxochiti; "the shield flower," the shield or buckler of the ancient warriors, ornamented with tassels and feathers, is not unaptly called the flower of war.

The entire absence in this lament for the dead of any consolation drawn from Christian doctrines, points clearly to a date for its composition earlier than the teachings of the missionaries. Its cry of woe is hopeless, and the title attributes its authorship to one of the old chieftains, tlatoani, who held the power before the Spaniard arrived.

1. quetzalhuahuaciuhtoque, from quetzalli, huaqui; in teintoque, the splinters; the same simile is employed in VII, 2.

2. ximoayan, see note to I, 8. The occurrence of this term here and in verse 3 testifies to the fact of a composition outside of Christian influences.

The title does not necessarily mean that this song is a translation from the Otomi language, but merely that the time to which it was chanted was in the Otomi style; or, the term Otomi may have reference to the military officer so called. The word is perhaps a compound of otli, path, and mitl, arrow.

The bard sings the vanity of earthly pleasures, and the reality of earthly pains; he exhorts himself and his hearers not to neglect the duties of religion, and lauds his own skill in song, which he compares to the sweet voices of melodious birds. There is nothing in the poem which reflects European influence.

1. xotlacueponi; the meaning of this compound is obscure. It is not found in the dictionaries.

2. The terminal o is inserted several times in the passage to express emotion and fill the metre.

mixitl tlapatl. A phrase signifying the stupor or drunkenness that comes from swallowing or smoking narcotic plants. See Olmos, Grammaire de la Langue Nahuatl, pp. 223, 228; oquiqueo is from i, to drink, or cui, to take, the o terminal being euphonic.

The poet expresses his grief that his songs all dwell on painful topics; he exhorts his hearers of the vanity of fame and skill in handicrafts, and of the uncertainty of life; closing, he appeals especially to those of Tezcuco and Atecpan to listen and believe his warnings.

In spite of the introduction of the Spanish word Dios, and the exhortation to "believe," in the last line, it is possible that the substance of this song was due to purely native inspiration; yet it may have been, like Song XIX, one of those written at an early period for the converts by the missionaries.

In a similar strain as in the last poem, the bard bewails the briefness of human life and friendships. He closes with an appeal to the Master of Life, of whom no mortal tongue can speak in worthy and appropriate terms.

6. ihuiti, apparently a form of ihuintia.

tonan; the reference appears to be to Tonantzin, Our Mother, otherwise known as Cihuacoatl, the Serpent Woman. She was the mythical mother of the human race, and dispensed afflictions and adverse fortune. See Sahagun, Hist. de la Nueva España, Lib. I, cap. 6. The name is a proof of the antiquity of the poem, which is throughout in the spirit of the ancient religion.

As stated in the Introduction (§ 10), a note prefixed to this song introduces it as a translation from the Otomi into the Nahuatl tongue. It admirably illustrates the poetic flexibility of the Nahuatl.

3. epoyhuayan, from epoalli, sixty; teoquauhtli ocelott, "divine eagles, tigers." These terms refer to the warriors bearing these titles.

tlazomaquiztetl, "beloved, precious stones," a figure of speech referring to the youths who go to war. The same or similar metaphors are used in previous songs.

5. The fifth and sixth verses present serious difficulties of construction which I do not flatter myself I have overcome.

The inhabitants of Huexotzinco were in frequent strife with those of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, and on various occasions the latter captured many prisoners. The present poem is represented to be a composition of one of these prisoners when he and his companions were confined in Tlatilolco, one of the suburbs of Tenochtitlan. It breathes hatred against his captors and an ardent thirst for vengeance. The latest date at which I find captives from Huexotzinco detained in Mexico is 1511, and it is to this year, therefore, that I assign the composition of the poem.

5. Atloyantepetl; this name possibly means "the mountain of the place of the water-falcons" (atl, water; tlatli, falcon; yan, place-ending; tepetl, mountain). I have not found it in other writers. (See Index.)

8. tlaylotlaqui; Siméon, on the authority of Aubin, explains this term as the name of a tribe living near Tezcuco. In derivation it appears to be a term of contempt, "workers in filth or refuse," scum, offscourings. It also appears in Song XV.

10. The construction of this verse is so obscure, or the text so imperfect, that the translation is doubtful.

This poem, chanted in 1551 before the Governor of Azcapotzalco, by Francisco Placido, a native of Huexotzinco, is a Christian song in the style and metre of the ancient poetry. See the Introduction, p. 51.

1. impetlatl; the ordinary meaning of petlatl is a mat or rug; it is here to be taken in its figurative sense of power or authority, chiefs and other prominent persons being provided with mats at the councils, etc.

This extremely difficult composition seems to be a war song, in which the bard refers to the traditional history of the Nahuas, names some of their most prominent warriors, and incites his hearers to deeds of prowess on the battle field. I do not claim for my version more than a general correspondence to the thought of the original. In several parts, especially verse 18, the text is obviously defective.

1. tzihuactitlan; "the land of the tzihuac bushes." The tzihuactli is a small kind of maguey which grows in rocky localities. The tenth edifice of the great temple at Tenochtitlan was a wall surrounding an artificial rockery planted with these bushes. Sahagun, who mentions this fact, adds that the name of this edifice was Teotlalpan, which literally means "on holy ground." (Hist. de la Nueva España, Lib. II, App.) The mizquitl is the common Mimosa circinalis.

Chicomoztoc; "at the Seven Caves," a famous locality in Mexican legend, and the supposed birthplace of their race.

2. Colhuacan is probably for Acolhuacan; the early rulers of the latter were of the blood of the Chichimec chiefs of the Tepanecas.

4. Hueytlalpan, "at the ancient land," perhaps for Huetlapallan, a 1ocality often referred to in the migration myths of the Nahuas.

5. Atloyan; see note to XIII, 6.

9. The ceiba and cypress trees were employed figuratively to indicate protection and safeguard. See Olmos, Gram. de la Langue Nahuatl, p. 211.

12. On tlailotlaqui, see note to XIII, 8. The interjectional appendages to this and the following verse are increased.

15. Tepeyacan was the name of a mountain on which before the Conquest was a temple dedicated to the "Mother of our Life," Tonantzin.

16. tlapalcayocan, "the place of shards," of broken pieces, i.e., the field of battle.

19. The word totomihuacan, which has already occurred in vv. 3 and 7, I have translated as referring to the war captains of the Mexican armies, called otomi (see Bandelier, On the Art of War of the Ancient Mexicans, p. 117). I am quite open for correction however.

27. in ipetl icpal; in a translation of an ancient song, Ixtlilxochitl renders the expression in ipetl icpal in teotl, "en el trono y tribunal de Dios," Historia Chichimeca, cap. 32.

29. Mictlan; the place of departed souls in Aztec mythology.

In this stirring war-song, the poet reproaches his friends for their lukewarmness in the love of battle. He reminds them that life is transitory, and the dead rise not again, and that the greatest joy of the brave is on the ringing field of fray where warriors win renown. It is in the spirit of the Scotch harper:—

"'Twere worth ten years of peaceful life,

One hour of such a day."

1. Each verse terminates with an interjectional refrain. The frequent introduction of the particle on is intended to add strength and gravity to the oration.

2. oppan piltihua. Compare this expression with that in v. 22, p. 44.

3. xochimicohuayan, should perhaps be translated, "where the captives to be immolated to the Gods are taken." The xochimique, "those destined to a flowery death" were the captives who were reserved for sacrifice to the gods. See Joan Bautista, Sermonario en Lengua Mexicana, p. 180.

4. yaoxochimiquiztica, "pertaining to the slaughter of the flowery war." This adjective refers to the peculiar institution of the "flowery war," guerra florida, which obtained among the ancient Mexicans. It appears to have been a contest without provocation, and merely for the display of prowess and to take captives to supply the demand for human sacrifices in the religious rites. On this see Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana, cap. 96.

In this long fragment—the closing strophes are missing in my MS.—the bard represents himself as a stranger appearing before the nobles of Huexotzinco at some festival. The first two verses appear to be addressed to him by the nobles. They ask him to bring forth his drum and sing. He begins with a laudation of the power of music, proceeds to praise the noble company present, and touches those regretful chords, so common in the Nahuatl poetry, which hint at the ephemeral nature of all joy and the certainty of death and oblivion. An appeal is made to the Master of Life who inspires the soul of the poet, and whose praises should be ever in mind.

The words Dios and angelotin, in verse 26th, indicate that the poem has received some "recension" by the Spanish copyist; but the general tone impresses me as quite aboriginal in character.

2. quauhtlocelotl, see note to I, 5.

3. In this verse, as frequently elsewhere, the syllable ya is introduced merely to complete the metre. Ordinarily it is the sign of the imperfect tense, and has other meanings (see the Vocabulary), but in many instances does not admit of translation.

8. noncoati, for ni-on-coatl, I am a guest.

18. The references in this verse are obscure, and I doubt if I have solved them.

20. "The house of spring;" compare the expression in v. 1, of Nezahualcoyotl's song, p. 42.

21. A long oration of Xicontecatl, lord of Tizatlan, may be found in Clavigero, Hist. Antica di Messico, Tom. III, p. 40. The expression in camaxochitzin, from camatl, mouth, xochitl, rose, flower, and the reverential tzin, is noteworthy.

24. petlacoatl, the centipede or scolopender; from petlatl, mat, and coatl, serpent, as they are said to intertwine with each other, like the threads of a mat (Sahagun, Lib. XII, cap. 4).

At this portion of the MS. several poems are preceded by a line of syllables indicating their accompaniment on the teponaztli (see Introduction, p. 32).

The present number is one of the most noteworthy songs of the collection. It belongs to the ancient cyclus of Quetzalcoatl myths, and gives a brief relation of the destruction of Tollan and the departure and disappearance of the Light God, Quetzalcoatl Ce Acatl. As I have elsewhere collated this typical myth at length, and interpreted it according to the tenets of modern mythologic science, I shall not dwell upon it here (see D.G. Brinton, American Hero Myths, Phila., 1882).

The text of the poem is quite archaic, and presents many difficulties. But my translation, I think, gives the general sense correctly.

1. huapalcalli; literally, "the house constructed of beams." This name was applied to the chief temple of the Toltecs; the ruins of an ancient structure at Tollantzinco were pointed out at the time of the Conquest as those of this building (see Sahagun, Hist. de la Nueva España, Lib. X, cap. 29).

coatlaquetzalli; this edifice, said to have been left incomplete by Quetzalcoatl, when he forsook Tollan, had pillars in the form of a serpent, the head at the base, the tail at the top of the pillar. (See Orozco y Berra, Hist. Antigua de Mexico, Tom. III, pp. 30 and 46.) The structure is mentioned as follows in the Anales de Cuauhtitlan:—

Auh iniquac nemia Quetzalcoatl quitzintica, quipeuahtica iteocal quimaman coatlaquetzali ihuan amo quitzonquixti, amo quipantlaz."

"And when Quetzalcoatl was living, he began and commenced the temple of his which is the Coatlaquetzali (Serpent Plumes), and he did not finish it, he did not fully erect it."

Nacxitl Topiltzin, "Our Lord the four-footed." Nacxitl appears to have been the name of Quetzalcoatl, in his position as lord of the merchants. Compare Sahagun, ubi supra, Lib. I, cap. 19.

2. Poyauhtecatl, a volcano near Orizaba, mentioned by Sahagun. Acallan, a province bordering on the Laguna de los Terminos. The myth reported that Quetzalcoatl journeyed to the shores of the Gulf about the isthmus of Tehuantepec and there disappeared.

3. Nonohualco; the reference is to the cerro de Nonoalco, which plays a part in the Quetzalcoatl myth. The words of the song are almost those of Tezcatlipoca when he is introduced to Quetzalcoatl. Asked whence he came, he replied, "Nihuitz in Nonohualcatepetl itzintla, etc." (Anales de Cuauhtitlan).

4. The occurrences alluded to are the marvels performed by Quetzalcoatl on his journey from Tulan. See my American Hero Myths, p. 115.

5. The departure of Quetzalcoatl was because he was ordered to repair to Tlapallan, supposed to be beyond Xicalanco.

8. quinti, for iquintia; the reference is to the magic draught given Quetzalcoatl by Tezcatlipoca.

9. In tetl, in quahuitl; literally, "stone and stick;" a very common phrase in Nahautl, to signify misfortunes.

In this song we have avowedly a specimen of an early chant prepared probably by Bishop Zummarraga for the native converts. The accompaniment on the teponaztli is marked at the beginning. The language is noticeably different from the hymn to Quetzalcoatl just given (XVIII).

Another song of the antique Quetzalcoatl cyclus. It bewails the loss of Tulan, and the bard seeks in vain for any joyous theme to inspire his melody, reflecting on all that has bloomed in glory and now is gone forever.

3. Tetl-quahitl; see note to XVIII, 9.

The occurrence to which this poem alludes took place about the year 1507. The chroniclers state that it was in the early period of the reign of Montezuma II, that the natives of Huexotzinco, at that time allies of the Mexicans, were severely harassed by the Tlascallans, and applied, not in vain, to their powerful suzerain to aid them. (See Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana, cap. 97.)

The poet does not appear to make a direct petition, but indirectly praises the grandeur of Montezuma and expresses his own ardent love for his native Huexotzinco. The song would appear to be used as a delicate prelude to the more serious negotiations. It is one of the few historical songs in the collection. From the references in verses 1 and 3 we infer that this singer held in his hand the painted book from which he recited the couplets. This may explain the presentation of the piece.

1. huetzcani; one who laughs, a jester, perhaps the designation of one who sang cheerful songs.

chalchiuhatlaquiquizcopa; a. word of difficult analysis. I suspect an omission of an l, and that the compound includes tlaquilqui, one who fastens and puts together, a mason, etc.

5. The sense is that the warriors of Montezuma when on the field of battle, shine in their deeds like beautiful flowers in a field, and win lasting fame by their exploits.

mopopoyauhtoc. The grammarian Olmos explains the reflexive verb mopopoyauhtiuh to signify "he leaves an honored memory of his exploits." See Siméon, Dictionaire de la Langue Nahuatl, sub voce.

7. Huexotzinco atzalan; "Huexotzinco amid the waters." This expression, repeated in verse 8, appears inappropriate to the town of Huexotzinco, which lies inland. In fact, the description in verse 7 applies to Tenochtitlan rather than the singer's own town. But the text does not admit this translation. Perhaps we should read "Huexotzinco and Atzalan," as there are yet two villages of that name in the state of Puebla (which embraced part of ancient Huexotzinco).

10. petiatolini, I have derived from petlatl, suspecting an error in transcription. The reference is to the rushes in the mat on which the singer stood.

The ordinary sad burden of the Nahuatl poets is repeated with emphasis in this plaint. It is a variation of the Epicurean advice, "Eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow we die." Both the sentiment and the reference to Mictlan in verse 7, point it out as a production uninfluenced by Christian teaching.

7. The word ahuicaloyan, place of sweetness, would seem to be identical with ohuicaloyan, place of difficulty, in v. 8; I have regarded the latter as an error of transcription.

Although No. V. is probably one of the lost songs of Nezahualcoyotl, the present is the only one of the collection which is definitely attributed to him. The language is very archaic, and in the sentiment there is every mark of antiquity.

The text is apparently a dialogue, which was chanted as strophe and antistrophe, the one singer speaking for the King, the other for the bard himself.

The word teotl is used for divinity, and it is doubtless this word for which the copyists of some of the other songs have substituted the Spanish Dios, thus conveying an impression that the chants themselves were of late date.

The last verse, however, seems to be by one who lives after the time of the great poet-prince, and is calling him to memory.

It will be seen that there is a wearisome sameness in the theme of most of the short poems. Probably the bards followed conventional models, and feared for the popularity of their products, did they seek originality. Here again are the same delight in flowers and songs, and the same grief at the thought that all such joys are evanescent and that soon "death closes all."

I consider the poem one of undoubted antiquity and purely native in thought and language.

The destruction of the Mexican state was heralded by a series of omens and prodigies which took place at various times during the ten years preceding the arrival of Cortes. They are carefully recorded by Sahagun, in the first chapter of the 12th book of his history. They included a comet, or "smoking star," as these were called in Nahuatl, and a bright flame in the East and Southeast, over the mountains, visible from midnight to daylight, for a year. This latter occurred in 1509. The song before us is a boding chant, referring to such prognostics, and drawing from them the inference that the existence of Mexico was doomed. It was probably from just such songs that Sahagun derived his information.

1. toztliyan, I suppose from tozquitl, the singing voice, in the locative; literally, "the quechol in the place of sweet-singing."

2. iquiapan, from i, possessive prefix, quiauatl, door, entrance, house, pan, in.

5. An obscure verse; tequantepec, appears to be a textual error; tequani, a ravenous beast, from qua to eat; tepec, a mountain; but tequantepehua occurring twice later in the poem induces the belief tequani should be taken in its figurative sense of affliction, destruction, and that tepec is an old verbal form.

7. Xochitecatl, "one who cares for flowers," is said by Sahagun to have been the name applied to a woman doomed to sacrifice to the divinities of the mountains (Hist. Nueva España, Lib. II, cap. 13).

8. amaxtecatl, or amoxtecatl, as the MS. may read, from amoxtli, a book.

This seems to be a song of victory to celebrate an attack upon Atlixco by the ruler of Tezcuco, the famous Nezahualpilli. This monarch died in 1516, and therefore the song must antedate this period, if it is genuine. It has every intrinsic evidence of antiquity, and I think may justly be classed among those preserved from a time anterior to the Conquest. According to the chronologies preserved, the attack of Nezahualpilli upon Atlixco was in the year XI tochtli, which corresponds to 1490, two years before the discovery by Columbus (see Orozco y Berra, Hist. Antigua de Mexico, Tom. III, p. 399).

My MS. closes with a Christian song in the style of the ancient poetry. It is valuable as indicating the linguistic differences between these later productions of the sixteenth century and those earlier ones, such as XXVI, which I have not hesitated to assign to an epoch before the Spaniards landed upon the shores of New Spain.

The Roman numerals refer to the songs, the Arabic to the verses, in which the word occurs. Abbreviations: lit., literally; ref., reflexive; pret., preterit; rev., reverential; freq., frequentative; post., postposition; Span., a Spanish word.

A, adv. No, not, in comp.

A, n. For atl, water, in comp.; as acalli, water-house, i.e., a boat.

A, interj. Oh! ah! placed after the word on which stress is laid.

AC, pron., interj. Who?

ACA, pron. Some, any; somebody.

ACALLI, n. A boat, of any kind.

ACH, dubitative particle. Indeed? is it not? etc.

ACHITZINCA, adv. A little while, a short time.

ACHQUEN, adv. At what time? When?

ACI, v. To reach, to acquire.

ACOHUETZI, v. To console, to make glad. I, 3.

ACOQUIZA, v. To lift up, to raise, to increase in dignity or power.

ACOTLAZA, v. To console.

ACXOYATL, n. The wild laurel.

AHAUIA, v. To rejoice, take pleasure in; freq. of ahuia.

AHUACHIA, v. To wet one's self, to bathe. VII, 4.

AHUACHTLI, n. Dew, moisture.

AHUEHUETL, n. The cypress tree; Cupressus disticha.

AHUIA, v. To rejoice, to be joyful.

AHUIAC, adj. Agreeable, pleasant, sweet.

AHUIAN, adj. Content, satisfied.

AHUICPA, adv. From one place to another. III, 3.

AIC, adv. Never.

ALTEPETL, n. Town, city, citadel.

AMECH, pron. ret. You, to you.

AMEYALLI, n. A fountain, a stream; lit., flowing water.