ACALLAN, 105. "The place of boats," fromacalli, boat. An ancient province at the mouth of the Usumacinta river; but the name was probably applied to other localities also.
ACATLAPAN, 41. A village southeast of Chalco. Fromacatla, a place of reeds, andpan, in or at.
ACHALCHIUHTLANEXTIN, 46. The first chief of the Toltecs; another form ofchalchiuhtonac. Both names mean "the gleam of the precious jade." Compare Torquemada,Monarquia Indiana. Lib. III., cap. 7; Orozco y Berra,Hist. Antigua de Mexico, Tom. III., p. 42. The date of the beginning of his reign is put at A.D. 667 or 700.
ACOLHUACAN, 40, 91, 119. A compound ofatl, water, andcolhuacan, (q. v.) = "Colhuacan by the water," the name of the state of which Tetzcuco was the capital, in the valley of Mexico.
ACOLMIZTLAN, 89, from
ACOLMIZTLI, 35. A name of Nezahualcoyotl (see p. 35), also of other warriors.
ANAHUAC, 125. Fromatl, water,nahuac, by, = the land by the water. The term was applied first to the land by the lakes in the Valley of Mexico, and later to that along both the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean.
ATECPAN, 77. "The royal residence by the water" (atl, tecpan). I do not find this locality mentioned elsewhere.
ATLIXCO, 125. "Where the water shows its face" (atl, ixtli, co). A locality southeast of Tezcuco, near the lake, so called from a large spring. See Motolinia,Historia de los Indios, Trat. III, cap. 18.
ATLOYANTEPETL, 85, 89, 91. Perhaps foratlauantepetl, "the mountain that rules the waters." But see note to XIII, v. 6.
ATZALAN, 114. "Amid the waters" (atl, tzalan). Perhaps not a proper name; but two villages in the present State of Puebla are called Atzala (see Orozco y Berra,Geografia de las Lenguas de Mexico, pp. 212, 213).
AXAXACATZIN, 43. Probably foraxayacatzin, reverential ofaxayacatl, the name of a species of marsh fly. It was also the name of the sixth ruler of Mexico (flor. about 1500), and doubtless of other distinguished persons. See Ixtlilxochitl,Historia Chichimeca, cap. 51.
AZCAPOTZALCO, 50, 51. An ancient town in the valley of Mexico, once the capital city of the Tepanecas (q. v.). The word means "place of the ant-hills," fromazcaputzalli.
AZTECS, 25. A Nahuatl tribe who derived their name from their mythical ancient home, Aztlan. The derivation is obscure, but probably is from the same radical asiztac, white, and, therefore, Father Duran was right in translating Aztlan, "place of whiteness," the reference being to the East, whence the Aztecs claim to have come. See Duran,Historia de las Indias, cap. II.
CACAMATL, 94, 95. The reference appears to be to Cacamatzin (theNoble Sad One, fromcacamaua, fig. to be sad), last ruler of Tezcuco, son and successor, in 1516, of Nezahualpilli. He was put to death by Cortes.
CATOCIH, 89. A doubtful word, which may not be a proper name.
CHALCO, 16, 69, 95. A town and lake in the valley of Mexico. The people were Nahuas and subject to Mexico. The word is probably derived fromChalli, with the postpos.co, meaning "at the mouth" (of a river). See Buschmann,Ueber die Aztekischen Ortsnamen, s. 689, and comp.Codex Ramirez, p. 18.
CHIAPA, CHIAPANECA, 70, 71. The province and inhabitants of Chiapas, in Southern Mexico. There were colonies of Nahuas in Chiapas, though most of the natives spoke other tongues. The derivation is probably fromchia, a mucilaginous seed highly esteemed in Mexico.
CHICHIMECATL or CHICHIMECS, 88, 89, 91, 101. A rude hunting tribe, speaking Nahuatl, who settled, in early times, in the valley of Mexico. The name was said to be derived fromchichi, a dog, on account of their devotion to hunting (Cod. Ramirez). Others say it was that of their first chieftain.
CHICOMOZTOC, 88, 89. "At the seven caves," the name of the mythical locality from which the seven Nahuatl tribes derived their origin. TheCodex Ramirezexplains the seven caves to mean the seven houses or lineages (totems) of which the nation consisted.
CHILILITLI, 36. Name of a tower of sacred import. It is apparently a compound ofchiaorchielia, to watch, andtlilli, blackness, obscurity, hence "a night watch-tower." It was probably used for the study of the sky at night.
CHIMALPOPOCA, 43. "The smoking shield," fromchimalli, shield, andpopoca. The name of several distinguished warriors and rulers in ancient Mexico.
CHOLULA or CHOLOLLAN, 105. Name of a celebrated ancient state and city. Fromcholoa, with the probable meaning, "place of refuge," "place of the fugitives."
CIHUAPAN, 41. Name of a warrior, otherwise unknown. Fromcihuatl, woman,pan, among, with.
COATZITEUCTLI, 89. A name compound ofcoatzin, reverential form ofcoatl, serpent, andteuctli, lord.
COLHUA, A people of Nahuatl affinity, who dwelt in ancient times in the valley of Mexico. SeeColhuacan.
COLHUACAN, 88, 89, 91. A town in the valley of Mexico. In spite of the arguments to the contrary, I believe the Colhua were of Nahuatl lineage, and that the name is derived fromcolli, ancestor;colhuacan, the residence of the ancestors; with this signification, it was applied to many localities. It must be distinguished fromAcolhuacan. Its ikonomatic symbol was a hill bent over at the top, fromcoloa, to bend.
COLZAZTLI, 39. Probably for Coltzatztli, one who cries out or calls to the ancestors (colli, tzatzia). A chief whom I have not found elsewhere mentioned.
CONAHUATZIN, 41. A warrior not elsewhere mentioned. By derivation it means "noble son of the lord of the water" (conetl, ahua, tzin).
CUETZPALTZIN, 89. A proper name, fromcuetzpalli, the 4th day of the month.
CUEXTLA, 33. A province of ancient Mexico. See Torquemada,Monarquia Indiana. Lib. II, caps. 53, 56.
CULTEPEC, 42. A village five leagues from Tezcuco, at the foot of the mountains. Deriv.,colli, ancestor,tepetl, mountain or town, with post-pos.c; "at the town of the ancestors."
HUETLALPAN or HUETLAPALLAN, 89. The original seat of the mythical Toltecs. The name is a compound ofhue, old, andTlapallan, q. v.
HUEXOTZINCO, 50, 83, 91, 99, 113. An independent State of ancient Anahuac, south of Tlascala and west of Cholula. The name means "at the little willow woods," being a diminutive fromhuexatla, place of willows.
HUITLALOTZIN, 89. Fromhuitlallotl, a species of bird, with the reverential termination. Name of a warrior.
HUITZILAPOCHTLI, 16. Tribal god of the Mexicans of Tenochtitlan. The name is usually derived fromhuitzitzilin, humming bird, andopochtli, left (Cod. Ramirez, p. 22), but more correctly fromhuitztli, the south,iloa, to turn,opochtli, the left hand, "the left hand turned toward the south," as this god directed the wanderings of the Mexicans southward. The humming bird was used as the "ikonomatic" symbol of the name.
HUITZILIHUITL, 89. "Humming-bird feather." Name of an ancient ruler of Mexico, and of other warriors.
HUITZNAHUACATL, 91. A ruler of Huexotlan (Clavigero); a member of the Huitznahua, residents of the quarters so called in Tezcuco and Tenochtitlan (Ixtlilxochitl,Hist. Chichimeca, cap. 38).
IXTLILXOCHITL, 35, 46, 89. A ruler of Acolhuacan, father of Nezahualcoyotl. Comp.ixtli, face,tlilxochitl, the vanilla (literally, the black flower).
IZTACCOYOTL, 89, 93. "The white wolf." Name of a warrior otherwise unknown.
MEXICANS, 67, 83, 85, 87, 123, 125. See
MEXICO, 83, 123. Name of the town and state otherwise called Tenochtitlan.Mexitlwas one of the names of the national god Huitzilopochtli, and Mexico means "the place of Mexitl," indicating that the city was originally called from a fane of the god.
MICTLAN, 95, 117, 119. The Mexican Hades, literally, "the place of the dead."
MONTEZUMA, 14, 41, 113. The name of the ruler of Mexico on the arrival of Cortes. The proper form isMoteuhzomatzinorMotecuhzomatzin, and the meaning, "he who is angry in a noble manner." ("señor sañudo,"Cod. Ramirez, p. 72; "qui se fache en seigneur," Siméon,Dict. de la Langue Nahuatl, s. v.).
MOQUIHUIX, 33. The fourth ruler of Tlatilolco. He assumed the power in 1441, according to some writers (Bustamente,Tezcoco, en los Ultimas Tiempos de sus Antiguos Reyes, p. 269). The name probably means "He who comes forth a freeman." See Ixtlilxochitl,Historia Chichimeca, caps. 36, 51.
NACXITL TOPILTZIN, 105, 107. Nacxitl, "the four footed" (nahui, ixitl), was the name of one of the gods of the merchants (Sahagun,Hist, de Nueva España, Lib. I, c. 19). In the song it is applied to Quetzalcoatl, who was also regarded as a guardian of merchants.
NAHUATL, (9, etc.). A term applied to the language otherwise known as Aztec or Mexican. As an adjective it means "well-sounding," or, pleasant to the ear. From this, the termNahuais used collectively for all tribes who spoke the Nahuatl tongue.Nahuatlalso means clever, skillful, and the derivation is probably from the rootna, to know.
NECAXECMITL, 46. Name of uncertain meaning of a person otherwise unknown.
NEZAHUALCOYOTL, 35, 67, 119. Chief of the Acolhuas, and ruler in Tezcuco from 1427 to 1472, or thereabouts. He was a distinguished patron of the arts and a celebrated poet. See p. 35, et seq.
NEZAHUALPILLI, or NEZAHUALPIZINTLI, 14, 125. Ruler of Acolhuacan, son of Nezahualcoyotl. His accession is dated in 1470 or 1472.
NONOHUALCO, 105, 125. Name of one of the quarters of the ancient city of Mexico; also of a mountain west of the valley of Mexico. The derivation is probably fromonoc, to lie down;onohua, to sleep;onohuayan, a settled spot, an inhabited place. Thecois a postposition.
NOPAL or NOPALTZIN, 46. Ruler of Acolhuacan, A. D. 1260-1263, according to some chronologies. The name is fromnopalli, the cactus or opuntia.
NOPILTZIN, 67, 91. "My son," or "my lord," a term of deference applied to superiors, frompilli, which means son and also lord, like the old Englishchild. Cf.Topiltzin.
OTOMIS, 16, 49, 58, 64, 71, 95. A nation which inhabited a portion of the valley of Mexico and region adjacent, entirely dissimilar in language and appearance from the Nahuas. The etymologies suggested are unsatisfactory.
POPOCATEPETL, 46. "The smoking mountain," the name of a famous volcano rising from the valley of Mexico.
POYAUHTECATL, 105. A volcano near Orizaba (Sahagun.Hist. de Nueva España, Lib. I, cap. 21). Derived frompoyaua, to color, to brighten.
QUANTZINTECOMATZIN, 41. A warrior not otherwise known. The name is a double reverential, fromquani, eater, andtecomatl, vase, "The noble eater from the royal dish."
QUAUHQUECHOLLAN, 95. A village and plain near the southern base of Popocatepetl. It means "the place of the quechol woods," or the trees among which quechol birds are found. See Motolinia,Historia de los Indios, Trat. III, cap. 18.
QUAUHXILOTL, 89. Name of a large tree, and applied to a warrior, ruler of Iztapallocan, whom Ixtlilxochitl, King of Tezcuco, placed at the head of his troops in his war with Tezozomoc. See Clavigero,Storia Antica di Messico, Tom. I, p. 185.
QUETZALCOATL, 32, 143, 144. See note on p. 143.
QUETZALMAMATZIN, 91. Name of a warrior, "the noble one of the beautiful hands" (quetzalli, mama, pl. ofmaitl, and rev. term,tzin). Perhaps the same as Quetzalmemalitzin, ruler of Teotihuacan, mentioned by Ixtlilxochitl,Historia Chichimeca, cap. 35.
QUIAUHTZIN, 93. Name of a warrior, "The noble rain" (quiauitl, tziri).
TENOCHTITLAN, 85. The current name for the City of Mexico; literally, "at the stone-nopal," fromtetl, stone,nochtli, nopal, and postpos.,tlan. The term refers to an ancient tradition.
TEPANECAS or TECPANECAS, 35. A powerful nation of Nahuatl lineage, who dwelt in the valley of Mexico. They were destroyed in 1425 by the Acolhuas and Mexicans, and later the state of Tlacopan was formed from their remnants. Comp. probably fromtecpan, a royal residence, with the gentile termination.
TEPEYACAC, TEPEYACAN, 93. Fromtepetl, mountain,yacatl, nose, point, and postpos,c. 1. A small mountain on which the celebrated church of the Virgin of Guadalupe now stands. 2. A large town and state subject to ancient Mexico, now Tepeaca in the province of Puebla.
TETLAPAN QUETZANITZIN, 68, 69. A ruler of Tlatilolco, contemporary of the conquest. See Note to Song VI.
TETZCOCO, now TEZCUCO, 14, 35, 36, 77. Capital city of Acolhuacan, and residence of Nezahualcoyotl. It has been called "the Athens of Anahuac." The derivation of the name is from a plant calledtetzculli(Cod. Ramirez).
TEZOZOMOC, TEZOZOMOCTLI, 35, 39, 67, 88, 89. A ruler of the Tepanecas, celebrated for his warlike skill and severity. His death is placed in the year 1427. The name, like Montezuma, is derived fromzoma, to be angry, in this case from the reduplicated frequentative form,zozoma.
TIZATLAN, 103. "The place of white varnish" (tizatl), the name of one of the four quarters of the city of Tlascala.
TLACOMIHUATZIN, 93. "The noble cousin of the lynx" (tlacomiztli, lynx, huan, postpos., denoting affinity,tzin, reverential). The name of a warrior.
TLACOPAN, now TACUBA, 135. A small state west of Mexico and subject to it, built up on the ruins of the ancient Tepanecas. Comp. fromtlacotli, a slave.
TLAHUICAN, 118. A Nahuatl province south of the valley of Mexico, so called from the cinnabar,tlahuitl, there obtained (Buschmann; but theCod. Ramirezgives the meaning "toward the earth," fromtlalliandhuic). [*Transcriber's note: TLAHUICAN not found in text. See Tlahuica in Vocabulary.]
TLAILOTLACAN, 140. One of the seven divisions of the city of Tezcuco (Ixtlilxochitl,Hist. Chichimeca, cap. 38). [*Transcriber's note: TLAILOTLACAN not found in text.]
TLAILOTLAQUI, 84. Literally, "workers in refuse," or "scavengers." Said by M. Aubin to have been a tribe who settled in Tezcuco in the reign of Quinantzin. The term is apparently one of contempt. [*Transcriber's note: TLAILOTLAQUI not found on page 84 in text. See Tlailotlaqui in Vocabulary.]
TLALMANALCO, 42. A village near the foot of the volcano Popocatepetl. Derived fromtlalmanalli, level ground, with postpos.co.
TLALNAHUACATL, 89. "Dweller on the land;" name of a warrior.
TLALOC, 45. God of rain and the waters; a famous divinity among the ancient Mexicans. The word means "stretched on the earth," and the idol of the god represented a man extended on his back holding a vase.
TLAPALLAN, 105. A mythical land from which the Toltecs were fabled to have come and to which Quetzalcoatl returned. The derivation is fromtlapalli, color, especially red.
TLATETOLCO, TLATILULCO, 33, 83, 85. A suburb of the ancient city of Mexico, founded in 1338; fromtlatelli, a mound,ololoa, to make round, the sense being "an island." See Motolinia,Historia de los Indios, Trat. III, cap. 7.
TLAXCALLAN, now TLASCALA, 89, 93, 103. "The place of bread," fromtlaxcalli, bread. Site of a warlike tribe of Nahuatl descent, east of the valley of Mexico.
TLATZIN, 46. Chief of a town of the Chichimecs, situated on Lake Chalco. He flourished toward the close of the 14th century. Fromtlatli, a falcon.
TOCHIN, 89. Fromtochtli, rabbit; name of the brother of the Tezcucan ruler Quinantzin, and of many other personages.
TOLLAN, or TULAN, 46, 105, 107. The ancient mythical capital of the Toltecs. The common derivation fromtolin, a rush, is erroneous. The name is a syncopated form oftonatlan, "the place of the sun."
TOLTEC, properly TOLTECATL, 46, 111. An inhabitant of Tollan. The Toltecs were a mythical people, whose civilization was supposed to have preceded that of the Aztecs.
TOPILTZIN, 46, 105. "Our son" or "Our lord" (see Nopiltzin). The term was especially applied to Quetzalcoatl, q. v. See Orozco y Berra,Hist. Antig. de Mexico, Tom. III, p. 54.
TOTOQUILHUATLI, 41. Fromtotoquilia, to act as agent or lieutenant. Ruler of Tlacopan. The verse of the song in which this name occurs is given in the original Nahuatl by Ixtlilxochitl, who says it was very popular throughout New Spain. See hisHistoria Chichimeca, cap. 32.
XICALANCO, 107. A locality on the borders of the province Tabasco. The people spoke Nahuatl. Deriv.xicalli, gourd or jar, and postpos.co.
XICOMATZINTLAMATA, 43. Name of a warrior not otherwise known. The compound seems to mean "skillful with angry hand" (xicoa, maitl, tlamati).
XICONTECATL, 103. Name of several distinguished Tlascalan warriors, lords of Tizatlan. See Clavigero,Hist. Antica di Messico, Tom. III, pp. 38 and 40, One was a favorite of Nezahualcoyotl. See Ixtlilxochitl,Historia Chichimeca, cap. 40.
XIUHTEUCTLI, 15. The god of fire, literally, "the lord of the year," or "of the foliage."
XIUHTZAL, 46. A queen of ancient Tollan, said by Clavigero to have ruled from A. D. 979 to 984. Other writers give the name more correctly Xiuhtlaltzin, "Lady of the Green Fields," and place her death in 987. (Orozco y Berra,Hist. Antig. de Mexico, Tom. III, p. 45.)
XOLOTL, 46. An early if not the first king of the Chichimecs. His death occurred in 1232.
YOHUALLATONOC, 89. "Shining at night." Name of a warrior.
YOPICO, 22. A division of the ancient city of Mexico, containing a temple of this name. The word means "the place of the tearing out of hearts" (yolltol, pi, co), from the form of sacrifice there carried out.
YOYONTZIN, 35, 40, 66, 67. A name of Nezahualcoyotl. See p. 35.
[1]Diego Duran,Historia de las Indias de Nueva España, Tom. I, p. 233; and compare Geronimo de Mendieta,Historia Eclesiastica Indiana, Lib. II, cap. 31.
[2]Sahagun,Historia de Nueva España, Lib. VIII, cap. 26.
[3]Sahagun,Historia de Nueva España, Lib. III, cap. 8.
[4]Cuicoyan, fromcuica, song, and the place-endingyan, which is added to the impersonal form of the verb, in this instance,cuicoa. Mr. Bancroft entirely misapprehends Tezozomoc's words about these establishments, and gives an erroneous rendering of the term. See hisNative Races of the Pacific Coast, Vol. II, p. 290, and Tezozomoc,Cronica Mexicana, cap. 18.
[5]Juan de Torquemada,Monarquia Indiana, Lib. VI, cap. 43.
[6]Torquemada,Monarquia Indiana, Lib. XVII, cap. 3. Didacus Valades, who was in Mexico about 1550, writes of the natives: "Habent instrumenta musica permulta in quibus semulatione quadam se exercent."Rhetorica Christiana, Pars. IV, cap. 24.
[7]Descriptions are given by Edward Mühlenpfordt,Die Republik Mexico, Bd. I, pp. 250-52 (Hannover, 1844).
[8]Molina translatespiqui, "crear ô plasmar Dios alguna cosa de nuevo."Vocabulario de la Lengua Mexicana, s.v.
[9]Sahagun,Historia de Nueva España, Lib. X, cap. 8.
[10]Boturini,Idea de una Nueva Historia General, p. 97.
[11]Clavigero,Storia antica di Messico, Lib. VII, p. 175.
[12]Torquemada,Monarquia Indiana, Lib. X, cap. 34.
[13]Duran,Hist. de la Indias de Nueva España, Tom. I, p. 233.
[14]Tezozomoc,Cronica Mexicana, cap. 64.
[15]Ixtlilxochitl,Historia Chichimeca, cap. 47.
[16]Boturini,Idea de una Nueva Historia General, p. 90.
[17]Tezozomoc,Cronica Mexicana, cap. 53.
[18]See Sahagun,Historia de Neuva España, Lib. IV, chap. 17, and Tezozomoc,Cronica Mexicana, cap. 64.
[19]Cuitlaxoteyotl, fromcuitatl, mierda;tecuilhuicuicatl, fromtecuilhuaztli, sello,tecuilonti, el que lo haze a otro, pecando contra natura. Molina,Vocabulario.
[20]William A. Hammond,The Disease of the Scythians (morbus feminarum) and Certain Analogous Conditions, in theAmerican Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry, 1882.
[21]Cronica Mexicana, cap. 2.
[22]On this subject the reader may consult Parades,Compendio del Arte de la Lengua Mexicana, pp. 5, 6, and Sandoval,Arte de la Lengua Mexicana, pp. 60, 61. Tapia Zenteno whoseArte Novissima de la Lengua Mexicanawas published in 1753, rejects altogether the saltillo, and says its invention is of no use except to make students work harder! (pp. 3, 4.) The vowels with saltillo, he maintains, are simply to be pronounced with a slight aspiration. Nevertheless, the late writers continue to employ and describe the saltillo, as Chimalpopoca,Epitome á Modo Facil de aprender el Idioma Nahuatl, p. 6. (Mexico, 1869.)
[23]Arte Novissima de la Lengua Mexicana, pp. 3, 4.
[24]Duran,Historia de Nueva España, Tom. I, p. 230.
[25]The singer who began the song was calledcuicaito, "the speaker of the song."
[26]The most satisfactory description of these concerts is that given by Geronimo de Mendieta,Historia Eclesiastica Indiana, Lib. II, cap. 31. I have taken some particulars from Boturini and Sahagun.
[27]Literally, "the broken drum," fromtlapana, to break, as they saytlapanhuimetzli, half moon. It is described by Tezozomoc as "un atambor bajo."Cronica Mexicana, cap. 53.
[28]Fromyollotl, heart, andpi, to tear out. The instrument is mentioned by Tezozomoc,Cronica Mexicana, cap. 48. On the Yopico, and its ceremonies, see Sahagun,Historia de Nueva España, Lib. II, cap. 1, and Appendix.
[29]Simeon, however, thinks the name arose from the growing and swelling of the sound of the instrument (notes to Jourdanet's translation of Sahagun, p. 28). Mr. H.H. Bancroft gives the astonishing translation of teponaztli, "wing of stone vapor!" (Native Races of the Pacific States, Vol. II, p. 293.) Brasseur traced the word to a Maya-Quiche root,tep. In both Nahuatl and Maya this syllable is the radicle of various words meaning to increase, enlarge, to grow strong or great, etc.
[30]Sahagun,Hist. de Nueva España, Lib. II, cap. 27.
[31]SeeThe Güegüence, a Comedy ballet in the Nahuatl Spanish dialect of Nicaragua, Introd., p. 29. (Philadelphia, 1883.)
[32]Theodor Baker,Ueber die Musik der Nord-Amerikanischen Wilden., pp. 51-53. (Leipzig, 1882.)
[33]Omitl, bone,chicahuac, strong. A specimen made of the bone of a fossil elephant is possessed by Señor A. Chavero, of Mexico. See Tezozomoc,Cronica Mexicana, cap. 55, and the note of Orozco y Berra to that passage in the Mexican edition. Also Sahagun,Hist. de Nueva España, Lib. VIII, cap. 20, who likewise describes most of the instruments referred to in this section.
[34]H.T. Cresson,On Aztec Music, in theProceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, 1883.
[35]Sahagun,Historia de Nueva España, Lib. II, Appendice.
[36]Duran,Historia de las Indias de Nueva España, Tom. I, p. 233.
[37]Boturini,Idea de una Nueva Historia General, Appendice, p. 95.
[38]Echevarria,Historia del Origen de las Gentes de Nueva España, Discurso Preliminar.
[39]Clavigero,Storia Antica di Messico, Lib. VII, p. 175.
[40]"Ihre Sprachen sind überreich an doppelsinnigen Ausdrücken die sie absichtlich anwenden um ihre Gedanken zu verbergen. Geistliche haben mir versichert, dass sie obgleich der Aztekischen Sprache vollständig mächtig, oft den wahren Sinn einer Beichte nicht zu verstehen vermochten, weil die Beichtende sich in räthselhafter und metaphorreicher Weise auszudrücken pflegten." Carlos von Gagern,Charakteristik der Indianischen Bevölkerung Mexico's, p. 17 (in theMit. der Geog. Gesell., Wien. 1837).
[41]Carochi's translations are not quite literal. The following notes will explain the compounds:—
1.Tlauitl, red ochre,quecholli, a bird so called,aztatl, a heron,ehualtia, reverential ofehua, to rise up; hence, "It (or he) shone like a noble red-winged heron rising in flight."
2.Ayauitl, mist;coçamalotl, rainbow;tonameyotl, shining, brightness;ti, connective;mani, substantive verb. "The brightness of the rain bow is there." There is no conjunction "and"; Father Carochi seems to have carelessly takenayauh, which is the form ofayauitlin composition, for the conjunctionauh, and. Each of the lines given is a detached fragment, without connection with the others.
3.xiuitl, something blue or green;coyolli, bells;tzitzilicaliztli, tinkling. "The golden drum's turquoise-bell-tinkling."
4.xiuhtic, blue or green;tlapalli, red;cuiloa, to paint or write;amoxtli, book;manca, imperf. ofmani. "There was a book painted in red and green." 5.chalchiuhuitl, the jade;cozcatl, a jewel;mecatl, a string;totoma, frequentative oftoma, to unfold, unwind. "I unwind my song like a string of precious jewels."
[42]See above, page 10
[43]On the Ikonomatic Method of Phonetic Writing, with special reference to American Archeology. By D. G. Brinton, in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, for October, 1886.
[44]This fact is mentioned by Lord Kingsborough in his great work on Mexico, Vol. VI, p. 533.
[45]It is described in theAnales del Museo Nacional, Tom. III, p. 262.
[46]Echevarria's words are "los pongo en su idioma."Hist. del Origen de las Gentes que poblaron la Nueva España, Discurso Preliminar, in Kingsborough'sMexico, Vol. VIII.
[47]See hisTezcuco en los Ultimas Tiempos de sus Antiguos Reyes. Parte IV (Mexico, 1826).
[48]See the description of this fragment of Boturini by Señor Alfredo Chavero in theAnales del Museo Nacional, Tom. III, p. 242.
[49]M. Aubin,Notice sur une Collection d'Antiquités Mexicaines, pp. 8, 9. (Paris, 1851.)
[50]Printed very incorrectly in Lord Kingsborough's edition of Ixtlilxochitl'sRelaciones Historicas(Rel. X, Kingsborough,Antiquities of Mexico, Vol. IX, p. 454).
[51]See Sahagun,Historia de Nueva España, Lib. II, Appendix.
[52]Bustamente puts the number of the songs of Nezahualcoyotl at eighty, of which he could find only one extant, and this, as I understand his words, in Spanish only. See hisTezcuco en los Tiempos de sus Antiguous Reyes, p. 253 (Mexico, 1826). When Alexander von Humboldt visited Mexico he sought in vain for any fragment of the songs of the royal bard.Vues lies Cordillères, etc., Tom. II, p. 391.
[53]Tardes Americanas, pp. 90-94. (Mexico, 1778.)
[54]Torquemada,Monarquia Indiana, Lib. II, cap. 45. The wordhuehuetitlan, seems to be a misprint forahuehuetitlan, fromahuehuetl, with the ligatureti, and the postpositiontlan, literally "among the cypresses."
[55]Op. cit.Tom. I, p. 795.
[56]Grammatica del Idioma Mexicano, p. 180. (Mexico, 1880.)