Chapter 3

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.

III.

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 Galvez[53] 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.

IV.

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.

§ 10. _THE HISTORY OF THE PRESENT COLLECTION._

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:--

* * * * *

| -+- | |

I H S

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.

ANCIENT NAHUATL POEMS.

I.

_CUICAPEUHCAYOTL._

I.

_SONG AT THE BEGINNING._

1. Ninoyolnonotza, campa nicuiz yectli, ahuiaca xochitl:--Ac nitlatlaniz? Manozo yehuatl nictlatlani in quetzal huitzitziltin, in chalchiuh huitzitzicatzin; manozo ye nictlatlani in zaquan papalotl; ca yehuantin in machiz, ommati, campa cueponi in yectli ahuiac xochitl, tla nitlahuihuiltequi in nican acxoyatzinitzcanquauhtla, manoze nitlahuihuiltequi in tlauhquecholxochiquauhtla; oncan huihuitolihui ahuach tonameyotoc in oncan mocehcemelquixtia; azo oncan niquimittaz intla onechittitique; nocuexanco nictemaz ic niquintlapaloz in tepilhuan, ic niquimellelquixtiz in teteuctin.

1. I am wondering where I may gather some pretty, sweet flowers. Whom shall I ask? Suppose that I ask the brilliant humming-bird, the emerald trembler; suppose that I ask the yellow butterfly; they will tell me, they know, where bloom the pretty, sweet flowers, whether I may gather them here in the laurel woods where dwell the tzinitzcan birds, or whether I may gather them in the flowery forests where the tlauquechol lives. There they may be plucked sparkling with dew, there they come forth in perfection. Perhaps there I shall see them if they have appeared; I shall place them in the folds of my garment, and with them I shall greet the children, I shall make glad the nobles.

2. Tlacazo nican nemi, ye nicaqui in ixochicuicatzin yuhqui tepetl quinnananquilia; tlacazo itlan in meyaquetzalatl, xiuhtotoameyalli, oncan mocuica, momotla, mocuica; nananquilia in centzontlatolli; azo quinnananquilia in coyoltototl, ayacachiçahuacatimani, in nepapan tlazocuicani totome. Oncan quiyectenehua in tlalticpaque hueltetozcatemique.

2. Truly as I walk along I hear the rocks as it were replying to the sweet songs of the flowers; truly the glittering, chattering water answers, the bird-green fountain, there it sings, it dashes forth, it sings again; the mockingbird answers; perhaps the coyol bird answers, and many sweet singing birds scatter their songs around like music. They bless the earth pouring out their sweet voices.

3. Nic itoaya, nitlaocoltzatzia; ma namechellelti y tlazohuane, niman cactimotlalique, niman hualtato in quetzal huitzitziltin. Aquin tictemohua, cuicanitzine? Niman niquinnanquilia niquimilhuia: Campa catqui in yectli, ahuiac xochitl ic niquimellelquixtiz in amohuampotzitzinhuan? Niman onechicacahuatzque ca nican tlatimitzittitili ticuicani azo nelli ic tiquimellelquixtiz in toquichpohuan in teteuctin.

3. I said, I cried aloud, may I not cause you pain ye beloved ones, who are seated to listen; may the brilliant humming-birds come soon. Whom do we seek, O noble poet? I ask, I say: Where are the pretty, fragrant flowers with which I may make glad you my noble compeers? Soon they will sing to me, "Here we will make thee to see, thou singer, truly wherewith thou shalt make glad the nobles, thy companions."

4. Tepeitic tonacatlalpa, xochitlalpa nechcalaquiqueo oncan on ahuachtotonameyotimani, oncan niquittacaya in nepapan tlazoahuiac xochitl, tlazohuelic xochitl ahuach quequentoc, ayauhcozamalotonameyotimani, oncan nechilhuia, xixochitetequi, in catlehuatl toconnequiz, ma mellelquiza in ticuicani, tiquinmacataciz in tocnihuan in teteuctin in quellelquixtizque in tlalticpaque.

4. They led me within a valley to a fertile spot, a flowery spot, where the dew spread out in glittering splendor, where I saw various lovely fragrant flowers, lovely odorous flowers, clothed with the dew, scattered around in rainbow glory, there they said to me, "Pluck the flowers, whichever thou wishest, mayest thou the singer be glad, and give them to thy friends, to the nobles, that they may rejoice on the earth."

5. Auh nicnocuecuexantia in nepapan ahuiacxochitl, in huel teyolquima, in huel tetlamachti, nic itoaya manozo aca tohuanti hual calaquini, ma cenca miec in ticmamani; auh ca tel ye onimatico nitlanonotztahciz imixpan in tocnihuan nican mochipa tiqualtetequizque in tlazo nepapan ahuiac xochitl ihuan ticuiquihui in nepapan yectliyancuicatl ic tiquimellelquixtizque in tocnihuan in tlalticpactlaca in tepilhuan quauhtliya ocelotl.

5. So I gathered in the folds of my garment the various fragrant flowers, delicate scented, delicious, and I said, may some of our people enter here, may very many of us be here; and I thought I should go forth to announce to our friends that here all of us should rejoice in the different lovely, odorous flowers, and that we should cull the various sweet songs with which we might rejoice our friends here on earth, and the nobles in their grandeur and dignity.

6. Ca moch nicuitoya in nicuicani ic niquimicpac xochiti in tepilhuan inic niquimapan in can in mac niquinten; niman niquehuaya yectli yacuicatl ic netimalolo in tepilhuan ixpan in tloque in nahuaque, auh in atley y maceuallo.

6. So I the singer gathered all the flowers to place them upon the nobles, to clothe them and put them in their hands; and soon I lifted my voice in a worthy song glorifying the nobles before the face of the Cause of All, where there is no servitude.

7. Can quicuiz? Can quitlaz in huelic xochitl? Auh cuix nohuan aciz aya in xochitlalpan, in tonacatlalpan, in atley y macehuallo in nentlamati? Intla y tlacohua in tlalticpac ca çan quitemacehualtica in tloque in nahuaque, in tlalticpac; ye nican ic chocan noyollo noconilnamiquia in ompa onitlachiato y xochitlalpana nicuicani.

7. Where shall one pluck them? Where gather the sweet flowers? And how shall I attain that flowery land, that fertile land, where there is no servitude, nor affliction? If one purchases it here on earth, it is only through submission to the Cause of All; here on earth grief fills my soul as I recall where I the singer saw the flowery spot.

8. Auh nic itoaya tlacazo amo qualcan in tlalticpac ye nican, tlacazo occecni in huilohuayan, in oncan ca in netlamachtilli; tlezannen in tlalticpac? tlacazo occecni yoliliz ximoayan, ma ompa niauh, ma ompa inhuan noncuicati in nepapan tlazototome, ma ompa nicnotlamachti yectliya xochitl ahuiaca xochitl, in teyolquima, in zan tepacca, teahuiaca yhuintia, in zan tepacca, ahuiaca yhuintia.

8. And I said, truly there is no good spot here on earth, truly in some other bourne there is gladness; For what good is this earth? Truly there is another life in the hereafter. There may I go, there the sweet birds sing, there may I learn to know those good flowers, those sweet flowers, those delicious ones, which alone pleasurably, sweetly intoxicate, which alone pleasurably, sweetly intoxicate.

II.

_XOPANCUICATL, OTONCUICATL, TLAMELAUHCAYOTL._

_A SPRING SONG, AN OTOMI SONG, A PLAIN SONG._

1. Onihualcalac nicuicani nepapan xochitlalpan, huel teellelquixtican, tetlamachtican, oncan ahuach tonameyoquiauhtimani, oncan cuicuica in nepapan tlazototome, on cuicatlaza in coyoltototl cahuantimani inin tozquitzin in quellelquixtia in tloque in nahuaque yehuan Dios, ohuaya, ohuaya.

1. I, the singer, have entered many flower gardens, places of pleasaunce, favored spots, where the dew spread out its glittering surface, where sang various lovely birds, where the coyol birds let fall their song, and spreading far around, their voices rejoiced the Cause of All, He who is God, ohuaya! ohuaya!

2. Oncan nicaqui in cuicanelhuayotl in nicuicani, tlacazo amo tlalticpac in peuh yectli yancuicatl, tlacazo ompa in ilhuicatl itic hual caquizti in conehua in tlazocoyoltototl in quimehuilia in nepapan teoquecholme zacuantototl, oncan tlacazo quiyectenehua in tloque in nahuaque, ohuaya, ohuaya.

2. It is there that I the singer hear the very essence of song; certainly not on earth has true poesy its birth; certainly it is within the heavens that one hears the lovely coyol bird lift its voice, that the various quechol and zacuan birds speak together, there they certainly praise the Cause of All, ohuaya! ohuaya!

3. Niyolpoxahua in nicaquia ni cuicani, acoquiza in notlalnamiquilizo quin pepetlatiquiza in ilhuicame, nelcicihuiliz ehecayotiuh in iquinalquixtia in ompa ontlatenehua in zacuanhuitzitzil in ilhuicatl itic, ohuaya, ohuaya.

3. I, the singer, labor in spirit with what I heard, that it may lift up my memory, that it may go forth to those shining heavens, that my sighs may be borne on the wind and be permitted to enter where the yellow humming bird chants its praises in the heavens, ohuaya! ohuaya!

4. Auh nohuiampa nictlachialtia in noyollo auh tlacazo nelli in amo ixquich quehua in tlazotototl, tlacazo ye oc tlapanahuia in ilhuicatl itic y yollo in tloque in nahuaque mochiuhtica, ca intlacamo teuhyotiuh in notlalnamiquiliz azo huelquinalquixtica ittazo in tlamahuizolli in ilhuicac ic papaqui in ilhuicac tlazototome ixpan in tloque nahuaque, ohuaya, ohuaya.

4. And as in my thoughts I gaze around, truly no such sweet bird lifts its voice, truly the things made for the heavens by the Cause of All surpass all others, and unless my memory tends to things divine scarcely will it be possible to penetrate these and witness the wondrous sights in heaven, which rejoice the sweet heavenly birds before the face of the Cause of All.

5. Quenin ah nichocaz in tlalticpac? ye nican onca nemoayá ninoztlacahuia, nicitoa aço zan ye ixquich in nican in tlalticpac ontlamian toyolia, macuele ehuatl in tloque in nahuaque, ma ompa inhuan nimitznocuicatili in ilhuicac mochanecahuan ca noyollo ehua ompa nontlachia in monahuac in motloc tipalnemohua, ohuaya, ohuaya.

5. How much, alas, shall I weep on earth? Truly I have lived here in vain illusion; I say that whatever is here on earth must end with our lives. May I be permitted to sing to thee, the Cause of All, there in the heaven, a dweller in thy mansion, there may my soul lift its voice and be seen with Thee and near Thee, Thou by whom we live, ohuaya! ohuaya!

6. Ma xicaquin nocuic in tinocniuh xochihuehuetl inic tzotzonaya ilhuicacuicatl in nicchuaya, ic niquimellelquixtia in teteucti, xochicueponi in noyollo izqui xochitl nictzetzelohuaya ic malitiuh in no cuicatzin ixpan in tloque in nahuaque, ohuaya, ohuaya.

6. List to my song, thou my friend, and to the flower-decked drum which kept time to the heavenly song which I sang, that I might make glad the nobles, raining down before them the flowery thoughts of my heart as though they were flowers, that my noble song might grow in glory before the face of the Cause of All, ohuaya! ohuaya!

III.

_OCCE AL MISMO TONO TLAMELAUHCAYOTL._

_ANOTHER PLAIN SONG, TO THE SAME TUNE._