Daily Life of the Aztecs
Page 30
He also said--
I, the poet, the master of song, I, the singer, I beat on my drum. Let the beating awaken The souls of my companions who are dead.
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And--
I, the singer, I make a poem That shines like an emerald A brilliant, precious and splendid emerald. I suit myself to the inflexions Of the tuneful voice of the tzinitzcan. . . Like the ring of little bells, Little golden bells . . . I sing my song A scented song like a shining jewel, A shining turquoise and a blazing emerald, My flowering hymn to the spring. 63
The Aztecs themselves divided poetry into a certain number of kinds, of which the first included the teocuicatl (holy song) or hymns; and fortunately, by means of Sahagún's informants, we have the transcript of some of these -- a veritable treasure for the study of the language of the ancient Mexicans and their religious thought. 64 In reading them, it must be remembered that these poems were not only sung, but 'acted'; that is to say, each of the verses (no doubt repeated a great many times) accompanied a given phase of the ritual, some set action of the priests or some specific masked dance.
These religious songs, handed down from a remote period by tradition, were often very obscure or even totally incomprehensible to the Aztecs themselves, or at least to those who were not priests. They are loaded with esoteric allusions and metaphors.
The flower of my heart has opened,
Here is the lord of Midnight.
She has come, our mother, she has come,
She, the goddess Tlazolteotl.
The god of the maize is born
In the paradise of Tamoanchan,
In the place where the flowers raise their heads
He (who is called) 'One -- flower'.
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The god of the maize is born
In the garden of rain and mist,
There where the children of men are made,
There where they fish for jade fishes.
Here is the day: dawn is coming up:
Quechol-birds are flying about from place to place and feeding
There where the flowers stand upright . . . 65
In honour of Tenochtitlan's national god, they sang--
I am Uitzilopochtli, the young warrior.
There is none like me.
I have not put on my parrot-feather cloak in vain,
For thanks to me the sun is risen. 66
And for the goddess Teteoinnan, the mother of the gods--
The yellow flower has opened.
She, our mother with the skin mask,
She has come from Tamoanchan.
The yellow flower has bloomed.
She, our mother with the skin mask,
She has come from Tamoanchan.
The white flower has opened.
She, our mother with the skin mask,
She has come from Tamoanchan.
The white flower has bloomed.
She, our mother with the skin mask,
She has come from Tamoanchan.
Ah, she has become a goddess,
Among the cactus, our mother,
The obsidian butterfly.
Ah, you have beheld the Nine Steppes!
She feeds on the hearts of stags,
Our mother, the goddess of the earth. 67
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And here is another terrestrial goddess, Ciuacoatl, in her agrarian and her warlike aspects--
The eagle, the eagle, Quilaztli
Her face is painted with snake's blood
And eagles' feathers are her crown.
It is she who is the protecting cypress of
The Country of Chalman and Colhuacán.
The maize is in the sacred field.
The goddess leans on her stick with bells.
The agave-thorn, the agave-thorn is in my hand,
The agave-thorn is in my hand.
In the sacred field
The goddess is leaning on her stick with bells.
The bundle of weeds is in my hand.
In the sacred field
The goddess leans on her stick with bells.
'Thirteen -- eagle', that is how they name her,
Our mother, the goddess of Chalman.
Give me the cactus-arrow, the sacred emblem.
Here is my son, Mixcoatl.
Our mother the warrior, our mother the warrior,
The roe-deer of Colhuacán,
She is adorned with plumes.
Here is the dawn, the order of battle is given.
Here is the dawn, the order of battle is given.
May we bring back some prisoners!
The earth shall be ravaged!
She, the roe of Colhuacán,
She is adorned with plumes. 68
Other, and much more simple, hymns are in fact little more than indefinitely repeated magical formulæ; an example is the song of Chicomecoatl, the goddess of maize.
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In singing this, they endeavoured to stir nature into its annual re-birth--
Oh revered goddess of the Seven Ears,
Rise, awake!
Oh our mother, you are leaving us today,
You are going to your own country, Tlalocan.
Rise, awake!
Oh our mother, you are leaving us today,
You are going to your own country, Tlalocan. 69
The Mexicans classed poems other than hymns in several categories according to their subject, origin or nature -yaocuicatl, war-song; chalcayotl, poem after the fashion of Chalco; xochicuicatl cuecuechtli, flowery, bantering song; xopancuicatl, poem to spring; etc. Some of these poems, for example the song of Quetzalcoatl, 70 were real sagas, and others reflections upon the brevity of life or the uncertainty of fate.
In the combinations of recital, song, dance and music there were also to be found the elements of a dramatic art: in these performances there were actors dressed to represent historical or mythical heroes; they used dialogue, and at times there were exchanges between the characters and a choir. These performances, which were at once ballets and tragedies, would present the king Nezaualpilli, for example, or his father Nezaualcoyotl, or the emperor Motecuhzoma. 71 Mimed songs, some of them sung by women, were inserted into these compositions: for instance--
My tongue is of coral,
Of emerald my beak;
I think much of myself, oh my parents,
I, Quetzalchictzin.
I open my wings,
I weep before them:
How shall we ever rise into the sky?
The actress who sang this was probably dressed as a bird. 72 73
Flowers and death, like twin obsessions, adorn all Mexican lyric poetry with their brilliance and their shadows.
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Oh, if only one lived for ever. Oh, if only one never died. We live with our soul torn apart, Lightning flashes about us We are spied upon and attacked. We live with our soul torn apart. We have to suffer. Oh, if only one lived for ever. Oh, if only one never died.
And again--
Shall my heart go As flowers that wither? Some day shall my name be nothing? My fame nothing, anywhere upon the earth? At least let us have flowers! At least let us have some singing! How shall my heart manage (to survive)? We go about on the earth in vain. 74
This poem from Chalco shows the same preoccupation--
Vainly you seize your flowered teponaztli, You throw handfuls of flowers; but in vain. They wither.
We too, we are here singing our new song, And there are new flowers too In our hands. May our friends delight in the flowers, May the sadness fade out of our hearts.
Let no one be overwhelmed by sadness, Let no one's thoughts wander about over the earth. Here are our precious flowers and songs. May our friends delight in them, May the sadness fade out of our hearts.
Oh friends, this earth is only lent to us. We shall have to leave our fine poems, We shall have to leave our beautiful flowers. That is why I am sad as I sing for the sun, We shall have to leave our fine poems, We
shall have to leave our beautiful flowers. 75
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And from here we pass on to the expression of that epicurean philosophy which seems to have been so general among the more educated people--
Oh you do not come twice on to the earth, Chichimec lords! Let us be happy. Does one take flowers along to the land of the dead? They are only lent to us. The truth is that we go; We leave flowers and singing and the earth. The truth is that we go . . . If it is only here on the earth That there are flowers and singing, Let them be our wealth, Let them be our adornment, Let us be happy with them. 76
The magnificent landscape of the country is also to be seen in Mexican poetry. One of the ambassadors sent by Uexotzinco to ask help from Motecuhzoma, sees, from the mountains, the whole of the valley of Mexico spread out--
I climb; I reach the height. The huge blue-green lake Now quiet, now angry, Foams and sings among the rocks . . . Flowery water, green-stone water, Where the splendid swan With its rippling feathers Calling swims to and fro.
And when the sun sets--
Our father, the Sun, Dressed in rich feathers, thrusts himself Down into a vase of gems, Decked with a turquoise necklace Among many-coloured flowers Which fall in a perpetual rain. 77
Short extracts like these can scarcely give an idea of the wealth of this literature -- for it is rich, although only
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fragments have come down to us. The ancient Mexicans' passionate love of oratory and poetry, music and dancing, had free rein at the feasts, the banquets and the innumerable ceremonies at which one might see the young men, splendidly adorned, dancing with the courtesans in all their glory, and the dignitaries and the emperor himself taking part in the traditional balls. Dancing was not only an amusement; it was not even only a rite: it was a way of deserving the favour of the gods 'by serving them and calling upon them with one's whole body'.78
Aztec music, of which nothing is left to us because it was not written, was not rich in resources; it had but a few wind-instruments, the conch, the trumpet, the flute, the whistle; and -- most important -- some percussion, the upright drum (ueuetl) and the two-toned wooden gong (teponaztli).
The music primarily gave rhythm for singing and dancing; and in the cool nights of the high plateau, by the light of resinous torches, a collective ecstasy would seize upon the crowd as it sang and danced, every movement and attitude obeying the law of ritual, at the foot of the pyramids whose heads rose into the darkness. There, in the communion of song and rhythmic movement to the beat of gongs, the crowd found release for the passions of its violent soul; and this without overstepping the boundaries of social duty. This self-controlled civilisation, which imposed such a continual discipline upon all, and particularly upon its upper classes, had the wisdom to provide a permitted relaxation under the eyes of the gods for the repressed forces. Poems and music, rhythm and dance hour after hour in the red glare of the torches in the great square of the holy city -- this was the liberation that the system offered for a while to the impassive men of whom it asked so much.
Such as they were, with their greatness and their weaknesses, their ideal of order and their cruelty, their obsession with the mystery of blood and death, their sensitivity to the beauty of flowers, birds and gems, their strength of religious feeling -- strong to the point of suicide -- their excellent practical organisation of the state, their attachment to their
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land and their maize, which still did not keep their eyes from turning continually to the stars -- with all this, these ancient Mexicans were civilised men.
Their culture, so suddenly destroyed, is one of those that humanity can be proud of having created. In the hearts and minds of those who believe that our common inheritance is made up of all the values that our species has conceived in all times and all places, it must take its place among our precious treasures -- precious because they are so rare. At long intervals, in the immensity of the world's life and in the midst of its vast indifference, men joined together in a community bring something into existence that is greater than themselves -- a civilisation. These are the creators of cultures; and the Indians of Anahuac, at the foot of their volcanoes, on the shores of their lake, may be counted among them.
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APPENDIX ONE
THE PRONUNCIATION OF AZTEC WORDS
The traditional orthography used in this book is based upon the following principles: 1. All the vowels are pronounced as they are in Spanish: e is always pronounced, even when it is at the end of a word, and its sound is roughly that of the French é.
2. The consonants are pronounced as they are in English with the exception of x which is pronounced sh. For example, xicotl = shicotl.
z which is pronounced s. For example, zan = san.
qu which is pronounced k before e and i, but kw before
a. For example, calpixque = calpishké; quimichin = kimichin; quauitl = kwawitl.
3. H is breathed; ll has the English value; u and y are semivowels, u being pronounced like the w in well and y like the y in yet. The stress is usually upon the penultimate syllable.
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APPENDIX TWO
THE EIGHTEEN MONTHS AND THE RITES
These are the names of the eighteen months of the Mexican year, with a short account of the rites that were proper to each of them. 1. Atl caualo (stopping of the water) or Quiauitl eua (the tree rises). Sacrifice of children to Tlaloc, the rain-god, and to the Tlaloque.
2. Tlacaxipeualiztli (flaying of men). Feast of Xipe Totec. Sacrifice of prisoners, who were then flayed. The priests put on their skins.
3. Tozoztontli (lesser vigil). Offering of flowers; worship of Coatlicue.
4. Uey tozoztli (great vigil). Feasts in honour of Centeotl, god of maize, and of Chicomecoatl, goddess of maize. Offerings of flowers and food in local temples and private chapels. Procession of girls carrying ears of maize to the temple of Chicomecoatl. Songs and dances.
5. Toxcatl (? drought). Feast of Tezcatlipoca. Sacrifice of a young man personifying Tezcatlipoca, he having lived like a lord for a year.
6. Etzalqualiztli (etzalli, a dish made of boiled maize and beans; qualiztli, the act of eating). Feast of Tlaloc. Ceremonial baths in the lake. Dances and the eating of etzalli. Priestly fasts and penances. Sacrifice of victims personifying the gods of water and rain.
7. Tecuilhuitontli (lesser feast of the lords). Rites celebrated by the salters. Sacrifice of a woman representing Uixtociuatl, goddess of salt-water.
8. Uey tecuilhuitl (great feast of the lords). Distribution of victuals to the populace. Dances. Sacrifice of a woman personifying Xilonen, goddess of the young maize.
9. Tlaxochimaco (offering of flowers). The people went into the country to gather flowers and decorated the temple of Uitzilopochtli. Rejoicings, banquets, important dances.
10. Xocotl uetzi (the fruit falls). Feast of the god of fire. Sacrifice of prisoners at Xiuhtecuhtli or Ueueteotl. The
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young men climbed a maypole with an image made of huauhtli-paste on top of it and fought for the pieces.
11. Ochpanistli (sweeping). Feast of the goddesses of the earth and of vegetation, who are always shown holding a grass broom in their hands, with which they were supposed to sweep the path of the gods (that is, of the maize, vegetation, etc.). Dances. Mock battles between women, female healers and courtesans. Sacrifice of a woman incarnating Toci or Teteoinnan, the mother of the gods. Parade of warriors before the emperor, who gave them badges of honour or weapons.
12. Teotleco (return of the gods). The gods were held to come back to the earth: first Tezcatlipoca and finally the old god of the fire, to whom human sacrifices were offered.
13. Tepeilhuitl (feast of the mountains). Little images of huauhtli-paste were made in the shape of mountains (gods of the rain) and eaten. Sacrifice of five women and one man, representing the agrarian deities.
14. Quecholli (name of a bird). Feast of Mixcoatl, the god of hunting. Arrows were made. Great h
unt upon Zacatepetl. Sacrifices to Mixcoatl.
15. Panquetzaliztli (raising of the quetzal-plume banners). Great feast of Uitzilopochtli: mock battles. Procession of the god Paynal, Uitzilopochtli's assistant, going through many places in the neighbourhood of Mexico. Sacrifices.
16. Atemoztli (coming down of the water). Feast of the gods of rain. Fast. Making of amaranth-paste images of the rain-gods which were then 'killed' with a tzotzopaztli (a long flat piece of a loom). Offerings of food and drink.
17. Tititl (?). Sacrifice of a woman entirely clothed in white, personifying the old goddess Ilamatecuhtli. Carnival battles in which the youths attacked the women with bolsters.
18. Izcalli (growth). Feast in honour of the god of fire. Children were presented to the fire and their ears were pierced. Every four years victims dressed and decorated to represent the god were sacrificed. And in the last place came the five memontemi days, thought to be so baneful that nothing was done while they lasted.
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NOTES
INTRODUCTION 1. Mexica is the plural of Mexicatl, 'a Mexican'. It is pronounced meshícatl, with the stress on the i. (See Appendix I on the pronunciation of Aztec words.)
2. 'I have heard tell of a great lord called Muteczoma' writes Cortés to Charles V ( Cartes de Relación, [ New York, 1828] p. 48). It was on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, at San Juan de Ulúa, during Holy Week, 1519, that the Spaniards had their first contact with, officials of the Mexican empire; these were Pinotl, governor of the province of Cuetlaxtlan, with two accompanying administrators of towns, and two dignitaries, Tentlitl and Cuitlalpitoc, called by Bernal Diaz Tendil and Pitalpitoque ( Bernal Díaz del Castillo, Historia verdadera de la Conquista de la Nueva España, [ Mexico 1950] vol. I, p. 160). The Aztec version of the events, collected by Sahagún ( Historia general de las Cosas de Nueva España, [ Mexico 1938] vol. IV pp. 134 ff.) describes this first encounter; the Mexican dignitaries having arrived by boat and having been received on board, 'the Spaniards asked them, "Who are you? Where do you come from?" They answered, "We come from Mexico." The Spaniards said, "If it is true that you are Mexicans, what is the name of the king of Mexico?" They answered, "Lords, his name is Motecuhzoma."' Then followed an exchange of presents (the Mexicans gave splendid embroidered cloth and the Spaniards some glass baubles) and the Mexicans regained the shore, and 'day after day, night after night, they travelled to tell Motecuhzoma and to be the first to bring him the truth.' To confirm what they had to say, they brought the emperor not only the presents of Cortés, but drawings of the Spaniards' ships, guns, horses and armour. As the Spaniards thrust deeper into the country, they heard more and more of Motecuhzoma and his