Titlacaoamoquequeloa, is to ask, after the death of a ruler, that
another may be given: O our Lord, already thou knowest how our ruler
is dead, already thou hast put him under thy feet; he is gathered to
his place; he is gone by the road that all have to go by, and to the
house where all have to lodge; house of perpetual darkness, where
there is no window, nor any light at all; he is now where none shall
trouble his rest. He served thee here in his office during some few
days and years, not indeed without fault and offense. Thou gavest him
to taste in this world somewhat of thy kindness and favor, passing it
before his face as a thing that passes quickly. This is the dignity
and office that thou placedst him in, that he served thee in for some
days, as has been said, with sighs, tears and devout prayers before
thy majesty. Alas, he is gone now where our father and mother the god
of hades is, the god that descended head foremost below the fire,[VI-44]
the god that desires to carry us all to his place, with a very
importunate desire, with such a desire as one has that dies of hunger
and thirst; the god that is moved exceedingly, both by day and night,
crying and demanding that all go to him. There, with this god, is now
our late-departed ruler; he is there with all his ancestors that were
in the first times, that governed this kingdom, with Acamapichtli,
with Tyzoc, with Avitzotl, with the first Mocthecuzoma, with
Axayacatl, and with those that came last, as the second Mocthecuzoma
and also Mocthecuzoma Ilhuicamina.[VI-45] All these lords and kings
ruled, governed, and enjoyed the sovereignty and royal dignity, and
throne and seat of this empire; they ordered and regulated the affairs
of this thy kingdom--thou that art the universal lord and emperor,
and that needest not to take counsel with another. Already had these
put off the intolerable load that they had on their shoulders, leaving
it to their successor, our late ruler, so that for some days he bore
up this lordship and kingdom; but now he has passed on after his
predecessors to the other world. For thou didst ordain him to go, and
didst call him to give thanks for being unloaded of so great a burden,
quit of so sore a toil, and left in peace and rest. Some few days we
have enjoyed him, but now forever he is absent from us, never more to
return to the world. Peradventure has he gone to any place whence he
can return here, so that his subjects may see his face again? Will he
come again to tell us to do this or that? Will he come again to look
to the consuls or governors of the state? Peradventure will they see
him any more, or hear his decree and commandment? Will he come any
more to give consolation and comfort to his principal men and his
consuls? Alas, there is an end to his presence, he is gone for ever.
Alas, that our candle has been quenched, and our light, that the axe
that shone with us is lost altogether. All his subjects and inferiors,
he has left in orphanage and without shelter. Peradventure will he
take care henceforward of this city, province, and kingdom, though
this city be destroyed and leveled to the ground, with this seignory
and kingdom? O our Lord, most clement, is it a fit thing that by the
absence of him that died shall come to the city, seignory, and kingdom
some misfortune, in which will be destroyed, undone, and affrighted
the vassals that live therein? For while living, he who has died gave
shelter under his wings, and kept his feathers spread over the people.
Great danger runs this your city, seignory, and kingdom, if another
ruler be not elected immediately to be a shelter thereto. What is it
that thou art resolved to do? Is it good that thy people be in
darkness? Is it good that they be without head or shelter? Is it thy
will that they be leveled down and destroyed? Woe for the poor and the
little ones, thy servants, that go seeking a father and mother, some
one to shelter and govern them, even as little children that go
weeping, seeking an absent father and mother, and that grieve, not
finding them. Woe for the merchants, petty and poor, that go about by
the mountains, deserts, and meadows, woe also to the sad toilers that
go about seeking herbs to eat, roots and wood to burn, or to sell, to
eke out an existence withal. Woe for the poor soldiers, for the men of
war, that go about seeking death, that abhor life, that think of
nothing but the field and the line where battle is given--upon whom
shall they call? who shall take a captive? to whom shall they present
the same? And if they themselves be taken captive, to whom shall they
give notice, that it may be known in their land? Whom shall they take
for father and mother, so that in such a case favor may be granted
them? Since he whose duty it was to see to this, who was as father and
mother to all, is already dead. There will be none to weep, to sigh
for the captives, to tell their relatives about them. Woe for the poor
of the litigants, for those that have lawsuits with those that would
take their estates. Who will judge, make peace among, and clear them
of their disputes and quarrels? Behold when a child becomes dirty, if
his mother clean him not, he must remain filthy. And those that make
strife between themselves, that beat, that knock down, who will keep
peace between them? Those that for all this go weeping and shedding
tears, who shall wipe away their tears and put a stop to their
laments? Peradventure can they apply a remedy to themselves? Those
deserving death, will they peradventure pass sentence upon themselves?
Who shall set up the throne of justice? Who shall possess the hall of
the judge, since there is no judge? Who will ordain the things that
are necessary for the good of this city, seignory, and kingdom? Who
will elect the special judges that have charge of the lower people,
district by district? Who will look to the sounding of the drum and
fife to gather the people for war? who will collect and lead the
soldiers and dexterous men to battle? O our Lord and protector see
good to elect and decide upon some person sufficient to fill your
throne and bear upon his shoulders the sore burden of the ruling of
the state, to gladden and cheer the common people, even as the mother
caresses the child, taking it in her lap; who will make music to the
troubled bees[VI-46] so that they may be at rest? O our Lord, most
clement, favor our ruler-elect, whom we deem fit for this office,
elect and choose him so that he may hold this your lordship and
government; give him as a loan your throne and seat, so that he may
rule over this seignory and kingdom as long as he lives; lift him from
the lowliness and humility in which he is, and put on him this honor
and dignity that we think him worthy of; O our Lord, most clement,
give light and splendor with your hand to this state and kingdom. What
has been said I only come to propose to thy majesty; although very
defectively, as one that is drunken, and that staggers, almost ready
to fall. Do that which may best serve thee, in all and through all.
[Sidenote: PRAYER TO BE RID OF A BAD RULER.]
What follows is a kind of greater excommunication, or prayer to get
rid of a ruler that abused and misused his power and dignity: O our
Lord, most clement, that givest shelter to every one that approaches,
even as a tree of great height and breadth, thou that art invisible
and impalpable; that art, as we understand, able to penetrate the
stones and the trees, seeing what is contained therein. For this same
reason thou seest and knowest what is within our hearts and readest
our thoughts. Our soul in thy presence is as a little smoke or fog
that rises from the earth. It cannot at all be hidden from thee, the
deed and the manner of living of any one; for thou seest and knowest
his secrets and the sources of his pride and ambition. Thou knowest
that our ruler has a cruel and hard heart and abuses the dignity that
thou hast given him, as the drunkard abuses his wine, as one drunken
with a soporific;[VI-47] that is to say that the riches, dignity, and
abundance that for a little while thou hast given him, fill him with
error, haughtiness, and unrest, and that he becomes a fool,
intoxicated with the poison that makes him mad. His prosperity causes
him to despise and make little of every one; it seems that his heart
is covered with sharp thorns and also his face: all of which is made
apparent by his manner of living, and by his manner of talking; never
saying nor doing anything that gives pleasure to any one, never caring
for any one, never taking counsel of any one; he ever lives as seems
good to him and as the whim directs. O our Lord, most clement,
protector of all, creator and maker of all, it is too certain that
this man has destroyed himself, has acted like a child ungrateful to
his father, like a drunkard without reason. The favors thou hast
accorded him, the dignity thou hast set him in, have occasioned his
perdition. Besides these, there is another thing, exceedingly hurtful
and reprehensible: he is irreligious, never praying to the gods, never
weeping before them, nor grieving for his sins, nor sighing; from this
it comes about that he is as headstrong as a drunkard in his vices,
going about like a hollow and empty person, wholly senseless; he stays
not to consider what he is nor the office that he fills. Of a verity
he dishonors and affronts the dignity and throne that he holds, which
is thine, and which ought to be much honored and reverenced; for from
it depends the justice and rightness of the judicature that he holds,
for the sustaining and worthily directing of thy nation, thou being
emperor of all. He should so hold his power that the lower people be
not injured and oppressed by the great; from him should fall
punishment and humiliation on those that respect not thy power and
dignity. But all things and people suffer loss in that he fills not
his office as he ought. The merchants suffer also, who are those to
whom thou givest the most of thy riches, who overrun all the world,
yea the mountains and the unpeopled places, seeking through much
sorrow thy gifts, favors, and dainties, the which thou givest
sparingly and to thy friends. Ah, Lord, not only does he dishonor thee
as aforesaid, but also when we are gathered together to intone thy
songs, gathered in the place where we solicit thy mercies and gifts,
in the place where thou art praised and prayed to, where the sad
afflicted ones and the poor gather comfort and strength, where very
cowards find spirit to die in war--in this so holy and reverend place
this man exhibits his dissoluteness and hurts devotion; he troubles
those that serve and praise thee in the place where thou gatherest and
markest thy friends, as a shepherd marks his flock.[VI-48] Since thou,
Lord, hearest and knowest to be true all that I have now said in thy
presence, there remains no more but that thy will be done, and the
good pleasure of thy heart to the remedy of this affair. At least, O
Lord, punish this man in such wise that he become a warning to others,
so that they may not imitate his evil life. Let the punishment fall on
him from thy hand that to thee seems most meet, be it sickness or any
other affliction; or deprive him of the lordship, so that thou mayest
give it to another, to one of thy friends, to one humble, devoted, and
penitent; for many such thou hast, thou that lackest not persons such
as are necessary for this office, friends that hope, crying to thee:
thou knowest those for friends and servants that weep and sigh in thy
presence every day. Elect some one of these that he may hold the
dignity of this thy kingdom and seignory; make trial of some of these.
And now, O Lord, of all the aforesaid things which is it that thou
wilt grant? Wilt thou take from this ruler the lordship, dignity, and
riches on which he prides himself, and give them to another who may be
devout, penitent, humble, obedient, capable, and of good
understanding? Or, peradventure, wilt thou be served by the falling of
this proud one into poverty and misery, as one of the poor rustics
that can hardly gather the wherewithal to eat, drink, and clothe
himself? Or, peradventure, will it please thee to smite him with a
sore punishment so that all his body may shrivel up, or his eyes be
made blind, or his members rotten? Or wilt thou be pleased to withdraw
him from the world through death, and send him to hades, to the house
of darkness and obscurity, where his ancestors are, whither we have
all to go, where our father is, and our mother, the god and the
goddess of hell. O our Lord, most clement, what is it that thy heart
desires the most? Let thy will be done. And in this matter in which I
supplicate thee, I am not moved by envy nor hate; nor with any such
motives have I come into thy presence. I am moved only by the robbery
and ill-treatment that the people suffer, only by a desire for their
peace and prosperity. I would not desire, O Lord, to provoke against
myself thy wrath and indignation, I that am a mean man and rude; for
it is to thee, O Lord, to penetrate the heart and to know the thoughts
of all mortals.
[Sidenote: PRAYER USED BY A CONFESSOR OF SINS.]
The following is a form of Mexican prayer to Tezcatlipoca, used by the
officiating confessor after having heard a confession of sins from
some one. The peculiarity of a Mexican confession was that it could
not lawfully have place in a man's life more than once; a man's first
absolution and remission of sins was also the last and the only one he
had to hope for:--O our most compassionate Lord, protector and favorer
of all, thou hast now heard the confession of this poor sinner, with
which he has published in thy presence his rottenness and
unsavoriness. Perhaps he has hidden some of his sins before thee, and
if it be so he has irreverently and offensively mocked thy majesty,
and thrown himself into a dark cavern and into a deep ravine;[VI-49] he
has snared and entangled himself; he has made himself worthy of
blindness, shrivelling and rotting of the members, poverty, and
misery. Alas, if this poor sinner have attempted any such audacity as
to offend thus before thy majesty, before thee that art lord and
emperor of all, that keepest a reckoning with all, he has tied himself
up, he has made himself vile, he has mocked himself. Thou thoroughly
seest him, for thou seest all things, being invisible and without
bodily parts. If he have done this thing, he has, of his own will, put
himself in this peril and risk; for this is a place of very strict
justice and very strait judgment. This rite is like very clear water
with which thou washest away the faults of him that wholly confesses,
even if he have incurred destruction and shortening of days; if indeed
he have told all the truth, and have freed and untied himself from his
sins and faults, he has received the pardon of them and of what they
have incurred. This poor man is even as a man that has slipped and
fallen in thy presence, offending thee in divers ways, dirting himself
also and casting himself into a deep cavern, and a bottomless
well.[VI-50] He fell like a poor and lean man, and now he is grieved and
discontented with all the past; his heart and body are pained and ill
at ease; he is now filled with heaviness for having done what he did;
he is now wholly determined never to offend thee again. In thy
presence, O Lord, I speak, that knowest all things, that knowest also
that this poor wretch did not sin with an entire liberty of free will;
he was pushed to it and inclined by the nature of the sign under which
he was born. And since this is so, O our Lord, most clement, protector
and helper of all, since also this poor man has gravely offended thee,
wilt thou not remove thine anger and thine indignation from him? Give
him time, O Lord; favor and pardon him, inasmuch as he weeps, sighs,
and sobs, looking before him on the evil he has done, and on that
wherein he has offended thee. He is sorrowful, he sheds many tears,
the sorrow of his sins afflicts his heart; he is not sorry only, but
terrified also at thoughts of them. This being so, it is also a just
thing that thy fury and indignation against him be appeased and that
his sins be thrown on one side. Since thou art full of pity, O Lord,
see good to pardon and to cleanse him; grant him the pardon and
remission of his sins, a thing that descends from heaven, as water
very clear and very pure to wash away sins,[VI-51] with which thou
washest away all the stain and impurity that sin causes in the soul.
See good, O Lord, that this man go in peace, and command him in what
he has to do; let him go to do penance for and to weep over his sins;
give him the counsels necessary to his well living.
[Sidenote: PERILS OF FALSE CONFESSION.]
[Sidenote: EXHORTATION TO THE PENITENT.]
At this point the confessor ceases from addressing the god and turns
to the penitent, saying: O my brother, thou hast come into a place of
much peril, a place of travail and fear; thou hast come to a steep
chasm and a sheer rock, where if any one fall he shall never come up
again; thou hast come to the very place where the snares and the nets
touch one another, where they are set one upon another, in such wise
that no one may pass thereby without falling into some of them, and
not only snares and nets but also holes like wells. Thou hast thrown
thyself down the banks of the river and among the snares and nets,
whence without aid it is not possible that thou shouldst escape. These
thy sins are not only snares, nets, and wells, into which thou hast
fallen, but they are also wild beasts that kill and rend both body and
soul. Peradventure, hast thou hidden some one or some of thy sins,
weighty, huge, filthy, unsavory, hidden something now published in
heaven, earth, and hades, something that now stinks to the uttermost
part of the world? Thou hast now presented thyself before our most
clement Lord and protector of all, whom thou didst irritate, offend,
and provoke the anger of, who to-morrow, or some other day, will take
thee out of this world and put thee under his feet, and send thee to
the universal house of hades, where thy father is and thy mother, the
god and the goddess of hell, whose mouths are always open desiring to
swallow thee and as many as may be in the world. In that place shall
be given thee whatsoever thou didst merit in this world, according to
the divine justice, and to what thou hast earned with thy works of
poverty, misery, and sickness. In divers manners thou wilt be
tormented and afflicted in the extreme, and wilt be soaked in a lake
of intolerable torments and miseries; but here, at this time, thou
hast had pity upon thyself in speaking and communicating with our
Lord, with him that sees all the secrets of every heart. Tell
therefore wholly all that thou hast done, as one that flings himself
into a deep place, into a well without bottom. When thou wast created
and sent into the world, clean and good thou wast created and sent;
thy father and thy mother Quetzalcoatl formed thee like a precious
stone, and like a bead of gold of much value; when thou wast born thou
wast like a rich stone and a jewel of gold very shining and very
polished. But of thine own will and volition thou hast defiled and
stained thyself, and rolled in filth, and in the uncleanness of the
sins and evil deeds that thou hast committed and now confessed. Thou
hast acted as a child without judgment or understanding, that playing
and toying defiles himself with a loathsome filth; so hast thou acted
in the matter of the sins that thou hast taken pleasure in, but hast
now confessed and altogether discovered before our Lord, who is the
protector and purifier of all sinners. This thou shalt not take for an
occasion of jesting, for verily thou hast come to the fountain of
mercy, which is like very clear water, with which filthinesses of the
soul are washed away by our Lord God, the protector and favorer of all
that turn to him. Thou hast snatched thyself from hades, and hast
returned again to come to life in this world, as one that comes from
another. Now thou hast been born anew, thou hast begun to live anew,
and our Lord God gives thee light and a new sun. Now once more thou
beginnest to radiate and to shine anew like a very precious and clear
stone, issuing from the belly of the matrix in which it was created.
Since this is thus, see that thou live with much circumspection and
very advisedly now and henceforward, all the time that thou mayest
live in this world under the power and lordship of our Lord God, most
clement, beneficent, and munificent. Weep, be sad, walk humbly, with
submission, with the head low and bowed down, praying to God. Look
that pride find no place within thee, otherwise thou wilt displease
our Lord, who sees the hearts and the thoughts of all mortals. In what
dost thou esteem thyself? At how much dost thou hold thyself? What is
thy foundation and root? On what dost thou support thyself? It is
clear that thou art nothing, canst do nothing, and art worth nothing;
for our Lord will do with thee all he may desire and none shall stay
his hand. Peradventure, must he show thee those things with which he
torments and afflicts, so that thou mayest see them with thine eyes in
this world? Nay verily, for the torments and horrible sufferings of
his tortures of the other world are not visible, nor able to be seen
by those that live here. Perhaps he will condemn thee to the universal
house of hades; and the house where thou now livest will fall down and
be destroyed, and be as a dung-hill of filthiness and uncleanness,
thou having been accustomed to live therein with much satisfaction,
waiting to know how he would dispose of thee, he our Lord and helper,
the invisible, incorporeal and alone one. Therefore I entreat thee to
stand up and strengthen thyself and to be no more henceforth as thou
hast been in the past. Take to thyself a new heart and a new manner of
living, and take good care not to turn again to thine old sins.
Consider that thou canst not see with thine eyes our Lord God, for he
is invisible and impalpable, he is Tezcatlipoca, he is Titlacaoa, he
is a youth of perfect perfection and without spot. Strengthen thyself
to sweep, to clean, and to arrange thy house; for if thou do not this,
thou wilt reject from thy company and from thy house, and wilt offend
much the very clement youth that is ever walking through our houses,
and through our streets, enjoying and amusing himself--the youth that
labors, seeking his friends, to comfort them and to comfort himself
with them. To conclude, I tell thee to go and learn to sweep, and to
get rid of the filth and sweepings of thy house, and to cleanse
everything, thyself not the least. Seek out also a slave to immolate
him before God; make a feast to the principal men, and let them sing
the praises of our Lord. It is moreover fit that thou shouldst do
penance, working a year or more in the house of God; there thou shalt
bleed thyself, and prick thy body with maguey thorns; and, as a
penance for the adulteries and other vilenesses that thou hast
committed, thou shalt, twice every day, pass osier twigs through holes
pierced in thy body, once through thy tongue, and once through thine
ears. This penance shalt thou do not alone for the carnalities above
mentioned, but also for the evil and injurious words with which thou
hast insulted and affronted thy neighbors; as also for the ingratitude
thou hast shown with reference to the gifts bestowed on thee by our
Lord, and for thine inhumanity toward thy neighbors, neither making
offerings of the goods that were given thee by God, nor sharing with
the poor the temporal benefits given by our Lord. Thou shalt burden
thyself to offer paper and copal; thou shalt give alms to the needy
and the hungry, to those that have nothing to eat nor to drink nor to
cover themselves with; even though thou thyself go without food to
give it away and to clothe the naked: look to it, for their flesh is
like thy flesh, and they are men as thou. Care most of all for the
sick, they are the image of God.[VI-52] There remains nothing more to be
said to thee; go in peace, and entreat God to aid thee to fulfill what
thou art obliged to do; for he gives favor to all.
[Sidenote: PRAYER OF A RULER FOR DIRECTION.]
The following prayer is one addressed to Tezcatlipoca by a recently
elected ruler, to give thanks for his election and to ask favor and
light for the proper performance of his office: O our lord, most
clement, invisible and impalpable protector and governor, well do I
know that thou knowest me, who am a poor man, of low destiny, born and
brought up among filth, and a man of small reason and mean judgment,
full of many defects and faults, a man that knows not himself, nor
considers who he is. Thou hast bestowed on me a great benefit, favor,
and mercy, without any merit on my part; thou hast lifted me from the
dung-hill and set me in the royal dignity and throne. Who am I, my
Lord, and what is my worth that thou shouldst put me among the number
of those that thou lovest? among the number of thine acquaintance, of
those thou holdest for chosen friends and worthy of all honor; born
and brought up for thrones and royal dignities; to this end thou hast
created them able, prudent, descended from noble and generous fathers;
for this end they were created and educated; to be thine instruments
and images they were born and baptized under the signs and
constellations that lords are born under. They were born to rule thy
kingdoms, thy word being within them and speaking by their
mouth--according to the desire of the ancient god, the father of all
the gods, the god of fire, who is in the pond of water among turrets
surrounded with stones like roses, who is called Xiuhtecutli, who
determines, examines, and settles the business and lawsuits of the
nation and of the common people, as it were washing them with water;
in the company and presence of this god the generous personages
aforementioned always are. O most clement Lord, ruler, and governor,
thou hast done me a great favor. Perhaps it has been through the
intercession and through the tears shed by the departed lords and
ladies that had charge of this kingdom.[VI-53] It would be great madness
to suppose that for any merit or courage of mine thou hast favored me,
setting me over this your kingdom, the government of which is
something very heavy, difficult, and even fearful; it is as a huge
burden, carried on the shoulders, and one that with great difficulty
the past rulers bore, ruling in thy name. O our Lord, most clement,
invisible, and impalpable, ruler and governor, creator and knower of
all things and thoughts, beautifier of thy creatures,[VI-54] what shall
I say more, poor me? In what wise have I to rule and govern this thy
state, or how have I to carry this burden of the common people? I who
am blind and deaf, who do not even know myself, nor know how to rule
over myself. I am accustomed to walk in filth, my faculties fit me for
seeking and selling edible herbs, and for carrying and selling wood.
What I deserve, O Lord, is blindness for mine eyes and shriveling and
rotting for my limbs, and to go dressed in rags and tatters; this is
what I deserve and what ought to be given me. It is I that need to be
ruled and to be carried on some one's back. Thou hast many friends and
acquaintances that may be trusted with this load. Since, however, thou
has already determined to set me up for a scoff and a jeer to the
world, let thy will be done and thy word fulfilled. Peradventure thou
knowest not who I am; and, after having known me, wilt seek another
and take the government from me; taking it again to thyself, hiding
again in thyself this dignity and honor, being already angry and weary
of bearing with me; and thou wilt give the government to another, to
some close friend and acquaintance of thine, to some one very devout
toward thee, that weeps and sighs and so merits this dignity. Or,
peradventure, this thing that happened to me is a dream, or a walking
in sleep. O Lord, thou that art present in every place, that knowest
all thoughts, that distributest all gifts, be pleased not to hide from
me thy words and thine inspiration. I do not know the road I have to
follow, nor what I have to do, deign then not to hide from me the
light and the mirror that have to guide me. Do not allow me to cause
those I have to rule and carry on my shoulders to lose the road and to
wander over rocks and mountains. Do not allow me to guide them in the
tracks of rabbits and deer. Do not permit, O Lord, any war to be
raised against me, nor any pestilence to come upon those I govern; for
I should not know, in such a case, what to do, nor where to take those
I have upon my shoulders; alas for me, that am incapable and ignorant.
I would not that any sickness come upon me, for in that case thy
nation and people would be lost, and thy kingdom desolated and given
up to darkness. What shall I do, O Lord and creator, if by chance I
fall into some disgraceful fleshly sin, and thereby ruin the kingdom?
what do if by negligence or sloth I undo my subjects? what do if
through my fault I hurl down a precipice those I have to rule? Our
Lord, most clement, invisible and impalpable, I entreat thee not to
separate thyself from me; visit me often; visit this poor house, for I
will be waiting for thee therein. With great thirst I await thee and
demand urgently thy word and inspiration, which thou didst breathe
into thine ancient friends and acquaintances that have ruled with
diligence and rectitude over thy kingdom. This is thy throne and
honor, on either side whereof are seated thy senators and principal
men, who are as thine image and very person. They give sentence and
speak on the affairs of the state in thy name; thou usest them as thy
flutes, speaking from within them and placing thyself in their faces
and ears, opening their mouths so that they may speak well. In this
place the merchants mock and jest at our follies, with which merchants
thou art spending thy leisure, since they are thy friends and
acquaintances; there also thou inspirest and breathest upon thy
devoted ones, who weep and sigh in thy presence, sincerely giving thee
their heart.[VI-55] For this reason thou adornest them with prudence
and wisdom, so that they may look as into a mirror with two faces,
where every one's image is to be seen;[VI-56] for this thou givest them
a very clear axe, without any dimness, whose brightness flashes into
all places. For this cause also thou givest them gifts and precious
jewels, hanging them from their necks and ears, even like material
ornaments such as are the _nacochtl_, the _tentetl_, the _tlapiloni_
or head-tassel, the _matemecatl_ or tanned strap that lords tie round
their wrists,[VI-57] the yellow leather bound on the ankles, the beads
of gold, and the rich feathers. In this place of the good governing
and rule of thy kingdom, are merited thy riches and glory, thy sweet
and delightful things, calmness and tranquillity, a peaceable and
contented life; all of which come from thy hand. In the same place,
lastly, are also merited the adverse and wearisome things, sickness,
poverty, and the shortness of life; which things are sent by thee to
those that in this condition do not fulfill their duty. O our Lord,
most clement, knower of thoughts and giver of gifts, is it in my hand,
that am a mean man, to know how to rule? is the manner of my life in
my hand, and the works that I have to do in my office? which indeed is
of thy kingdom and dignity and not mine. What thou mayest wish me to
do and what may be thy will and disposition, thou aiding me I will do.
The road thou mayest show me I will walk in; that thou mayest inspire
me with, and put in my heart, that I will say and speak. O our Lord,
most clement, in thy hand I wholly place myself, for it is not
possible for me to direct or govern myself; I am blind, darkness, a
dung-hill. See good, O Lord, to give me a little light, though it be
only as much as a fire-fly gives out, going about at night; to light
me in this dream, in this life asleep that endures as for a day; where
are many things to stumble at, many things to give occasion for
laughing at one, many things like a rugged road that has to be gone
over by leaps. All this has to happen in the position thou hast put me
in, giving me thy seat and dignity. O Lord, most clement, I entreat
thee to visit me with thy light, that I may not err, that I may not
undo myself, that my vassals may not cry out against me. O our Lord,
most pitiful, thou hast made me now the back-piece[VI-58] of thy chair,
also thy flute; all without any merit of mine. I am thy mouth, thy
face, thine ears, thy teeth, and thy nails. Although I am a mean man I
desire to say that I unworthily represent thy person, and thine image,
that the words I shall speak have to be esteemed as thine, that my
face has to be held as thine, mine eyes as thine, and the punishment
that I shall inflict as if thou hadst inflicted it. For all this I
entreat thee to put thy spirit within me, and thy words, so that all
may obey them and none contradict.[VI-59]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: GENUINENESS OF THE FOREGOING PRAYERS.]
[Sidenote: CHARACTER AND WORKS OF SAHAGUN.]
[Sidenote: ADULTERATION OF THE SAHAGUN MSS.]
Now with regard to the measure of the genuineness of the prayers to
Tezcatlipoca, just given, it seems evident that either with or without
the conscious connivance of Father Bernardino de Sahagun, their
historian, a certain amount of sophistication and adaptation to
Christian ideas has crept into them; it appears to be just as evident,
however, on the other hand, that they contain a great deal that is
original, indigenous, and characteristic in regard to the Mexican
religion. At any rate they purport to do so, and as evidence bearing
on the matter, presented by a hearer and eye-witness at first hand,
by a man of strongly authenticated probity, learning, and above all,
of strong sympathy with the Mexican people, beloved and trusted by
those of them with whom he came in contact, and admitted to the
familiarity of a friend with their traditions and habits of
thought--for all these reasons his evidence, however we may esteem
it, must be heard and judged.[VI-60]
FOOTNOTES:
[VI-1] _Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin_, tom. iii., p. 22; _Doc. Hist.
Mex._, série iv., tom. iii., p. 86.
[VI-2] _Las Casas_, _Hist. Apologética_, MS., tom. iii., cap. 168;
_Smith's Relation of Cabeza de Vaca_, p. 177.
[VI-3] _Ribas_, _Hist. de los Triumphos_, pp. 473-5; _Doc. Hist. Mex._,
série iv., tom. iii., p. 48.
[VI-4] Apparently the same as that Vairubi spoken of on p. 83 of this
volume.
[VI-5] _Ribas_, _Hist. de los Triumphos_, pp. 16, 18, 40. 'A uno de sus
dioses llamaban Ouraba, que quiere decir fortaleza. Era como Marte,
dios de la guerra. Ofrecíanle arcos, flechas y todo género de armas
para el feliz éxito de sus batallas. A otro llamaban Sehuatoba, que
quiere decir, deleite, á quien ofrecian plumas, mantas, cuentecillas
de vidrio y adornos mugeriles. Al dios de las aguas llamaban
Bamusehua. El mas venerado de todos era Cocohuame, que significa
muerte.' _Alegre_, _Hist. Comp. de Jesus_, tom. ii., p. 45. 'They
worship for their gods such things as they haue in their houses, as
namely, hearbes, and birdes, and sing songs vnto them in their
language.' _Coronado_, in _Hakluyt's Voy._, vol. iii., p. 363.
[VI-6] 'Ils célébraient de grandes fêtes en l'honneur des femmes qui
voulaient vivre dans le célibat. Les caciques d'un canton se
réunissaient et dansaient tous nus, l'un après l'autre, avec la femme
qui avait pris cette détermination. Quand la danse était terminée, ils
la conduisaient dans une petite maison qu'on avait décorée à cet
effet, et ils jouissaient de sa personne, les caciques d'abord et
ensuite tous ceux qui le voulaient. A dater de ce moment, elles ne
pouvaient rien refuser à quiconque leur offrait le prix fixé pour
cela. Elles n'étaient jamais dispensées de cette obligation, même
quand plus tard elles se mariaient.' _Castañeda_, in _Ternaux-Compans_,
_Voy._, série i., tom. ix., pp. 150-1. 'Although these men were very
immoral, yet such was their respect for all women who led a life of
celibacy, that they celebrated grand festivals in their honour.' And
there he makes an end. _Domenech's Deserts_, vol. i., p. 170.
[VI-7] This volume, pp. 55-6.
[VI-8] I would call attention to the fact that Alvarado, the ruddy
handsome Spanish captain, was called Tonatiuh by the Mexicans, just as
Barnabas was called Jupiter, and Paul, Mercurius, by the people of
Lystra--going to show how unfetish and anthropomorphic were the ideas
connected with the sun-god by the Mexicans.
[VI-9] _Tylor's Prim. Cult._, vol. ii., p. 311.
[VI-10] _Müller_, _Amerikanische Urreligionen_, pp. 473-4. The so-often
discussed resemblance in form and signification between the two
Mexican words _teotl_ and _calli_ (see _Molina_, _Vocabulario_) and
the two Greek words _theos_ and _kalia_, is completely enough noticed
by Müller. 'Die Mexikanischen Völker haben einen Appellativnamen für
Gott, Teotl, welcher, da die Buchstaben tl blosse aztekische Endung
sind, merkwürdiger Weise mit dem indogermanischen theos, Deus, Deva,
Dew, zusammenstimmt. Dieses Wort wird zur Bildung mancher Götternamen
oder Kultusgegenstände gebraucht. Hieher gehören die Götternamen
Tcotlacozanqui, Teocipactli, Teotetl, Teoyamiqui, Tlozolteotl. Der
Tempel heisst Teocalli (vgl. Kalia, Hütte, Kalias, Capelle) oder
wörtlich Haus Gottes--das göttliche Buch, Teoamoxtli, Priester
Teopuixqui, oder auch Teoteuktli, eine Prozession, Teonenemi,
Göttermarsch. Dazu kommen noch manche Namen von Städten, die als
Kultussitze ausgezeichnet waren, wie das uns schon früher bekannt
gewordene Teotihuacan. Im Plural wurden die Götter Teules genannt und
eben so, wie uns Bernal Diaz so oft erzählt, die Gefährten des Cortes,
welche das gemeine Volk als Götter bezeichnen wollte.' _Id._, p. 472.
[VI-11] _Klemm_, _Cultur-Geschichte_, tom. v., pp. 114-5.
[VI-12] _Brasseur de Bourbourg_, _Hist. des Nat. Civ._, tom. i., pp.
45-6.
[VI-13] _Gallatin_, in _Amer. Antiq. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 352.
[VI-14] _Prescott's Conq. of Mex._, vol. i., p. 57.
[VI-15] _Squier's Serpent Symbol_, p. 47.
[VI-16] _Bussierre_, _L'Empire Mexicain_, pp. 131-3.
[VI-17] _Brantz Mayer_, in _Schoolcraft's Arch._, vol. vi., p. 585; see
also, _Brantz Mayer's Mexico as it was_, p. 110.
[VI-18] _Carbajal Espinosa_, _Hist. de Mexico_, tom. i., pp. 468-9;
_Clavigero_, _Storia Ant. del Messico_, tom. ii., pp. 3-4.
[VI-19] _Hombre Buho._
[VI-20] _Pimentel_, _Mem. sobre la Raza Indígena_, pp. 11-13.
[VI-21] _Solis_, _Hist. de la Conq. de Mex._, tom. i., pp. 398-9, 431.
[VI-22] Gallatin, in _Amer. Ethnol. Soc., Transact._, vol. i., p. 350,
identifies this god with Tezcatlipoca of whom he writes in the
following terms: 'Tezcatlipoca. A true invisible god, dwells in heaven,
earth, and hell; alone attends to the government of the world, gives
and takes away wealth and prosperity. Called also _Titlacoa_ (whence
his star _Titlacahuan_). Under the name of _Necocyaotl_, the author of
wars and discords. According to Boturini, he is the god of providence.
He seems to be the only equivalent for the _Tonacatlecottle_ of the
interpreters of the Codices.'
[VI-23] _Explic. del Codex Telleriano-Remensis_, in _Kingsborough's Mex.
Antiq._, vol. v., p. 135. I take this opportunity of cautioning the
reader against Kingsborough's translation of the above codex, as well
as against his translation of the _Spiegazione delle Tavole del Codice
Mexicano_: every error that could vitiate a translation seems to have
crept into these two.
[VI-24] See this vol. p. 57, note 13. On pages 55 and 56, and in the
note pertaining thereto, will also be found many references bearing on
the matter under present discussion.
[VI-25] _Herrera_, _Hist. Gen._, dec. ii., lib. vii., cap. xviii., p.
253.
[VI-26] _Qües_, Oviedo calls them, (spelled _cues_ by most writers) the
following explanation being given in glossary of _Voces Americanas
Empleadas por Oviedo_, appended to the fourth volume of the _Hist.
Gen._: 'Qü: templo, casa de oracion. Esta voz era muy general en casi
toda América, y muy principalmente en las comarcas de Yucatan y
Mechuacan.'
[VI-27] _Oviedo_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. iii., p. 503.
[VI-28] 'Ypalnemoaloni, que quiere decir, Señor por quien se vive, y ai
sèr en èl de Naturaleça.' _Torquemada_, _Monarq. Ind._, tom. iii., p.
30.
[VI-29] See this vol. p. 183.--Not, be it remarked that Acosta denies
the knowledge by the Mexicans of a Supreme God; he only denies the
existence of any name by which the said deity was generally known.
This is clear from the following extract from the _Hist. Nat. Ind._,
p. 333: 'First, although the darkenesse of infidelitie holdeth these
nations in blindenesse, yet in many thinges the light of truth and
reason works somewhat in them. And they commonly acknowledge a
supreame Lorde and Author of all things, which they of Peru called
Viracocha.... Him they did worship, as the chiefest of all, whom they
did honor in beholding the heaven. The like wee see amongest them of
Mexico.'
[VI-30] _Acosta_, _Hist. Nat. Ind._, pp. 334, 337-8.
[VI-31] _Mendieta_, _Hist. Ecles._, pp. 88, 91, 107.
[VI-32] The interpretation of the title Tloque Nahuaque is not only
irreconcilable with another given by the same author a few lines above
in our text, but it is also at utter variance with those of all other
authors with which I am acquainted. It may not be amiss here to turn
to the best authority accessible in matters of Mexican idiom: Molina,
_Vocabulario_, describes the title to mean, 'He upon whom depends the
existence of all things, preserving and sustaining them,'--a word used
also to mean God, or Lord. '_Tloque nauaque_, cabe quien esta el ser
de todas las cosas, conseruandolas y sustentandolas: y dizese de nro
señor dios.'
[VI-33] _Camargo_, _Hist. de Tlax._, in _Nouvelles Annales des Voy._,
1843, tom. xcviii., p. 191, tom. xcix., p. 168.
[VI-34] _Motolinia_, _Hist. Indios_, in _Icazbalceta_, _Col._, tom. i.,
pp. 4, 33-34.
[VI-35] _Ixtlilxochitl_, _Hist. Chichimeca_ in _Kingsborough's Mex.
Antiq._, vol. ix., p. 261. 'Tuvo por falsos á todos los dioses que
adoraban los de esta tierra, diciendo que eran estatuas ó demonios
enemigos del género humano; por que fue muy sabio en las cosas
morales, y el que mas vaciló buscando de donde tomar lumbre para
certificarse del verdadero Dios y criador de todas las cosas, como se
ha visto en el discurso de su historia, y dan testimonio sus cantos
que compuso en razon de esto como es el decir que habia uno solo, y
que este era el hacedor del cielo y de la tierra, y sustentaba todo lo
hecho y criado por él, y que estaba donde no tenia segundo, sobre los
nueve cielos, que él alcanzaba, que jamas se habia visto en forma
humana, ni otra figura, que con él iban á parar las almas de los
virtuosos despues de muertos, y que las de los malos iban á otro
lugar, que era el mas ínfimo de la tierra, de trabajos y penas
horribles. Nunca jamas (aunque habia muchos ídolos que representaban
muchos dioses) cuando se ofrecia tratar de deidad, ni en general ni en
particular, sino que decia yntloque in nauhaque y palne moalani, que
significa lo que està atras declarado. Solo decia que reconocia al sol
por padre; y á la tierra por madre.' See also the _Relaciones_ of the
same author, in the same volume, p. 454.
[VI-36] _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. iii., pp. 241-2.
[VI-37] 'Por la freza de la comida.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii.,
lib. vi., p. 39.
[VI-38] 'Porque á la verdad no os engañais con lo que haceis.' See
_Sahagun_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 356, as the
substitution of 'engañeis' for 'engañais' destroys the sense of the
passage in Bustamante's ed. of the same, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib.
vi., p. 43.
[VI-39] By an error and a solecism of Bustamante's ed. the words 'gentes
rojas' are substituted for the adjective 'generosos.' See, as in the
preceding note, _Sahagun_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v.,
p. 357, and _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 43.
[VI-40] 'Es decir Comandantes ó Capitanes generales de ejército:'
_Bustamante_, in _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 44.
[VI-41] 'Borlas,' see _Sahagun_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol.
v., p. 358, given 'bollas' in Bustamante's _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._,
tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 45.
[VI-42] 'Dignidad,' _Sahagun_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v.,
p. 359, misprinted 'diligencia' in Bustamante's _Sahagun_, _Hist.
Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 46.
[VI-43] This doubtful and involved sentence, with the contained clause
touching the nature of the fire-god, runs exactly as follows in the
two varying editions of the original: 'Si alguna cosa aviesa ó mal
heche hiciera en la dignidad que le habeis dado, y en la silla en que
le habeis puesto, que és vuestra, donde està tratando los negocios
populares, como quien lava cosas sucias con agua muy clara y muy
limpia; en la qual silla y dignidad tiene el mismo oficio de lavar
vuestro padre y madre de todos los Dioses, el Dios antiguo que és el
Dios del fuego, que está en medio del albergue cerca de quatro
paredes, y está cubierto con plumas resplandecientes que son como
alas, lo que este electo hiciese mal hecho, con que provoque vuestra
ira é indignacion, y despierte vuestro castigo contra si, no será de
su albedrio ó de su querer, sino de vuestra permision, ó de algun otra
sugestion vuestra, ó de otro; por lo cual os suplico tengais por bien
de abrirle los ojos y darle lumbre y abrirle las orejas, y guiadle á
este pobre electo, no tanto por lo que él és, sino principalmente por
aquellos á quienes ha de regir y llevar á cuestas.' _Sahagun_, in
_Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., pp. 360-361. 'Si alguna cosa
aviesa ó mal hecha hiciere, en la dignidad que le habeis dado, y en la
silla en que lo habeis puesto que es vuestra, donde está tratando los
negocios populares, como quien laba cosas sucias, con agua muy clara y
muy limpia, en la cual silla y dignidad tiene el mismo oficio de labar
vuestro padre y madre, de todos los dioses, el dios antiguo, que es el
dios del fuego que está en medio de las flores, y en medio del
albergue cercado de cuatro paredes, y está cubierto con plumas
resplandecientes que son somo álas; lo que este electo hiciere mal
hecho con que provoque vuestra ira é indignacion, y despierte vuestro
castigo contra sí, no será de su alvedrio de ó su querer, sino de
vuestra permision, ó de alguna otra sugestion vuestra, ó de otro; por
lo cual os suplico tengais por bien de abirle los ojos, y darle luz, y
abridle tambien las orejas, y guiad á este pobre electo; no tanto por
lo que es él, sino principalmente por aquellos á quien ha de regir y
llevar a cuestas.' Bustamante's _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib.
vi., p. 48.
[VI-44] See this volume p. 60.
[VI-45] Some of these names are differently spelt in Kingsborough's ed.,
_Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 362. 'Uno de los quales fué Camapichtli,
otro fué Tizocic, otro Avitzotl, otro el primero Motezuzoma, otro
Axayaca, y los que ahora á la parte han muerto, como el segundo
Motezuzoma, y tambien Ylhiycamina.'
[VI-46] 'Obejas,' in Bustamante's ed. _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii.,
lib. vi., p. 53; 'abejas' in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p.
364.
[VI-47] 'Y como el loco de los beleños.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom.
ii., lib. vi., p. 54.
[VI-48] Both editors of Sahagun agree here in using the word 'obejas.'
As sheep were unknown in Mexico it is too evident that other hands
than Mexican have been employed in the construction of this simile.
[VI-49] 'Si es así ha hecho burla de V. M., y con desacato y grande
ofensa, se ha arrojado á una cima, y en una profunda barranca.'
Bustamante's ed. of _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p.
58. The same passage runs as follows in Kingsborough's ed.: 'Si és así
ha hecho burla de vuestra magestad, y con desacato y grande ofensa de
vuestra magestad será arrojado en una sima, y en una profunda
barranca.' _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._, vol. v., p. 367.
[VI-50] 'Poca' is misprinted for 'poza' in Bustamante's ed., _Sahagun_,
_Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. v., p. 58.
[VI-51] 'Cosa que desciende del cielo, como agua clarísima y purísima
par lavar los pecados.' _Sahagun_, in _Kingsborough's Mex. Antiq._,
vol. v., p. 368. See also _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi.,
p. 59.
'The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath.'--_Merchant of Venice_, act. iv.
[VI-52] 'Mayormente á los enfermos porque son imágen de dios.'
_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 63.
[VI-53] 'Los pasados señores y señoras que tuvieron cargo de éste
reino.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 71.
[VI-54] 'Adornador de las criaturas.' _Sahagun_, in _Kingsborough's Mex.
Antiq._, vol v., p. 377. 'Adornador de las almas.' _Sahagun_, _Hist.
Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 71.
[VI-55] The precise force of much of this sentence it is hard to
understand. It seems to show, at any rate, that the merchants were
supposed to be very intimate with and especially favored by this
deity. The original runs as follows: 'En este lugar burlan y rien de
nuestras boberías los negociantes, con los quales estais vos
holgados, porque son vuestros amigos y vuestros conocidos, y allí
inspirais é insuflais á vuestros devotos, que lloran y suspiran en
vuestra presencia y os dan de verdad su corazon.' _Sahagun_, _Hist.
Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 73.
[VI-56] 'Para que vean como en espejo de dos hazes, donde se representa
la imágen de cada uno'. _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi.,
p. 73.
[VI-57] _Nacochtli_, orejeras (ear-rings); _Tentetl_, beçote de indio
(lip-ornament). _Molina_, _Vocabulario_. Molina gives also
_Matemecatl_, to mean a gold bracelet or something of that kind;
Bustamante translates the word in the same way, explaining that the
strap mentioned in the text was used to tie the bracelet on.
_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 74.
[VI-58] 'Espaldar de vuestra silla.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii.,
lib. vi., p. 75.
[VI-59] 'He that delivered this prayer before Tezcatlipoca, stood on his
feet, his feet close together, bending himself towards the earth.
Those that were very devout were naked. Before they began the prayer
they offered copal to the fire, or some other sacrifice, and if they
were covered with a blanket, they pulled the knot of it round to the
breast, so that they were naked in front. Some spoke this prayer
squatting on their calves, and kept the knot of the blanket on the
shoulder.' _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. vi., p. 75.
[VI-60] Father Bernardino de Sahagun, a Spanish Franciscan, was one of
the first preachers sent to Mexico; where he was much employed in the
instruction of the native youth, working for the most part in the
province of Tezcuco. While there, in the city of Tepeopulco, in the
latter part of the sixteenth century, he began the work, best known to
us as the _Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España_, from which
the above prayers have been translated, and from which we shall draw
largely for further information. It would be hard to imagine a work of
such a character constructed after a better fashion of working than
his. Gathering the principal natives of the town in which he carried
on his labors, he induced them to appoint him a number of persons, the
most learned and experienced in the things of which he wished to
write. These learned Mexicans being collected, Father Sahagun was
accustomed to get them to paint down in their native fashion the
various legends, details of history and mythology, and so on that he
wanted; at the foot of the said pictures these learned Mexicans wrote
out the explanations of the same in the Mexican tongue; and this
explanation the Father Sahagun translated into Spanish: that
translation purports to be what we now read as the _Historia General_.
Here follows a translation of the Prologo of his work, in which he
describes all the foregoing in his own way: "All writers labor the
best that they can to make their works authoritative; some by
witnesses worthy of faith, others by the writings of previous writers
held worthy of belief, others by the testimony of the Sacred
Scriptures. To me are wanting all these foundations to make
authoritative what I have written in these twelve books [of the
_Historia General_]. I have no other foundation, but to set down here
the relation of the diligence that I made to know the truth of all
that is written in these twelve books. As I have said in other
prologues to this work, I was commanded in all holy obedience by my
chief prelate to write in the Mexican language that which appeared to
me to be useful for the doctrine, worship, and maintenance of
Christianity among these natives of New Spain, and for the aid of the
workers and ministers that taught them. Having received this
commandment, I made in the Spanish language a minute or memorandum of
all the matters that I had to treat of, which matters are what is
written in the twelve books, ... which were begun in the pueblo of
Tepeopulco, which is in the province of Culhuacán or Tezcuco. The work
was done in the following way. In the aforesaid pueblo, I got together
all the principal men, together with the lord of the place, who was
called Don Diego de Mendoza, of great distinction and ability, well
experienced in things ecclesiastic, military, political, and even
relating to idolatry. They being come together, I set before them what
I proposed to do, and prayed them to appoint me able and experienced
persons, with whom I might converse and come to an understanding on
such questions as I might propose. They answered me that they would
talk the matter over and give their answer on another day; and with
this they took their departure. So on another day the lord and his
principal men came, and having conferred together with great
solemnity, as they were accustomed at that time to do, they chose out
ten or twelve of the principal old men, and told me that with these I
might communicate and that these would instruct me in any matters I
should inquire of. Of these there were as many as four instructed in
Latin, to whom I, some few years before, had myself taught grammar in
the college of Santa Cruz, in Tlaltelolco. With these appointed
principal men, including the four instructed in grammar, I talked many
days during about two years, following the order of the minute I had
already made out. On all the subjects on which we conferred they gave
me pictures--which were the writings anciently in use among
them--and these the grammarians interpreted to me in their language,
writing the interpretation at the foot of the picture. Even to this
day I hold the originals of these.... When I went to the chapter, with
which was ended the seven years' term of Fray Francisco Torál--he that
had imposed the charge of this work upon me--I was removed from
Tepeopulco, carrying all my writings. I went to reside at Santiago del
Tlaltelolco. There I brought together the principal men, set before
them the matter of my writings, and asked them to appoint me some able
principal men, with whom I might examine and talk over the writings I
had brought from Tepeopulco. The governor, with the alcaldes, appointed
me as many as eight or ten principal men, selected from all the most
able in their language, and in the things of their antiquities. With
these and with four or five collegians, all trilinguists, and living
for the space of a year or more secluded in the college, all that had
been brought written from Tepeopulco was clearly emended and added to;
and the whole was rewritten in small letters, for it was written with
much haste. In this scrutiny or examination, he that worked the
hardest of all the collegians was Martin Jacobita, who was then rector
of the college, an inhabitant of the ward of Santa Ana. I, having done
all as above said in Tlaltelolco, went, taking with me all my
writings, to reside in San Francisco de México, where, by myself, for
the space of three years, I examined over and over again the writings,
emended them, divided them into twelve books, and each book into
chapters and paragraphs. After this, Father Miguel Navarro being
provincial, and Father Diego de Mendoza commissary-general in Mexico,
with their favor I had all the twelve books clearly copied in a good
hand, as also the _Postilla_ and the _Cantáres_ [which were other
works on which Sahagun was engaged]. I made out also an Art of the
Mexican language with a vocabulary-appendix. Now the Mexicans added to
and emended my twelve books [of the _Historia General_] in many things
while they were being copied out in full; so that the first sieve
through which my work passed was that of Tepeopulco, the second that
of Tlaltelolco, the third that of Mexico; and in all these scrutinies
collegiate grammarians had been employed. The chief and most learned
was Antonio Valeriano, a resident of Aztcapuzalco; another little less
than the first, was Alonso Vegerano, resident of Cuauhtitlan; another
was Martin Jacobita, above mentioned; another Pedro de Santa
Buenaventura, resident of Cuauhtitlan; all expert in three languages,
Latin, Spanish, and Indian [Mexican]. The scribes that made out the
clear copies of all the works are Diego Degrado, resident of the ward
of San Martin, Mateo Severino, resident of Xochimilco, of the part of
Ullác. The clear copy being fully made out, by the favor of the
fathers above mentioned and the expenditure of hard cash on the
scribes, the author thereof asked of the delegate Father Francisco de
Rivera that the work be submitted to three or four religious, so that
they might give an opinion on it, and that in the provincial chapter,
which was close at hand, they might attend and report on the matter to
the assembly, speaking as the thing might appear to them. And these
reported in the assembly that the writings were of much value and
deserved such support as was necessary toward their completion. But to
some of the assembly it seemed that it was contrary to their vows of
poverty to spend money in copying these writings; so they commanded
the author to dismiss his scribes, and that he alone with his own hand
should do what copying he wanted done; but as he was more than seventy
years old, and for the trembling of his hand not able to write
anything, nor able to procure a dispensation from this mandate, there
was nothing done with the writings for more than five years. During
this interval, and at the next chapter, Father Miguel Navarro was
elected by the general chapter for custos custodium, and Father Alonso
de Escalona, for provincial. During this time the author made a
summary of all the books and of all the chapters of each book, and
prologues, wherein was said with brevity all that the books contained.
This summary Father Miguel Navarro and his companion, Father Gerónimo
de Mendieta, carried to Spain, and thus in Spain the things that had
been written about this land made their appearance. In the mean time,
the father provincial took all the books of the author and dispersed
them through all the province, where they were seen by many religious
and approved for very precious and valuable. After some years, the
general chapter meeting again, Father Miguel Navarro, at the petition
of the author, turned with censures to collect again the said books;
which, from that collecting, came within about a year into the hands
of the author. During that time nothing was done in them, nor was
there any one to help to get them translated into the vernacular
Spanish, until the delegate-general Father Rodrigo de Sequera came to
these parts, saw and was much pleased with them, and commanded the
author to translate them into Spanish; providing all that was
necessary to their being re-written, the Mexican language in one
column and the Spanish in another, so that they might be sent to
Spain; for the most illustrious Señor Don Juan de Ovando, president of
the Council of Indies, had inquired after them, he knowing of them by
reason of the summary that the said Father Miguel Navarro had carried
to Spain, as above said. And all the above-said is to show that this
work has been examined and approved by many, and during many years has
passed through many troubles and misfortunes before reaching the place
it now has." _Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., lib. i., Prólogo, pp.
iii. vii. As to the date at which Sahagun wrote he says: 'These twelve
books and the Art and the vocabulary-appendix were finished in a clear
copy in the year 1569; but not translated into Spanish.' _Sahagun_,
_Hist. Gen._, tom. ii., lib. i., Introduccion, p. xv. The following
scanty sketch of the life of Sahagun, is taken, after Bustamante, from
the _Menealógio Seráfico_ of Father Betancourt: 'Father Bernardino
Sahagun, native of Sahagun, took the robe in the convent of Salamanca,
being a student of that university. He passed into this province
[Mexico] in the year 1529, in the company of Father Antonio de Ciudad
Rodrigo. While a youth he was endowed with a beauty and grace of
person that corresponded with that of his soul. From his tenderest
years he was very observant, self-contained, and given to prayer.
Father Martin de Valencia held very close communion with him, owing to
which he saw him many times snatched up into an ecstasy. Sahagun was
very exact in his attendance in the choir, even in his old age, he
never was absent at matins. He was gentle, humble, courteous in his
converse with all. He was elected secondly with the learned Father
Juan de Gaona, as professor at Tlaltelolco in the college of Santa
Cruz; where he shone like a light on a candlestick, for he was perfect
in all the sciences. His possession of the Mexican language was of a
perfectness that has never to this day being equaled; he wrote many
books in it that will be mentioned in the catalogue of authors. He had
to strive with much opposition, for to some it did not seem good to
write out in the language of the Mexicans their ancient rites, lest it
should give occasion for their being persevered in. He watched over
the honor of God against idolatry, and sought earnestly to impress the
Christian faith upon the converted. He affirmed as a minister of much
experience, that during the first twenty years [of his life in the
province] the fervor of the natives was very great; but that afterward
they inclined to idolatry, and became very lukewarm in the faith. This
he says in the book of his _Postillas_ that I have, in which I learnt
much. During the first twenty years of his life [in the province] he
was guardian of some convents; but after that he desired not to take
upon himself any office or guardianship for more than forty years, so
that he could occupy himself in preaching, confessing, and writing.
During the sixty and one years that he lived in the province, for the
most part in college, without resting a single day, he instructed the
boys in civilization and good customs, teaching them reading, writing,
grammar, music, and other things in the service of God and the state.
This went on till the year 1590, when, the approach of death becoming
apparent to every one, he entered the hospital of Mexico; where he
died on the 23rd of October. There assembled to his funeral the
collegians, trailing their _becas_, and the natives shedding tears,
and the members of the different religious houses giving praises to
God our Lord for this holy death, of which the martyrology
treats--Gonzaga, Torquemada, Deza, Rampineo, and many others. In the
library of Señor Eguiara, in the manuscript of the Turriana
collection, I have read the article relating to Father Sahagun; in it
a large catalogue of works that he wrote is given. I remember only the
following: _Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva España_; _Arte de
gramática mexicana_; _Diccionario trilingue de español, latin, y
mexicano_; _Sermones para todo el año en mexicano_, (poséo aunque sin
nombre de autor); _Postillas ó commentarios al evangelio, para las
misas solemnes de dia de precepto_; _Historia de los primeros
pobladores franciscanos en Mexico_; _Salmodia de la vida de Cristo, de
la virgen y de los santos, que usaban los indios, y preceptos para los
casados_; _Escala espiritual_, que fué la primera obra que se imprimió
en Mexico en la imprenta que trajo Hernan Cortés de España.'
_Sahagun_, _Hist. Gen._, tom. i., pp. vii.-ix. As to the manner in
which the _Historia General_ of Sahagun, 'whom,' says Prescott,
_Mex._, vol. i., p. 67, 'I have followed as the highest authority' in
matters of Mexican religion--at last saw the light of publication, I
give Prescott's account, _Mex._, vol. i., p. 88, as exact save in one
point, for which see the correction in brackets:--'At length, toward
the close of the last century, the indefatigable Muñoz succeeded in
disinterring the long lost manuscript from the place tradition had
assigned to it--the library of a convent at Tolosa, in Navarre, the
northern extremity of Spain. With his usual ardor, he transcribed the
whole work with his own hands, and added it to the inestimable
collection, of which, alas! he was destined not to reap the full
benefit himself. From this transcript Lord Kingsborough was enabled to
procure the copy which was published in 1830, in the sixth volume of
his magnificent compilation. [It was published in two parts, in the
fifth and seventh volumes of that compilation, and the exact date of
the publication was 1831.] In it he expresses an honest satisfaction
at being the first to give Sahagun's work to the world. But in this
supposition he was mistaken. The very year preceding, an edition of
it, with annotations, appeared in Mexico, in three volumes 8vo. It was
prepared by Bustamante--a scholar to whose editorial activity his
country is largely indebted--from a copy of the Muñoz manuscript
which came into his possession. Thus this remarkable work, which was
denied the honors of the press during the author's lifetime, after
passing into oblivion, reappeared, at the distance of nearly three
centuries, not in his own country, but in foreign lands widely remote
from each other, and that almost simultaneously.... Sahagun divided
his history into twelve books. The first eleven are occupied with the
social institutions of Mexico, and the last with the Conquest. On the
religion of the country he is particularly full. His great object
evidently was, to give a clear view of its mythology, and of the
burdensome ritual which belonged to it. Religion entered so intimately
into the most private concerns and usages of the Aztecs, that Sahagun's
work must be a text-book for every student of their antiquities.
Torquemada availed himself of a manuscript copy, which fell into his
hands before it was sent to Spain, to enrich his own pages--a
circumstance more fortunate for his readers than for Sahagun's
reputation, whose work, now that it is published, loses much of the
originality and interest which would otherwise attach to it. In one
respect it is invaluable; as presenting a complete collection of the
various forms of prayer, accommodated to every possible emergency, in
use by the Mexicans. They are often clothed in dignified and beautiful
language, showing that sublime speculative tenets are quite compatible
with the most degrading practices of superstition. It is much to be
regretted that we have not the eighteen hymns, inserted by the author
in his book, which would have particular interest, as the only
specimen of devotional poetry preserved of the Aztecs. The
hieroglyphical paintings, which accompanied the text are also missing.
If they have escaped the hands of fanaticism, both may reappear at
some future day.' As may have been noticed, the editions of Sahagun by
both Bustamante and Kingsborough have been constantly used together
and collated during the course of this present work. They differ,
especially in many minor points of typography, Bustamante's being the
more carelessly edited in this respect. Notwithstanding, however, the
opinion to the contrary of Mr Harrisse, Bustamante's edition is on the
whole the more complete; Kingsborough having avowedly omitted divers
parts of the original which he thought unimportant or
uninteresting--a fault also of Bustamante's, but to a lesser extent.
Fortunately what is absent in the one I have always found in the
other; and indeed, as a whole, and all circumstances being considered,
they agree tolerably well. The criticism of Mr Harrisse, just referred
to, runs as follows, _Bib. Am. Vet._, p. 208, note 52: '_Historia
General de las Cosas de Nueva España_; Mexico, 3 vols., 4to, 1829
(edited and castrated by Bustamente [Bustamante] in such a manner as
to require for a perfect understanding of that dry but important work,
the reading of the parts also published in vols. v. and vi. [v. and
vii.], of Kingsborough's _Antiquities_.)' We are not yet done,
however, with editions of Sahagun. A third edition of part of his work
has seen the light. It is Bustamante himself that attempts to
supersede a part of his first edition. He affirms, that book xii. of
that first edition of his, as of course also book xii. of
Kingsborough's edition, is spurious and has been garbled and glossed
by Spanish hands quite away from the original as written by Sahagun.
Exactly how or when this corruption took place he does not show; but
he leaves it to be inferred that it was immediately after the original
manuscript had been taken from its author, and that it was done
because that twelfth book, which treats more immediately of the
Conquest, reflected too hardly on the Conquerors. Bustamante having
procured, in a manner now to be given in his own words, a correct and
genuine copy of the twelfth book, a copy written and signed by the
hand of Sahagun himself, proceeded in 1840 to give it to the world
under the extraordinary title of _La Aparicion de Nuestra Senora de
Guadalupe de Mexico, comprobada con la refutacion del argumento
negativo que presenta D. Juan Bautista Muñoz, fundandose en el
testimonio del P. Fr. Bernardino Sahagun; ó sea, Historia Original de
este Escritor, que altera la publicada en 1829 en el equivocado
concepto de ser la unica y original del dicho autor_. All of which
means to say that he, Bustamante, having already published in 1829-30,
a complete edition of Sahagun's _Historia General_, in twelve books,
according to the best manuscript he could then find, has found the
twelfth book of that history to be not genuine, has found the genuine
original of said twelfth book, and now, in 1840, publishes said
genuine twelfth book under the above extraordinary name, inasmuch as
it contains some reference to what is supposed to be uppermost in
every religious Mexican's mind, to wit, the miraculous appearance of
the Blessed Virgin to a certain native Mexican, la aparicion de
nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Mexico. Bustamante's own account of all
the foregoing, being translated from the above-mentioned _Nra. Señora
de Guadalupe_, pp. iv., viii., xxiii., runs as follows: 'As he
[Sahagun] wrote with the frankness proper to truth, and as this was
not pleasing to the heads of the then government, nor even to some of
his brother friars, he was despoiled of his writings. These were sent
to Spain, and ordered to be stored away in the archives of the convent
of San Francisco de Tolosa de Navarra, so that no one should ever be
able to read them; there they lay hid for more than two centuries.
During the reign of Carlos iii., Señor Muñoz was commissioned to write
the history of the New World. But he found himself without this work
[of Sahagun's] so necessary to his purpose; and he was ignorant of its
whereabouts, till, reading the index of the Biblioteca Franciscana he
came to know about it, and, furnished by the government with all
powers, he took it out of the said monastery. Colonel D. Diego Garcia
Panes having come to Madrid at the same time, to publish the works of
Señor Veytia, this gentleman contracted a friendship with Muñoz who
allowed him to copy the two thick volumes in which Sahagun's work was
written.... These two volumes, then, that Colonel Panes had copied,
were what was held to be solely the work of Father Sahagun, and as
such esteemed; still it does not appear to be proved by attestation
that this was the author's original _autograph_ history. Had it been
so, the circumstance would hardly have been left without definite
mention, when the relation was given of the way in which the book was
got hold of, and when the guarantee of the exactness of the copy was
procured. I, to-day, possess an original manuscript, written
altogether and signed by the hand of Father Sahagun; in which is to be
noted an essential variation in certain of the chapters which I now
present, from those that I before published in the twelfth book of his
_Historia General_; which is the book treating of the Conquest.
Sahagun wrote this manuscript in the year 1585, that is to say, five
years before his death, and he wrote it without doubt under a
presentiment of the alterations that his work would suffer. He had
already made alterations therein himself, since he confesses (they are
his words) that certain defects existed in them, that certain things
had been put into the narrative of that Conquest that should not have
been put there, while other things were left out that should not have
been omitted. Therefore [says Bustamante], this autograph manuscript
discovers the alterations that his writings underwent and gives us
good reason to doubt the authenticity and exactness of the text seen
by Muñoz.... During the revolution of Madrid, in May, 1808, caused by
the entrance of the French and the removal of the royal family to
Bayonne, the office of the secretary of the Academy of History was
robbed, and from it were taken various bundles of the works of Father
Sahagun. These an old lawyer of the court bought, and among them one
entitled: _Relacion de la conquista de esta Nueva España, como la
contaron los soldados indios que se hallaron presentes. Convertióse en
lengua española llana é inteligible y bien enmendada en este año de
1585_. Unfortunately there had only remained [of the _Relacion_, etc.,
(?)] a single volume of manuscript, which Señor D. José Gomez de la
Cortina, ex-count of that title, bought, giving therefor the sum of a
hundred dollars. He allowed me the use of it, and I have made an exact
copy of it, adding notes for the better understanding of the Conquest;
the before-mentioned being altogether written, as I have said, and
signed by the hands of Father Sahagun. This portion, which the said
ex-count has certified to, induces us to believe that the other works
of Sahagun, relating both to the Conquest and to the Aparicion
Guadalupana have been adulterated because they did little honor to the
first Conquerors. That they have at all come to be discussed with
posterity, has been because a knowledge of them was generally
scattered, and in such a way that it was no longer possible to keep
them hidden; or, perhaps, because the faction interested in their
concealment had disappeared. In proof of the authenticity and identity
of this manuscript, we refer to Father Betancur in his Chronicle of
the province of the Santo Evangelio de México, making a catalogue of
the illustrious men thereof; speaking of Sahagun, he says on page 138:
"The ninth book that this writer composed was the Conquest of Mexico
by Cortés; which book afterward, in the year 1585, he re-wrote and
emended; the [emended] original of this I saw signed with his hand in
the possession of Señor D. Juan Francisco de Montemayor, president of
the Royal Audiencia, who carried it to Spain with the intention of
having it printed; and of this I have a translation wherein it is said
that the Marquis of Villa-Manrique, viceroy of Mexico, took from him
[Sahagun] the twelve books and sent them to his majesty for the royal
chronicler." Bustamante lastly gives a certificate of the authenticity
of the manuscript under discussion and published by him. The
certificate is signed by José Gomez de la Cortina, and runs as
follows: 'Mexico, 1st April, 1840. I certify that, being in Madrid in
the year 1828, I bought from D. Lorenzo Ruiz de Artieda, through the
agency of my friend and companion, D. José Musso Valiente, member of
the Spanish Academies of language and of history, the original
manuscript of Father Sahagun, of which mention is made in this work by
his Excellency Señor D. Cárlos María Bustamante, as constated by the
receipts of the seller, and by other documents in my possession.' So
much for Bustamante's new position as a reëditor of a part of
Sahagun's _Historia General_; we have stated it in his own words, and
in those of his own witnesses as brought forward by him. The changes
referred to do not involve any matter bearing on mythology; it may be
not out of place to say however, that the evidence in favor of
Bustamante's new views seems strong and truth-like.