1. In polysyllabic words in which there are no long vowels, all the
vowels are intermediate.
2. The vowels are long in the penultimate of the plurals of the
imperatives when the preterit of the verb ends in a vowel; the _[=a]_
of the _c[=a]n_ of the imperatives; the _[=i]_ of the _t[=i]_; of the
gerundives; the last vowel of the futures when the verb loses a vowel
to form them; the penultimates of passives in _lo_, of impersonals,
of verbals in _oni_, _illi_, _olli_ and _oca_, of verbal nouns with
the terminations _yan_ and _can_; the _[=o]_ of abstract nouns in
_otl_ in composition; and those derived from long syllables.
3. Vowels are "with stress" when they are the finals in the plurals
of nouns and verbs, also in the perfect preterite, in possessives
ending in â, ê, ô, and in the penultimate of nouns ending in _tli_,
_tla_ and _tle_ when these syllables are immediately preceded by the
vowel.[22]
The practical importance of these distinctions may be illustrated by
the following examples:--
_tâtli_, = father.
_t[=a]tl[)i]_, = thou drinkest.
_t[=a]tlî_, = we drink.
It is, however, evident from this example that the quantity of
Nahuatl syllables enters too much into the strictly formal part of
the language for rules of position, such as some of those above
given, to be binding; and doubtless for this reason the eminent
grammarian Carlos de Tapia Zenteno, who was professor of the tongue
in the University of Mexico, denies that it can be reduced to
definite rules of prosody like those of the Latin.[23]
Substituting accent for quantity, there would seem to be an iambic
character to the songs. Thus the first words of Song I, were probably
chanted:--
_Nino' yolno' notza' campa' nic[)u] iz' yec tli' ahui aca' xochitl'_:
etc.
But the directions given for the drums at the beginning of Songs
XVIII, XIX, etc., do not indicate a continuance of these feet, but of
others, as in XIX:--
u--, u--, u--, uu--, u--, u--, u--, etc.
Indeed, we may suppose that the metre varied with the subject and the
skill of the poet. This, in fact, is the precise statement of Father
Duran,[24] who speaks of the native poets as "giving to each song a
different tune (_sonada_), as we are accustomed in our poetry to have
the sonnet, the octava rima and the terceto."
§ 5. _THE VOCAL DELIVERY OF THE SONG._
Descriptions of the concerts so popular among the Nahuas have been
preserved by the older writers, and it is of the highest importance
to understand their methods in order to appreciate the songs
presented in this volume.
These concerts were held on ceremonial occasions in the open air, in
the village squares or in the courtyards of the houses. They began in
the morning and usually continued until nightfall, occasionally far
into the night. The musicians occupied the centre of the square and
the trained singers stood or sat around them. When the sign was given
to begin, the two most skillful singers, sometimes a man and a woman,
pronounced the first syllables of the song slowly but with a sharp
emphasis;[25] then the drums began in a low tone, and gradually increased in
strength as the song proceeded; the other singers united their voices
until the whole chorus was in action, and often the bystanders, to
the numbers of thousands, would ultimately join in the words of some
familiar song, keeping time by concerted movements of the hands and
feet.
Each verse or couplet of the song was repeated three or four times
before proceeding to the next, and those songs which were of the
slowest measure and least emotional in character were selected for
the earlier hours of the festivals. None of the songs was lengthy,
even the longest, in spite of the repetitions, rarely lasting over an
hour.[26]
The tone in which the words were chanted is described by Clavigero,
Mühlenpfordt and other comparatively recent travelers as harsh,
strident and disagreeable to the European ear. Mendieta calls it a
"contra-bass," and states that persons gifted with such a voice
cultivated it assiduously and were in great demand. The Nahuas call
it _tozquitl_, the singing voice, and likened it to the notes of
sweet singing birds.
§ 6. _THE INSTRUMENTAL ACCOMPANIMENT._
The Nahuas were not acquainted with any stringed instrument. They
manufactured, however, a variety of objects from which they could
extract what seemed to them melodious sounds. The most important were
two forms of drums, the _huehuetl_ and the _teponaztli_.
The word _huehuetl_ means something old, something ancient, and
therefore important and great. The drum so-called was a hollow
cylinder of wood, thicker than a man's body, and usually about five
palms in height. The end was covered with tanned deerskin, firmly
stretched. The sides were often elaborately carved and tastefully
painted. This drum was placed upright on a stand in front of the
player and the notes were produced by striking the parchment with the
tips of the fingers.
A smaller variety of this instrument was called _tlapanhuehuetl_, or
the half drum, which was of the same diameter but only half the
height.[27] Still another variety was the _yopihuehuetl_, "the drum
which tears out the heart,"[28] so called either by reason of its
penetrating and powerful sound, or because it was employed at the
_Yopico_, where that form of human sacrifice was conducted.
The _teponaztli_ was a cylindrical block of wood hollowed out below,
and on its upper surface with two longitudinal parallel grooves
running nearly from end to end, and a third in the centre at right
angles to these, something in the shape of the letter I. The two
tongues left between the grooves were struck with balls of rubber,
_ulli_, on the ends of handles or drum sticks. These instruments
varied greatly in size, some being five feet in length, and others so
small that they could conveniently be carried suspended to the neck.
The _teponaztli_ was the house instrument of the Nahuas. It was
played in the women's apartments to amuse the noble ladies, and the
war captains carried one at the side to call the attention of their
cohorts on the field of battle (Sahagun). The word is derived from
the name of the tree whose wood was selected to make the drum, and
this in turn from the verb _tepunazoa_, to swell, probably from some
peculiarity of its growth.[29]
A much superior instrument to the teponaztli, and doubtless a
development from it, was the _tecomapiloa_, "the suspended vase"
(_tecomatl_, gourd or vase, _piloa_, to hang or suspend). It was a
solid block of wood, with a projecting ridge on its upper surface and
another opposite, on its lower aspect; to the latter one or more
gourds or vases were suspended, which increased and softened the
sound when the upper ridge was struck with the _ulli_.[30] This was
undoubtedly the origin of the _marimba_, which I have described
elsewhere.[31]
The musical properties of these drums have been discussed by Theodor
Baker. The teponaztli, he states, could yield but two notes, and
could not have been played in accord with the huehuetl. It served as
an imperfect contra-bass.[32]
The _omichicahuaz_, "strong bone," was constructed somewhat on the
principle of a _teponaztli_. A large and long bone was selected, as
the femur of a man or deer, and it was channeled by deep longitudinal
incisions. The projections left between the fissures were rasped with
another bone or a shell, and thus a harsh but varied sound could be
produced.[33]
The _tetzilacatl_, the "vibrator" or "resounder," was a sheet of
copper suspended by a cord, which was struck with sticks or with the
hand. It appears to have been principally confined to the sacred
music in the temples.
The _ayacachtli_ was a rattle formed of a jar of earthenware or a
dried gourd containing pebbles which was fastened to a handle, and
served to mark time in the songs and dances. An extension of this
simple instrument was the _ayacachicahualiztli_, "the arrangement of
rattles," which was a thin board about six feet long and a span wide,
to which were attached bells, rattles and cylindrical pieces of hard
wood. Shaking this produced a jingle-jangle, agreeable to the native
ear. The Aztec bells of copper, _tzilinilli_, are really metallic
rattles, like our sleigh bells. They are often seen in collections of
Mexican antiquities. Other names for them were _coyolliyoyotli_. and
Various forms of flutes and fifes, made of reeds, of bone or of
pottery, were called by names derived from the word _pitzaua_, to
blow (e.g., _tlapitzalli_, _uilacapitzli_), and sometimes, as being
punctured with holes, _zozoloctli_, from _zotl_, the awl or
instrument used in perforating skins, etc. Many of those made of
earthenware have been preserved, and they appear to have been a
highly-esteemed instrument, as Sahagun mentions that the leader of
the choir of singers in the temple bore the title _tlapitzcatzin_,
"the noble flute player."
Large conches were obtained on the seashore and framed into wind
instruments called _quiquiztli_ and _tecciztli_, whose hoarse notes
could be heard for long distances, and whistles of wood, bone and
earthenware added their shrill notes to the noise of the chanting of
the singers. The shell of the tortoise, _ayotl_, dried and suspended,
was beaten in unison with such instruments.
Recent researches by competent musical experts conducted upon
authentic specimens of the ancient Mexican instruments have tended to
elevate our opinion of their skill in this art. Mr. H.T. Cresson, of
the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, has critically
examined the various Aztec clay flutes, whistles, etc., which are
there preserved, and has reached the following conclusions:--
"I. That upon the four-holed clay flageolets the chromatic and
diatonic scales can be produced with a full octave.
"II. That the clay whistles or pitch pipes, which may be manipulated
in quartette, will produce an octave and a fourth.
"III. From the facts above shown, the Aztecs must have possessed a
knowledge of the scales as known to us, which has been fully tested
by comparison with the flute and organ."[34]
This result indicates for the instrumental accompaniment a much
higher position in musical notation than has hitherto been accepted.
§ 7. _THE POETIC DIALECT._
All the old writers who were familiar with the native songs speak of
their extreme obscurity, and the difficulty of translating them. No
one will question the intimate acquaintance with the Nahuatl language
possessed by Father Sahagun; yet no one has expressed more strongly
than he the vagueness of the Nahuatl poetic dialect. "Our enemy on
earth," he writes, "has prepared a thick woods and a dangerous ground
full of pitfalls, wherein to devise his evil deeds and to hide
himself from attack, as do wild beasts and venomous serpents. This
woods and these pitfalls are the songs which he has inspired to be
used in his service, as praises to his honor, in the temples and
elsewhere; because they are composed with such a trick that they
proclaim only what the devil commands, and are understood only by
those to whom they are addressed. It is well known that the cavern,
woods or depths in which the devil hides himself were these chants or
psalms which he himself has composed, and which cannot be understood
in their true significance except by those who are accustomed to the
peculiar style of their language."[35]
Not less positive are the expressions of Father Diego Duran,
contemporary of Sahagun, and himself well versed in the native
tongue. "All their songs," he observes, "were composed in such
obscure metaphors that scarcely any one can understand them unless he
give especial attention to their construction."[36] The worthy
Boturini was puzzled by those which he had collected, and writes,
"the songs are difficult to explain, because they mystify historical
facts with constant allegorizing,"[37] and Boturini's literary
executor, Don Mariano Echevarria y Veitia, who paid especial
attention to the poetic fragments he had received, says frankly: "The
fact is, that as to the songs I have not found a person who can fully
translate them, because there are many words in them whose
signification is absolutely unknown to-day, and moreover which do not
appear in the vocabularies of Molina or others."[38]
The Abbé Clavigero speaks in somewhat more definite terms of the
poetic forms and licenses of the language. He notes that in the
fragments of the ancient verses which had been preserved until his
day there were inserted between the significant words certain
interjections and meaningless syllables, apparently to fill out the
metre. Nevertheless, he considered the language of the chants, "pure,
pleasant, brilliant, figurative and replete with allusions to the
more pleasing objects in nature, as flowers, trees, brooks, etc."[39]
It is quite evident from the above extracts that in the translation
of the ancient songs in the present volume we must be prepared for
serious difficulties, the more so as the Nahuatl language, in the
opinion of some who are the best acquainted with it, lends itself
with peculiar facility to ambiguities of expression and obscure
figures of speech.[40] Students of American ethnology are familiar
with the fact that in nearly all tribes the language of the sacred
songs differs materially from that in daily life.
Of the older grammarians, Father Carochi alone has left us actual
specimens of the ancient poetic dialect, and his observations are
regretably brief. They occur in his chapter on the composition of
nouns and read as follows:[41]--
"The ancient Indians were chary in forming compounds of more than two
words, while those of to-day exceed this number, especially if they
speak of sacred things; although in their poetic dialect the ancients
were also extravagant in this respect, as the following examples
show:--