The inhabitants of Huexotzinco were in frequent strife with those of
Mexico-Tenochtitlan, and on various occasions the latter captured
many prisoners. The present poem is represented to be a composition
of one of these prisoners when he and his companions were confined in
Tlatilolco, one of the suburbs of Tenochtitlan. It breathes hatred
against his captors and an ardent thirst for vengeance. The latest
date at which I find captives from Huexotzinco detained in Mexico is
1511, and it is to this year, therefore, that I assign the
composition of the poem.
5. _Atloyantepetl_; this name possibly means "the mountain of the
place of the water-falcons" (_atl_, water; _tlatli_, falcon; _yan_,
place-ending; _tepetl_, mountain). I have not found it in other
writers. (See Index.)
8. _tlaylotlaqui_; Siméon, on the authority of Aubin, explains this
term as the name of a tribe living near Tezcuco. In derivation it
appears to be a term of contempt, "workers in filth or refuse," scum,
offscourings. It also appears in Song XV.
10. The construction of this verse is so obscure, or the text so
imperfect, that the translation is doubtful.