_Uitznaoac yautl icuic._
1. Ahuia tlacochcalco notequioa ayayui nocaquia tlacatl, ya
nechyapinauia, ayaca nomati, nitetzauiztli, auia, ayaca nomati niya,
yautla, aquitoloc tlacochcalco notequioa, iuexcatlatoa ay nopilchan.
2. Ihiya quetl tocuilechcatl quauiquemitl nepapan oc uitzetla.
3. Huia oholopa telipuchtla, yuiyoc yn nomalli, ye nimauia, ye
nimauia, yuiyoc yn nomalli.
4. Huia uitznauac telepochtla yuiyoc, yn nomalli, ye nimauia, ye
nimauia yuiyoc, ynomalli.
5. Huia ytzicotla telipochtla, yuiyoc, yn nomalli, ye nimauia, ye
nimauia, yuiyoc yn nomalli.
6. Uitznauac teuaqui, machiyotla tetemoya, ahuia oyatonac, yahuia
oyatonac, machiyotla tetemoya.
7. Tocuilitla teuaqui, machiyotla tetemoya, ahuia oyatonac, yahuia
oyatonac uia, machiyotla tetemoya.
_Var._ 6. Vitzanaoac teuhoaqui machiotla. _MS. Med._
_The War Song of the Huitznahuac._
1. What ho! my work is in the hall of arms, I listen to no mortal, nor
can any put me to shame, I know none such, I am the Terror, I know none
other, I am where war is, my work is said to be in the hall of arms, let
no one curse my children.
2. Our adornment comes from out the south, it is varied in color as
the clothing of the eagle.
3. Ho! ho! abundance of youths doubly clothed, arrayed in feathers,
are my captives, I deliver them up, I deliver them up, my captives
arrayed in feathers.
4. Ho! youths for the Huitznahuac, arrayed in feathers, these are my
captives, I deliver them up, I deliver them up, arrayed in feathers, my
captives.
5. Youths from the south, arrayed in feathers, my captives, I deliver
them up, I deliver them up, arrayed in feathers, my captives.
6. The god enters, the Huitznahuac, he descends as an example, he
shines forth, he shines forth, descending as an example.
7. Adorned like us he enters as a god, he descends as an example, he
shines forth, he shines forth, descending as an example.
_Notes._
There is no Gloss to this hymn, but its signification seems clear.
_Huitznahuac_ was a name applied to several edifices in the great temple
at Tenochtitlan, as we are informed at length by Sahagun. The word is a
locative from _huitznahua_. This term means “magicians from the south”
or “diviners with thorns,” and was applied in the Quetzalcoatl mythical
cyclus to the legendary enemies of Huitzilopochtli, whom he is said to
have destroyed as soon as he was born. (See my discussion of this myth
in _Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society_ for 1887.)
Apparently to perpetuate the memory of this exploit, the custom was, at
the festival of Huitzilopochtli, for the slaves who were to be
sacrificed to form two bands, one representing the Huitznahua and the
other the partisans of the god, and to slaughter each other until the
arrival of the god Paynal put an end to the combat (Sahagun,
_Historia_, Lib. II., cap. 34). The song here given belongs to this
portion of the ancient rite.
1. The _tlacochcalli_, “house of arrows” (_tlacochtli_, arrow,
_calli_, house), was a large hall in the temple of Huitzilopochtli where
arrows, spears and other arms were kept (Sahagun, Lib. VIII., cap. 32).
2. The “adornment from the south” refers to the meaning of the name
_Huitznahua_. (See Glossary.)
3. Sahagun (_ubi sup._) informs us that the slaves condemned to die
fought against free warriors, and when any of the latter were captured
they were promptly put to death by their captors.
(Daniel Garrison Brinton)
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