_Ciuacoatl icuic._
1. Quaui, quaui, quilaztla, coaeztica xayaualoc uiuiya quauiuitl
uitzalochpa chalima aueuetl ye colhoa.
2. Huiya tonaca, acxolma centla teumilco chicauaztica, motlaquechizca.
3. Uitztla, uitztla, nomactemi, uitztla, uitztla nomactemi, acan
teumilco chicauaztica motlaquechizca.
4. Malinalla nomactemi, acan teumilco chicauaztica motlaquechizca.
5. A omei quauhtli, ye tonanaya chalmecatecutli ay tziuac y mauiztla
nechyatetemilli, yeua nopiltzinaya mixcoatla.
6. Ya tonani, yauciuatzin, aya tonan yauciuatzi aya y maca coliuacan y
yuitla y potocaya.
7. Ahuiya ye tonaquetli, yautlatocaya, ahuiya ye tonaquetli
yautlatocaya moneuila no tlaca cenpoliuiz aya y maca coliuaca y yuitla y
potocaya.
8. Ahuia quauiuitl amo xayaualli onauiya yecoyametl amo xayaualli.
_Var._ 1. Cohoaeztica. 2. Acxoima. 7. Maneuila, cenpoalihuiz, inmaca.
_Gloss._
1. _Q.n._, in quauhcihuatl, ic oxaualoc in coaetztli, ioan in quauhtli
yhuitli in moteneua iquauhtzon, ipan iualuicoc yn umpa colhuacan.
2. _Q.n._, inic motocaya centli, in mochiuaya teumilpa, ichicauaztica
inic tlatatacaya, inic tocaya.
3. Uitztla, _q.n._, nomactemi nochicauaztica inic nitocaya, inic
nitlatatacaya.
4. Malinalla, uictli, _q.n._, uictica in tlachpanaya, _id est_,
iceliniquia, yn uncan teumilpan auh ychicauaztica inic nitlatatacaya,
inic tocaya.
5. _Q.n._, matlactli omei quauhtli yn notonal innamona auh ynan
nopilhoan in chalmeca xicuiti in tziuactli xinechtemilica.
6. _Q.n._, in iyauciuatzin yn amona umpa nochan in coluaca auh in
quauiuitl nictemaca ynic oquauhtiuac.
7. _Q.n._, ca otonac ca otlatuic momochiua yauyutl ma tlamalo
tlalpiliuiz nic temaca in quauiuitl.
8. _Q.n._, aahuia yn otlamaloc in quauiuitl yc moxaua.
_Hymn to Cihuacoatl._
1. Quilaztli, plumed with eagle feathers, with the crest of eagles,
painted with serpents’ blood, comes with her hoe, beating her drum, from
Colhuacan.
2. She alone, who is our flesh, goddess of the fields and shrubs, is
strong to support us.
3. With the hoe, with the hoe, with hands full, with the hoe, with
hands full, the goddess of the fields is strong to support us.
4. With a broom in her hands the goddess of the fields strongly
supports us.
5. Our mother is as twelve eagles, goddess of drum-beating, filling
the fields of tzioac and maguey like our lord Mixcoatl.
6. She is our mother, a goddess of war, our mother, a goddess of war,
an example and a companion from the home of our ancestors (Colhuacan).
7. She comes forth, she appears when war is waged, she protects us in
war that we shall not be destroyed, an example and companion from the
home of our ancestors.
8. She comes adorned in the ancient manner with the eagle crest, in
the ancient manner with the eagle crest.
_Notes._
Cihuacoatl was the mythical mother of the human race. Her name,
generally translated “serpent woman,” should be rendered “woman of
twins” or “bearing twins,” as the myth related that such was her
fertility that she always bore two children at one lying-in.
(Torquemada, _Monarquia Indiana_, Lib. VI., cap. 31.) She was also known
by the title _Tonan_ or _Tonantzin_, “our mother,” as in v. 5 and 6.
Still another of her appellations was _Quilaztli_, which is given her in
v. 1. (Comp. Sahagun, _Historia_, Lib. VI., cap. 27.) She was
essentially a goddess of fertility and reproduction. The name
_cihuacoatl_ was also applied to one of the higher magistrates and war
chiefs in the Aztec army (Sahagun). Reference is made to this in v. 6.
As a goddess of venerable antiquity, she is spoken of as coming from
Colhuacan, “the place of the old men,” or of the ancestors of the tribe.
This name is derived from _coloa_, to bend down, as an aged person,
_colli_, an old man. (See my _Ancient Nahuatl Poetry_, pp. 172-3).
(Daniel Garrison Brinton)
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