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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. I have not found it in other writers. 8. tlaylotlaqui; Siméon, on the authority of Aubin, explains this term as the name of a tribe living near Tezcuco.
May I yet for a little while have time to revel in those precious and honorable youths; may I wreathe flowers for their nobility; may I here yet for a while wind the songs around the drum. I am a guest here among the rulers of Huexotzinco; I lift up my voice and sing of precious stones and emeralds; I select from among the youths those for whom I shall wreathe the flowers of nobility.
The fifth and sixth verses present serious difficulties of construction which I do not flatter myself I have overcome. The inhabitants of Huexotzinco were in frequent strife with those of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, and on various occasions the latter captured many prisoners.
The poet does not appear to make a direct petition, but indirectly praises the grandeur of Montezuma and expresses his own ardent love for his native Huexotzinco. The song would appear to be used as a delicate prelude to the more serious negotiations. It is one of the few historical songs in the collection.
The mezquite was there, the tzihuac was there, the Giver of Life has set up the cypress; be sad that evil has befallen Huexotzinco, that it stands alone in the land. In all parts there are destruction and desolation, no longer are there protection and safety, nor has the one only God heard the song; therefore speak it again, you children;
It appears to have been a contest without provocation, and merely for the display of prowess and to take captives to supply the demand for human sacrifices in the religious rites. On this see Tezozomoc, Cronica Mexicana, cap. 96. In this long fragment the closing strophes are missing in my MS. the bard represents himself as a stranger appearing before the nobles of Huexotzinco at some festival.
The grammarian Olmos explains the reflexive verb mopopoyauhtiuh to signify "he leaves an honored memory of his exploits." See Siméon, Dictionaire de la Langue Nahuatl, sub voce. Huexotzinco atzalan; "Huexotzinco amid the waters." This expression, repeated in verse 8, appears inappropriate to the town of Huexotzinco, which lies inland.
Oyo hualehuaya ye tocalipan oyohua yehua Huexotzincatl y tototihua o o Iztaccoyotla ohuaya ohuaya. He lifted up his voice in our houses like a bird, that man of Huexotzinco, Iztaccoyotl. Whoever is aggrieved let him come forth with us against the men of Tlaxcallan, let him follow where the city of Huexotzinco lets drive its arrows.
This poem, chanted in 1551 before the Governor of Azcapotzalco, by Francisco Placido, a native of Huexotzinco, is a Christian song in the style and metre of the ancient poetry. See the Introduction, p. 51.
This may be freely translated as follows: "Here begins a song called a plain song of Huexotzinco as it was recited by the lords of Huexotzinco. These songs are divided into three classes, the songs of the nobles or of the eagles, the flower songs, and the songs of destitution.