Auh inic muchivaia no iovatzinco in qui- m ixitia in tepilhoa in oquichtin y anogo giva, quimixitiaya in tenavá in tetaoá inic tlenamacazq igiuhca quimixitiaya ynic amo tlatzihuizcuizq techa i mochivaya y
Copaltemaliztlj
Auh in copaltemaliztlj yc mochioaia in icoac in tlein tlatolli ie mitoz, ago tecuhtlatolli achto contemaia in copallj in tleco yn aquin ie tlatoz cá vncá maca in copallj xicaltica: anogv cuicanj in ie cuicaz, ie peoaz achto cótema in copallj in tlequazco njmá ic peoa in cuicanj.
Tlalqualiztlj
Jn tlalqualiztlj yc mochivaia: icuac in campa valhuiloaia, muchi tlacatl vntlalquaia yea in ce imapil ago ixpá diablo anogo tlecuilixcoac ioá yc tlaneltililoya yc neltia in tlatollj in icoac y tlein amo cenca neltocoia tlatollj yc teilhuiloya, intla nellj in tiquitoa tla xon- tlalqua. yc nimá tlalquaia y aquin ynic qui- neltiliaia itlatol.
Tlatlagaliztlj
Auh ynic muchivaya tlatlatlagaliztlj icoac in tlein qualoz y aiamo quallo ago tlaquallj achtopa achiton tepiton mocotonaia tlecuil ixcoac vnmotlagaya y vntlatlatlagaloc nimá
incense. When they had presented the in cense to the four cardinal points, they threw the coals into the brazier, where the copal continued smoking.
And it was also done in this manner: Be fore daybreak, also, they awakened the chil dren— boys or girls. T h e mothers and fathers awakened them to m ake the offering of fire. They got them up quickly, so that they would not become lazy. This was done in
people's hom es.7
The Throwing of Incense
And the throwing of incense was done in this manner: When any kind of speech was to be made, perhaps a sentence to be passed, they first threw incense on the fire. Before a per son spoke, there, in a bowl, was the copal. Or when a singer was to sing, when he was about to begin, first he threw the copal into a brazier. Then the singer began.
Eating Earth
Eating earth was done in this manner: Upon arriving somewhere, everyone ate earth with one finger either before the devil or before the hearth. Also in this manner they attested to things, they attested that words were true. When some statement was not much be lieved, the person [who made it] was told, "If what you say is true, eat earth." Then the person ate earth and thus attested that his words were true.
Casting [of Food]
And the casting [of food] was done in this manner: When something was to be eaten, before it was eaten, first a small amount, a tiny piece of the food, was cut off and cast be fore the hearth. When it had been cast there,
7. In the Spanish versions (Sahagun 1975: 164-165; 1 9 8 8 ,1: 189) it is stated that the householders incensed the deity images in their oratories and patios twice daily, in the morning and in the evening.
Paragraph 3A
Chapter I: Rituals and Gods
72
ic peoa ynic tlaqualoz aiac achto tlaquaia vel achto tlatlatlaçaloya in tlecuilixcoac
Tlatoyavaliztlj
Jnic muchivaia tlatoyavaliztlj icoac in tlava- naloya aço vitziecoloya, icoac in aca iancuicâ quitlaliaya vctlj in icoac oquitlapivi y yoc, ic tenotzaya quivalmana apaztica, tlecuilixcoac yoâ tetlavâcaxtepito auh ÿ icoac ie tetlavan- tiz coxopiloa tetlavantica ÿ vctlj, nim ä yc cö- toyava in tlecuilixcoac nauhcampa conto- iavaia ÿ octlj auh in icoac ocötoiauh octlj nim ä ic m uchi tlacatl quiya in vctlj, nim ä ic peva in tetlavätiloya
then they began to eat. No one ate before [the food] had been cast before the hearth.
Libation
Libation was done in this manner: When octli
was drunk, for example when they tasted the new octli, when someone had just made
octli, when he had made his octli strong, he summoned people. He set it out in a vessel before the hearth, along w ith small cups for drinking. Before having anyone drink, he
took up octli w ith a cup [and] then poured it
before the hearth; he poured the octli in the
four directions. And when he had poured the
octli then everyone drank it; then they began
to serve the people octli.
P A R A G R A P H 3B [fol. 255r]
T lam ictiliztli
♦
Jn ic m uchiuaja tlam ictiliztli ynic miqz ÿ m alli yoâ tlacotlj ÿ m itoaia teomjcquj ynic contlecaviaja ixpâ diablo ça caantivi yma- titech auh ÿ tevelteca motocajotiaya yevatl côtecaja yn ipà techcatl. auh in icoac oipâ contecac navi tlacatl ÿ qu ititilinia yn im a yn icxj auh ie imac onoc in tlenam acac tla- macazquj in tecpatl yni queltequiz tlaaltillj. auh nim â ic coneltequi conanilia achto in i- yollo auh çâ ioltoc yn queltequia auh in icoac oconaniliq yyollo conjaviliaya in tonatiuh
Tlacoquixtiliztli
Jn tlacoquixtiliztlj ic muchivaia ça no ipä in tlei tonallj in tlacoquixtiloya auh ca noviä
Human Sacrifice8
Tn this manner they performed human sacri fice: When a captive or slave died, they called
him teomicqui [one sacrificed to the gods].
Thus they led him up the temple steps be fore the devil: Th ey just held him by the hand, and one called a placer laid him on the sacrificial stone. And when he had laid him upon it, four men held his hands and feet taut. And in the hand of the fire priest lay the flint knife w ith which he would cut open the breast of the cerem onially bathed sacrifi cial victim . And then he cut open his breast [and] first took out his heart. And he was still alive when he cut open his chest. And after he took out the heart, he presented it as an offering to the sun.
Th e Passing of Twigs
The passing of twigs was done in this manner: It was on certain days, also, that twigs were
8. Sahagun's title at the head of the page reads: Capitulo 4. de la sangie que se denamava a honrra del demonjo en el templo y fuera, "Of the blood they shed in honor of the devil inside and outside the tem ple." A similar title heads this section of the Appendix to Book 2 of the Historia. In the Florentine Codex (1979, 1: fol. 175v), the Spanish version of this first entry, Tlamjctiliztli, is highly abbreviated, but just below, occupying the rest of the space in the column, is a large, very graphic illustration of the heart extraction method of human sacrifice.
yonjaya ynacajo, iehoatl in vitzauhquj in itztlj auh ye njm á vncá quiquixtiaya in tlacotl anogo gacatl auh inic quitiliniaya yn inacajo m ecatica ynic oncà quiquixtiaja tlacotl. inic tlamagevaloya auh in icoac otlacoquixtiloc yn im oztlajoc tlachpanoya mochpanaja in tlacotl ioà in pacati cenca ezgo auh in m uchi vaia y ichá diablo anogo otlica y vncá manj diablome.
sired, through the tongue, or the thighs. And he made an opening in the flesh with a sharp - pointed obsidian knife, and then drew twigs or straws through there. And he stretched the flesh with a cord to pull the twigs through
there. In this manner they gained m erit.9 And
the day after the twigs had been passed there was sweeping up; the twigs and straws which were covered with blood were swept up. And this was done in the temple of the devil, or else along the road where there were devils.
Qacaquixtiliztlj N evitzmanaliztlj
Jn nevitzm analiztlj yc muchivaja cocuia in acxoiatl ioà contequia y mevitztl auh quezvia- yaic quivalmanaja, yn ipà acxoiatl ome in vitztlj, novià in aca ago vcà, anoco excà, in quimanaja vitztlj ano go m acuilcà, gà teiollo- tlam a
Negoliztlj
Jn migoya inic quichivaya itztlj, ica in onte- quia yn inacazco auh njma yc quivalpipi- loaya in eztlj in inacaztitla
Nenacaztequiliztlj
£ a ie no iehvatl yn negoliztlj y nenacazte quiliztlj y migoya y monacaztequia
T h e Passing of Straws10
T h e Offering of T h o rn s11
T h e offering of thorns was done in this m an ner: They took a fir branch, and they cut maguey thorns and stained them with their blood. On the fir branch they laid two thorns in offering. People made offerings of the thorns everywhere—in two places, or three, or five, voluntarily.
T h e Drawing of Blood12
T h e drawing of blood was done in this way: W ith an obsidian knife they made a cut in their ear [lobes], and then from their ear [lobes] they forced the blood.
T h e Cutting of the Ear [Lobes]
Th e cutting of the ear [lobes] was the same as the drawing of blood. They drew blood
9. Tlamacehua means "to acquire or merit something." Usually it is translated as "to do penance," a meaning pos sibly given to this term by the missionaries. It is interesting to note that the lexicon of the putatively Sahaguntine Evan- gelarium, Epistolaiium et Lectionarium Aztecum (Biondelli 1869: 120) gives only the first meaning. Molina (1944, Part II: fol. 50v, 125r), in his 1571 dictionary, provides both meanings. Penance in atonement for sin is a Christian concept. Pre-Hispanic "penance" involved auto-sacrificial acts such as those described in this entry or, in some cases, the sac rifice of a slave by means of which the "penitent" would gain merit with the gods.
10. Apart from the illustration of a "penitent" thrusting a straw through his tongue, there is no text. The ritual ap pears to have been the same as that described in the preceding section.
11. The Spanish texts (Sahagun 1975: 166; 1988, I: 190) add that this ritual was performed by the priests at night on