Rig Veda Americanus | Page 5

shared with Huitzilopochtli the highest place in the Mexican Pantheon. He was the deity who presided over the waters, the rains, the thunder and the lightning. The annual festival in his honor took place about the time of corn-planting, and was intended to secure his favor for this all-important crop. Its details are described at great length by Diego Duran, _Historia de Nueva Espa?a_, cap. 86, and Sahagun, Historia, Lib. II., cap. 25, and elsewhere. His name is derived from tlalli_, earth. _Tlalocan, referred to in v. 5, "the place of Tlaloc," was the name of a mountain east of Tenochtitlan, where the festival of the god was celebrated; but it had also a mythical meaning, equivalent to "the earthly Paradise," the abode of happy souls.
It will be observed that v. 10 is a repetition of v. 6. The word ayauicalo_ refers to the _ayauhcalli, "house of mist," the home of the rain god, which Sahagun informs us was represented at the annual festival by four small buildings near the water's edge, carefully disposed to face the four cardinal points of the compass (Sahagun, _ubi supra_).
In v. 8 the expression tetzauhpilli (tetzauhqui, to frighten) may be explained by the figure of Tlaloc, whose statue, says Duran, was that of un espantable monstruo, la cara muy fea (ibid.).
The compound in v. 10, nauhxiuhtica, "after four years," appears to refer to the souls of the departed brave ones, who, according to Aztec mythology, passed to the heaven for four years and after that returned to the terrestrial Paradise,--the palace of Tlaloc. (See my paper, _The Journey of the Soul_, in _Proceedings of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia, 1883_.)
IV. Teteuynan ycuic.
1. Ahuiya co?auic xochitla oya cueponca yeua tonana teumechaue moqui?ican tamoanchan, auayye, auayya, yyao, yya, yyeo, aye ayo, ayy ayyaa.
2. Co?auic xochitla oya moxocha yeua tonana, teumechaue, moqui?ica tamoanchan, ouayye, auayya, yyao, yya, yyeo, ayo aye, ayya, ayyaa.
3. Ahuia iztac xochitla, oya cueponca yeua tonana teumechaue moqui?ica tamoanchan, ouayye, auayya, yyao yya, yyeo, ayeaye, ayya ayyaa.
4. Ahuiya iztac xochitla oya moxocha yeua tonana teumechaue moqui?ica tamoanchan, ouayye, auayya, yyao, yya, yyeo, aye aye, ayya ayyaa.
5. Ahuia ohoya teutl ca teucontli paca tona aya, itzpapalotli, auayye, yyao, yya, yyeo, ayyaa.
6. Ao, auatic ya itaca chicunauixtlauatla ma?atl yyollo, ica mozcaltizqui tonan tlaltecutli, ayao, ayyao, ayyaa.
7. Aho, ye yancuic ti?atla ye yancuic yuitla oya potoniloc yn auicacopa acatl xamontoca.
8. Aho ma?atl mochiuhca teutlalipan mitziya noittaco, yeua xiuhnello, yeua mimichan.
Var. 7. Xamantoca. 8. Yehoa.
Gloss.
1. Q.n., in tonan ocueponya umpa oalquiz yn tamoanchan.
2. Q.n., in amona ca izcui yn xochiuh ca umpa oquiz yn tmoanchan.
3. Q.n. In tonan ocuepo in umpa oquiz tamoanchan.
4. Q.n., in amona iztac in oxochiuh yn umpa oniquiz tamoanchan.
5. Q.n., in tonan ca teucumitl icpac in quiz yn itzpapalotl.
6. Q.n., in tonan ixtlauan in mozcaltito auh inic mozcalti macatl y yollo y yeua tonan tlaltecutli.
7. Q.n., auh inic potoniloc, tonan, yancuic ti?atl ioan yancuic yn iuitl, auh nauhcampa quite ynacatl.
8. Q.n., in macatl yeuan can iliaya yn ixtlauacan yuhqui inic quic noitayan y yeuatl inimich ioan in xiuhnel.
Hymn to the Mother of the Gods.
1. Hail to our mother, who caused the yellow flowers to blossom, who scattered the seeds of the maguey, as she came forth from Paradise.
2. Hail to our mother, who poured forth flowers in abundance, who scattered the seeds of the maguey, as she came forth from Paradise.
3. Hail to our mother, who caused the yellow flowers to blossom, she who scattered the seeds of the maguey, as she came forth from Paradise.
4. Hail to our mother, who poured forth white flowers in abundance, who scattered the seeds of the maguey, as she came forth from Paradise.
5. Hail to the goddess who shines in the thorn bush like a bright butterfly.
6. Ho! she is our mother, goddess of the earth, she supplies food in the desert to the wild beasts, and causes them to live.
7. Thus, thus, you see her to be an ever-fresh model of liberality toward all flesh.
8. And as you see the goddess of the earth do to the wild beasts, so also does she toward the green herbs and the fishes.
Notes.
The goddess to whom this hymn is devoted was called Teteoinan, the Mother of the Gods, _To?i_, our Mother (maternal ancestor), and also by another name which signified "the Heart of the Earth," the latter being bestowed upon her, says Duran, because she was believed to be the cause of earthquakes. Her general functions were those of a genius of fertility, extending both to the vegetable and the animal world. Thus, she was the patroness of the native midwives and of women in childbirth (Sahagun). Her chief temple at Tepeyacac was one of the most renowned in ancient Mexico, and it was a felicitous idea of the early missionaries to have "Our Lady of Guadalupe" make her appearance on the immediate site of this ancient fane already celebrated as the place of worship of the older female deity. The