XX. Hymn to the God of Merchants.

XX. Yacatecutli icuic.

English

1. Anomatia aytoloc, anomatia aytoloc, tzocotzontla aytoloc, tzocotzontla anomatia aytoloc.

2. Pipitla aytoloc, pipitla anomatia aytoloc, cholotla aytoloc, pipitla anomatia aytoloc.

3. Tonacayutl nicmaceuh aça naxcan noquacuillo atliyollo, nechualyauicatiaque xalli itepeuhya.

4. Chalchiuhpetlacalco ni naxcan aça naxcan noquacuillo, atliyollo nechualyauicatiaque xalli itepeuhya.

Gloss.

1. Anomatia, q. n., amo nixpan in omito yauyutl inic otepeualoc tzocotzontla, amo nomatia in omito yauyutl.

2. Pipitla aytoloc, q. n., ynic tepeualoc pipitla amo nicmati inic omito yauyutl, in cholotla ic otepeualloc amo nixpan ynic oyautlatolloc.

3. Tonacayutl nicmaceuh, q. n., yn tonacayutl inic onicmaçeuh ayaxcan, onechualhuicaque in oquacuiloan in xochayutl, in çoqniayutl in teuelteca, quimilhui in iquintonaz tlatuiz anoquacuiloan ayezque. Xalli tepeuhya, id est, tlalocan. Quilmach chalchiuhpetlacalli in quitepeuh inic tepeuh.

4. Chalchiuhpetlacalco ninaxcan, q. n., onca ninotlati in chalchiuh petlacalco. Ayaxcan ynechualhuicatiaque yn oquacuiloan atliyoloa in umpa tlallocan.

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Hymn to Yacatecutli.

1. I know not what is said, I know not what is said, what is said about Tzocotzontlan, I know not what is said about Tzocotzontlan.

2. I know not what is said of Pipitlan, what is said of Pipitlan, nor what is said of Cholollan, what of Pipitlan, of Pipitlan.

3. Now I seek our food, proceeding to eat it and to drink of the water, going to where the sand begins.

4. Now I go to my beautiful house, there to eat my food, and to drink of the water, going to where the sand begins.

Notes.

The god Yacatecutli, whose name means "lord of travelers," or "the lord who guides," was the divinity of the merchants. Sahagun (Historia, Lib. I, cap. 19) and Duran (Historia, cap. 90) furnish us many particulars of his worship.

The hymn is extremely obscure, containing a number of archaic words, and my rendering is very doubtful. The writer of the Gloss is, I think, also at fault in his paraphrase. The general purpose of the hymn seems to be that of a death-song, chanted probably by the victims about to be sacrificed. They were given the sacred food to eat, as described by Duran, and then prepared themselves to undergo death, hoping to go to "the beautiful house," which the Gloss explains as Tlalocan, the Terrestrial Paradise.