ar chiefs menaced her. The "talk" she gave them in return
is so remarkable that it deserves to be quoted in full; for it affords a
deep insight into the native mode of expression, teaches us the titles of
the woman and shows that her position was undoubtedly one of powerful
authority.

"I am Quilaztli, your sister and of your tribe ... you know this and yet
you think that the dispute or difference you have with me is like an
ordinary one, such as you might wage with any ordinary base woman, who
possessed little spirit or courage. If you indulge in this thought you are
deceiving yourselves, for I am valiant and manly and my titles will oblige
you to acknowledge this. For besides the ordinary name of Quilaztli, by
which you know me, I also possess four titles, by which I know myself: the
first of these is Cihuacoatl=the Woman-serpent (or twin); the second is
Quauh-Cihuatl=the Eagle-woman; the third is Yao-Cihuatl=the Woman-warrior
and the fourth is Tzitzimi-Cihuatl, the Woman of the Underworld. From the
properties or qualities conveyed by these titles you can appreciate who I
am; what power I yield and what harm I can do you and if you want to test
the truth of this, here is my challenge!"

"The two brave captains, undaunted by the arrogant words by which she
attempted to terrify them, responded: 'If you are as valiant as you
describe yourself to be, we are not less so; but you are a woman and it is
not meet that it should be said of us that we took up arms against women;'
and without speaking further they left her, much affronted that a woman
should challenge and defy them. And they kept silence about this
occurrence so that their people should not know of it." Senor Alfredo
Chavero (appendix, p. 125, to Duran's Historia, Mexico, 1880), commenting
upon this passage, says: "It is impossible to doubt that this tradition
refers to an important event in the history of the Aztec tribe.... I think
it contains the record of a religious struggle."

The full significance of the narrative will become clear, I think, when
the following points are dwelt upon. One thing is certain: here is a
historical personage, a woman, who was termed _the sister_ of
Huitzilopochtli, who evidently exerted a high authority and whose titles
were actually the names of the highest female divinity. Sahagun (book VI,
chap. 37) states that Quilaztli, a goddess, the same as Cihuacoatl, was
the mother of all and was also named Tonant-zin="our mother." What