ferring to the youths who go to war. The same or similar metaphors
are used in previous songs.

5. The fifth and sixth verses present serious difficulties of
construction which I do not flatter myself I have overcome.

NOTES FOR SONG XIII.

The inhabitants of Huexotzinco were in frequent strife with those of
Mexico-Tenochtitlan, and on various occasions the latter captured
many prisoners. The present poem is represented to be a composition
of one of these prisoners when he and his companions were confined in
Tlatilolco, one of the suburbs of Tenochtitlan. It breathes hatred
against his captors and an ardent thirst for vengeance. 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.

5. _Atloyantepetl_; this name possibly means "the mountain of the
place of the water-falcons" (_atl_, water; _tlatli_, falcon; _yan_,
place-ending; _tepetl_, mountain). I have not found it in other
writers. (See Index.)

8. _tlaylotlaqui_; Simeon, on the authority of Aubin, explains this
term as the name of a tribe living near Tezcuco. In derivation it
appears to be a term of contempt, "workers in filth or refuse," scum,
offscourings. It also appears in Song XV.

10. The construction of this verse is so obscure, or the text so
imperfect, that the translation is doubtful.

NOTES FOR SONG XIV.

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.

1. _impetlatl_; the ordinary meaning of _petlatl_ is a mat or rug; it
is here to be taken in its figurative sense of power or authority,
chiefs and other prominent persons being provided with mats at the
councils, etc.

NOTES FOR SONG XV.

This extremely difficult composition seems to be a war song, in which
the bard refers to the traditional history of the Nahuas, names some
of their most prominent warriors, and incites his hearers to deeds of
prowess on the battle field. I do not claim for my version more than
a general correspondence to the thought of the original. In several
parts, especially verse 18, the text is obviously defective.

1. _tzihuactitlan_; "the land of the tzihuac bushes." The tzihuactli
is a small kind of maguey which grows in rocky localities. The tenth
edifice of the great temple at Tenochtitlan w