Song LVI — The Book of the Years
Song LVI bridges the Pentecost celebration and the Nonoalco memorial — a colonial-syncretic song of ten sections that begins with the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles and ends with a Nahua lord departing to Quenonamican, the unknowable place of the dead.
The opening (§§738–741) stages Pentecost in Nahua ritual language: the Holy Spirit is a "butterfly-jewel bird" that shakes itself; the apostles died in faith; the dawn-aurora of sustenance rises in heaven where angels play flutes before the Only God; and the quetzal bird descends where the turquoise bird alights — San Felipe, Santiago. Then the song pivots to the Nonoalco memorial (§§742–747): don Diego sits at "the book of the years, painted in colors" on the jewel-mat. His fame endures. At San Felipe Azcapotzalco, the green mesquite stands — the tree of sustenance whose roots nourished the lords. The song asks: "Who are the princes now? Who are now in the water, the mountain, the city?" — the great Nahua question of succession and mortality. Don Felipe departs to Quenonamican, spreading quetzal wings.
Song LVI occupies folios 39r through 39v, sections 738 through 747 (ten sections). Nahuatl source text accessed from the UNAM TEMOA digital platform. Translated directly from Classical Nahuatl by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
[section 738]
The butterfly-jewel bird
shakes itself —
the Holy Spirit
descended upon the apostles,
by the grace of Our Lord God.
[section 739]
The apostles —
the truly beloved of God.
Through faith
they died on this earth,
by the grace of Our Lord God.
[section 740]
The dawn-aurora of sustenance
rises —
there you are, God,
in the interior of heaven.
Varied jades rain down —
they are your thoughts,
which you come scattering.
Never will the flowers
that have blossomed end,
nor the beautiful songs.
Angels are celebrated
with the sound of flutes.
Toward you we bow,
we, the common people —
Only God —
with varied jades.
[section 741]
The quetzal bird descends —
where the turquoise bird has alighted.
San Felipe, Santiago have arrived.
From there come forth
the beautiful jades,
the fine turquoises,
from his house.
From the house
of the princes, the lords —
from there come
fame, glory, and dominion.
[section 742]
Where the book of the years stands,
painted in colors —
where the jewel-mat lies —
there you are,
my prince, the lord don Diego.
[section 743]
Never will your fame be forgotten,
my great one.
Turquoises rise upright,
the red quechol-flowers
are putting forth buds.
The jewels intertwine.
Your weeping has deep roots —
from above you speak,
you are our sorrowful seeking.
[section 744]
Here I begin to sing:
at the Toltec chinampas,
the Nonoalca dam —
there it was, at San Felipe.
Who are the princes now?
Who are now
in the water, the mountain, the city?
The green mesquite stands —
the tree of sustenance,
deep-rooted.
There the lords lived.
Who are the princes now?
[section 745]
As if painted in jade
spreads the water, the mountain, the city —
San Felipe, Santiago.
The Nonoalca princes
had it painted.
[section 746]
It is the merit
of the Chichimec princes —
don Diego, the lord Baltasar.
The Nonoalca princes
had it painted.
[section 747]
Precious quechol bird,
quetzal —
you rest upon the branches,
you spread your wings
at Quenonamican.
Don Felipe —
completely you have gone,
my prince.
Colophon
Song LVI of the Cantares Mexicanos, folios 39r–39v, sections 738–747 (ten sections). A Pentecost-to-Nonoalco memorial song continuing the colonial syncretic sequence.
This song has no rubric of its own in the manuscript — it follows the drum close of the Cihuaixnexcuicatl (Song LV) and is separated from the Coçolcuicatl (Cradle Song, Song LVII) by a new rubric on folio 39v. It serves as a bridge: the Christian Pentecost opens a meditation on divine presence, which flows naturally into a Nahua memorial for the Nonoalco lords of San Felipe Azcapotzalco. The blending is so seamless that one can barely feel the join between the apostolic and the ancestral.
Named figures: Don Diego (sections 742, 743, 746) — a Nonoalca lord of San Felipe Azcapotzalco, sitting at the painted book of the years. Don Baltasar (section 746) — a Chichimec prince. Don Felipe (sections 741, 745, 747) — the prince who departs to Quenonamican (the Unknowable Place), spreading quetzal wings. San Felipe and Santiago (sections 741, 744, 745) — the apostles Philip and James, whose feast day may have been the performance occasion. The overlap between the saint "San Felipe" and the lord "don Felipe" creates a deliberate syncretism — the Christian apostle and the Nahua prince inhabit the same name, the same house, the same city.
The xiuhtlapallacuilolamoxtli (§742) — "the book of the years, painted in colors" — is the Nahuatl term for the painted codex, the xiuhámatl or annal-book. Don Diego sits at this book: the keeper of history, the recorder of time. The song asks who will continue his work now that he is gone.
Translated directly from Classical Nahuatl via the UNAM TEMOA transcription of the Cantares Mexicanos (MS 1628 bis, Biblioteca Nacional de México). Lexical verification via Molina's Vocabulario en Lengua Castellana y Mexicana (1571) and Karttunen's Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl (1983). The León-Portilla Spanish translation was used solely as a cross-reference after independent Nahuatl parsing. This is the first free literary English translation of this song.
Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Scribed by Xochitl.
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Source Text
Cantares Mexicanos, folios 39r–39v, sections 738–747. Classical Nahuatl text from the UNAM TEMOA digital transcription. Footnote markers from the León-Portilla critical edition removed.
§738 Yn tlapapalmaquiztototl motzetzelohua ya Espiritu Sancto ya a impa ye temoc apostolosme çan ipaltzinco Totecuiyo in Dios a
§739 Yn apostolosme ayiahue huel ytlaçohuan Dios tlaneltoquiliztica momiquilique in tlalticpac çan ypaltzinco Totecuiyo in Dios a
§740 Ontonacaxochitlahuizcalehuaticac onca ye tonca yehua yan Dios ilhuicatl ytec aya nepapanchalchiuhchayauhtoca yn motlayocol tiqualtzetzeloa aic tlamiz in cuepontoc xochitl yectlon cuicatl tlapitzalotoc angelota in mohuicpatzinco titotepechteca timacehualti a Ycelteotla ya nepapanchalchiuh
§741 Yn quetzaltototl y temo ca anaya çan can xiuhtototl y ye heco ya a y San Pilipe Santiago yaoncan an quiça ya yectlin chalchihuitl a aayiahue xihuitl canahuac onca ychan i ahuayye ahuayyancoya O anch anca inchan a in tepilhuan an teteuctin aya oncan quiça ya teyotl mahuiçotl tlatocayotli ahuayye
§742 Xiuhtlapallacuilolamoxtli mancan aya maquizcozcapetlatl yonoca ypan tonca aya tinopiltzin teuctli don Diego aya ahuayie ahuayiancoya
§743 O aic ylcahuiz in moteyo nohueyotzin xiuhtotomoliuhticac yn chauhquecholxochitl oncuepontimani ya cozcatl nepanihui ya yc nelhuayoticaqui çan mochoquiz aya icpac tontlatoa ya titocnotlatemol ahuayie ahua yiancoya
§744 Yn nican nompehua noncuica ya toltecachinampan aya nonohualcatzaqualli catca in San Pilipe mach aquin axcan tepilhuan mach aquin axcan yn atlo yan tepetl a y xoxouhqui mizquitl on icaca tonacaquahuitl y nelhuayoca a onca ye yolque in teteuctin i mach aquin axca tepilhuan
§745 yn chalchiuhtica ya onihcuiliuhtimani ya yn atlo yan tepetl a yn San Pilipe ye Santiaco yan i conicuilotiaque in nonohualca in tepilhuan an a
§746 O anca ynmahcehual ye chichimeca tepilhuan in ton Tieco ton Paltasal in teuctli yehua conicuilotiyaque in nonohualca in tepilhuan an a
§747 Maquizquecholli quetzalli ya macpan tica ya timatlapalçohua Quenonamican a y don Pilipe ocentiya oo nopiltzine
Source Colophon
Source text from the Cantares Mexicanos (MS 1628 bis), Biblioteca Nacional de México, sixteenth century. Transcription accessed via the UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx). The manuscript transcription is made available by the Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas, UNAM, under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Reproduced for non-commercial archival use under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
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