Song XLIX — Where Shall I Go?
Song XLIX is the Chalcayotl Ycnocuicatl — the Chalca Orphan Song — the third and final genre announced in the Chalcayotl rubric at folio 31v: "true war songs, true flower songs, and orphan songs." The manuscript marks it with the Roman numeral LIII and the genre label Ycnocuicatl. The word ycnotl means "orphan" or "destitute" — the songs of the ycnocuicatl are songs of one who has been stripped of everything: nation, lords, parents, certainty. Where Song XLVII (Yaocuicatl) accused the divine and human destroyers of Chalco, and Song XLVIII (Xochicuicatl) answered with beauty descending from inside the sky, this song asks the question that remains after accusation and beauty are both exhausted: Where shall I go?
The song spans twenty-two sections across folios 35r through 35v (section 676 is absent from the TEMOA transcription — either a scribal omission or a transcription gap). Its structure unfolds in five movements: (I) The flower of the Death-House — God's flower rests in the hand of the Dead-House-Dweller; it swells and blooms even there; the downy quetzal comes from God's home raising song and giving flowers; flowers begun and intertwined at the drum; the singer delights friends in the jade house on the flower-mat (sections 657 through 661). (II) Will they come again? — if in vain the singer delights and sings, the flowers are no longer sweet; direct naming of the dead lords: the Eagle, Cacamatl, Ayoquan, Ilhuicamina (Moteuczoma I); "Will he come again? Not twice — altogether we go"; the singer comes weeping for Ayoquan lord the war-commander (sections 662 through 664). (III) The darkness comes — fame raised and swept away; beside and near, but mother and father no longer know the singer; I weep, the darkness comes toward Ximoayan; I grieve, I remember — we will leave behind the good flower and song — let us still rejoice, let us still sing, though altogether we perish; no more will one be born, no more will one grow noble upon the earth (sections 665 through 667). (IV) You suffer, my heart — a little while yet beside and near, but never will the singer rejoice or be content; where the heart once dwelled is only solitude; the great existential meditation at section 670: "You suffer, my heart — do not brood in vain here on earth — perhaps this is my destiny — was I thus born? Nowhere can one live — only my heart speaks"; God is questioned directly: "Truly you live? Truly you came to stay long upon the earth?"; I will not abandon the good flower, but only briefly we borrow the good song (sections 668 through 672). (V) One more day — I begin my song, your flower has arrived, Giver of Life; carrying flower and song to Quenonamican, no one will remain on earth; one more day, friends; the flower-butterfly delights at the drum; the great closing revelation at section 679: "Where shall I go? Two roads stand — God — is he awaited at Ximoayan? Inside the sky? — Only here — yet here is Ximoayan, upon the earth" (sections 673 through 679).
The philosophical center is the closing revelation. Throughout the Cantares, Ximoayan (the Place of the Stripped) is the afterlife — the destination after death, the place of flaying and transformation. But section 679 reverses this: the singer looks at the two roads, asks whether God awaits at Ximoayan or inside the sky, and answers that Ximoayan is here, on earth. The stripping, the dying, the orphaning — it happens now, in this life, on this ground. This is the culmination of the entire Chalca trilogy: war destroyed them (Song XLVII), beauty still descends from the sky (Song XLVIII), but the real place of the dead is the earth itself (Song XLIX). The three songs together — accusation, wonder, and surrender — form the complete Chalca voice.
Key vocabulary: Ycnocuicatl (orphan song / song of privation — ycnotl + cuicatl; the genre of grief and existential questioning), Miccacalcatli (Death-House-Dweller — micca + calli + catli; the being who holds God's flower in the realm of the dead), Ilhuicamina (Archer of the Sky — the historical epithet of Moteuczoma Ilhuicamina, the first Moteuczoma, who led the wars against Chalco), Ximoayan (the Place of the Stripped / the Place of the Flayed — ximo + -yan; the afterlife realm, here revealed as present on earth), a'nochipa tlalticpac (not forever on earth — the Nahua transience refrain), icnotlamati (to feel orphaned, to grieve as one who has lost everything), Quenonamican (Where in Some Way One Exists — the afterlife of the noble dead), notonal (my destiny / my day-sign — the fate assigned at birth through the tonalpohualli), ome ycac (two [roads] stand — the existential fork at death).
Song XLIX occupies folios 35r (sections 657 through 667, beginning after the LIII / Ycnocuicatl genre header) and 35v (sections 667 through 679). Section 676 is absent from the TEMOA transcription. Nahuatl source text accessed from the UNAM TEMOA digital platform. The Cantares Mexicanos manuscript is held at the Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico. Translated directly from Classical Nahuatl by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
Ycnocuicatl.
[sections 657–661 — Movement I: The Flower of the Death-House]
Who among you desires your flower,
O God, Giver of Life?
It rests in the hand
of the Death-House-Dweller —
it swells,
it blooms,
it yellows.
The flower glows.
Manifold flowers —
your heart,
your flesh,
O God.
[section 658]
I come from his home —
I the downy quetzal.
I raise the song,
I give my flowers.
[section 659]
Let the quetzal-izquixochitl
be savored —
it scatters,
he spreads his flower —
God.
From his home,
the flower.
[section 660]
They are begun,
they are raised up —
the flowers —
where the drum stands.
I rejoice.
Let them be carried —
flowers stand intertwined.
[section 661]
I delight our friends
in the jade house,
on the flower-mat.
From the drum
the singer speaks.
[sections 662–664 — Movement II: Will They Come Again?]
If in vain I delight you,
if in vain I sing to you —
no longer sweet,
no longer fragrant
are our flowers, our song.
[section 663]
Will the prince come again —
the Eagle —
Cacamatl?
Will Ayoquan come again —
Ilhuicamina?
Will he yet delight you?
No —
not twice.
Altogether we go.
[section 664]
I come weeping,
I come grieving —
Ayoquan lord,
the war-commander here.
You speak beautifully.
[sections 665–667 — Movement III: The Darkness Comes]
Fame has risen
and been swept away.
Beside, near —
I am here.
No longer knowing —
my mother no longer knows me,
my father.
Therefore I weep.
The darkness comes,
the darkness comes —
to Ximoayan.
[section 666]
I weep,
I grieve —
I remember.
We will leave behind
the good flower,
the good song.
Let us still rejoice!
Let us still sing!
Altogether we go —
we perish.
[section 667]
Is this what our friends know?
The heart aches,
it is angry.
No more will one be born,
no more will one grow noble —
come, rejoice, our friends!
Come, rejoice! —
upon the earth.
[sections 668–672 — Movement IV: You Suffer, My Heart]
A little while yet —
beside, near —
I am here.
Never will it be,
never will I rejoice,
never will I be content.
[section 669]
Where my heart once dwelled —
truly there is only my solitude,
my emptiness.
I suffer
upon the earth.
[section 670]
You suffer, my heart —
do not brood in vain
here on earth.
Perhaps this is my destiny.
Where did I earn it?
Was I thus born
upon the earth?
It is well —
so it goes.
Nowhere can one live —
only my heart speaks.
[section 671]
What does God say?
Truly you live?
Truly you came to stay long
upon the earth?
[section 672]
I will not abandon
the good flower.
I will not seek it
at Quenonamican.
Only briefly
we borrow the good song.
[sections 673–679 — Movement V: One More Day]
I begin my song,
I take it up —
your flower has arrived,
Giver of Life.
Our flower-drum —
we beat it.
Our shroud
upon the earth.
[section 674]
Carrying the flower,
carrying the song
to Quenonamican.
Altogether we go.
No one will remain
upon the earth.
[section 675]
One more day here,
O friends.
We will leave behind
our flowers, our song.
We will leave behind
the earth that lies here.
[section 677]
What do you create,
what do you remember,
my friend?
You take up song,
you desire the flower
of the Giver of Life.
Rejoice at the drum —
surrender yourself
as your heart desires.
[section 678]
The flower-butterfly
delights the people.
Let it sip our flowers,
our hand-flowers —
cooling the lips —
intertwined and delightful
at the drum.
Come, rejoice!
[section 679]
Where shall I go?
Where shall I go?
Two roads stand —
it goes, it goes —
God.
Is he not awaited
at Ximoayan?
Inside the sky?
Only here —
yet here is Ximoayan,
upon the earth.
Colophon
Song XLIX of the Cantares Mexicanos, folios 35r–35v, sections 657–679 (twenty-two sections). The Chalcayotl Ycnocuicatl — Chalca Orphan Song — manuscript number LIII. Third and final genre of the Chalca sequence.
Section 676 is absent from the TEMOA digital transcription. The numbering jumps from §675 to §677. Whether this represents a scribal omission in the manuscript, a transcription gap in TEMOA, or an intentional numbering skip is unclear. The surrounding text is continuous without an obvious lacuna.
The song completes the Chalcayotl trilogy — three genres from the conquered Chalca people: war song (Song XLVII), flower song (Song XLVIII), and orphan song (this song). The trilogy moves from political accusation through aesthetic theology to existential surrender. The Chalca voice, having accused the gods and kings (Yaocuicatl), found beauty descending from inside the sky (Xochicuicatl), and now asks where to go after everything has been taken.
Named figures: Cacamatl and Ayoquan (sections 663–664) — the same Chalca lords mourned in Songs XLVII and XLVIII. Ilhuicamina (section 663) — the epithet of Moteuczoma I ("Archer of the Sky"), who led the decisive Chalca Wars of the mid-fifteenth century. The naming of Ilhuicamina alongside the dead Chalca lords is pointed: the destroyer is as mortal as the destroyed. "Will he come again? Not twice."
The closing revelation at section 679 is among the most philosophically remarkable passages in the Cantares Mexicanos. The singer faces two roads, asks whether God awaits at Ximoayan or inside the sky, and declares: çan nican y yehua yece Ximoaya in tlalticpac — "Only here — yet here is Ximoayan, upon the earth." The afterlife realm of the stripped is not beyond death but within life. The Chalca, already stripped of their nation, already orphaned, are already in Ximoayan. The section echoes and inverts Song XLVIII's §648 ("from inside the sky"): beauty descends from above, but the place of the dead is already here below.
Translated directly from Classical Nahuatl via the UNAM TEMOA transcription of the Cantares Mexicanos (MS 1628 bis, Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico). Lexical verification via Molina's Vocabulario en Lengua Castellana y Mexicana (1571) and Karttunen's Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl (1983). No existing English translation was consulted or followed. This is the first free literary English translation of this song.
Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Scribed by Cuicani.
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Source Text
Cantares Mexicanos, folios 35r–35v, sections 657–679. Nahuatl text from the UNAM TEMOA digital transcription.
§657 Acon anquinequi moxochiuh aya in yehuan Dios Ypalnemoani ymac onmania Miccacalcatli mimilihuin cueponi coçahuia xochitl totonatimaniye etcetera nepapan y xochitl moyollo monacayo yehuan Dios a ohuaya
§658 Çan ca ychampa nihuitz niquetzalin poyon y nic ehua in cuicatl nictemaca noxochiuh a ohuaya
§659 In ma onchichinalo in quetzalyiexochitl aya moyahua quitomaya yxochiuh yehuan Dios huiya hui çan ca ye ichan y aya xochitl y ca cana ohuaya etcetera
§660 Pehualo nequetzalo xochitl can moquetza huehuetitla aayiahue nonahuia huanca no ma ya huico yeehuaya xochitl malintimani etcetera
§661 Çan niquimahuiltia in tocnihua aya chalchiuhcalico xochinpetlapan yticpa huehuetzcan tla'tohuaya in cuicanitl ahua yyao yia yiao ayyaha ohua
§662 Tla çanen namechonahuiltia tla çanen namechoncuicati at ayoc huelicon at ayoc ahuiyac in toxochiuh ye tocuic ohuaya ohuaya ayia yiaha etcetera
§663 In cuix occepa huitz a in pilli Quauhtli ya a in Cacamatl ayiahue cuix occepa huallaz Ayoquan oo Ilhuicamina oc yehuatl amechonahuiltiz çan ooay oppatihuay ça cen tihui yehua ohuaya ohuaya ayia yiaha ohuaya
§664 Ça nihualichoa ya yoohui yahayon nihuallayocoya yn Ayoquan teuctli ye nican i yaotequihua tichahuatlatohua y ohuaya
§665 Çan ye ontimalihui ye ompopohuin tetloc ye nica in tenahuac y ayoc ymatian yoo o ayoc quihualmati nonan o ye nota yca nichoca y yoyahuia yoyahui yehua cano Ximoaya ohuaya
§666 Nichoca yehua nicnotlamati çan nic elnamiqui ticcauhtehuazque yectli ya xochitl yectli yan cuicatl in ma oc tonahuiacan o ohuaye ma oc toncuicacan cen tiyahui tipolihui yehua ohuaya etcetera
§667 Ach tle on a iuh quimati in tocnihuan y cocoya yiollo qualani yeehuaya ayoppan tlacatihua yehuaya ayopan piltihua y yece Ma xonahuiaca antocnihuan ohuaye ya ohuaye xonahuiacan a ohuaya ye quixihuan tlalticpac o ohuaya
§668 Ma oc achitzinca y tetloc ye nica tenahuac aayiahue aic yez o aic nahuiaz aic nihuelamatiz ohuaya
§669 Yn can on nemian noyollo yehuaya ca huel ye nocha ca huel nocala maniz ca ninotolinia tlalticpac o ohuaya
§670 Timotolinia noyollo yehua maca xinentlamatin tlalticpac ye nica O anca iuhqui notonal ohuaye quimatia ohuiyahue huixahue can on nicmacehuia in mach iuhcan nitlacat in tlalticpac yxama yhui yeehuaya ic yectli ya huel ihui ahcampa nemoa çan quittoa noyol a ohuaya
§671 Quen quittoa in Dios aya nellon tinemi aya nellon tiyahuecahuaco tlalticpac oo yiao yiao ayia a ayo ohuaya
§672 O aya nicyacahuaz yectli ya xochitl i aya nicyatemohuiz Quenonamica huiya o anca cihui çan achic çan tictotlanehuia yectlon cuicatl a etcetera
§673 Noncuicapehua nicana ya ye'co ya moxochiuh Ipalnemoani toxochihuehueuh ticyahuelintzotzona tonequimilol in tlalticpac o ohuaya
§674 O aitquihuan i xochitl o atquihuan in cuicatl Quenonamican centiyahui ayac mocahuaz in tlalticpac y ohuaya
§675 Ma oc cemilhuitl ye nica antocnihua ayahue toconcauhtehuazque toxochiuh ye tocuic ayiahue ticyaoncahuazque in tlalli manic yiao
§677 Tlen ticyocoya tlein tic elnamiqui tinocniuh o a'tahuia ticcuin cuicatl y atic elehuia yxochiuh in Ipalnemoa tla xonahuia huehuetitlan xonmiquani quen quinequi moyollo o ohuiya
§678 Xochinpapalotl tepan ahuia man tlachichina ya toxochiuh o tomacxochiuh y tencacehuazhuia tacaieuh o ic malintimani yhuan ahuiaxtima huehuetitla o xonahuiacan a ohuaya
§679 Can ompa nonyaz huiya can ompa noyaz aya ome ycac yohui yohui yehuan Dios huiya amach temochia ompa Ximoaya ailhuicatl ytec y çan nican y yehua yece Ximoaya in tlalticpac y ohuaya etcetera
Source text from the Cantares Mexicanos (MS 1628 bis), Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico. Digital transcription accessed via UNAM TEMOA (temoa.iib.unam.mx). Section 676 is absent from the TEMOA transcription. The text is reproduced from the UNAM transcription with minimal editorial intervention; scribal notations and vocables are preserved.
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