Song XXIII — XXIV (The Jade-House Stands)
Song XXIII carries manuscript heading XXIV and spans ten sections on folio 18r (§§284–293). No descriptive rubric accompanies the heading — only the Roman numeral. The song opens with direct address to Moctezuma (tiMoteucçoçomatzin — "you, Moctezuma") in his jade-house (chalchiuhcalli) and quetzal-house (quetzalcalli), asking where he merited such renown. This is the court-song mode of Songs XIX and XVIII before it — great lords named, their houses invoked, their fame celebrated.
The second section (§285) pivots sharply into colonial-syncretic territory: the addressee weeps in suffering and penance before Santa Maria, who is identified with Ycelteotl (the Sole God). This identification — the Virgin as the Sole God — appears in several Cantares songs and reflects the early colonial Nahua theological negotiation, in which Christian figures were mapped onto pre-existing Nahua categories. Ycelteotl was already a Nahua name for a supreme singular deity before contact; the Cantares scribes place Santa Maria in that theological slot.
The center of the song (§§286–287) develops a sustained parallel between two sacred cities: Tenochtitlan, characterized by its spear-writing place (tlacochicuiloyan) and shield-writing place (chimalicuiloyan) — the pictographic records of military history — and Colhuacan, characterized by its turquoise-writing (xiuhtlacuilolli) and book-house (amoxcalli) — the older Toltec tradition of painted manuscripts. In both cities, the same divine flowers bloom: the cacao-flower (cacahuaxochitl) and the heart-flower (yolloxochitl, identified with the Magnolia dealbata or a related species). These are the Giver of Life's flowers, spreading across the whole world, drawn from by the nobles. The parallel structure argues implicitly that Tenochtitlan's warrior-art tradition and Colhuacan's book-learning tradition are equally grounded in the divine.
The upper movement (§§288–291) ascends to heaven, where God the Father (Dios in tetatzin) rests inside the sky and grants all kinds of flowers. The nobles are guided and honored in the shadow of this divine rest. The song names two lords in §290 — Cahualtzin and Chimalpopocatzin — who receive this divine speech wound upon the quetzal-mat, the symbol of lordly authority. Section 291 invites beholding the mat and seat (petlatl icpalli) of the Sole God himself — the divine throne, whose earthly counterpart the named lords occupy.
The closing movement (§§292–293) returns to earth in warrior mode: as eagles and jaguars, nobles embrace each other (the embrace of battle), with the rattling of shield and serpent. In §293, God's flowers of guidance rain down over all — neyacalizxochitl, the guidance-flower or drawing-flower — gently laid by the Sole God, God the Father, even amid the rattling of shields. The song closes not on violence but on grace descending.
Song XXIII spans folio 18r, sections 284–293. Nahuatl source text accessed from the UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx), CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Translated directly from Classical Nahuatl by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
The jade-house stands!
The quetzal-house stands!
There you speak —
O Moctezuma —
where have you deserved this?
Already your renown
spreads and lingers here.
Ohuaya.
Yet there is your suffering —
yes, there is your penance,
before whose face you weep:
Santa Maria.
There she knows you —
the Sole God,
he who is God.
Ohuaya ohuaya.
In the spear-writing place,
in the shield-writing place —
in Tenochtitlan —
there the cacao-flower abides,
the heart-flower,
blooming.
Its blossoms — the Giver of Life's —
spread across the whole world.
Already the nobles draw from them.
Ayyo, ayyaha! Ohuaya ohuaya.
The wonder extends trembling
in Colhuacan —
turquoise-writing,
inside the book-house.
The cacao-flower abides,
the heart-flower,
blooming.
Its blossoms — the Giver of Life's —
spread across the whole world.
Already the nobles draw from them.
Ayyo, ayyaha! Ohuaya ohuaya.
Inside the sky —
O God, the Father —
there you rest.
All kinds of flowers
you grant us.
Ayanca —
hui yaha, yya yyaha!
Ohuaya.
Just in the shadow of your rest,
just at the edge there,
they were led —
O you nobles!
Already you are honored,
already you are renowned.
By this you are ennobled,
by this you are made wondrous.
Ayanca! Hui yaha, yya yyaha!
Ohuaya ohuaya.
Just upon the quetzal-mat
your speech is already wound —
O you nobles:
Cahualtzin,
Chimalpopocatzin.
O ayahui! Ho ayyaha!
Ohuaya ohuaya.
O truly — already there
you behold it:
the mat and seat
of God himself,
the Sole God, Giver of Life.
Ohuaya ohua.
As eagles, as jaguars,
let them embrace each other —
O you nobles! —
with the rattling:
shield and serpent,
may they spread across.
Oo yyao! Ayyaha!
Ohuaya ohua.
Just over us it spreads,
just over us it rains down —
the guidance-flowers,
gently laid
by the Sole God, God the Father.
In the rattling place —
shield and serpent:
may they spread across.
Oo yyao! Ay yaha!
Ohuaya ohua.
Colophon
Translated from Classical Nahuatl by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. The paired flowers cacahuaxochitl (cacao-flower) and yolloxochitl (heart-flower, associated with the Magnolia dealbata) appear together in multiple Cantares songs as the defining blooms of divine presence; their appearance in both Tenochtitlan and Colhuacan in §§286–287 is a theological argument for the shared sacred ground of the two cities' traditions. The compound xiuhtlacuilolli (turquoise-writing) in §287 may refer to the turquoise-colored pigments used in Colhuacan's manuscript tradition, or carry the broader meaning of "precious writing" (xiuh- bearing both turquoise and preciousness). The word neyacalizxochitl in §293 is rare; it has been rendered "guidance-flowers" from neyacaltia (to be led/guided) + xochitl (flower) — flowers that draw or lead the soul. The naming of Santa Maria as Ycelteotl (the Sole God) in §285 is a deliberate colonial-syncretic identification, not a translation error. Lords named: Moteucçoçomatzin (Moctezuma), Cahualtzin, Chimalpopocatzin. Chimalpopocatzin may refer to the Aztec tlatoani of Tenochtitlan (r. ~1415–1427 CE) or to a noble of the same name active in the song's performance period. All English independently derived from Classical Nahuatl. No existing English translation was consulted during the translation process.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: Manuscript Heading XXIV
Classical Nahuatl source text from the Cantares Mexicanos manuscript, Biblioteca Nacional de México, sixteenth century, accessed via the UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx), CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
[Folio 18r — manuscript heading XXIV]
[Section 284, folio 18r]
Chalchiuhcal imanica huiya in quetzalcal imanica huiya a oncan in tontla'toa ohuaye tiMoteucçoçomatzin huiya can ticmaceuh aya ye oncahuantimani a in moteyo ye nican ohuaya etcetera
[Section 285, folio 18r]
Tel a onca mocococauh aya tel a onca motlama'cehual y ixpan in tichoca yehua in Santa Maria oncan mitzixima Ycelteotl in yehuan Dios a Ohuaya ohuaya
[Section 286, folio 18r]
On tlacochycuiliuhyan ohuaye chimalycuilihuican in Tenochtitlan y oncan ya mani a in cacahuaxochitl yolloxochitl y in cueponticac y yxochiuh yn Ipalnemoani cemanahuac y ye onchichinalo in tepilhuan ayyo ayyaha ohuaya ohuaya
[Section 287, folio 18r]
Ontlamahuizmahmani a in a Colhuacan xiuhtlacuilolli ya amoxcalaitec y oncan ya mani a in cacahuaxochitl yolloxochitl in cueponticac y yxochiuh yn Ipalnemoani cemanahuac y ye onchichinalo in tepilhuan ayyo ayyaha ohuaya ohuaya
[Section 288, folio 18r]
A yn ilhuicalitic oncan tonoc o in Dios in tetatzin nepapan xochitl tocontimaloa ayanca hui yaha yya yyaha ohuaya etcetera
[Section 289, folio 18r]
Çan mocehuallotitlan çan can ye ioncantlan y onneyacalhuiloto aya antepilhuan huiya çan ye te'momahuiço y te'motleyo yehua yca piltihua y yca mahuiztihua y ayanca hui yaha yya yyaha ohuaya ohuaya etcetera
[Section 290, folio 18r]
Çan quetzalpetlatl ipan i ye momalintoc y in amotlatol ayeantepilhuan hui yaha in Cahualtzin huiya Chimalpopocatzin o ayahui ho ayyaha ohuaya ohuaya etcetera
[Section 291, folio 18r]
O anca ye oncan ancopia ya oncan ye ipetl ycpal y yehuan Dios aya Ycelteotl Ipalnemoa y ohuaya ohua
[Section 292, folio 18r]
Quauhyotica oceloyotica ma onnequechnahualo antepilhuani ycahcahuanca yn chimallin cohua ma'limani oo yyao ayyaha ohuaya ohua
[Section 293, folio 18r]
Çan topan moyahua ya topan tzetzelihui a ne'calizxochitli ya huiltiloca in Ycelteotl Dios tetatzin ycahcahuacan y chimallin cohua ma'limani oo yyao ay yaha ohuaya ohua
Source Colophon
Source text from the Cantares Mexicanos manuscript, 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.
Critical edition: Miguel León-Portilla et al., Cantares Mexicanos, 3 vols. (México: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México / Instituto de Investigaciones Históricas, 2011). Song XXIII carries manuscript heading XXIV, spanning folio 18r sections 284–293. Manuscript heading XXIII (§283, Song XXII) immediately precedes this song; manuscript heading XXV begins at section 294 on folio 18v. This translation is complete.
No existing English translation was consulted during the translation process. All English independently derived from Classical Nahuatl.
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