Song XXX — XXXII (Like a Burnished Bangle)

Song XXX carries manuscript heading XXXII and spans ten sections on folios 21v–22r (§§378–387). It is the most strongly devotional of the Cantares songs thus far encountered — a song of pure appreciation whose opening pair compares the experience of God's song and flower to precious objects: a burnished bangle, jade, gold, a beautiful flute. The comparison is not decorative but epistemic: the singer says "so I esteem it" (in ipan nicmati) — knowledge through preciousness, understanding through beauty.

The first two sections (§§378–379) form a matched pair. Both open with a list of precious comparisons and close with the same devotional formula: "your beautiful song, your beautiful flower, O God." They function as a double opening, the second rotating the imagery slightly — from burnished/polished to round jade and curved quetzal-feather — while deepening the esteem declared in the first.

The middle sections (§§380–383) pivot to Santa María. She "comes loosening" the remnants of the song-feast and the painted flower-images — a striking image of the Virgin reactivating the ritual apparatus of the song-house. She sings in the butterfly-house, the book-house, the house of light; the flower-flute sounds in God's home; the shell-trumpets ring; there is contentment. God's flowers stand on the shining altar. The colonial-syncretic layer here is deep: the traditional cuicacalli setting — butterfly ornaments, painted books, flower-instruments — is now given over entirely to the Virgin's song.

The final movement (§§384–387) opens with God as Ycelteotl (the Unique God) seated on the flower-fruit throne, then turns to an apostrophe addressed to a red ixquixochitl flower blooming in Mexico. This flower — possibly Plumeria rubra or Bourreria huanita — is a site of spiritual activity: the quetzal-butterfly and the eagle-bird draw from it, feeding on it in flight. The song then closes with praise of Jesus Christ, whose house in Anahuac gleams like gold with tzinitzcan-birds and jade-circles, and whose cascabels resound with scattered flowers as he speaks his word.

Song XXX spans folios 21v–22r, sections 378–387 (ten sections). 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.

Like a burnished bangle,
like quetzal-jade,
like gold,
like a beautiful flute —
so I esteem it:
your beautiful song,
your beautiful flower,
O God.
yyao, aye.

Like jade made round,
like a broad quetzal-feather curved,
like gold,
like a beautiful flute —
so I esteem it:
your beautiful song,
your beautiful flower,
O God.
yyao, aye.

The remnants of the song-feast,
the painted flower-images —
she comes loosening them,
she comes unfolding them,
Santa María,
the ever-virgin.
Come now, hear it.
ylili, ohuaya.

In the butterfly-house,
in the book-house —
the home of God —
in the house of light,
there she sings,
Santa María,
the ever-virgin.
Come now, hear it.
ylili, ohuaya.

On the shining altar —
ohuaye —
there stand God's flowers.
He scatters his song as flowers.
May he be gladdened.
ohuaya, ohuaya.

The flower-flute sounds
in God's home.
There she is awaited,
Santa María —
she is gladdened.
The shell-trumpets ring with song.
There is contentment.
ohuaya.

In the flower-fruit house,
spread among the water-flowers,
on the flower-fruit seat —
there is our Father,
God,
the Unique God.
ohuaya.

You, red ixquixochitl,
you bloom here in Mexico —
at your side the quetzal-butterfly
draws from you, here on earth.
At your side the eagle-bird
draws from you, flying.
ohuaya, ohuaya.

Your tzinitzcan-fruit house gleams like gold.
Your home is jade-circled.
Precious son, Jesus Christ —
in Anahuac you speak your word.
ohuaya.

Flowers scatter —
ohuaye —
cascabels resound.
It is your drum,
precious son, Jesus Christ —
in Anahuac you speak your word.
ohuaya.

Colophon

Song XXX (manuscript heading XXXII) of the Cantares Mexicanos, translated directly from Classical Nahuatl by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Source: UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx), CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

The song spans folios 21v–22r, sections 378–387 (ten sections). It follows Song XXIX (MS XXXI, §§366–377) directly; Song XXXI (MS XXXIII) begins at §388.

Philological notes:

§§378–379 — in ipan nicmati: "So I esteem it" — ipan = on/through it; nicmati = I know/understand/esteem. Molina gives mati as both "to know" and "to feel/sense," suggesting a way of knowing that is embodied and felt rather than merely intellectual. The singer's appreciation of God's song and flower is expressed through a cascade of precious comparisons, then grounded in this single act of knowing-through-preciousness. The formula is unusual in the Cantares — most songs use metaphors to describe; this song uses them epistemically.

§378 — maquiztli tlamatelolli: The maquiztli is a metal armband or bangle worn as a prestige ornament, often gold or gold-plated. Tlamatelolli derives from matelohua or related roots indicating something polished, burnished, made smooth and gleaming. The image is of a perfectly worked precious object — craftsmanship as a measure of spiritual value. The God's song and flower are as carefully wrought as such an ornament.

§378–379 — çan quetzalchalchihuitl / çan ca teocuitlatl / huel in tlapitzalli: The three parallel comparisons — quetzal-jade, gold, and a beautiful flute — represent the three prestige materials of Nahua aesthetics (precious green stone, precious metal, precious sound). The tlapitzalli (wind instrument/flute) is the only non-material comparison, and it is the most evocative: the singer esteem God's song as one esteems a beautiful flute — not for its substance but for what it produces, for its function as a vehicle of beauty.

§379 — chalchiuhtl ololihuico / in quetzallin patlahuac y huitolihuic: The second opening pair rotates the imagery. Ololihuia = to become round, to take on a spherical shape — jade made round, as in a worked bead or sphere. Quetzallin patlahuac y huitolihuic = a broad quetzal-feather that curves/bends over — perhaps as set into a headdress or ornament, the long green tail feathers arching. Both images emphasize the worked quality of preciousness: things shaped by human hands into their most beautiful form.

§§380–381 — quitotontihuitz / quiçoçouhtihuitz: Two parallel movement-verbs with -tihuitz (comes going [doing X]). Quitotontihuitz conveys a loosening or undoing; quiçoçouhtihuitz derives from çoçoa = to stretch out, extend, unroll, unfold. Together they describe Santa María arriving and reactivating the ritual space — loosening the remnants, unfolding the paintings — as if she comes to prepare the song-house for new use. The image is performative and liturgical.

§381 — papalocalitic / amoxcalitic / tlauhcalitic: Three house-types where Santa María sings. The papalocalic (butterfly-house) is likely decorated with butterfly ornaments, possibly referring to the cuicacalli's characteristic décor. The amoxcallic (book-house) is where painted books and codices were kept — a space of sacred written knowledge. The tlauhcallic (red-house / house of light/dawn) is a space of luminosity, possibly associated with the sunrise and the temple's eastern orientation. That Santa María sings in all three suggests the Virgin inhabits the full spectrum of the traditional sacred complex.

§382 — tlahuimomozticpan: The momoztli (altar, offering-stone) appears throughout the Cantares as a site of divine presence and sacrifice. Tlahuia = to shine, illuminate, give light — so tlahuimomoztli = a shining/luminous altar. God's flowers (yxochiuh y yehuan Dios) stand (ihcac) there — they are given permanent status, not scattered but upright and present. The scattering of song as flowers (quixochintzetzeloa) is then God's own response to this altar of flowers.

§383 — xochihuilacapitzoloto: A compound centered on huilacapitzolli or vilacapitztli — a clay or gourd wind instrument, a flute. The xochi- prefix floralizes it: a flower-flute. The -toc suffix indicates ongoing action: it sounds, it resounds. The image of the flower-flute playing in God's home connects to the flute in §378 — the opening comparison to "a beautiful flute" is now made literal in the ritual space.

§383 — quihquizcopan cuicotoc: The quiquiztli is a conch-shell trumpet, blown at ritual occasions. -Copan = at the place of [something]. Cuicotoc = singing is ongoing. The shell-trumpets mark the ceremonial weight of what is happening in God's house: the arrival and gladnening of Santa María is accompanied by the full force of the temple's ritual instruments.

§384 — Ycelteotl: The Unique God, the Only God — ycel = unique, alone, only; teotl = god/divine force. This epithet appears several times in the Cantares, often in colonial-syncretic contexts where the Christian monotheist God is mapped onto the Nahua supreme divine. Here it closes the section naming "our Father, God, the Unique God" — a deliberate triple naming (three titles) that emphasizes the singularity of the divine presence on the flower-fruit throne.

§384 — xochitzapocalco / amalacoxochi: Xochitzapocalco — the flower-zapote-house (xochitl + tzapotl = zapote/sapote fruit; -co locative). The zapote is a sweet-fleshed tropical fruit, used in many Nahua contexts as an image of abundance and sweetness. Amalacoxochi is more complex: amalacotl refers to a water-spindle or water-wheel shape; xochitl = flower. These are perhaps lotus-like or water-lily flowers, spread around the divine seat.

§385 — titlapalizquixochitl: The direct address "you, red ixquixochitl" is startling — a sudden apostrophe to a flower, not to a person or deity. The ixquixochitl appears in other Nahua sources; it may be Plumeria rubra (red frangipani/plumeria) or Bourreria huanita, a flowering tree. That a butterfly (quetzalianpapalotl, the quetzal-butterfly) and an eagle-bird (quauhtli) both draw from it (tlachichina = to draw nectar/liquid) while in flight suggests this flower is a site of intense spiritual vitality — it draws the birds of both beauty (butterfly) and power (eagle) to itself.

§386 — motzinitzcantzapocal: The tzinitzcan is one of the Cantares' most frequently invoked birds — an iridescent, brilliantly colored bird associated with both precious stones and the paradise of slain warriors. Here it is associated with fruit (tzapocal) in the compound, suggesting the bird perches in or is associated with a fruiting tree. The possessive mo- makes this Jesus Christ's own tzinitzcan-fruit-house — a vivid image of the Christian sacred as continuous with the Nahua paradise of jeweled birds.

§387 — coyollaihcahuacaticac in ye mohuehueuh: The cascabels (coyolli) resounding and the drum (huehuetl) are both royal/sacred instruments. "It is your drum" addressed to Jesus Christ places him in the position of the Lord of the Dance — the one whose ritual instrument orders the song-feast. The closing image of flowers scattering (xochitl chayahuaticac) and cascabels sounding as Jesus Christ speaks his word in Anahuac unifies the colonial-syncretic vision: the traditional ritual instruments now belong to the precious son, and Anahuac — the whole Nahua world — is the space of his speech.

Source text note: §378 spans the boundary between folios 21v and 22r; §§379–387 were fully legible on folio 22r via UNAM TEMOA. All Nahuatl source text was accessed directly from the TEMOA platform; no existing English translation was consulted during the translation process. Bierhorst 1985 not consulted.

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Source Text: Manuscript Heading XXXII

Nahuatl — Classical Nahuatl, Cantares Mexicanos, MS XXXII, folios 21v–22r, §§378–387
UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx). Reproduced for non-commercial archival use under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

§378
Maquiztlin tlamatelolli ya çan quetzalchalchihuitl çan ca teocuitlatl y huel in tlapitzalli çan ca yehua in ipan nicmati a yectli ye mocuic yectli ya moxochiuh o yehuan Dios y yyao aye etcetera

§379
Chalchiuhtl ololihuico in quetzallin patlahuac y huitolihuic çan ca teocuitlatl y huel in tlapitzalli çan ca yehua o in ipan nicmati a yectli ye mocuic yectli ya moxochiuh o yehuan Dios y yyao aye

§380
Cuicailhuiçolli xochintlacuilolli quitotontihuitz quiçoçouhtihuitz yehua in Santa Maria in mochipa ichpochtli tlaoc xiyacaquican a ylili ohuaya o etcetera

§381
Papalocalitic y ye amoxcalitic ychan Dios y tlauhcalitic y oncan oncuica y heco a yehuan Santa Maria in mochipa ichpochtli tlaoc xiyacaquican a ylili ohuaya o

§382
Tlahuimomozticpan ohuaye oncan ya ihcac yxochiuh y yehuan Dios huiya çan quixochintzetzeloa ycuic ma ahuili ye ehuaya ayya ayyaha oo a yli ayancohuili yacohuia ohuaya ohuaya

§383
Xochihuilacapitzoloto y a ychan Dios hi oncan onchialo Santa Maria onahuiltilotoc quihquizcopan cuicotoc y a onnetlamachtilo ya ayia ayyaha oo etcetera

§384
Xochitzapocalco amalacoxochi o timani a ye xochitzapoicpalli ipan aya tiya onca totatzin yehuan Dios aya Ycelteotl a ohuaya etcetera

§385
Titlapalizquixochitl aya ticueponticac in Mexico nican huiya motech tlachichina in quetzalianpapalotl a yn tlalticpac y motech tlachichina in quauhtli an tototlo in patlantinemia ohuaya ohuaya

§386
Teocuitlatonaticac y motzinitzcantzapocal in chalchiuhamalacoyoticac mochan yehuan tlaçopilli Jesucristo Anahuac in tontlatoa yehua ohuaya etcetera

§387
Xochitl chayahuaticac ohuaye coyollaihcahuacaticac in ye mohuehueuh huiya tlaçopilli Jesucristo Anahuac in tontlatoa yehua ohuaya

Source Colophon

Nahuatl source text from the Cantares Mexicanos manuscript, UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx/cantares-cantares-mexicanos/), folios 21v–22r. Reproduced for non-commercial archival use under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

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