Song XXXIX — XLIII (We Only Came to Borrow)

Song XXXIX carries manuscript heading XLIII and spans folio 26r of the Cantares Mexicanos, sections 477–483 (seven sections). It follows immediately after Song XXXVIII and introduces one of the Cantares' most personal lyric voices: Cuacuauhtzin.

Cuacuauhtzin (the name means "great eagle" in Classical Nahuatl) was a historical poet-king associated with Tepechpan, a town in the Acolhua region east of Lake Texcoco. He appears in pre-Columbian and early colonial sources as a lord-singer — the poet-noble type for whom these songs were compiled. His direct first-person naming in §§479, 480, and 483 makes this song exceptionally traceable: it is explicitly his.

The song opens in the exhortative register. §477 sets a scene of shared travel: all day we go, one night — here at Ximoa (a location associated with Tepechpan). The key line arrives quickly: "çan tontiximatico çan tictlanehuico in tlalticpac" — we only came to know each other, we only came to borrow this on earth. The borrowed-life metaphor is central to Nahua philosophy: human existence is not owned but lent. The invitation that follows — "come, let us rejoice together!" — is not denial but its companion, the answer to impermanence.

§478 introduces a shadow: those who go about striking the singer down, lying about him. His response is striking: let them go about in their sorrow — but may they live forever, may they not die by it. The refusal of bitterness is deliberate.

§§479–480 introduce Cuacuauhtzin by name with his instruments: the jade teponaztli drum, the turquoise-quechol bird, the coyapitzatl clay flute. "I am only Cuacuauhtzin — I have come, I have come to stand here, I the singer." The self-naming is both humble (çan ye = only, merely) and confident. In §480, the heart aches — yet he lifts the song.

§§481–482 turn to leave-taking. §481 addresses someone directly — a companion who hurt him and sought his death. "Let your heart loosen — you hurt me, you sought my death. What was there is now gone. Only now will you come weeping for me?" The question is gentle and devastating. "I am going now." §482 gives the interior counterpart: "only my heart says — I will no longer come again in the truly good place on earth."

§483 closes with lyric resignation. "The flowers long for it — only my heart. I only sing in sorrow, I only strive in song on earth. I am Cuacuauhtzin. This I desire." The final word — noconnequi (this I desire) — is deliberately open: the flowers, the song, the earth, or the going itself. The Nahuatl holds all of these.

Key vocabulary: chalchiuhteponaz (jade teponaztli — chalchiuh- = jade/precious + teponaz = the log drum, the central percussion instrument of Nahua ceremony), coyapitzatl (clay flute, literally "hollow-blowing" — coya = hollow/pit + pitza = to blow; a clay or bone transverse flute used in song ceremony), tlanehua (to borrow — the verb underlying the central metaphor; to take on loan from the Giver of Life; human life as a temporary holding), icnotlamati (to mourn, to grieve in aloneness — icnot- = orphaned/alone + tlamati = to feel/know; combining material poverty and spiritual want), miquitlani (to seek death for someone — miqui = to die + tlani = to seek/request; the construction for wanting someone dead).

Song XXXIX spans folio 26r, sections 477–483. Nahuatl source text accessed from the UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx), Cantares Mexicanos manuscript. The Cantares Mexicanos is held at the Biblioteca Nacional de México. Digital facsimile and transcription by UNAM's Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas. Translated directly from Classical Nahuatl by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

All day we travel, one night —
here at Ximoa.
We only came to know each other,
we only came to borrow this
on earth.
Let it be still, let it be good —
let us live.
Come, let us rejoice together!

Let those who go about in anger and bitterness
go about making what they will —
may they live forever,
may they not die by it.
ohuaya ohuaya.

Those who go about striking us down,
deceiving us here —
those very ones who are wretched.
Let them go about in their sorrow —
yet let them live forever,
may they not die by it.
ohuaya ohuaya.

My jade drum, my turquoise-quechol —
it sounds, my coyapitzatl flute.
I am only Cuacuauhtzin —
I have come,
I came to stand here,
I the singer.
ayio.

Come again — let us rejoice together!
Let it rise up.
My heart aches —
I only lift up the song.
I have come. I am only Cuacuauhtzin —
I came to stand here, I the singer.
ayio.

Let your heart loosen,
let your hearts come to rest.
You hurt me.
You sought my death.
What was there is now gone.
Only now will you come weeping for me?
Will you come mourning me?
You who were only my friend —
I am going now.
I am going.
ohuaya.

Only my heart says:
I will no longer come again.
I will no longer emerge
in the truly good place on earth.
I am going now.
I am going.

The flowers long for it —
only my heart.
I only sing in sorrow,
I only strive in song
on earth.
I am Cuacuauhtzin.
This I desire.

Colophon

Song XXXIX of the Cantares Mexicanos, manuscript heading XLIII, folio 26r, sections 477–483 (seven sections). The Cantares Mexicanos is a colonial-era manuscript of 91 Nahuatl songs compiled in the mid-sixteenth century by indigenous and colonial scribes in central Mexico, preserved at the Biblioteca Nacional de México.

This translation was made directly from Classical Nahuatl. Alonso de Molina's Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana (1571) and Frances Karttunen's An Analytical Dictionary of Nahuatl were consulted for lexical verification after the English draft was complete. No existing English translation was consulted during translation. The Blood Rule is maintained.

Song XXXIX is one of the Cantares' most intimate lyric poems. Cuacuauhtzin names himself three times in seven sections — an unusual authorial signature — and the song's arc from communal invitation to private departure is sustained without rupture. The borrowed-life metaphor of §477 (çan tictlanehuico in tlalticpac — we only came to borrow this on earth) grounds the entire poem in Nahua philosophical temporality: existence is a loan from the Giver of Life, and the singer's departure is merely the return of what was never his to keep.

§§481–482 carry the song's deepest grief. The speaker turns to someone who sought his death and asks, gently: "only now will you come weeping for me?" The repetition of ca ye niauh (I am going, I am going) is a formal farewell. §483's closing words — noconnequi (this I desire) — remain beautifully open: what does he desire? The flowers? The song? The earth? The going itself? All of these are present simultaneously in the Nahuatl.

Boundary note: Song XL (Teponazcuicatl) begins folio 26v with the rubric Nican ompehua Teponazcuicatl (Here begins a song of the teponaztli drum) and percussion notation Tico tico toco toto auh ic ontlantiuh cuicatl. Cuacuauhtzin is named again in the opening sections of Song XL, suggesting an extended song cycle sharing this poet's voice. Kshatriya to verify boundary and whether the 26v §483 continues the 26r §483 or opens a new song.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Cantares Mexicanos — In Cuicatl

Classical Nahuatl source text from the UNAM TEMOA digital platform (temoa.iib.unam.mx), Cantares Mexicanos manuscript, folio 26r, sections 477–483. The Cantares Mexicanos is held at the Biblioteca Nacional de México. Digital facsimile and transcription by UNAM's Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

Cemilhuitl on tiyahui ceyohual o Ximoa nica huiya çan tontiximatico çan tictlanehuico o in tlalticpac y ma yhuian may cemelle y man tonnemican xihualla mantonahahuiacan man conchiuhtinemi in onquaqualantinemi yan tlatlahuya nican huiya ma cemicac onnemi a maca ic onmiqui a ohuaya ohuaya

Yn tele tzo onnemian techtlatlatztinemi techoniztlacoa nican huia in tele tzo motolinia ma onnentlamati ma cemicac onnemi a maca ic ommiqui a ohuaya ohuaya

Nochalchiuhteponaz noxiuhquechol in quiquici nocoyapitzaya ça ye niQuahquauhtzin huiya onihualacic a ononiquetzaco ya nicuicanitl ayio huiya

Cuelca xonahuiacan y ma ya hualmoquetza a yyollo niccocoa çan nic ehuan cuicatl y onihualacic ça ye niQuahquauhtzin a ononiquetzaco ya nicuicanitl ayio huiya

Ma ya moyollo motoma y ma ya moyollo huallacitinemian tinechcocolia tinechmiquitlani yn onoya yehua in onompoliuh y anca ça yoquic oo noca tihualychocaz noca tihualycnotlamatiz çan tinocniuh o ca ye niauh o ca ye niauh yehua ohuaya

Çan quitoa noyollo ayoc ceppa ye nihuitz aya ayoc ceppa niquiçaquiuh in huel yeccan in tlalticpac o ça ye niauh o ça ye niauh

Quinehnequi xochitl ça noyollo yeehuaya çan noncuicanentlamati o çan noncuiyeyecoa in tlalticpac y ye niQuaquauhtzi huiya noconnequi

Source Colophon

Nahuatl source text from the UNAM TEMOA digital facsimile (temoa.iib.unam.mx), Cantares Mexicanos manuscript, folio 26r. The manuscript is held at the Biblioteca Nacional de México (MS 1628 bis). Transcription by UNAM's Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Reproduced for non-commercial archival use.

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