Cuicapeuhcáyotl, The Origin of the Beginning
Beginning of the Songs
I speak from my heart.
From whence shall I take the beautiful, fragrant flowers?
Whom shall I ask?
Perhaps I should ask the lovely hummingbird,
the jade-colored hummingbird?
Perchance I must ask the butterfly the color of the zacuan (1).
For they possess the knowledge,
they know where the beautiful,
fragrant flowers bloom.
I shall enter the forest of fir trees
where the tzinitzcan (2) birds live,
or perhaps I shall enter the flowery woods
where the red quechol (3) lives.
There they bow in dewy splendor
beneath the rays of the sun,
there they are made joyful.
Perhaps I shall see them there?
If they are shown to me,
I will gather them in my lap
and thus I will salute the princes;
I will please the lords.
2.
Truly they live in this place,
I hear their flowery song.
It is as if the mountain could respond to them.
In truth the precious water flows
beside the fountain of the xiuhtototl (4).
The centzontle, bird of four hundred voices,
sends forth his songs.
He answers himself with songs,
the coyoltototl answers him.
There the music of timbrels,
varied, beautiful songbirds.
There they praise the Lord of the Earth;
their voices resound.
3.
I say, I cry out with sadness,
that I will not annoy you,
whom he loves.
Soon they kept silent.
Then the beautiful hummingbird came to speak:
singer, whom do you seek?
I answer him immediately,
I say,
where are the beautiful flowers
with which I must create joy
in those who are like you?
Later they warbled intensely to me:
singer, we must show them to you,
perhaps in this way you will truly give joy
to those who are like us, the lords.
4.
Inside the mountains,
at the Place of our Sustenance,
at the Flowery Land they introduced me;
there where the dew shines with the rays of the sun.
There I saw
the varied, precious, perfumed flowers,
the beloved, aromatic flowers bedecked in dew,
with the splendor of the rainbow.
There they say to me:
cut, cut flowers,
those that you prefer,
enjoy yourself, singer,
you will come to proffer them
to our friends, the lords,
to those who give happiness to the Lord of the Earth.
5.
And I put in my lap the varied,
fragrant flowers, the pleasing ones,
those that make one happy.
I say:
ah, if one were to enter,
we would take a great many.
But, now that I have become aware,
I will go and tell our friends.
We always come here to cut
the precious, varied, fragrant flowers
and to gather the diverse and beautiful songs.
With these we shall give pleasure to our friends,
the lords of the earth,
the princes, eagles, tigers.
6.
Then I went to gather everything, I the singer.
Thus I place flowers upon the heads of the princes,
thus I adorn them,
I fill their hands with flowers.
Later, I intone a beautiful song,
with which the lords are exalted,
before the Omnipresent One.
But he who deserves nothing,
from whence must he take,
must he look for the fragrant flowers?
Perhaps he will approach the Flowered Land with me,
the Land of our Sustenance?
Those there are who merit nothing,
those there are who suffer,
those there are who do not value earthly goods.
In truth only the Omnipresent One
decides who shall deserve
the flowers here on earth.
For this my heart weeps,
I remember that I have gone over there
to contemplate the Flowery Land,
I the singer.
7.
And I say,
truly there is no good place
here on earth,
truly there is another place where we must go,
there is joy in the beyond.
Is all only in vain on earth?
There is another place where life becomes disembodied.
I am going over there,
I am going to sing
at the side of the varied and precious birds,
there I would enjoy the gorgeous and fragrant flowers,
the most pleasing ones,
those that bring joy,
those that enrapture one with pleasure,
those that intoxicate, that with their fragrance
bring joy.
~Translated from the Nahuatl in the 16th Century
1. Beautiful golden-yellow colored bird
2. Trogon Mexicanus, a bird known for its splendid plumage
3. An aquatic bird, brilliant red
4. Cotinga amabilis or turquoise bird
