CÓDICE CHIMALPOPOCA
Anales de Cuauhtitlan y Leyenda de los Soles
Primo Feliciano Velázquez · traducción directa del náhuatl
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México · Instituto · 1945 · First Edition
VELÁZQUEZ’S TRANSLATION — Leyenda de los Soles, p. 119
The first Sun was Nahui Ocelotl — 4 Jaguar. It endured for 676 years. Its inhabitants were eventually devoured by jaguars until they perished completely, and the Sun disappeared.
The second was Nahui Ehecatl — 4 Wind. Its inhabitants were carried away by the wind and transformed into monkeys. Their houses and trees were also swept away.
The third was Nahui Quiahuitl — 4 Rain. Its inhabitants were destroyed when fire rained from the sky. They were transformed into birds, and their houses burned.
The fourth was Nahui Atl — 4 Water. Its inhabitants lived for 676 years before the destruction by water began.
THE DESTRUCTION OF SUCCESSIVE WORLDS
The Leyenda de los Soles depicts creation as a sequence of cosmic ages rather than a single beginning. Each Sun represents a different world and humanity, with each age ending with a different disaster. The story maintains a recurring pattern of creation and destruction before the current world.
Note on the facsimile: The photographic plate is reproduced from an uncut gathering in this 1945 first-edition copy. The leaves remain joined at their original edges, so the plate cannot be opened flat without cutting the book. The resulting angle and distortion reflect its original unopened condition.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Nahuatl, Leyenda de los Soles, manuscript p. 75
“Here is the wisdom-tale: how long ago it [came about that] the earth was apportioned, each of its portions one by one, how it began; just so is it known when each of the suns that existed had its beginning. [It is now] six times four hundred years plus one hundred years plus thirteen years, today, in May, on the 22nd day, of the year 1558.
[The first Sun was] Nahui Ocelotl — Four Jaguar. Those who lived then were eaten by jaguars. They lived under that Sun until they were devoured and came to an end. [The second Sun was] Nahui Ehecatl — Four Wind. Those who lived then were carried away by the wind. They were transformed into monkeys. The wind carried away their houses and their trees. [The third Sun was] Nahui Quiahuitl — Four Rain. Those who lived under this Sun were destroyed when fire rained down upon them. Their houses burned, and they were transformed into birds. [The fourth Sun was] Nahui Atl — Four Water. Those who lived under this Sun were destroyed by water.”
THE ORIGINAL NAHUATL RECORD
The surviving Nahuatl text preserves the same underlying sequence presented in Velázquez’s Spanish translation: successive Suns are associated with distinct populations and catastrophic endings.
VELÁZQUEZ’S TRANSLATION — Leyenda de los Soles, p. 120
“…they were flooded and became fish. The sky collapsed upon them, and in a single day they were destroyed.”
“Titlacahuan called the one named Tata and his wife named Nene, and said to them: ‘Do nothing more. Hollow out a very large ahuehuetl, and enter it when, in the month Tozoztli, the sky comes down.’”
“They entered it; then he closed them in and said to them: ‘You shall eat only one ear of maize, and your wife one also.’”
“When they had finished consuming the grains, it was noticed that the water was diminishing; and the log no longer moved.”
THE FLOOD — TWO SURVIVORS ARE WARNED
The world is destroyed when the sky falls and the inhabitants are overwhelmed by water, becoming fish. The survival is not accidental: a divine being knows the destruction is coming and gives two humans the means of escape.
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Nahuatl, Leyenda de los Soles, manuscript p. 76
“…opens. Then he sees a fish; then he drills fire with the fire-stick, and then they roast the fishes for themselves. Then look down hither the gods Citlalinicue and Citlallatonac; they said: "Gods! Who is burning something? Who is smoking the sky?" And thereupon Titlacahuan, Tezcatlipoca, came down. Then he scolds them; he said: "What are you doing, Tata? What are you all doing?" Then he cut off their heads at the neck; on their rumps he set their heads for them; so they turned into dogs. And the smoking of the sky was in the year 2 Reed. Here is how we ourselves, how we now live; how the fire-drill fell; how the sky was set in place, in the year 1 Rabbit. Here is how the fire-drill fell, when fire appeared; and how it had lain dark for twenty years and five years. And the sky was set in place in the year 1 Rabbit. And when it had been set in place, then the dogs smoke it, as was said back there. And only afterwards did the fire-drill fall; Tezcatlipoca drilled fire, whereby he once again smoked the sky, in the year 2 Reed. And then the gods take counsel; they said: "Who will dwell [here]? The sky has been set in place, the Earth Lord has been set in place; who will dwell [here], gods?" They are troubled: Citlalinicue, Citlallatonac, Apanteuctli, Tepanquizqui, Tlallamanqui, Huictlollinqui, Quetzalcoatl, Titlacahuan. And then Quetzalcoatl goes to Mictlan; he came before Mictlanteuctli and Mictlancihuatl. Then he said: "This is what I have come for: the jade bone that you keep; I have come to take it." And then he said to him: "What will you do, Quetzalcoatl?" And once again he said: "It is on this account that the gods are troubled: who will dwell on the earth?"
VELÁZQUEZ’S TRANSLATION — Leyenda de los Soles, p. 120 — Part II
“Then they uncovered themselves and saw a fish; they made fire with the fire-sticks and roasted it for themselves.”
“The gods Citlallinicue and Citlallatonac looked down and said: ‘Gods! Who has made fire? Who has smoked the sky?’”
“At once Titlacahuan-Tezcatlipoca descended, rebuked them, and said: ‘What are you doing, Tata? What are you doing?’”
“Then he cut off their necks and attached their heads to their buttocks, and with this they became dogs.”
“Then the gods took counsel and said: ‘Who will inhabit [the earth], now that the sky has become still and the Lord of the Earth has stood?’”
“They gathered together in the darkness: Citlallinicue, Citlallatonac, Apanteuctli, Tepanquizqui, Tlallamanac, Huictlollinqui, Quetzalcóatl and Titlacahuan.”
“Then Quetzalcóatl went to Mictlan, among the dead. He came to Mictlanteuctli and Mictlancihuatl and said: ‘I have come for the precious bones that you guard.’”
“And [Mictlanteuctli] said: ‘What will you do with them, Quetzalcóatl?’” “Again he said: ‘The gods are concerned that someone should inhabit the earth.’”
AFTER THE FLOOD — THE GODS PREPARE A NEW HUMANITY
The manuscript confirms the aftermath of the flood. Tata and Nene survive, but their attempt to make fire attracts the attention of the gods. Their discovery results in punishment.
What follows is more consequential. The gods decide who will inhabit the earth, and Quetzalcóatl descends among the dead to recover the “precious bones” from which a new humanity will be created. The Flood marks the end of one humanity and the beginning of another.
VELÁZQUEZ’S TRANSLATION — Leyenda de los Soles, p. 121 — Part III
“Mictlanteuctli again said to his messengers: ‘Gods! Quetzalcóatl has truly carried away the precious bones. Gods! Go and make a pit.’”
“They went and made it; and because of this he fell into the pit, struck himself, and the quail frightened him; he fell dead and scattered the precious bones upon the ground, which the quail then bit and gnawed.”
“After a short while Quetzalcóatl revived, wept, and said to his nahual: ‘What shall happen now, my nahual?’”
“He replied: ‘What shall happen? The matter has been ruined; since it rained, so it shall remain.’”
“Then he gathered them up, made them into a bundle, and immediately carried them to Tamoanchan.”
“After he had brought them there, the one called Quilachtli — who is Cihuacóatl — ground them and placed them in a precious vessel.”
“Over them Quetzalcóatl bled his member; and immediately all the gods who have been mentioned performed penance.”
“Then they said: ‘The servants of the gods have been born.’”
THE CREATION OF A NEW HUMANITY — THE PRECIOUS BONES ARE GIVEN LIFE
The new humanity is not created from nothing. Quetzalcóatl gives his own blood while the other gods perform penance, bringing what was recovered from the dead to life.
The resulting people are identified as “the servants of the gods.”
DIRECT TRANSLATION — Nahuatl, Leyenda de los Soles, manuscript p. 90
“…[Tepan]quizqui, Tlallamanac, Tzontemoc, and, sixth of them, Quetzalcoatl. And then they said: "The gods' vassals, the commoners, have been born, for they did penance on our behalf." And again they said: "What will they eat, O gods? Let sustenance be sought." And then the ant went to fetch shelled maize from inside Tonacatepetl (Mountain of Sustenance). And then Quetzalcoatl meets the ant; he said to it: "Where did you go to get it? Tell me." But it does not want to tell him. He questions it insistently. Then it tells him: "Over there." Then it leads him. And then Quetzalcoatl turned himself into a black ant; then it leads him; then they go in; then the two of them carry it off together. The red ant, [it seems, led] Quetzalcoatl; at the edge he sets down the maize. Then he carries it to Tamoanchan. And then the gods chew it; then they put it on our lips, and by this we grew strong.”
VELÁZQUEZ’S TRANSLATION — Leyenda de los Soles, p. 121 — Part IV
“They said: ‘The servants of the gods have been born.’ For this reason they performed penance over us.”
“Again they said: ‘What will they eat, O gods? Let food be sought.’”
“Then the ant went to take the shelled maize from within Tonacatépetl [the Mountain of Sustenance]. Quetzalcóatl encountered the ant and said to it: ‘Tell me where you went to get it.’”
“He asked it many times, but it did not wish to tell him. Then it said that it would [show him the place], and accompanied him.”
“Quetzalcóatl became a black ant and accompanied it, and both entered and carried it out.”
“Quetzalcóatl accompanied the red ant as far as the storehouse, arranged the maize, and then carried it to Tamoanchan.”
“The gods chewed it and placed it in our mouths to make us strong.”
THE NEW HUMANITY IS GIVEN SUSTENANCE
The Nahuatl continues the creation story beyond the making of humanity. Once the new people exist, the gods turn to the question of their survival.
Maize is found and brought back through Quetzalcóatl. The gods prepare it for the new humanity, providing the food that will sustain them.
