The Omens that Preceded the Coming of the Spaniards
In this first chapter we transcribe the náhuatl version prepared by doctor Garibay, of texts of indigenous informants of Sahagún contained at the beginning of book XII of the Florentino Codex, as well as a brief section taken from the History of Tlaxcala by Diego Muñoz Camargo, who as it was indicated in the General Introduction, related to the indigenous nobility of this Lordship, and it reflects the opinion of the Tlaxcalteca Indians, allies of Cortez. Both documents, that have a close similarity, narrate a series of ill prodigies and omens that the Mexicas, and especially Moctezuma, affirmed to see about ten years before the arrival of the Spaniards. The first text of the informants of Sahagún is transcribed, according to the Florentino Codex and next is the testimony of the author of the History of Tlaxcala.
It was wide of base, narrow of vertex. Well in the middle of the sky, at the center of the sky it reached, at the very sky it was reaching.
And this way it was seen: it was seen rising up the East, It manifested all night, it was still visible at dawn; and only then the Sun made it disappear.
And the time during which it appeared: for a year it came to be in the sky. It began in the year 12 House.
When it showed there was general uproar: the people patted their lips with their hands; there was a great concern; they commented interminably.
Second bad omen that happened here in Mexico: by its own it burst in flames, it catched fire: nobody perhaps set in on fire, spontaneously the house of Huitzilopochtli burned. His divine site, the temple was called "Tlacateccan" ("House of control").
The columns already burn. From inside come the fire flames, the fire tongues, the fire blazes.
Extremely fast the fire finished all the woodwork of the house. Immediately there was uproarious shouting; they said: " Mexican, you come quickly: it must be extinguished! You bring your cántaros! (water pots)... " But when they threw water to it, when they tried to extinguish it, they only enraged it, flaming more. It could not be extinguished: completely it burned down.
Third bad omen: A temple was hit by lightning. Only of straw it was made: in the place called "Tzummulco". The temple of Xiuhtecuhtli. It was not raining hard, just drizzled slightly. Thus, it was taken as an omen; they said: " it was not sunstroke. No thunderclap was heard either."
Fourth bad omen: When the Sun was still up, a fire fell. In three parts divided: it started where the Sun sets: it went straight to where the Sun rises: as if it was a burning coal, it was falling in a rain of sparks. Long was its tail; far its tail reached. And when it was seen, there was great uproar: as if someone were playing bells.
Fifth bad omen: The water boiled: the wind made it start boiling. As if it boiled in fury, as if in pieces it broke when shaking. Its impulse reached very far, I rose very high. It reached at the foundations of the houses: and destroyed the houses, they sank in water. That was in the lagoon that is next to us.
Sixth bad omen: often it was heard: an unseen woman wept; she wandered shouting at night; she went giving great shouts:
- Little sons of mine, because we already must go far!
And sometimes it said:
- Little sons of mine, where will I take you?
Seventh bad omen: Often something was caught, something was trapped in the nets. Those that worked in the water caught certain ashy bird like a stork. Quickly they took it to show to Moctezuma, in the House of the Black (house of magical study).
The Sun had arrived at its apogee: it was noon. There was something like a mirror on the head of the bird like a complicated spiral: it was as if its head was perforated in its middle.
There they could see the sky: the stars, the constellations. And Moctezuma had it as an omen, when he saw stars and constellations.
But when he saw for the second time the head of the bird, again he saw afar; as if some people came quickly; standing and shoving each other. They made war on each other and they were riding some deer like animals.
Immediately he called to his magicians, to his wise people. He said to them:
"Do you do not know: what is what I have seen? Like people who are standing and shaken... "
But they, wanting to give the answer, started to see: it disappeared (everything): nothing they saw.
Eighth bad omen:Often deformed men showed themselves to people, monstrous men, with two heads and a single body. They took them to the House of the Black; they showed them to Moctezuma. When he had seen them they immediately disappeared.
Testimony of Muñoz Camargo (Historia de Tlaxcala, written in Spanish by its author)
And when this prodigy was seen, the natives made great signs of pain, giving great shouts, voices and howls in signal of great fright and giving themselves pats in the mouths, as usually they do. All these cries and sadness were accompanied of blood sacrifices and of human bodies as they used to do when seeing themselves in some calamity and preoccupation, as well as it was the time and the occasion to do them, thus grew the number of sacrifices and superstitions.
With this great alteration and fright, grieved of so great fear and fright, they had continuous worry and imagination of what could such a strange new development mean. They tried to know by fortunetellers and charmers what could mean such a strange and never before seen or heard of signal. It must be considered that ten years before the coming of the Spaniards, these signals began to be seen, but the native date of twelve houses was the year of 1517, two years before the Spaniards arrived at this land.
The second prodigy, signal or omen that the natives of Mexico had, was that the temple of the demon was burnt and burned, without anyone setting it on fire, the one which was called the temple to one Huitzilopuchtli, that is in the district of Tlacateco. It was so great this fire and so sudden, that fire blazes came out the doors of this temple and seemed to reach at the sky and in a moment everything was burnt and burned, without anyone being able to remedy it. "It was destroyed", when it happened, it was not without great uproar and shouting, calling and saying to the people: " Ea Mexican! Come in great haste with pitchers of water to extinguish the fire ", and thus all the people who could come to the aid came. And when they approached to throw the water and to try to extinguish the fire, as to this a multitude of people arrived, then the flames ignited with greater force, and thus, the fire burned everything.
The third prodigy and signal was that a lightning fell on an idolatrous temple which had a straw roof, that the natural ones called Xacal, and the temple the natural ones called Tzonmolco, and was dedicated to the idol Xiuhtecuhtli, it was raining a slight drizzle from the sky, without thunder nor lightning on this temple. Which also they took as great omen and prodigy of very bad signal, and it burnt everything.
The fourth prodigy was, that being daytime and having sun, comets came from the sky and three by three ran through the air, "starting at the West and ran towards the East", with all force and violence, and that they were dropping and leaving fire coals or flashes asthey ran to the East, and had such great tails, that their length and greatness spanned a very great distance; and when these signals were seen, there was uproar, and also very great noise and shouting and howling of people.
The fifth prodigy and signal was that the Mexican lagoon was altered without wind, it boiled and boiled and foamed in such a way that it rose to a high altitude, in such a way, that the water got to shower over more than half of the houses of Mexico, and many of them fell and sank; and it covered them and they completely drowned and disappeared.
The sixth prodigy and signal was that often and many nights, they heard a woman's voice who in loud voices cried and said, drowning with much weaping and great sobs and sighs:
Oh children of mine! we are going to be absolutely lost
... and other times it said:
Oh children of mine, to where could I take you and hide you?
The seventh prodigy was that the 'lagooners' of the Mexican lagoon, sailors and pirates or hunting canoists, hunted a brown bird similar to a stork, which was immediately taken to Moctezuma so that he saw it, who was in the Palaces of the black room, and it was a clear day. That bird was so strange and so admirable, that their great surprise cannot be imagined, it had on its head a round ornament with the form of a very diaphanous round mirror, clear and transparent, through which he saw the sky and the constellation of Geminis; and when Moctezuma saw this, he had as great omen, prodigy and bad signal to see through the ornament of that bird the stars of the sky.
And wanting a second time Motecuhzoma to see and to admire through the ornament and head of the bird he saw great number of people, who came marching scattered and in very orderly squadrons, very decorated and warlike, and battling with other and riding on figures of deer and other animals, and then, as he saw so many and so shapeless visions, he commanded to call his fortunetellers who were considered wise people.
Having come to his presence, he told them the cause of its admiration:
"You have to know my wise beloved friends, how I have seen great and strange things through an ornament of a strange bird that was brought to me as a new and strange thing and that never another one as she has been seen nor hunted, and through this ornament that is transparent like a mirror, I have seen a sort of people who come in squadrons, and so you can see them, look yourselves and you will see the very thing that I have seen."
And wishing to respond to their Lord that which had seemed to them such an outrageous thing, to realize their judgments, riddles and conjectures or prognoses, they tried to look at the bird, which suddenly disappeared, and thus they could not give no judgment nor true prognosis.
The eighth prodigy and signal of Mexico, was that often two men united in a body appeared and and were seen, those that the natives call Tlacantzolli. And others saw bodies, with two heads coming from a single body, which were taken to the palace of the black room of the great Motecuhzoma. In arriving there they disappeared became invisible all these signals and others that to the natives foretold their end and finish. Because they said that there was to come the end and that the world was to finish and be consumed, that other new people were to be created and other new inhabitants for the world were to come. And thus they were so sad and frightened that they did not know what to make of this rare, strange, so new and never seen or heard things.
Besides these signals, there were others in this province of Tlaxcala before the coming of the Spaniards, very shortly before.
The first signal was that each morning a clarity was seen that came from the East, three hours before the sun rose, and it was like very clear white fog, which raised to the sky, and not knowing what it could be caused great fright and admiration.
Also another wonderful signal was seen, and was that a column of dust rose like a tube, it rose from the Mountain range "Matlalcueye" which they call now the Mountain range of Tlaxcalla. The column raised to such height, that it seemed to reach the sky. This signal was seen many and diverse times more during a whole year, it caused fright and admiration, so strange was it in this nation.
They understood but that they were the Gods that had come from the sky, and thus with so strange new development, the news flew around the land. At the end it was known of the arrival of so strange and new people, specially in Mexico, since it was the head of this empire.
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