Greatly did the Mexicas honor Hitzilopochtli,
They knew that his origin, his beginning was thus:
In Coatepec, in the direction on Tula,
There was a woman,
Whose name was Coatlicue [Goddess of the Earth and mother of the gods].
She was the mother of the four hundred Southerners and of their sister,
Whose name was Coyolxauhqui.
And this Coatlicue was doing penance,
it was her duty to sweep,
This was how she did penance on Coatepetl,
The Serpent’s Mountain.
And once,
As Coatlicue was sweeping,
There descended upon her a plumage
Like a ball of fire, soft feathers.
Coatlicue gathered it up and placed it in
her bosom.
When she had finished sweeping, she sought
the feather but she saw nothing there.
At the very moment Coatlicue became pregnant.
When the four hundred Southerners saw that
their mother was pregnant, many of them grew
angry. They said: “Who has done this thing?
Who has got her with child? He insults us,
he dishonors us.”
And their sister Coyolxauhqui said to them:
“Brothers, she has dishonored us. We must
kill our mother.”
When Coatlicue heard of this, she was surely
frightened, she was surely distressed.
But her son Huitzilopochtli, who was in her
bosom, comforted her, saying:
“Be not afraid, I know what I must do.”
And Coatlicue, having heard the words of
her son, was much consoled, her heart grew
calm, she felt at peace.
Meanwhile the four hundred Southerners met
in order to reach an agreement, and they
decided as one to kill their mother.
Coyolxauhqui incited them greatly, she
fanned the flames of her brothers’ ire.
They made themselves ready, they attired
themselves for war.
Then began to march, guided by
Coyolxauhqui… they marched in order, in
rows
When they reached the peak,
Hutzilopochtli was born, he dressed himself,
he took up his shield of eagle feathers, his
darts, his blue dart sling.
He painted his face with diagonal stripes.
On his head he placed fine feathers,
he put on his earrings.
He also armed himself with the serpent made
of firebrands, Xiuhcoátl, who was set on
fire.
Then with the flaming serpent he wounded
Coyolxauhqui, he cut of her head.
The body of Coyolxauhqui rolled down, it
fell in pieces. In diverse places fell her
hands, her legs, her body.
Then Hitzilopochtli raised himself up. He
pursued the four hundred Southerners. He
harassed them, he dispersed them from the
peak of Coatépetl, the Serpent’s Mountain.
And when he had followed them to the foot of
the mountain, he chased them like rabbits
around the base of the mountain.
In vain did they try to strike against him.
They could do nothing,
nothing served to defend them.
He continued to pursue them.
Yet they begged him, saying: “Enough!”
But Huitzilopochtli was not content with
this, he grew even more enraged at them.
Only a few were able to escape from him,
they turned to the South.
And when Huitzilopochtli had killed them,
when he had given vent to his ire, he
stripped off their garments, he appropriated
them, he incorporated them into his destiny.
And this Huitzilopochtli, it is said, was a
portent. He was venerated by the Mexicas.
They sacrificed to him, they honored him and
served him.
And Hitzilopochtli repaid those who honored
him thus. And his cult was taken from there,
from Coatepetl, the Serpent’s Mountain, as
it was practiced from the most ancient of
times.
