stuck on a phrase

[Michael McCafferty]

Ben,

I typically ascribe the old adage that "everything you know is wrong," 
but I'm pretty confident that in this case this is not a difrasimo. :-) 
It's like saying "nocal i(i)xco," motlahtol ipampa. So, the itlan 
refers to the itleyo. See?

tlequiquiztli, yes, means, literally a 'fire-conch," or "gun". I'm not
aware of any other meaning besides 'gun'.

Since the friars' people had guns, and the Indians knew about them, it 
seems that guns are exactly the nastiness they are referring to. I 
could imagine that the memory of gun-toting Spaniards might evoke a 
sense of the demonic.

I don't know tlequiquiztlalli, but that sound like 'gun powder' to me.

ihiyohuiliztli is of course 'misery', and I think your interpretation 
of that verb is sound.

Michael



Quoting Ben Leeming <bleeming at gmail.com>:

> Hi Michael -
>
> Yes, I also suspect "tletl" as the source of "itleyo" and "itlan" seems
> obvious.  What I'm getting hung up on is their use together in this
> particular case.  Maybe it's because I have been so immersed in Nahuatl
> poetics that I am seeing couplets, parallelism, and difrasismos everywhere!
>
>
> This is what I've got right now for "cenca yyac in tlequiquiztli: ytleyo
> ytlan quintlayhiyohuiltizque":
>
> "the brimstone (sulfur, etc.) is very foul-smelling, [the demons] afflict
> them with its fireyness(?)"  (I know "tlequiquiztli" is technically
> "firearm", but elsewhere in this section we see "tlequiquiztlalli" which, I
> suspect, is intended here...I could be mistaken, though... I kind of like
> the image of gun-toting demons!!)
>
> I just don't really know what to make of the "itlan" following on the heels
> of the "itleyo."
>
> Anyway, your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.  I'm copying the list
> to see if we can get any additional thoughts.
>
> Ben
>
> --
> Ben Leeming
> PhD Student
> Department of Anthropology
> University at Albany, SUNY
>




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