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haps Tonatiuh will reject him [lit., will throw him thither, will thrust him thither into hands]. |
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But now what can we say to comfort you [lit., How can we say whether we will comfort you?]? We are ignorant of what will happen in the future [lit., Shall we say that this one will be thus, that he will be this one, that he will do this, that our Lord will change this one, that this one will be fulfilled, that he will become something, that he will succeed, that he will live upon the land?]. But perhaps it will be our reward, our recompense, that he will perhaps act shamefully [lit., that he will perhaps continually wallow in dust and filth upon the land]. Perhaps he will be a thief [lit., will use his hands in someone's pot, in someone's bowl]. Perhaps he will be an adulterer [lit., will seize a skirt and a blouse from someone, and he will amuse them]. Or perhaps he will continually see misery and difficulties. |
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May we be educators, may we be trainers. May he accept us as his parents [lit., Would that one word or one phrase, motherhood and fatherhood, issue forth]. We hope we will inspire him [lit., Will we enter within him to set down our heart for him?]. |
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And now you should [lit. would that you] still continue with prayers and weeping and tears. Beware lest you become negligent because of sleep. Continually call on the Ever-present with piety, for we do not know God's will with regard to the boy [lit., How does he want him for us? How does he say it for him?].
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While he was in the telpochcalli, the youth was given duties, such as sweeping the house and laying the fires, and he began his penances. The leaders, the yaotequihuahqueh (sing. yaotequihuah), tested the youth to see if he would fare well in war and took him on campaigns as a shield-bearer. The youth ate in his own home but was required to sleep at the school and work and associate with other telpochcalli youths during the day. At sunset the youths bathed and painted their bodies black, but not their faces, and donned netted capes and neck bands. When the sun had set, they started the fires and sang and danced until after midnight, when they retired to the telpochcalli to sleep.17 |
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Training in matters of war was primarily entrusted to the war captains (yaotequihuahqueh) and the trainers (achcacauhtin), although noble veteran warriors (pipiltin) also played a role in the education of the youths.18 Veteran warriors taught the youths to handle weaponshow to shoot arrows from a bow, how to throw darts with an atlatl, how to hold a shield, and how to hold a sword. When an instructing warrior went to war, he took a youth as an apprentice to carry his supplies and arms.19 Many youths sought to became warriors,20 though life in the telpochcalli was spartan.21 |
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