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who are being reared, those who are being trained, the ones who perform penance day and night, those who go around walking on their elbows and knees, those who call and shout to our Lord, those who are worthy [lit., those who weep, those who are sad, those who sigh]. |
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Our speech is finished [lit., This is all]. You are informed of it, you hear it, O priests.
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Here we have heard your utterance [lit., We get and take your breath and your words]. May we be worthy, may we be worthy of the favor, may we deserve it. Here your utterance [lit., your breath and your words] comes forth because you are concerned for your son [lit., your jewel, your quetzal-plume]. But we only represent the god [lit., only hear things for our Lord, our Prince, Quetzalcoatl, the One-befeathered-in-black]. We do not know his will with regard to your son [lit., How does he desire things for your jewel, your quetzal-plume?]. And we do not know his will with regard to you [lit., How does he desire things for you yourselves?]. We do not know how your son will fare [lit., How will the jewel, the quetzal-plume, be?]. We certainly pray to him [i.e., to God] that this one be fulfilled, that this one prosper. Let us have full confidence in our Lord, the Ever-present, regarding what he desires for us. Let us have full confidence.29 |
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The priests then took the youth to the temple, and the parents gave them giftsrich gifts if the parents were rich and poor ones if they were poor. The child was then anointed in black, including his face, and given neck bands of birthwort roots if his parents were rich and of loose cotton if his parents were poor. The priests cut his ears to draw blood for a sacrifice to Quetzalcoatl. If the child was still young, he was then taken home, unless he was the son of the king.30 |
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The age at which youths entered the calmecac is uncertain: several are recorded, which may reflect status differences or various permissible ages for entry. The king's sons apparently entered the temple at the age of five and were raised there until they were old enough to go to war.31 The sons of the other nobles entered the calmecac at ages recorded as ranging from six to thirteen.32 In any case, training in the calmecac began earlier than that in the telpochcalli. |
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Training in the calmecac was rigorous, covering the intellectual aspects of Aztec life plus all that was taught in the telpochcalli. The youths were taught discourse, songs, reading and writing, the calendar, the book of dreams, and the book of years. The youths prepared their own food, and at midnight everyone arose and prayed to the gods. Among their duties were sweeping before dawn, and gather- |
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