The Rise and Fall of the Aztec Empire by Joan Stoltman

The Rise and Fall of the Aztec Empire by Joan Stoltman

Author:Joan Stoltman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing LLC


One day we must go, one night we will descend into the region of mystery. Here, we only come to know ourselves; only in passing are we here on Earth. In peace and pleasure let us spend our lives; come let us enjoy ourselves. Let not the angry do so; the Earth is vast indeed! Would that one lived forever; would that one were not to die!36

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE RIDDLES?

One important form of literary expression in Aztec society was riddles. They were taught in schools, and knowing the answers was a sign of intelligence. Examples of surviving Aztec riddles include:

What is a little blue-green jar filled with popcorn? Someone is sure to guess [the answer]. It is the sky.

What is a mountainside that has a spring of water in it? Our nose.

What is that which is a small mirror in a house made of fir branches? Our eye.

What is it that goes along the foothills of the mountain patting our tortillas with its hands? A butterfly.

What is that which we enter in three places and leave by only one? It is our shirt.

What is a tiny colored stone sitting on the road? Dog excrement.1

1. Bernadino de Sahagun, Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain, vol. 4. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research and University of Utah, 1950, pp. 230-240.



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