maquizcoatl chiquimolin (Mdz70r)
This example of iconography shows a man in profile, looking toward the viewer's right. Above his hea--and connected to his head by ligatures--are two ears. The man wears a cape with a decorated border. His black hair is short, and his own ear is visible, which is unusual. The ears above his head and the man's own skin are a tan color. The ears suggest eavesdropping, which could be a precursor to becoming a gossiper (which is what the gloss indicates).
Stephanie Wood
One wonders whether the use of ears to suggest eavesdropping is an Indigenous interpretation or a European introduction. It is interesting to note that the terminology for a gossiper relates to animals, and perhaps animal behaviors originally.
Stephanie Wood
viçioso de malas
lenguas / y chiz
moso /.
vicioso de malas lenguas y chismoso
Stephanie Wood
c. 1541, or by 1553 at the latest
hombres, espías, chismosos, escuchar, hablar, tilmas, textiles
maquizcoatl chiquimol(in), a gossiper, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/maquizcoatl-chiquimolin
chiquimol(in), a gossiper, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chiquimolin
chiquimolin maquizcoatl mochihua, to become a gossiper, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chiquimolin-maquizcoatl-moc...
chiquimol(in), a bird, perhaps nightingale or a goldfinch, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/chiquimolin-0
maquizcoa(tl), a two-headed snake, https://nahuatl.wired-humanities.org/content/maquizcoatl
Codex Mendoza, folio 70 recto, https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/2fea788e-2aa2-4f08-b6d9-648c00..., image 150 of 188.
Original manuscript is held by the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford, MS. Arch. Selden. A. 1; used here with the UK Creative Commons, “Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License” (CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0)
