tetlanochiliani (FCbk10f24v)

This iconographic example, featuring a procurer or pimp (tetlanochiliani, also called a tetlanochiliqui), is included in this digital collection for the purpose of making comparisons with related hieroglyphs. The term selected for this example comes from the text near the image in the Digital Florentine Codex. There is no gloss, per se. This example shows the procurer (male, in this case, although some procurers could be women) standing between a seated man and a standing woman. The seated man (on a woven seat, a low-level icpalli) is apparently the one interested in having sex with the woman. The woman is wearing a woman’s traditional dress (tunic huipilli with a quincunx design on the chest patch and a long, mesh-patterned skirt), and hairstyle (neaxtlahualli or axtlacuilli). Her arms are straight and are crossing in front of her abdomen. A small flower appears in the sky next to her head. This may be a reference to the sex she would provide if the arrangement were to succeed. The procurer has wrinkles on his cheek, which is a reference to his age (also mentioned in the text). He dresses in a Spanish-style shirt and trousers, but with a Nahua cloak (tilmatli) over everything else. With his right index finger the procurer points to the seated man–representing the verb to point, mapilhuia (or mahpilhuia, with the glottal stop), a significant gesture in the culture. A mouse-like animal (quimichin) appears in the air near the head of the procurer. After the text notes that this man is compared to a mouse, he goes on to describe him as a deceitful seducer and more.