Tezcatlipoca (FCbk12f18v)

This iconographic example, featuring a black and white sketch of Tezcatlipoca, 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 divine force disguised as a man tied up in eight grassy ropes (although only four are visible). According to the Nahuatl texts, he was mistaken as a drunk on the road by the second wave of sorcerers that Motecuhzoma had sent out to find the Spanish invasionary party. The wizard-like emissaries were variously tetlachihuianime, nanahualtin, tletlenamacaque, and tlaciuhque . They were supposed to put spells on the invaders. But the sorcerers did not find the invaders, only this man (or two men) wrapped with green grassy ropes, and they did not recognize who it really was. At first they thought he was someone from Chalco. Eventually, they realized it was a youthful version of Tezcatlipoca (see f. 19v) just at about the time that the divine force vanished. They had to go back to Motecuhzoma to admit what happened.