tzapatl (FCbk5f13r)

This iconographic example features a small person, what some have called a dwarf (tzapatl). For size perspective, see the contextualizing image, which has this female tzapatl standing in proximity to a full-sized man. The companion text refers to the small person as though she is female, even if her nude body does not convey it. She has long hair, possibly tied into two loose ponytails. In her left hand she holds a round object. Neither of her hands seem to have the usual five fingers, but perhaps they were drawn hastily. It is difficult to know if this is intentional. She is a figure in the story of an omen. Two Nahuatl terms that appear in reference to this small woman (on f. 12v) are cuitlapanton and centlapachton. The -ton suffix is a diminutive, hence the generic term tzapaton, which identifies her on folio 13r.