Notes for Song IX
The title does not necessarily mean that this song is a translation from the Otomi language, but merely that the time to which it was chanted was in the Otomi style; or, the term Otomi may have reference to the military officer so called. The word is perhaps a compound of otli, path, and mitl, arrow.
The bard sings the vanity of earthly pleasures, and the reality of earthly pains; he exhorts himself and his hearers not to neglect the duties of religion, and lauds his own skill in song, which he compares to the sweet voices of melodious birds. There is nothing in the poem which reflects European influence.
1. xotlacueponi; the meaning of this compound is obscure. It is not found in the dictionaries.
2. The terminal o is inserted several times in the passage to express emotion and fill the metre.
mixitl tlapatl. A phrase signifying the stupor or drunkenness that comes from swallowing or smoking narcotic plants. See Olmos, Grammaire de la Langue Nahuatl, pp. 223, 228; oquiqueo is from i, to drink, or cui, to take, the o terminal being euphonic.