coatlaquetzalli; this edifice, said to have been left incomplete by Quetzalcoatl, when he forsook Tollan, had pillars in the form of a serpent, the head at the base, the tail at the top of the pillar. (See Orozco y Berra, Hist. Antigua de Mexico, Tom. III, pp. 30 and 46.) The structure is mentioned as follows in the Anales de Cuauhtitlan:—
Auh iniquac nemia Quetzalcoatl quitzintica, quipeuahtica iteocal quimaman coatlaquetzali ihuan amo quitzonquixti, amo quipantlaz."
"And when Quetzalcoatl was living, he began and commenced the temple of his which is the Coatlaquetzali (Serpent Plumes), and he did not finish it, he did not fully erect it."
Nacxitl Topiltzin, "Our Lord the four-footed." Nacxitl appears to have been the name of Quetzalcoatl, in his position as lord of the merchants. Compare Sahagun, ubi supra, Lib. I, cap. 19.
2. Poyauhtecatl, a volcano near Orizaba, mentioned by Sahagun. Acallan, a province bordering on the Laguna de los Terminos. The myth reported that Quetzalcoatl journeyed to the shores of the Gulf about the isthmus of Tehuantepec and there disappeared.
3. Nonohualco; the reference is to the cerro de Nonoalco, which plays a part in the Quetzalcoatl myth. The words of the song are almost those of Tezcatlipoca when he is introduced to Quetzalcoatl. Asked whence he came, he replied, "Nihuitz in Nonohualcatepetl itzintla, etc." (Anales de Cuauhtitlan).
4. The occurrences alluded to are the marvels performed by Quetzalcoatl on his journey from Tulan. See my American Hero Myths, p. 115.
5. The departure of Quetzalcoatl was because he was ordered to repair to Tlapallan, supposed to be beyond Xicalanco.
8. quinti, for iquintia; the reference is to the magic draught given Quetzalcoatl by Tezcatlipoca.
9. In tetl, in quahuitl; literally, "stone and stick;" a very common phrase in Nahautl, to signify misfortunes.