DELUGE MYTHS
As Mexican myths of the creation differ, so do those concerning the great deluge which at one period was supposed to have overwhelmed the earth. As we have seen, myths which are concerned with the several ages of the earth dwell upon such an event, but separate myths exist which also tell of a great flood which is almost certainly to be identified with the “Water-sun.” The goddess Chalchihuitlicue (the goddess of water), says one of the interpreters of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, “saved herself in the deluge.” The interpreter of the Codex Vaticanus A. relates that: “Most of the old people of Mexico say that a single man and a single woman escaped from this deluge, from whom, in course of time, mankind multiplied. The tree in which they saved themselves was called Ahuehuete (the fir-tree), and they say that this deluge happened in the tenth sign, according to their computation, which they represented by water, which on account of its clearness they place in their calendar. They say that during the first age men ate no bread, but only a certain kind of wild maize, [[53]]which they called atzitziutli. They name this first age coniztal, which signifies the white head; others say that not only did these two who were preserved in the tree escape, but that seven others remained hidden in a certain cave, and that the deluge having passed away, they came forth and restored the population of the earth, dispersing themselves over it: and that their descendants in course of time worshipped them as gods, each in his own nation.”
A similar myth in the Anales de Quauhtitlan or Codex Chimalpopoca, is also worthy of quotation.
“And this year was that of Ce-calli, and on the first day all was lost. The mountain itself was submerged in the water and the water remained tranquil for fifty-two springs.
“Now toward the close of the year, Titlacahuan (Tezcatlipocâ) had forewarned the man named Nata and his wife Nena, saying: ‘Make no more pulque, but straightway hollow out a large cypress, and enter it when in the month of Tozoztli the water shall approach the sky.’ They entered it, and when Titlacahuan had closed the door he said: ‘Thou shalt eat but a single ear of maize and thy wife but one also.’
“As soon as they had finished eating, they went forth and the water was tranquil; for the log did not move any more; and opening it they saw many fish.
“Then they built a fire, rubbing together pieces of wood, and they roasted fish. The gods Citlallinicuc and Citlallatonac, looking below, exclaimed: ‘Divine Lord, what means that fire below? Why do they thus smoke the heavens?’
“Straightway descended Titlacahuan Tezcatlipocâ and commenced to scold, saying: ‘What is this fire doing here?’ And seizing the fishes he moulded their hinder parts and changed their heads, and they were at once transformed into dogs.”[26]