Wherefore dost thou disguise thyself, O Night-drinker? Put on thy golden garment. O my god, thy rich sacrificial water descended; The lofty cypress tree has become a quetzal; That which was a serpent has become a quetzal. The fire-serpent, the famine, has left me. It may be that I shall go thence to perish, I, the young maize-plant. My heart is like a chalchihuitl; But I shall yet see gold in that place. I shall be satisfied when I can say The warrior chief is born. Let the maize be ready in abundance, O my god. I look towards thy mountain, I, who worship thee. I will be satisfied When the maize ripens, When the warrior chief is born. I believe the god to have been called “Night-drinker” from the circumstance that, in the belief of certain barbarous peoples, vegetation is more greatly assisted in its growth by night than by day, that it “drinks,” or is saturated by, the mists and vapours of the night season, which are believed to emanate from the moon. [222] Indeed, dew is believed to be caused by the moon, [223] which is regarded as the great source of all moisture, as the sun is the great source of all heat. [224] Xipe is here entreated by the young maize-plant to don his golden garment, the rain, as, indeed, one translation of this song states it to be, taking a reasonable liberty with the original. When the rain comes the cypress glitters like a quetzal-feather, a Mexican euphuism for a glittering gem, or anything very precious. The xiuhcoatl, or fire-serpent, is the terrible weapon of Uitzilopochtli, with which he slew his rebellious brothers and sister, the enemies of his mother Coatlicue, as Indra slew those of his mother, both of these events occurring immediately after the birth of the gods thus compared. (In the case of Indra the weapon was a thunderbolt.) The fire-serpent in this place evidently symbolizes the scorching, torrid heat which brings about famine. If the rain continues not, the maize-plant, the young heart of which is green as jadeite, and from which the golden maize will emerge later, may perish. Finally the worshipper (?) states that he will remain unsatisfied until the plumed and full-grown plant, symbolic of the warrior and all that he fights for, has come to fruition. My reading of this song differs considerably from those of other authorities, but I may, perhaps, be pardoned if I say that I prefer my own elucidation as at least more circumstantial and more in line with the facts of Mexican belief. FESTIVAL