THE HUNGRY WOMAN: Myths and Legends of the Aztecs

by John--Ed. Bierhorst ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 21, 1984

Youngsters familiar with Montezuma-and-Cortes lore, with the Virgin of Guadeloupe, will find the storied Aztec past set forth here consecutively, coherently, economically, invitingly. Drawing on his own researches, and other recent scholarship, Bierhorst relates tradition to narrative; explains the cycles of history""--bursts of creative fiction. . . clustered at the turning points""; describes the principal figures--Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, the earth-goddess origin of the Guadeloupe cult; distinguishes between myth, legend, and history in an Aztec context. The text is enlivened with miniatures, in black-and-white, from the noted Florentine Codex. And the narratives themselves--from the creation myth of ""The Hungry Woman,"" to the tales of Mexico's founding, to Montezuma's welcoming speech to Cortes, to the account of the Virgin's appearance (and late, lingering tales of weeping women)--are replete with arresting imagery and incident, with instant transformations and vivid conflict, with universal resonance. From the bones of the dead, Quetzalcoatl and the other spirits bring forth people: ""AS the bones came to life, the spirits cried, 'Born are the people! They will be our servants. We bled for them, they will bleed for us.'"" To give the people food, Quetzalcoatl, spying a red ant carrying a ""kernel of true corn,"" turns himself into a black ant and follows her to the Food Mountain; but the jealous rain spirits seize the food and guard it--""They give back only a part of it each year--and some years less than others--in exchange for human blood."" A small part, only, of a rich corpus--meaningful, thanks to Bierhorst's skill and sensitivity, both in Aztec/Mexican terms and in ours.

Pub Date: May 21, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1984

Categories: NONFICTION