The Hungry Woman: Myths and Legends of the Aztecs

During the first few decades after the Spanish Conquest of 1521, Aztec storytellers began writing down the myths and legends of their people in the European script learned from missionaries. Buried in archives on both sides of the Atlantic, this literature was not rediscovered until the nineteenth century and is still in the process of being fully interpreted. Drawing upon recent scholarship, acclaimed author and translator John Bierhorst has brought together a wide-ranging selection of Aztec lore in new English versions that capture the humor and vitality of the original texts. Presented in the traditional order, these narratives bring to life the story of Aztec civilization as seen by the Aztecs themselves. First come the heroic tales of the four mythic ages, followed by the legends of the pre-Aztec empire of Tula, stories of the rise and fall of Mexico and the coming of Christianity, and, finally, popular traditions about the mysterious "weeping woman" who still haunts the Mexican countryside.