THE AZTECS 213 
Another example will serve to emphasize the strain of 
sadness and the vision of death that characterize so 
many Aztecan poems. 
Sad and strange it is to see and reflect on the prosperity and power of 
the old and dying king Tezozomoc; watered with ambition and avarice, 
he grew like a willow tree rising above the grass and flowers of spring, 
rejoicing for a long time, until at length withered and decayed, the 
storm wind of death tore him from his roots and dashed him in fragments 
to the ground. The same fate befell the ancient King Colzatzli, so that 
no memory was left of him, nor of his lineage. 
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4 
Fig. 77. A Mexican Orchestra: 1, log drum; 2, kettle drum; 
3-4, flageolets; 5, gourd rattle; 6, turtleshell. Manuscrit du Cacique. 
The Aztecs held concerts in the open air where poems 
were sung to the accompaniment of the drum and other 
simple instruments. Songs were also sung at banquets 
and in the stress of love and war. The common musi- 
cal instruments of the Aztecs vary but little from those 
