It has always puzzled me that the same people who could write

Somewhere else is the place of life
There I want to go
There surely I will sing with the most beautiful birds
There I will have genuine flowers
The flowers that delight,
That bring peace to the heart.

Could also slowly skin children alive so their tears would bring rain the next season. (It’s been suggested that the skinning children alive story was invented by conquistadors to make the Aztecs seem non-human; but, alas, there is archaeological evidence of sad little skeletons with cut marks on the bones). Of course my own culture burned women alive for witchcraft at the same time it was producing world-class literature, music and science.

At any rate, this book collects the Aztec, Mayan, and other native literature that survived burning by missionaries (it should be noted that one Franciscan, Bernardino de Sahagún, put considerable effort into collecting surviving manuscripts and talking down stories narrated by natives). This collection includes myths, hymns, lyric poetry (as in the example above), drama, history, and other writings. Although it’s fairly old (1969), it’s not likely too much has changed.

An easy read, despite the strangeness of some of the subject matter. Extensive footnotes and bibliography. A few illustrations of pages from codices. ( )