something much above mere improvisation, as
some have thought. This does not alter the fact that a professed bard
usually sang songs of his own composition, as well as those obtained
from other sources. This is obvious from the songs in this
collection, many of which contain the expression _ni cuicani_, I, the
singer, which also refers to the maker of the song.

In the classical work of Sahagun, the author describes the ancient
poet: "The worthy singer has a clear mind and a strong memory. He
composes songs himself and learns those of others, and is always
ready to impart either to the fellows of his craft. He sings with a
well-trained voice, and is careful to practice in private before he
appears before the public. The unworthy singer, on the other hand, is
ignorant and indolent. What he learns he will not communicate to
others. His voice is hoarse and untrained, and he is at once envious
and boastful."[9]

Sec. 3. _THE THEMES AND CLASSES OF THE SONGS._

From what he could learn about them some two centuries or more after
the Conquest, the antiquary Boturini classified all the ancient songs
under two general heads, the one treating mainly of historical
themes, while the other was devoted to purely fictitious, emotional
or imaginative subjects.[10] His terse classification is expanded by
the Abbe Clavigero, who states that the themes of the ancient poets
were various, some chanting the praises of the gods or petitioning
them for favors, others recalled the history of former generations,
others were didactic and inculcated correct habits of life, while
others, finally, were in lighter vein, treating of hunting, games and
love.[11]

His remarks were probably a generalization from a chapter in
Torquemada's _Monarquia Indiana_, in which that writer states that
the songs at the sacred festivals differed in subject with the
different months and seasons. Thus, in the second month of their
calendar, at its stated festival, the people sang the greatness of
their rulers; in the seventh month all the songs were of love, of
women, or of hunting; in the eighth the chants recalled the noble
deeds of their ancestors and their divine origin; while in the ninth
month nothing was heard but verses fraught with lamentation for the
dead.[12] With less minuteness, Father Duran gives almost the same
information. He himself had often heard the songs which Montezuma of
Tenochtitlan, and Nezahualpizintli of Tezcuco, had ordered to be
co