A MANGUE INDIAN RECITING A LOGA. See page XXV.

[i]

BRINTON'S LIBRARY OF
ABORIGINAL AMERICAN LITERATURE.
NUMBER III.

THE GÜEGÜENCE;

A COMEDY BALLET

in the

Nahuatl-Spanish Dialect of Nicaragua

EDITED BY

DANIEL G. BRINTON

AMS PRESS
NEW YORK

Copyright,
D. G. BRINTON.
1883.

LIBRARY
OF
Aboriginal American
Literature.

No. III.

EDITED BY
D. G. BRINTON, M.D.

PHILADELPHIA:
1883.

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PREFACE.

The play which is presented in this volume is the onlyspecimen known to me of the native American comedy. Itis of comparatively recent origin, and is composed in a mixeddialect, a jargon of low Spanish and corrupt Aztec (Nahuatl);but, both in its history and spirit, it bears so manymarks of native composition, and is so characteristic of thesort of humor popular with the tribes from whom it wasobtained, that it fairly merits a place in this series ofpublications.

The text was obtained in Nicaragua, by the late Dr. CarlHermann Berendt. But no translation of any part of it andno notes upon it were found among his papers. The responsibilityfor the rendering rests, therefore, with myself. Ithas presented extreme difficulty, owing to the imperfectcondition of the text, the deterioration of the Nahuatl wordsand forms, the antiquated and provincial senses of the Spanishwords, and the obscure local references introduced. I wouldrather speak of my work as a loose paraphrase, aimed to givethe general sense and humorous tone of the original, thanas a faithful translation.

The text has been printed precisely as in the manuscript, evenobvious errors in spelling and punctuation having beenpreserved. Suggestions with reference to these are made in thenotes.

For assistance in translating the Spanish text, I wouldacknowledge my indebtedness to Professor Adolfo Pierra, ofPhiladelphia, and Dr. F. C. Valentine, of New York, bothof whom have passed considerable periods in Central America.

Philadelphia, November, 1883.

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CONTENTS.