17 (Leipzig, 1881).] The explanation which I have to give of these coincidences--which could easily be increased--is that the number four was chosen as that of the four cardinal points, and that the fifth or present age, that in which we live, is that which is ruled by the ruler of the four points, by the Spirit of Light, who was believed to govern them, as, in fact, the early dawn does, by defining the relations of space, act as guide and governor of the motions of men.
All through Aztec mythology, traditions and customs, we can discover this ancient myth of the four brothers, the four ancestors of their race, or the four chieftains who led their progenitors to their respective habitations.

The rude mountaineers of Meztitlan, who worshiped with particular zeal Tezcatlipoca and Quetzalcoatl, and had inscribed, in gigantic figures, the sacred five points, symbol of the latter, on the side of a vast precipice in their land, gave the symbolic titles to the primeval quadruplet;-- _Ixcuin_, He who has four faces.
_Hueytecpatl_, the ancient Flint-stone.
_Tentetemic_, the Lip-stone that slays.
_Nanacatltzatzi_, He who speaks when intoxicated with the poisonous mushroom, called _nanacatl_.
These four brothers, according to the myth, were born of the goddess, Hueytonantzin, which means "our great, ancient mother," and, with unfilial hands, turned against her and slew her, sacrificing her to the Sun and offering her heart to that divinity.[1] In other words, it is the old story of the cardinal points, defined at daybreak by the Dawn, the eastern Aurora, which is lost in or sacrificed to the Sun on its appearance.
[Footnote 1: Gabriel de Chaves, _Relacion de la Provincia de Meztitlan_, 1556, in the _Colecion de Documentos Ineditos del Archivo de Indias_, Tom.
iv, pp.

535 and 536.

The translations of the names are not given by Chaves, but I think they are correct, except, possibly, the third, which may be a compound of _tentetl_, lipstone, _temictli_, dream, instead of with _temicti_, slayer.] Of these four brothers I suspect the first, Ixcuin, "he who looks four ways," or "has four faces," is none other than Quetzalcoatl,[1] while the Ancient Flint is probably Tezcatlipoca, thus bringing the myth into singularly close relationship with that of the Iroquois, given on a previous page.
[Footnote 1: _Ixcuina_ was also the name of the goddess of pleasure.

The derivation is from _ixtli_, face, _cui_, to take, and _na_, four.