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Sometime between 1565 and 1743, three folios were removed from the central Mexican manuscript known as Codex Azcatitlan. Two of the missing folios were part of section referring to the conquest history in this manuscript. Through an analysis of extant images and the comparison with other indigenous accounts of the conquest, this study makes an argument for the possible content on these pages and proposes that the missing folios recorded significant sacrificial events and acts of violence against the Spaniards that were of great importance to the indigenous Tlatelolca authors and their intended indigenous audience. This paper argues that those images that might have been considered most offensive to a Spanish Christian viewer were excised, at a time when censorship was on the rise in New Spain.

Based on ethnographic data collected from 1993 to date, I seek to demonstrate that contemporary Nahua develop certain aspects of their lives in the context of an economy of gifts. Nahua reciprocity expresses this in the basic economic form of "aid", called quipalehuiya locally. I argue that this "aid", given as goods or services, is reciprocated through social networks and provides a foundation for the model of interdependence that completely links this population with its social and ecological environment.

Resumen: La historia de México registra entre sus varios protagonistas a personajes célebres por los hechos gloriosos o vergonzosos en que participaron. Mi intención en este artículo es mostrar a través del trabajo de Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, lo que parece incuestionable: la función del traductor en la construcción de la historia, la identidad y la cultura de un pueblo. En el caso que tratamos aquí se trata de la trascendencia que la obra de Sahagún ha tenido para un mejor conocimiento de la cultura nahua. Palabras clave: México, Sahagún, historia, identidad, cultura, nahua, traductor. THE SILENCE OF THE TRANSLATOR Abstract: The history of Mexico has among its various protagonists celebrities on account of either the glorious or the shameful events in which they got involved. My intention in this article is to show by means of the work of Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, a fact that seems certain: the role of the translator in the construction of the history, the identity, and the culture of a people. In the case discussed here we shall be dealing with the importance that Sahagun's work has had for a better understanding of the Nahua culture. Keywords: Mexico, Sahagún, history, identity, culture, Nahua, translator. LE SILENCE DU TRADUCTEUR Résumé : L'histoire du Mexique compte parmi ses célébrités différents protagonistes, en raison de leur participation soit dans des événements glorieux ou bien honteux. Mon intention dans cet article est de montrer par le biais de l'œuvre de Fray Bernardino de Sahagun, ce qui paraît certaine: le rôle du traducteur dans la construction de l'histoire, l'identité et la culture d'un peuple. Dans le cas évoqué ici, nous serons centrés sur l'importance du travail de Sahagun pour une meilleure compréhension de la culture nahua. Mots-clés : Mexique, Sahagún, histoire, identité, culture, Nahuas, traducteur.

La historia de México registra entre sus varios protagonistas a personajes célebres por los hechos gloriosos o vergonzosos en que participaron. Mi intención en este artículo es mostrar a través del trabajo de Fray Bernardino de Sahagún, lo que parece incuestionable: la función del traductor en la construcción de la historia, la identidad y la cultura de un pueblo. En el caso que tratamos aquí se trata de la trascendencia que la obra de Sahagún ha tenido para un mejor conocimiento de la cultura nahua.