The midwife, Xoquauhtli, has a difficult choice to make.

助產士 Xoquauhtli 面臨了一個艱難的抉擇。

A momentous shift from rainy season to dry season is underway.

從雨季到旱季的重大轉變正在進行中。

All summer, the gods have kept the people fed with corn, but the fertile summer months are disappearing.

整個夏天，眾神用玉米餵養人民，但土壤肥沃的夏季逐漸消逝。

This day occurs during the festival that marks the shift between the summer season, when the gods feed the people, and the winter season, when the people feed the gods in return.

這一天是季節交替之際的節慶，標誌著眾神餵養眾人的夏季，到眾人餵養眾神作為回報的冬季，之間的轉換。

Xoquauhtli owes a debt to her patron, Teteoinnan, the female warrior goddess at the center of this festival.

Xoquauhtli 受了她的庇護者特蒂奧伊娜 (Teteoinnan) 的恩惠，祂也是這個節慶的女戰神。

Teteoinnan wages war both on women's battlefields of birth and in men's battles with Tenochtilan's enemies.

特蒂奧伊娜 (Teteoinnan) 不僅掌管女子生育的戰場，也掌管特諾奇蒂特蘭的男子與敵人之間的戰場。

She must be kept happy or she will bring bad luck.

人們得讓她保持愉悅，否則她就會帶來厄運。

The midwife should participate in the festival today, but one of her patients could go into labor any minute.

助產士今天應該參加節慶，但她的其中一個產婦隨時都可能分娩。

Xoquauhtli decides to check on her patient first.

Xoquauhtli 決定先去看看她的產婦。

The expecting mother hasn't worked too hard, chewed gum, or lifted heavy things.

懷孕的母親沒有太辛苦，也沒有嚼口香糖或抬重物。

Her family is taking good care of her.

她的家人把她照顧得很好。

Surely Xoquauhtli can take a little time to honor her goddess.

顯然 Xoquauhtli 可以花一點時間供奉她的女神。

She leaves her apprentice in charge and heads to the center of the city.

她讓她的學徒留守，而她前往市中心。

Along the way, she sees women sweeping the roads and hanging gourds in preparation for the festival.

沿途，她看到婦女在清掃道路和掛葫蘆，為節慶做準備。

Finally, she reaches the Great Pyramid.

終於，她抵達了大金字塔。

On top are two temples: The north, where rituals honor the rain god in the summer, and the south one is where rituals honor the war god in the winter.

最上方有兩個寺廟：北方是夏天祭拜雨神之地，南方是冬天祭拜戰神之地。

On the equinox, the sun rises between the 2 sides.

在春分日，太陽在兩端之間升起。

The ceremony begins with a mock battle between the midwives and the other physicians.

儀式以助產士和其他醫生之間的模擬戰鬥開始。

Xoquauhtli's team battles heartily, throwing "nochtles", marigolds, and balls made of reed and moss.

Xoquauhtli 的團隊熱情應戰，投擲仙人掌果、金盞花，以及用蘆薈和苔癬做成的球。

They joke, call their rivals names, and laugh.

他們打鬧嬉戲、辱罵對手並開懷大笑。

But then, a girl comes running with a message for Xoquauhtli.

然後，一名帶著口信給 Xoquauhtli 的女孩匆匆跑了過來。

Her patient is in labor!

她的產婦正在分娩！

She hurries back to the house.

她急忙地趕回屋裡。

All the old women from the extended family have already gathered for the birth; their experience is very valuable if anything goes wrong.

大家族的老婦人已聚集在一起準備迎接產婦的分娩；萬一出了什麼差錯，她們寶貴的經驗將可以派上用場。

She readies herself with a prayer, praising her most important tools, her fingers.

她邊禱告邊做準備，讚美她最重要的工具：她的手指。

Then she doses the patient with "cihuapatli" to help expel the baby, massages her in sweat house, and rubs her stomach with tobacco.

接著她讓產婦服用「cihuapatli」以助產，在汗屋內幫她按摩，用菸草幫她揉胃。

Offering Teteoinnan a short prayer, she urges her patient to act like a warrior.

她簡短地向特蒂奧伊娜 (Teteoinnan) 禱告，並敦促她的產婦要表現得像個勇士。

A strong baby girl slips into her waiting hands and the old women shout triumphant cries.

一個強壯的女嬰滑入了她等待中的雙手，老婦人們歡呼雀躍。

Xoquauhtli takes a few drops of water from a jade bowl, breathes on them, and places them on the baby's tiny tongue.

Xoquauhtli 從玉碗裡取出一些水，對著它呼氣，然後把它放在嬰兒的小舌頭上。

She calls her a precious greenstone, a little warrior, and tells her how the Lord and Lady of the Ninth Sky breathed life into her, sending her to this place of burden and torment.

她稱她為珍貴的綠寶石、小戰士，並告訴她第九天神和女神如何賦予她生命，把她送到這個充滿重擔和折磨的地方。

She then turns to the new mother, praising her, telling her she acted like an eagle warrior, a jaguar warrior.

然後她轉向新手媽媽，稱讚她的表現有如雄鷹戰士、猛虎戰士。

By the time they finish, it's late, and the flames of the fire have died down.

他們結束時已經很晚了，炭火逐漸熄滅。

Xoquauhtli piles the remaining hot coals in the center of the hearth, stoking them to keep them going.

Xoquauhtli 把剩下的熱煤炭堆在壁爐的中央，添加燃料並撥旺，使它們繼續燃燒。

She lays the baby in a woven basket, head facing the warming fire.

她把嬰兒放在一個編織的籃子裡，嬰兒的頭朝向溫暖的火爐。

This will warm her "tonalli", an important soul center in the body, central to health and well-being.

這可以溫暖她的「 tonalli」，意即身體中樞重要的靈魂中心，對健康和保健有重要的作用。

It's almost midnight.

快到午夜了。

If Xoquauhtli hurries, she can get back to the temple for the culmination of the festival.

如果 Xoquauhtli 動作快一點，她就能及時回到寺廟參與節慶的高潮。

She makes her way to the city center, where a priest carries a woman on his back to the top of the pyramid.

她前往市中心，一名祭司背著一名女子走到了金字塔的頂端。

To begin the new season and feed the gods, she will be beheaded, symbolizing how corn is cut in the fields.

為了開啟新的季節並餵養眾神，她即將被斬首，象徵田裡玉米收割的景象。

Afterward, she will be reborn as Lady Teteoinnan, and preside over the induction of new warriors.

她之後將重生為特蒂奧伊娜 (Lady Teteoinnan)，主持新戰士的就職儀式。

Go back in time to the capital of ancient Egypt, to see how the doctor Peseshet tends to her patients' ailments. Or dive deeper into Aztec culture with the myth of how the weak and pimply Nanahuatl became lord's son.

回到古埃及的首都，看看 Peseshet 醫生如何治療患者的疾病。或者深入阿茲特克文化，了解弱小、滿臉痘子的 Nanahuatl 如何成為領主之子的神話。