Opossum

Review bycanaryswear· 2026-11-04

It is fleecy, quite like a skunk, but when it ages, as an old male, as an old female, it becomes chalky. Rather long and thinmuzzled, its face is [as if] painted; the hollows of its eyes are black. It is of small, pointed ears, of long, hairless tail. Its tail is all flesh; nowhere is there hair, though there is a fine down. And as to its habits: it brings forth its young underground, in burrows, somewhere under ledges of rocks. And when it bears its young, when it goes out somewhere, it carries its young with it. There is a pouch at its belly; there it places, there it inserts its young. It takes them with it when it goes out to eat; there they are suckled. It is quite harmless, not vicious; it does not bite one, it does not nip one when it is taken, when it is seized. And when it is caught, it cries, it squeals; true tears come forth, especially when it is taken with its young. Much does it squeal for its young. Much does it weep for them; true tears come forth. It places each in its pouch; it takes them out. And its food is maize, maguey scrapings, and honey. And its flesh is edible, savory, like rabbit, like hare. But its bones, especially its tail, are in no wise edible. If one eats of them, especially if one eats many of them, all the intestines which are within him come forth. Once a dog and a cat secretly ate the flesh of an opossum; they chewed, they gnawed all its bones. Really it was the dog. At dawn, it had scattered out its intestines; it went about dragging them behind it. But its tail is a medicine which expels, which extracts, wherever something has gotten in, especially in an opening in a bone, which cannot come out. [Salve of] opossum tail is spread on thickly; it is spread on many times. Even if it is very well lodged, this draws it out; it gradually removes it. And [women] who have difficulty in childbirth, who cannot deliver the child, drink [the infusion]. Thus the little child is born quickly. And whoever can no longer defecate, who has a stoppage of the bowels, drinks it to open the passages, the tubes, to clean them, to purify them, to sweep out obstructions. Likewise one who has a cough also drinks opossum-tail [infusion]; with it he gathers, he sends down the phlegm. Also one drinks chocolate with uey nacaztli, with tlilxochitl, with mecaxochitl. One who can no longer digest food eats [opossum tail] for constipation, when there are obstructions.