to set a good example (a metaphor); literally I set down the paint and the ink, the red paint, the black ink (see Molina)
Alonso de Molina:
tlapalli tlilli nictlalia (pret. tlapalli tlilli onictlali.) dar buen exemplo. metaphora. Alonso de Molina, Vocabulario en lengua castellana y mexicana y mexicana y castellana, 1571, part 2, Nahuatl to Spanish, f. 130v. col. 2. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.