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tlilli tlapalli nictlalia.

Headword: 
tlilli tlapalli nictlalia.
Principal English Translation: 

to set a good example (a metaphor); literally I set down the ink and the paint, the black ink, the red paint (see Molina)

Alonso de Molina: 

tlilli tlapalli nictlalia (pret. tlilli tlapalli 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. 147v. col. 2. Thanks to Joe Campbell for providing the transcription.

Attestations from sources in English: 

This occurs in Molina as separate entries, tlilli tlapalli and tlapalli tlilli. See also in tlilli in tlapalli.

themes: 
Metaphors, Proverbs, Riddles
Writing, Literacy