The Nahua earth was a treacherous place. Its very name connotes this character. Tlalticpac literally means not “on earth” but “on the point or summit of the earth,” conveying the idea of a narrow place between dangers (Launey 1984). An adage recorded by Sahagun (1953-82:VI, 228) states: Tlaalaui, tlapetzcaui in tlalticpac ‘it is slippery, it is slick on the earth. This was said of someone who had lived a good life but then fell into some tlatlacotti, as if slipping in the mud. It is easy to commit immoral acts not because demons tempt or the flesh is weak or the soul corrupt, but because of the nature of things: the earth is slippery.