Ruslan and Ludmila
Azuela began to express his first thoughts in poetry at a young age. His father, a poet himself, introduced him to great Russian literature, such as Pushkin’s beautiful poem "Ruslan and Ludmila". Another book that made an indelible mark was the poetry and the odes of the legendary wise king and poet Tezcocan, a.k.a. Netzahualcoyotl. The literature of the Aztec world recorded in the Nahuatl language impressed him early on with its beautiful metaphors and strength of poetic expression, but it also gave him a wealth of information about Mexico’s vast and varied geography: Tenochtitlan, the Valley of Mexico a.k.a. Anahuac Valley; the fabled Atlanteans of Tula with neo-volcanic mountains and highlands; Mexico’s highest volcanoes and cordilleras; and Mexico’s pre-Columbian civilizations, the Olmec, the Maya, Zapotec, the Chichimec, and the Mixtec.