THE DEATH OF MONTEZUMA.
Again Martin Lopez had long conference with Cortes; after which, with
his assistant carpenters, he went to work, and, until evening time, the
echoes of the court-yard danced to the sounds of saw and hammer.
And while they worked, to Cortes came Avila and Mexia.
"What thou didst intrust to us, Señor, we have done. Here is a full
account of all the treasure, our royal master's included."
Cortes read the statement, then called his chamberlain, Christobal de
Guzman.
"Go thou, Don Christobal, and bring what is here reported into one
chamber, where it may be seen of all. And send hither the royal
secretaries, and Pedro Hernandez, my own clerk."
The secretaries came.
"Now, Señores Avila and Mexia, follow my chamberlain, and in his
presence and that of these gentlemen, take from the treasure the portion
belonging to his Majesty, the emperor. Of our wounded horses, then
choose ye eight, and of the Tlascalans, eighty, and load them with the
royal dividend, and what more they can carry; and have them always ready
to go. And as leaving anything of value where the infidels may be
profited is sinful, I direct,--and of this let all bear witness,
Hernandez for me, and the secretaries for his Majesty,--I direct, I say,
that ye set the remainder apart accessible to the soldiers, with leave
to each one of them to take therefrom as much as he may wish. Make note,
further, that what is possible to save all this treasure hath been
done. Write it, good gentlemen, write it; for if any one thinketh
differently, let him say what more I can do. I am waiting to hear.
Speak!"
No one spoke.
And while the division of the large plunder went on, and afterwards the
men scrambled for the remainder, Montezuma was dying.
In the night a messenger sought Cortes.
"Señor," he said, "the king hath something to ask of you. He will not
die comforted without seeing you."
"Die, say'st thou?" and Cortes arose hastily. "I had word that his hurts
were not deadly."
"If he die, Señor, it will be by his own hand. The stones wrought him
but bruises; and if he would let the bandages alone the arrow-cut would
shortly stop bleeding."
"Yes, yes," said Cortes. "Thou wouldst tell me that this barbarian,
merely from being long a king, hath a spirit of such exceeding fineness
that, though the arrow had not cut him deeper than thy dull rowel
marketh thy horse's flank, yet would he die. Where is he now?"
"In the audience chamber."
"_Bastante!_ I will see him. Tell him so."
Cortes stood fast, thinking.
"This man hath been useful to me; may not some profit be eked out of him
dead? So many saw him get his wounds, and so many will see him die of
them, that the manner of his taking off may not be denied. What if I
send his body out and indict his murderers? If I could take from them
the popular faith even, then--By my conscience, I will try the trick!"
And taking his sword and plumed hat and tossing a cloak over his
shoulder he sought the audience chamber.
There was no guard at the door. The little bells, as he threw aside the
curtains, greeted him accusingly. Within, all was shadow, except where
a flickering lamplight played over and around the dais; nevertheless, he
saw the floor covered with people, some prostrate, others on their knees
or crouching face down; and the grim speculator thought, as he passed
slowly on, Verily, this king must also have been a good man and a
generous.
The couch of the dying monarch was on the dais in the accustomed place
of the throne. At one side stood the ancients; at the other his queens
knelt, weeping. Nenetzin hid her face in his hand, and sobbed as if her
heart were breaking; she had been forgiven. Now and then Maxtla bent
over him to cleanse his face of the flowing blood. A group of cavaliers
were off a little way, silent witnesses; and as Cortes drew near,
Olmedo, who had been in prayer, extended toward the sufferer the ivory
cross worn usually at his girdle.
"O king," said the good man imploringly, "thou hast yet a moment of
life, which, I pray thee, waste not. Take this holy symbol upon thy
breast, cross thy hands upon it, and say after me: I believe in One God,
the Father Almighty, in our Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of
God, and in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life. Then pray thou:
O God the Father of Heaven, O God the Son, Redeemer of the World, O God
the Holy Ghost, O Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy upon my soul! Do
these things, say these words, O king, and thou shalt live after thy
bones have gone to dust. Thou shalt live forever, eternally happy."
Courtiers and cavaliers, the queens, Nenetzin, even Cortes, watched the
monarch's waning face; never yet were people indifferent to the
issue--the old, old issue--of true god against false. Marina finished
the interpretation; then he raised his hand tremulously, and put the
holy sign away, saying,--
"I have but a moment to live, and will not desert the faith of my
fathers now."
A great sigh of relief broke from the infidels; the Christians
shuddered, and crossed themselves; then Cortes stepped to Olmedo's side.
"I received your message, and am here," said he, sternly. He had seen
the cross rejected.
The king turned his pale face, and fixed his glazing eyes upon the
conqueror; and such power was there in the look that the latter added,
with softening manner, "What I can do for thee I will do. I have always
been thy true friend."
"O Malinche, I hear you, and your words make dying easy," answered
Montezuma, smiling faintly.
With an effort he sought Cortes' hand, and looking at Acatlan and
Tecalco, continued,--
"Let me intrust these women and their children to you and your lord. Of
all that which was mine but now is yours,--lands, people,
empire,--enough to save them from want and shame were small indeed.
Promise me; in the hearing of all these, promise, Malinche."
Taint of anger was there no longer on the soul of the great Spaniard.
"Rest thee, good king!" he said, with feeling. "Thy queens and their
children shall be my wards. In the hearing of all these, I so swear."
The listener smiled again; his eyes closed, his hand fell down; and so
still was he that they began to think him dead. Suddenly he stirred, and
said faintly, but distinctly,--
"Nearer, uncles, nearer."
The old men bent over him, listening.
"A message to Guatamozin,--to whom I give my last thought as king. Say
to him, that this lingering in death is no fault of his; the aim was
true, but the arrow splintered upon leaving the bow. And lest the world
hold him to account for my blood, hear me say, all of you, that I bade
him do what he did. And in sign that I love him, take my sceptre, and
give it to him--"
The voice fell away, yet the lips moved; lower the ancients stooped,--
"Tula and the empire go with the sceptre," he murmured, and they were
his last words,--his will.
A wail from the women proclaimed him dead.
The unassoilzied great may not see heaven; they pass from life into
history, where, as in a silent sky, they shine for ever and ever. So the
light of the Indian King comes to us, a glow rather than a brilliance;
for, of all fates, his was the saddest. Better not to be than to become
the ornament of another's triumph. Alas for him whose death is an
immortal sorrow!
Out of the palace-gate in the early morning passed the lords of the
court in procession, carrying the remains of the monarch. The bier was
heavy with royal insignia; nothing of funeral circumstance was omitted;
honor to the dead was policy. At the same time the body was delivered,
Cortes indicted the murderers; the ancients through whom he spoke were
also the bearers of the dead king's last will; back to the bold
Spaniard, therefore, came the reply,--
"Cowards, who at the last moment beg for peace! you are not two suns
away from your own graves! Think only of them!"
And while Cortes was listening to the answer, the streets about the
palace filled with companies, and crumbling parapet and solid wall shook
under the shock of a new assault.
Then Cortes' spirit arose.
"Mount, gentlemen!" he cried. "The hounds come scrambling for the
scourge; shame on us, if we do not meet them. And hearken! The prisoners
report a plague in the city, of which the new king is dying, and
hundreds are sick. It is the small-pox."
"_Viva la viruela!_" shouted Alvarado.
The shout spread through the palace.
"Where God's curse is," continued Cortes, "Christians need not stay.
To-night we will go. To clear the way and make this day memorable let us
ride. Are ye ready?"
They answered joyously.
Again the gates were opened, and with a goodly following of infantry,
into the street they rode. Nothing withstood them; they passed the
canals by repairing the bridges or filling up the chasms; they rode the
whole length of the street until the causeway clear to Tlacopan was
visible. St. James fought at their head; even the Holy Mother stooped
from her high place, and threw handfuls of dust in the enemy's eyes.
In the heat of the struggle suddenly the companies fell back, and made
open space around the Christians; then came word that commissioners from
king Cuitlahua waited in the palace to treat of peace.
"The heathen is an animal!" said Cortes, unable to repress his
exultation. "To cure him of temper and win his love, there is nothing
like the scourge. Let us ride back, gentlemen."
In the court-yard stood four caciques, stately men in peaceful garb.
They touched the pavement with their palms.
"We are come to say, O Malinche, that the lord Cuitlahua, our king,
yields to your demand for peace. He prays you to give your terms to the
pabas whom you captured on the temple, that they may bring them to him
forthwith."
The holy men were brought from their cells, one leaning upon the other.
The instructions were given; then the two, with the stately
commissioners, were set without the gate, and Cortes and his army went
to rest, never so contented.
They waited and waited; but the envoys came not. When the sun went down,
they knew themselves deceived; and then there were sworn many full,
round, Christian oaths, none so full, so round, and so Christian as
Cortes'.
A canoe, meantime, bore Io' to Tula. In the quiet and perfumed shade of
the _chinampa_ he rested, and soothed the fever of his wound.
Meanwhile, also, a courier from the _teotuctli_ passed from temple to
temple; short the message, but portentous,--
"Blessed be Huitzil', and all the gods of our fathers! And, as he at
last saved his people, blessed be the memory of Montezuma! Purify the
altars, and make ready for the sacrifice, for to-morrow there will be
victims!"
FOOTNOTES:
[50] Bernal Diaz, Hist. de la Conq.
[51] The crown.