_How our general, the day following, paid a visit to Motecusuma, and
of the discourse that passed between them._
The next day Cortes determined to visit Motecusuma in his own palace. He
therefore first sent to inquire after his health, and whether it would
be agreeable to the monarch to receive a visit from him. Our general
took with him four of our principal officers, namely, Alvarado, Leon,
Ordas, and Sandoval, besides five soldiers, of whom I was one.
When our arrival was announced to Motecusuma, he advanced to the middle
of the apartment to meet us, being solely attended by his nephew, as the
other grandees were only allowed to enter his apartments upon very
important occasions. After the first compliments had passed between the
monarch and our general, they shook hands, and Motecusuma conducted
Cortes to an elevated seat, and placed him at his right hand. The rest
of us were also desired to sit down on chairs which were brought in for
us. Cortes then, by means of our interpreters, addressed Motecusuma at
considerable length: "He said that all his and our wishes were now
fulfilled, as he had reached the end of his journey, and obeyed the
commands of our great emperor. There only now remained to disclose to
him the commandments of our God. We were Christians, believing in one
true God only, Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for our salvation. We
prayed to the cross as an emblem of that cross on which our Lord and
Saviour was crucified. By his death the whole human race was saved. He
rose on the third day, and was received into heaven. By him, heaven,
earth, and sea, and every living creature was formed: and nothing
existed but by his divine will. Those figures, on the contrary, which he
considered as gods, were no gods, but devils, which were evil spirits.
It was very evident how powerless and what miserable things they were,
since in all those places where we had planted the cross, those gods no
longer durst make their appearance. Of this his ambassadors were fully
convinced, and he himself would, in the course of time, be convinced of
this truth. He begged he would also pay particular attention to
something else he had to communicate." Here Cortes very intelligently
explained to him how the world was created, how all people were
brothers, and sons of one father and mother, called Adam and Eve; and
how grieved our emperor was to think that so many human souls should be
lost, and sent to hell by those false idols, where they would be
tormented by everlasting fire; for this reason he had sent us hither to
put an end to so much misery, and to exhort the inhabitants of this
country no longer to adore such gods, nor sacrifice human beings to
them; and also to abstain from robbery and committing unnatural
offences. In a very short time our emperor would send to this country
men of great piety and virtue, of whom there were numbers in our
country, and who would explain these things more fully to them. Of all
this we were merely the first messengers, and could only beg of them to
support us in our labours, and assist us in their completion.
As Motecusuma was about to answer, Cortes stopped short, and, turning to
us, said, "Verily, I am determined they shall comply with this, and let
this be the commencement of our work!"
Motecusuma, in reply, expressed himself as follows: "Malinche! What you
have just been telling me of your God has, indeed, been mentioned to me
before by my servants, to whom you made similar disclosures immediately
upon your arrival off the coast. Neither am I ignorant of what you have
stated concerning the cross and everything else in the towns you passed
through. We, however, maintained silence, as the gods we adore were
adored in bygone ages by our ancestors. We have, once for all,
acknowledged them as good deities, in the same way as you have yours,
and therefore let us talk no further on this subject. Respecting the
creation of the world, we likewise believe it was created many ages ago.
We likewise believe that you are those people whom our ancestors
prophecied would come from the rising of the sun, and I feel myself
indebted to your great emperor, to whom I will send a present of the
most valuable things I possess. It is now two years ago that I received
the first intelligence of him by some vessels which appeared off my
coast belonging to your country, the people on board of which likewise
called themselves subjects of your great emperor. Tell me, now, do you
really all belong to the same people?"
Cortes assured him we were all servants of the same great emperor; that
those vessels were merely sent out in advance to explore the seas and
the harbours, to make the necessary preparations for our present
expedition.
Motecusuma likewise remarked that then even he had contemplated allowing
some of those men to penetrate into the interior of his country, from
his great desire to see them, and had intended to pay them great
honours. Since the gods had now fulfilled his greatest desires, and we
now inhabited his dwellings, which we might look upon as our own, we
could rest from our fatigues, and enjoy ourselves, and we should not
want for anything. Although he had sometimes sent us word not to repair
to his metropolis, he had done so with great reluctance. He had been
forced to act so on account of his subjects, who stood in great awe of
us, and believed that we whirled fire and lightning around us, and
killed numbers of men with our horses; that we were wild and unruly
teules, and such like nonsense: as he had now gained personal knowledge
of us, and convinced himself that we were likewise formed of flesh and
bone, and men of great understanding, with great courage, he entertained
even a more elevated opinion of us than he had previously, and was ready
to share all he possessed with us.
Upon this, Cortes assured him that we felt ourselves vastly indebted to
him for the very kind feeling he evinced on our behalf.
Motecusuma, who was always of a merry disposition, though never, for an
instant, forgetful of his high station, now continued in a more humorous
style, as follows: "I am perfectly well aware, Malinche, what the people
of Tlascalla, with whom you are so closely allied, have been telling you
respecting myself. They have made you believe that I am a species of
god, or teule, and that my palaces are filled with gold, silver, and
jewels. I do not think, for an instant, that reasonable men as you are
can put any faith in all their talk, but that you look upon all this as
nonsense: besides which, you can now convince yourself, Malinche, that I
am made of flesh and bone as you are, and that my palaces are built of
stone, lime, and wood. I am, to be sure, a powerful monarch; it is
likewise true that I have inherited vast treasures from my ancestors;
but with regard to anything else they may have told you respecting me,
it is all nonsense. You must just think of that as I think of the
lightning and burning flames which you are said to whirl about in all
directions."
To this Cortes answered, likewise laughingly, "We knew, from old
experience, that enemies neither tell the truth nor speak well of each
other. We had, however, long ago convinced ourselves that there was not
another such a noble-minded and illustrious monarch as himself in this
quarter of the world, and that the great idea our emperor had formed of
him was well founded."
During this discourse, Motecusuma secretly desired his nephew to order
his house-steward to bring in some gold trinkets and ten packages of
fine stuffs, which he divided among Cortes and the four officers who
were present. We five soldiers obtained each two gold chains for the
neck, in value about ten pesos each, besides two packages of cotton
stuffs.
The gold which Motecusuma gave away upon this occasion was estimated at
above 1000 pesos. But what was more, everything he gave away was given
with the best of good will, and with an air of dignity which you might
expect in so great a monarch.[51]
As it was already past noon, Cortes began to fear that any longer stay
might be troublesome to the monarch, and said to him, in rising from his
seat, "We are daily becoming more and more indebted to your majesty for
so many kindnesses; at present it is time to think of dinner."
The monarch, in return, thanked us for our visit, and we took leave of
each other in the most courteous manner imaginable. We now returned to
our quarters, and acquainted our fellow-soldiers with the kind reception
the monarch had given us.
[51] Torquemada relates that the monarch had made minute inquiries of
the interpreters respecting the rank of each Spaniard, and that the
value of the presents he intended to give them was to be according to
their respective ranks. (p. 228.)