At these words, the worthy thus appealed to, woke from his revery, and
staring a moment in some little perplexity at his companions, took up a
long copper-headed spear, which rested on the ground at his side, and
advanced towards them. Viewed at a little distance, the gravity of his
countenance gave him an appearance of age, which vanished on a nearer
inspection. In reality, if his own recorded account can be believed,
(and heaven forbid we should attach any doubt to the representations of
our excellent prototype,) he did not number above twenty-six or
twenty-seven years, and was thus, as he chose to call himself, 'a
stripling.' Young as he was, however, there was not a man in the army of
Cortes who had seen more, or more varied service than Bernal Diaz del
Castillo. His exploits in the New World had commenced seven years
before, among the burning and pestilential fens of Nombre de Dios,--a
place made still more odious to an aspiring youth by the ferocious
dissensions of its inhabitants, and that bloodthirsty jealousy of its
ruler, which had rewarded with the block the man[3] who disclosed to
Spain the broad expanse of the Pacific, and led his subaltern, Pizarro,
to the shores of Peru. With the two adventurers, Cordova and Grijalva,
who had preceded Cortes in the attempt upon the lands of Montezuma,
(discovered by the first,) Bernal Diaz shared the wounds and
misadventures of both expeditions; and he was among the first to join
the standard of Don Hernan, in the third and most successful of the
Spanish descents.
[Footnote 3: Vasco Nunez de Balboa.]
The hardships he had endured, the constant and unmitigated suffering to
which he had been exposed for seven years, had given him much of the
weatherbeaten look of a veteran, which, added to the sombre gravity of
his visage, caused him to present, at the first sight, the appearance of
a man of forty years or more. His garments were of a dusky red cloth,
padded into escaupil, with back and breast-pieces of iron, over which
was a long cloak of a chocolate colour, well embroidered, and, though
much worn and tarnished, obviously a holiday suit. To these were added a
black velvet hat, ornamented with three flamingo feathers, striking up
like the points of a trident, with the medal of a saint, rudely wrought
in gold, hanging beneath them. His person was brawny, his face full and
inexpressive; his dull grey eyes indicated nothing but simplicity and
absence of mind, or rather inattentiveness; and it required the presence
of many scars of several wounds on his countenance, to convince a
stranger that Bernal actually possessed the fortitude to encounter such
badges of honour.
He approached the group with a heavy and indolent tread, bearing in his
hand a bundle of leaves of maguey paper, such as served the purposes of
the native painters and chroniclers of Anahuac, and with which he was
fain to supply the want of a better material.
"Dost thou hear, senor Inmortalidad?" cried Don Francisco de Guzman, as
the martial annalist took his seat serenely among the Castilians; "art
thou deaf, dumb, or still wrapt in thy seventh heaven, that thou
answerest not a word to my salutations? Zounds, man, I will not ask thee
a second time."
"What is your will?" said Bernal Diaz, "what will you have of me,
senores?" he repeated, surveying each member of the group, one after the
other. "I did think that this being a day of license and rejoicing to so
many of us, I might have an opportunity, not often in my power, of
putting down some things in my journal which it will be well to do,
before setting out on the circuit of the lake, wherein there may happen
some passages to drive from my memory those which are not yet recorded.
But, by my faith, you have talked loud and much, and so disturbed my
mind, that I have entirely lost some things I intended to say. I would
to heaven you would find some other place to your liking, and leave me
alone for a few hours."
"Why, thou infidel!" said Guzman, "if thou likest not our company, why
dost thou not leave it? Dost thou forget thou hast the power of
locomotion? Wilt thou wait for us to depart before thou bethinkest thee
of thine own legs? By'r lady! thou art not yet in thy senses!"
"By my faith, so I can!" said the historian, abruptly, as if the idea
had just entered his mind: "I will go down to the lake shore, where the
sound of the waves will drown your voices. There is something
encouraging to contemplation in the dashing of water; but as for men's
voices, I could never think well, when they were within hearing. I beg
your pardon, all, senores: I will go down."
"What! when here are four fools, who are in the humour of listening to
thee for some seven minutes, or so? ay, man, to thy crazy chronicles!
When wilt thou expect such another audience? Lo you, the senor Camarga
has desired to be made acquainted with your learned lucubrations. Come,
stir; open thy lips, exalt thyself, while thou art alive; for after
death, there is no saying how short a time thou wilt sleep in cobwebs."
"You jeer me, senor Guzman; you laugh at me, gentlemen," said the
soldier, gravely; "and thereby you do yourselves, as well as me, much
wrong. Is it so great a thing for a soldier to write a history? The
valiant Julius Caesar of Rome recorded, with his own hand, his great
actions in France, Britain, and our own Castile, as I know full well;
for when I was a boy at school, I saw the very book; and sorry I am that
the poverty of my parents denied me such instruction, as might have
enabled me to read it. Then, there was Josephus, the Jewish Captain, who
wrote a history of the fall of Jerusalem, as I have heard from a learned
priest. Besides, there were many Greek soldiers, who did the same thing,
as I have been told; but I never knew much concerning them."
"And hast thou the vanity to talk of Julius Caesar?" cried Guzman,
laughing.
"Why not?" said the soldier, stoutly; "I have fought almost as many
battles, and I warrant me, my heart is as strong; and were it my fate to
be a general and commander, instead of a poor soldier of fortune in the
ranks, I could myself, as well as another, lead you through these
mischievous Mexicans; who, I will be sworn, are much more valiant
heathens than ever Caesar found among the French. As far as he was a
soldier, then, I boast to be as good a man as he; ay, by mine honour,
and better too! for I am a Christian man, whereas he was a poor
benighted infidel. As for my history, I will not make bold to compare it
in excellence with his; for it has been told me, that Caesar was a
scholar, and possessed of the graces and elegancies of style; whereas, I
have myself none of these graces, being ignorant of both Latin and
Greek, and knowing nothing of any tongues, except the Castilian, and
some smattering of this Indian jargon, which I have picked up with much
pains, and, as I may say, at the expense of more beating than one gets
from the schoolmaster. Nevertheless, I flatter myself, that what I write
will be good, because it will be true; for this which I am writing, is
not a history of distant nations or of past events, nor is it composed
of vain reveries and conjectures, such as fill the pages of one who
writes of former ages. I relate those things of which I am an
eye-witness, and not idle reports and hearsay. Truth is sacred and very
valuable. In future days, when men come to make histories of our acts in
this land, their histories will be good, because they will draw them
from me, and not from those vain historiographers who stay at home, and
write down all the lies that people at a distance may say of us. This is
a good thing, and will make my book, when finished, a treasury to men;
but what is better, and what should make it noticeable to yourselves, it
will not, like other histories, say, 'The great hero Cortes did this,'
and 'the mighty commander did that,' giving all the glory to one man
alone; but it will record our achievements in such a way as to show who
performed them, relating that 'this thing was done by the Senor Don
Francisco de Guzman, and this by the valiant soldier Najara, and this by
myself, Bernal Diaz del Castillo,' and so on, each of us according to
our acts."[4]
[Footnote 4: The historical reader will find that the worthy Bernal has
incorporated many of these judicious sentiments in the work he was then
composing, and some almost word for word.]
"What the worthy Del Castillo says, is just," said Camarga; "and whether
his history be elegant or unpolished, he should be encouraged to
continue it. For my own part, I shall be glad when I have performed
anything worthy to be preserved, to know, we have with us a man who will
see that the credit of the act is not bestowed upon another. And, in
this frame of mind, I will stand much indebted to the good senor, if he
will permit me at once, to be made acquainted with the true relation of
certain events, with which I am not yet familiar."
"What will you have?" said Bernal Diaz, much gratified by this proof of
approbation. "You shall hear the truth, and no vain fabrication; for I
call heaven to witness, and I say Amen to it, that I have related
nothing which, being an eye-witness, I do not _know_ to be true; or
which, having the testimony of many others, actors and lookers-on, to
the same, I have not good reason to believe, is true. What, then, will
you have, senor Camarga? Is there any particular battle you choose to be
informed of? Perhaps, I had better begin with the first chapter, which I
have here, written out in full, and which--"
"Fire!" cried Guzman, starting up, "will you drive us away? Zounds! do
you think we will swallow all?"
"Read that chapter," said Najara, "in which you celebrate the exploits
of the senor Guzman."
"I have not," said Diaz, with much simplicity, "I have not yet had
occasion to come to Don Francisco."
"Hear!" cried Villafana, clapping his hands with admiration, in which
the cavalier, after looking a little indignant, thought fit to join.
"Unless indeed," continued the historian, "I should have resolved to
relate the quarrel betwixt his favour, and the young cornet Lerma, (whom
may heaven take to its rest; for there were some good things in the
young man.) But as to this feud, I thought it better for the honour of
both, as well as of another, whom I do not desire to mention with
dispraise, that the matter should be forgotten."
"Put it down, if thou wilt," said Guzman, with a stern aspect. "What I
have done, I have done; and I shame not to have it spoken. If I did not
kill the youth, never believe me if it was not out of pity for his
years; and out of regard to Cortes, with whom he was a favourite."
At these words, which were delivered with the greatest gravity, the
historian raised his eyes to Don Francisco, and regarded him, for a
moment, with surprise. Then shaking his head, and muttering the word
'favourite,' with a voice of incredulity, and even wonder, he held his
peace, with the air of one who locks up in his breast a mystery, which
he has been on the point of imprudently revealing.
"A favourite--I repeat the word," exclaimed Don Francisco, with angry
emphasis; "a favourite, at least, until his folly and baseness were made
apparent to Cortes, and so brought him to disgrace."
"Strong words, Don Francisco!" said Villafana, with a bold tone of
rebuke; "and somewhat _too_ strong to be spoken of a dead enemy. And
besides, without referring to your share in the matter, there are those
in this army, who have other thoughts in relation to the lad. It has
been whispered,--and the honour of Cortes has suffered thereby,--it has
been whispered----"
"By Villafana," exclaimed the hunchback, abruptly and sharply; "by
thyself, certainly, Sir Alguazil, if there be anything in it against the
credit of the general."
"Pshaw! wilt thou buffet me again?" cried Villafana, springing up and
stamping on the earth, though not in anger. "Dost thou know now what
thou art like?"
"Like a thorn in the foot, which, the more you stamp, the more it will
hurt."
"Rather like a stupid ball tied to my leg," said the Alguazil, "which,
without any merit of its own, serves but the dead-weight purpose of
giving me a jerk, turn whichsoever way I will."
"Right!" cried Najara, with a sneer; "you have clapped the ball to the
right leg. We do not so shot honest men."
"Gentlemen, with your leave," said Camarga, willing to divert the storm,
which it seemed Najara's delight to provoke in the breast of the
Alguazil, "with your leave, senores, I must not be robbed of my
curiosity. It was my purpose to ask the senor del Castillo to read me
such portions of his journal as treated, first, of occurrences that
happened after the Noche Triste, and battle of Otumba, and then of the
history and fate of this very young man, whose name is so efficacious in
laying you by the ears. But as I perceive the latter subject is hateful
to you all,--." Here he turned his eyes on Guzman.
"You are deceived," said Don Francisco, drily. "I bear the young man no
malice: the wolf and the dog may roll over carcasses--I have no anger
for bones. He slandered me: being no longer alive, I forgive him. Ask
Bernal what you will, and let him answer what he will: I swear by my
troth, I care not."
"What needs that we should look into noisome caves, when we have green,
wholesome lawns before us?" said Bernal Diaz, hesitating; for, at that
moment, the eyes of all except Guzman, were fastened eagerly on his own.
"I could speak of the quarrel, to be sure, between his favour Don
Francisco and the young colour-bearer; for though, as I said, and for
the reasons stated, I have not put it down in my history, yet do I
remember it very well. But, should I get thus far, I should even persist
with the whole story; for, I know not how it is, I never begin a
relation, and get well advanced in the same, but I am loath to leave it,
till I have recounted all."
"Ay, I'll be sworn, thou art," said Villafana: "thy stories are much
like to a crane's neck; 'tis but a head and bill at first, and an ell or
two of nothing stretched out after."
"Nor am I able," said the worthy Bernal, without stopping to digest the
simile, "to read a full account of those actions the senor Camarga
speaks of, which took place subsequently to our flight from Mexico and
our great victory on the plains of Otumba, for the good reason that I
have not yet composed them; the failure of which is, in a great measure,
the consequence of your loud talking just now, whilst I was addressing
my mind to the same. But, if you will have a verbal relation, senor
Camarga, I will do my best to pleasure you, and that right briefly, and
in true words; for I defy any man to detect falsehood or exaggeration in
what I write."
"Ay, by'r lady!" cried Guzman, who had recovered his good-humour, and
now laughed heartily,--"in what you _write_, honest Bernal; but in what
you say, you are not so infallible."
"You would not let me finish what I was about to say," murmured the
historian.
"No, faith; you would make a day's work of it; whereas I, who am no
wire-drawer of conceits, can despatch the whole thing in a minute. Do
you not see? the rear of the procession is in sight: in half an hour we
shall be summoned into camp. Be content then, scribbler; I quote thy
words, which should be honour enough: 'I defy any man to discover
falsehood or exaggeration in what I say.' Know then, senor
Camarga--after our victory at Otumba, nine months since, we retreated to
Tlascala, four hundred and fifty in number, at which city we rested five
months, curing our wounds, recruiting our forces, and preparing to
resume the war. During this time, the only remarkable incidents
were,--first--the meeting of those goodly knaves who had come with
Narvaez, sworn faith to Cortes, looked at Mexico, and now, being
satisfied with blows and honour, demanded to be sent back to Cuba, to
the great injury and almost destruction of all our hopes. Among the
foremost of these turbulent fellows, was our friend here, Villafana;
who, although he came not with Narvaez, but was sent soon after us by
Velasquez, was ever found consorting with the disaffected, until his
good saint, in some dream of the gallows, brought better thoughts into
his mind, and converted him from an open enemy into a doubtful friend.
Peace, Villafana! I am now playing the historian, and must therefore
tell what I believe to be the truth."
At these words, Villafana, who had opened his mouth to speak, checked
the impulse, nodded, laughed, and composed himself to silence.
"The defection of these men," resumed the cavalier, "and the reduction
of our numbers that followed, (for we were e'en forced to discharge the
more importunate of them,) were requited to us by happy reinforcements
of men, horses, and arms; some of them sent by the foolish Velasquez--"
"Senor Guzman," said Bernal Diaz, "the Governor Velasquez is my
relation. My father was an hidalgo, and his wife, my mother--"
"Oh, I forgot!" said Guzman, nodding to the historian:--"Some sent by
the _sagacious_ Velasquez to his captain, Narvaez, who was in chains at
Villa Rica; some by De Garay, Adelantado of Jamaica, to rob us of our
northern province, Panuco,--and it is supposed that thou, senor Camarga,
with thy crew of sick men, though thou comest so late, and apparently of
thine own good will, wert equipt by the same inconsiderate commander;
and some by the merchants of the Canaries and of Seville, to be
exchanged for our superfluous spoils, which were not then gathered;--no,
by'r lady, nor yet, either. In fine, we became strong enough, by these
means, to recruit our forces among the natives of the land; which we
did, by attacking divers provinces in the neighbourhood of Tlascala, and
compelling their warriors to join our standard, along with the
Tlascalans, who were willing enough,--all save their generalissimo,
Xicotencal. Thus, then, with no mean force of Spaniards, and with
several armies of Indian confederates, we came, 'tis now more than three
months since, to yonder city, Tezcuco, and raised to the throne, (in
place of his brother, who fled to Mexico,) a king of our own choosing;
of whom I have the honour to be chief counsellor and minister, that is
to say, guardian, regent, sponsor, or master, as you may think fit to
esteem me. Here, it has been our good fortune to receive other and
stronger reinforcements, and, as Villafana said, from the king's own
royal bounty, with commissions and orders, priests and crown-officers,
and so on; which circumstances have caused our army to be reorganized,
the whole reduced to a stricter discipline, and civil officers to be
appointed, for the better enforcing of martial law. Here, too, we have
been preparing for the siege and blockade of yonder accursed metropolis,
by bringing ships, (they are on the shoulders of these crawling pagans,)
to give us the command of the lake; and by attacking and destroying the
neighbouring towns, so as to secure possession of the shores. In the
meanwhile, the young cub of an Emperor, Guatimozin, who has succeeded
Cuitlahuatzin, the successor of Montezuma, has been equally busy in
concentrating the warriors of all his faithful provinces in the island,
and providing vast stores of corn and meat, for their subsistence,--as
resolute to resist as we are to assail. The materials for our vessels
being arrived, it is now known, that the time of constructing and
lanching them, will be devoted to an expedition, led by Cortes himself;
in which we will make the circuit of the whole lake, destroying the
rebellious cities on the main, and driving to the island all who may
think fit to resist. When they are thus caged, we shall have them like
pigeons in a net; and good plucking there will be in store for
all.--This is my history, and methinks it should satisfy you."
"It wants nothing to be complete save the episode of the Cornet Lerma,"
said Villafana, with a malicious grin; "and, in requital for the good
turn you have done me, when speaking of the mutiny Tlascala, I will
relate it,--ay, by St. James, I will! frown and storm as you may. The
senor Camarga has avowed his curiosity in the matter. Our dull Bernal,
who is so frequent at boasting he tells naught but truth, has confessed
that he dares not tell _all_ the truth; which, I think, will be somewhat
of a qualification to the belief of his future admirers. Najara, here,
will say naught of any one but myself, and that with a crusty and bitter
obstinacy,--wherein he seems to me to resemble a silly ox, who rubs his
stupid head against a tree, much less to the prejudice of the bark than
his skin. And as for thyself, senor Don Francisco, thou hast but thine
own fashion of telling the story. But I told thee before, there are
those in the army who have another way of thinking; and I am one--I will
not boggle at a truth, like Diaz, because it is somewhat discreditable
to Cortes, or to a chief officer."
"Speak then," said Guzman, gravely; "I have said already I care not. I
know full well how your knavish companions belie me. I say again, I care
not. What you aver as your own belief, I will make free to hold in
consideration: for the reported imputations of others, I release you
from responsibility."
"Oh, I speak not on my own knowledge, nor of my own personal belief,"
said Villafana, "and therefore, (but more especially in consequence of
the decree, senor, the decree!--we will not forget the decree,) I shall
fear neither dagger nor black looks. You called Lerma a 'favourite' of
the general: pho! even Bernal smiled at that!"
"What I have said in that matter," replied Guzman, with composure, "I
will condescend to support with argument. The young man was received
into the household of Cortes, while Cortes was yet a planter of
Santiago: he picked him up, heaven knows where, how, or why, a poor,
vagabond boy. It is notorious to all, that, in those days, Don Hernan
employed him less as a servant than as a son, or younger brother, and as
such, bestowed upon him affection and confidence, as well as the truest
protection. Thou knowest, and if thou art not an infidel altogether,
thou wilt allow, that the sword-cut on the general's left hand was
obtained in a duel which he fought with a man, ('twas the senor
Bocasucia,) who had thrown some sarcasm on the youth's birth, and then
ran him through the body, when he sought for satisfaction."
"I allow all this," said Villafana; "I confess the youth was an ass, to
match his boy's blade against the weapon of the best swordsman in the
island; and I agree that it was both noble and truly affectionate in
Cortes, to take up the quarrel, and so baste the bones of Bocasucia,
that he will remember the correction to his dying day. I allow all this;
and I add to it the greater proof of Don Hernan's love for the youth,
that when Velasquez granted him his commission to subdue these lands, (I
would the sea had swallowed them, some good ten years since!) the
captain did forthwith entrust to the boy the honourable and
distinguished duty of recruiting soldiers for him, in Espanola, in which
island he was born."
"Ay," quoth Guzman, dryly, "and one may find cause for the general's
anger, in the diligence with which the urchin prosecuted his task, and
the success that crowned it."
"By my faith," said Bernal Diaz, unable any longer to restrain his
desire to take part in a discussion of such historical moment, "the
young man sped well; and that he came to us empty-handed was no cause of
Don Hernan's displeasure, as I have heard Don Hernan say. It was, in the
first place, our haste to embark, when we discovered that the governor
was about to revoke our captain's commission, that caused Lerma to be
left behind us; and, secondly, it was the governor's own act, that Lerma
was not permitted to follow us, with the forces he had raised and
brought as far as Santiago. It is well known, that these men were
arrested on their course, and disbanded by Velasquez,--for some of them
came afterwards with Narvaez, and have so reported. The youth was thrown
into prison, too, where he fell sick,--for he had never entirely
recovered from the effects of his wound,--and it required all the
exertions of Dona Catalina, our leader's wife, backed by those of her
friends, to procure his release. His fidelity was afterwards shown in
his escape from Cuba, which was truly wonderful, both in boldness of
conception and success of accomplishment."
"His fidelity truly, and his folly, too," said Villafana; "for, I think,
no one but a confirmed madman could have projected and undertaken a
voyage across the gulf, in an open _fusta_,[5] (by'r lady! I have heard
'twas nothing better than a piragua,) with a few beggarly Indian
fishermen for his crew. But this he did, mad or not; and if Cortes were
angry, he took but an ill way to punish, since he gave him a horse and
standard, and kept him, for a long time, near to his own person. His
favourite for a time, I grant you he may have been, having heard it so
related; but when I myself came to the land, there were others much
better beloved."
[Footnote 5: _Fusta_--a sort of galley, very small and open, with lateen
sails.]
"If I am not mistaken," said Don Francisco, "he was in favour at that
time; and I have heard it affirmed it was some news of thy bringing, or
some good counsel of thy speaking, which first opened the eyes of
Cortes."
"_I_, indeed!--_my_ news, and _my_ counsel!" cried Villafana, with a
grin. "I was more like, at that period, to get to the bastinado than the
ears of Don Hernan. I, indeed!--I loved not the young man, I confess;
and who did? He had even the fate of a fallen minion; all spoke of him
with dispraise,--all hated him, or seemed to hate him, save only the
Tlascalan chief, Xicotencal, who loved him out of opposition; and I
remember a saying of this very crabbed Corcobado, here, on the subject,
namely, that a hedgehog was the best fellow for a viper."
"Ay, by my faith," said Najara; "yet I meant not Xicotencal for the
animal, but a worthy Christian cavalier; who was, at that time, rolling
the snake out of his dwelling." As Najara spoke, he fixed his eyes on
Guzman.
"I understand thee, toad," said the latter, indifferently. "It was
natural, the young man should be somewhat jealous. But this leads us
from the story. If it be needful to find a reason for Don Hernan's
change, I can myself give a thousand. In the first place, mere human
fickleness might be enough, for no man is master of his affections. It
might be enough too, to know, that the youth was no longer the gay and
good-humoured lad he had been described, but a sour, gloomy, and peevish
fool, exceedingly disagreeable and quarrelsome; and, perhaps, it might
be more than enough, to remind you, that, as was currently believed,
this change of temper was the consequence of certain villanous acts,
committed after our departure, and which were thought to furnish a
better and more probable reason for the voyage in the fusta than any
particular zeal he had in the cause of Cortes. If this be not enough,"
continued the cavalier, looking round him with the air of one who feels
that his arguments are conclusive, "then I have but to mention what you
seem to have forgotten,--to wit, that this petulant and meddlesome boy
did presume to make opposition to, and very arrogantly censure, certain
actions of the general; and, in particular, the seizure and imprisonment
of king Montezuma, and the burning alive of the Cholulan prisoners, as
well as the seventeen warriors, who had fought the battle with
Escalante, at Vera Cruz."--In the last of these instances, Don Francisco
made reference to the barbarous and most unjust punishment of
Quauhpopoco,--the military governor of a Mexican province near to Vera
Cruz,--and of his chief officers, who had presumed to resist with arms,
and with fatal success, the Spanish commandant of the coast, in an
unjustifiable attack.
"All this is true," said Villafana, "and it is all superfluous. What I
desired to establish was, that Lerma was no favourite, when sent on the
expedition, as would have been inferred from your words. I come now,
senor Camarga, to speak of that occurrence in relation to this boy, Juan
Lerma, (I call him a boy, for, at that time, he was not thought to
exceed nineteen years of age,) which, as Bernal Diaz says, touches the
honour of Don Hernan, and which, others think, bears as heavily upon
that of Don Francisco. The senores must answer for themselves: I only
give what is one version of the story."
"And, I warrant thee, it is the worst," said Najara. "Thou hast very
much the appetite of a gallinaza, who chooses her meat according to the
roughness of the savour."
"Among the daughters of the captive Montezuma," said Villafana, nodding
to the hunchback, in testimony of approbation, "was one, the youngest of
all, and, in truth, the prettiest, as I have heard, for I never beheld
her, who was called Cillahula,--"
"_Zelahualla_," said Bernal Diaz. "It is a word that signifies--"
"It signifies nothing, so long as you give it not the proper accent,"
said Guzman, with infinite composure. "Her true name was Citlaltihuatl;
or, at least, it was by that the Mexicans designated her; for they of
the royal family have, ordinarily, a popular title, in addition to that
used at court. The name may be interpreted the Maiden of the Star, or
the Celestial Lady; for so much is expressed by the two words of which
it is compounded."
"I maintain," said Bernal Diaz, stoutly, "that the word Zelahualla is
more agreeable of pronunciation, as well as much more universal in the
army."
"I grant you that," said Guzman. "Nor is the corruption so great as that
of many names you have recorded in your journal: but I leave these
things to be examined by your admirers hereafter. We will call the
princess, then, Zelahualla; that being the better and more common
title.--And now, Villafana, man, get thee on, in God's name; and start
not, senor Camarga, at the damnable inventions of slander, which will
now be told you."
"Pho!" said the Alguazil, "I will not abuse thee half so much as the
General. Know, senor Camarga, that there arose, between the young fool
Lerma and the excellent cavalier Don Francisco de Guzman, a quarrel,
very hot and deadly, concerning this same silly daughter of Montezuma;
with whom Don Francisco chose to be somewhat rougher and more
tyrannical, in displaying his affection, than was proper towards a
king's daughter and a captive."
"Dost thou speak this upon thine own personal averment?" demanded Don
Francisco, with a countenance unchanged, but with a voice
preternaturally subdued.
"No, faith," said Villafana, hastily, and with an air that looked like
alarm; "I repeat the innuendoes of others, which may be slanders or
not,--I know not. But it is certain, the young man so charged thee to
Cortes; affirming that, but for his interference, the villany
meditated--But, pho! thou growest angry! So much, certainly, he brought
against thee?"
"He did," replied Guzman, smiling as if in derision; "and I know not how
any could have been induced to believe him, except that man,--each
man,--being naturally a rogue himself, doth rather delight to entertain
those aspersions which bring down his neighbour to his own level, than
the commendations which acquaint him with a superior. He did!--He was a
fool! I can explain this thing to your satisfaction."
"Basta! it does not need," replied Villafana. "The rear-guard is
passing,--there is a stir on the temple-top, and presently we shall hear
the trumpet, which, like a curfew-bell, will command us to put out the
fires of our fancy and the lights of our wit, on pain of having them,
somewhat of a sudden, whipped out with switches. I must tell mine own
story; the senor Camarga looks a little impatient. The end of this
quarrel," continued the Alguazil, "was a duel; in which neither of the
rivals in love and the general's favour, came to much hurt; since they
were speedily seized upon and introduced to the Calabozo, for fighting
against the express orders of the general. Then, being released, they
were separated,--our excellent friend Don Francisco being sent on some
duty to Tlascala, and the boy Juan to--heaven."
"Saints!" exclaimed Camarga; "he was not executed?"
"Not on the block or the gallows, to be sure," said Villafana; "but in a
manner quite as effectual. He was sent on some fool's errand of
discovery, or exploration, to the South Sea, which, it was told us,
washed the distant borders of this mighty empire;--his companions, two
unlucky dogs of La Mancha, and one Leonese of Medina-del-Campo,--"
"Ay," said Bernal Diaz, with a groan,--"Gaspar Olea; he was my beloved
friend and townsman, and--" But Villafana was in no humour to be
interrupted:
"All three, like himself, out of favour," he continued. "Besides these,
the young man had with him a band of knavish infidels, from the western
province Matlatzinco; and his guide and counsellor was an old chief of
the Ottomies--a half-savage, (they called him _Ocelotl_ or _Ocelotzin_,
that is, the Tiger,) who had been domesticated among Montezuma's other
wild beasts. Now, senor, you may make your own conclusions, or you may
take those of men who are true friends of Cortes, and yet will speak
their mind. It was said, at the time, that the young man was sent to his
death; for the western tribes are fierce and barbarous; it was an easy
way to get rid of him--and so it has been proved. This happened fourteen
months ago: neither the young man, nor any of his companions, were ever
heard of more. The thing was understood, and it was called a cruel and
unchristian act."
"Thou doest a foul wrong to Cortes, to say so," exclaimed Don Francisco,
"imputing to him such sinister and perfidious motives. Such expeditions
were at that time common; for we were then at peace, and each explorer
was furnished by Montezuma with some royal officer by way of
safe-conduct. Did not Don Hernan send his cousin, the young Pizarro, to
explore the gold-lands of Guaztepec, at that very time? Were not others
sent to search for mines, in the southern and northern provinces? I
affirm, that this expedition of Lerma, fatal though it has proved, was
not thought more, or _much_ more dangerous than Pizarro's:--thou
knowest, Pizarro lost three of his men.--Moreover, thou doest the
general an equal wrong, in the matter of the three Spaniards, that went
with Lerma. Olea, at least,--Gaspar Olea, the Barba-Roxa--was
notoriously a favourite and trusted soldier, and was sent with the
youth, as being the fittest man who could be spared, to aid his
inexperience."
"The history is finished," said Villafana, rising; "the trumpet
flourishes; and, like hounds at the horn of the hunter, we must e'en get
us to the general, and add our howls to the yells of these curs of
Tlascala. The history is finished; and I have only to add, by way of
annotation, that the hatred you bore the youth, (I have heard some say,
he had the better in the duel!) will supply you good reasons for
defending his punishment."
"I say to you again," cried Guzman, "I have forgiven the youth, and I
hate him not."
"Oh! the brown horse, Bobadil, that was sent to him from Santo Domingo,
a month since, and given to your own excellent favour, as to his proper
heir, is a good peace-maker!"
"Thou art a fool," said Don Francisco; "I lament his death as much as
another.----"
"Have masses then said for his soul, for, by heaven and St. John, his
spirit is among us!"
These words, pronounced by the hunchback, Najara, suddenly, and with a
voice of extreme alarm, caused the cavalier, who, with Villafana and
Camarga, had already begun to walk towards the city, to turn round; when
he instantly beheld, and with similar agitation, the apparition which
had drawn forth the exclamation of the deformed.