The day after the Feast of the Holy Ghost, or Whitsunday, early in May,
1521, opened upon the valley of Mexico with clouds and vapours, which,
sweeping over the broad lake, collected and lingered, with boding fury,
around the island city, discharging thunder and lightning, while the
sunbeams shone clear and uninterrupted over Tezcuco, and the rich
savannas which surrounded it. It was the morning of a novel and
impressive ceremony. A rivulet, deepened by the labours of many thousand
Indians, into a navigable canal, and bordered for the space of half a
league on either side, by narrow meadows, separated the city from
another scarce inferior in magnitude, but which yet seemed only a
suburb. The whole space thus extending between the two cities, from the
lake, as far as the eye could see, was blackened by the bodies of Indian
warriors, armed and decorated as if for battle, while the housetops in
the cities were equally thronged with multitudes of aged men and women
and children. A narrow space was left vacant on each bank of the canal,
from which the feathered barbarians, two hundred thousand in number,
were separated by the Spanish army, drawn up in extended lines on either
bank, the companies of footmen alternating with little squadrons of
mounted cavaliers, from whose spears waved bright pennons.
As they stood thus, in gallant array, a flourish of trumpets drew their
eyes up the stream, and they could behold over the housetops, winding
with the sinuosities of the canal, a line of masts and of sails half let
loose to the breeze, advancing slowly towards the lake, drawn, as it
presently appeared, by double rows of natives, gayly apparelled, who
occupied the space on the banks left vacant by the military.
As they approached nigh and more nigh, it was seen that each vessel bore
no little resemblance to some of those light and open brigantines which
have been, from time immemorial, the chosen delights of Mediterranean
pirates, and the scourge of the sea from Barbary to the Greek Islands.
Each carried twenty-five men, twelve of whom were rowers, the others
musketeers, crossbowmen, cannoniers, (for a falconet frowned over the
prow of each,) and sailors. Besides a multitude of little pennons with
which they were covered, two great banners waved over each, the one
bearing the royal arms of Spain, the other being the private standard
which had been assigned, along with an appropriate name and a solemn
benediction, by a priest, at the dock-yard, after the celebration of the
mass of the Holy Ghost; for with such ceremonies of religion and pomp,
the fatal galleys were committed, that morning, to their proper element.
One by one they passed into the lake, and ranged in a line before the
mouth of the little river, fourteen in number. At this point, the
mummeries of celebration were concluded by another and final
benediction, pronounced from the shore; which was succeeded by a
combined uproar of artillery, trumpets, and human voices, more loud and
tumultuous than any which had yet shaken the borders of Tezcuco.
When the smoke of the cannon had cleared away, the brigantines were seen
parting and flitting along in different courses, like a flock of
wild-fowl, frightened and separated by the explosion. Their evolutions
should be rather likened to the gambols of vultures, escaped from some
dreary confinement, and now fluttering their wings in the joy of
liberation, and the expectation of prey. Castilian navigators were at
last launched upon the sea of Anahuac, and they seemed resolved at once
to confirm their dominion, by ploughing through each rolling surge, and
penetrating to every bay and creek. As they divided thus, some standing
out into the lake, and others darting along the shores, the admiring and
shouting spectators began to observe and point out to one another
certain pillars of smoke, rising one after the other, from the hills and
headlands; by which was conveyed from town to town the intelligence of
an event long since expected by the watchful infidels.
Another spectacle, however, soon withdrew the eyes of the lookers on
from these signal fires. From the bank of vapours which still concealed
the towers of Tenochtitlan, they beheld an Indian piragua, or gondola,
of some magnitude, and no little splendour, come paddling into view,
followed by three canoes of much lighter and plainer structure. An
awning of brilliant cloths, running from stem to stern over the piragua,
overshadowed and almost hid the rowers.
It was no sooner perceived from the fleet, than three or four
brigantines gave chase, as after an undoubted enemy and legal prize.
Still, its voyagers advanced on their course, fearlessly, and to all
appearance disregardful of the commands of the captains to heave-to,
even although one call was accompanied by a musket shot, discharged
across their bows. Its director undoubtedly confided in his pacific
character, indicated, according to the customs of Anahuac, by a little
net of gold, mingled with white feathers, tied to the head of a spear,
and displayed high above the awning.
"Well done for the dog, Techeechee!" muttered Cortes into the ear of an
hidalgo, of stern appearance, mounted like himself and at his side;
"Well done for Techeechee, the Silent Dog! he is worth twenty such
hounds as Olin-pilli. He has brought me an embassy. By my conscience, it
comes over late though, and I know not what good can spring of it, at
this hour.--These fools of the brigantines are over-officious!--'Tis a
confident knave; see, he steers for the palace garden! I must ride
thither.--Hark thee, De Olid," he continued, still addressing the grim
cavalier, but aloud, as if willing that all should hear: "let this thing
be despatched: Thou wilt make, at the worst, a just judge. In this
trial, it becomes neither my feelings, nor perhaps my honour, that I
should myself sit in judgment. The chief Alcaldes will give thee their
aid. Judge not in anger, but with justice; bring it not against the
young man that he turned his sword upon me--And yet I see not how thou
canst avoid it: nevertheless, if thou canst do so, let it be done. There
is enough else to condemn him. His life is in thine hands: be just; and
yet be not too rigid. If thou canst, by any justifiable leniency, admit
him to mercy, do so. Yes, be merciful, if thou canst,--be merciful."
With these instructions, which were pronounced not without discomposure,
Cortes put spurs to his steed, and rode into the city and to the palace,
followed by some half dozen cavaliers.
He had scarcely assumed the state with which he thought fit to overawe
the envoys of the different barbaric tribes, whom the fame of his power
and greatness was daily bringing to his court, before an officer entered
the audience-chamber from the garden, and acquainted him that
ambassadors from Tenochtitlan humbly craved to be admitted to his
presence.
"Let them be taken round to the front, that the dogs may look upon the
artillery," said the Captain-General; and perhaps added in his thoughts,
"that they may creep up to my footstool, taking in my greatness from
afar, until their humility dwindles into submissiveness."
Presently the curtain of the great door was pushed aside, and the
Mexicans entered, preceded and followed by armed men; the old Ottomi
being in advance of all. They were twelve in number, the chief or
principal being a man of lofty stature and manly years, wholly differing
from the orator Olin, for whom Cortes looked in vain among the others.
To indicate the high rank of the ambassador, two attendants sustained
over his head, on little rods, a gay canopy or penthouse of feathers.
His green mantle (for that was the colour worn by an ambassador,) was of
the richest material, the border being wrought into scroll-work with
little studs of solid gold. His buskins, for such they might be called,
were of crimson leather, and a crimson fillet was wound round his hair,
which was, otherwise, almost covered with little tufts or tassels of
cotton-down of the same hue. Each of these singular decorations was the
evidence and distinguishing badge of some valiant exploit in battle; and
it was therefore manifest to all in the slightest degree acquainted with
the customs of Anahuac, even at the first sight, that the barbarian was
a man of renown among the Mexicans. A cluster of rattling grains of
gold, suspended to his nostrils, indicated that he belonged to the order
of Teuctli,--a race of nobles inferior only to the _Tlamantli_, or
vassal-kings; and the red fillets showed that he was a Prince of the
House of Darts, the highest of the several chivalric branches into which
this order was divided, the two next appertaining to the House of Eagles
and the House of Tigers.--In introducing these barbaric terms, we have
no desire to inflict upon the reader a dissertation on Aztec chivalry,
but simply to make him aware, that these singular infidels were, in
their way, nearly as well provided with the vanities of knighthood and
nobility as some of the European nations in the Middle Ages.
The general appearance of the ambassador was commanding; his features
were bold and harsh, yet manly,--his forehead expanded, though inclined,
and furrowed as with the frowns of battle,--and his eye had a touch of
wildness and ferocity, at variance with his modest bearing while
advancing towards the Captain-General, and still more strongly
contrasted with that melancholy sweetness of mouth, which seems to be a
characteristic of all the children of America.--Perhaps it is _fitly_
characteristic, since the proclivity of their fate is equally mournful,
throughout all the continent. He bore in his hand the gold net and white
plume, hanging to a headless spear, which had been displayed and
distinguished afar in the piragua,--as well as a golden arrow,--both
being the emblems of a Mexican envoy. He was entirely without arms, as
were all the rest.
Behind the canopy-bearers came three old men, with tablets of dressed
skin, or maguey paper, in their hands, known, at once, to be
writers,--secretaries or annalists,--who accompanied ambassadors, and
other high officers, in expeditions of importance, to record their
actions and preserve the proofs of treaties.
After these followed six _Tlameme_, or common carriers, bearing
presents, which, with Mexicans of that day, as with Orientals of this,
made no small share of the materiel of diplomacy.
As this train was led forward up to the chair of state, Cortes fixed his
eye with a smile of approbation on the Ottomi, but did not think fit to
honour him with any further evidence of thankfulness. He had other
matters to fill his thoughts; for, at the first glance, he recognized in
the ambassador a noble, famous even in the days of Montezuma, for skill,
audacity, and unconquerable aversion to the strangers, and who, under
the ominous title of Masquaza-teuctli,[12] or the Lord of Death, was
known to have commanded bodies of reinforcement, sent to several
different shore-towns, to oppose the arms of Cortes in the late
campaign. In especial, he was known to have devised the plan of cutting
the dikes of Iztapalapan, after decoying the Spaniards into that city,
where they escaped drowning almost by a miracle; it was equally certain
that he had commanded the multitudes of warriors, who, scarce ten days
since, had repulsed the Spaniards from Tacuba with considerable loss;
and he was even supposed to have been present in the sack of Xochimilco,
where Cortes had been in such imminent peril. The appearance of this man
was doubly disagreeable, as being heartily detested himself, and as
showing the temper of Guatimozin's mind, who chose to send an envoy so
little inclined to composition. A murmur of dissatisfaction arose among
the Spaniards present, as soon as they were made aware of the
ambassador's character; and if looks could have destroyed, it is certain
the Lord of Death would have passed to the world of shades, before
speaking a word of his embassy.
[Footnote 12: The name is corrupted, as are all those handed down by the
early historians. The suffixes, _pilli_ and _teuctli_, indicate the
title, and are therefore not a part of the name. We translate both
_lord_; though it would be more germain to the matter, however ludicrous
it might seem, to say at once Duke Death and Earl Olin.]
Without, however, seeming to regard these boding glances any more than
he had done the hostile opposition of the brigantines, he began without
delay the usual native forms of salutation. But before he could pass to
those rhetorical and reverential flourishes of compliment, which
constituted the exordium of an ambassador's speech, he was interrupted
by Cortes, whose words were interpreted by the same cavalier who had
officiated before, in the interview with Olin.
"Masquaza-teuctli, Lord of Death!" said the Captain-General, sternly,
"what dost thou here in Tezcuco?"
The infidel looked up with surprise, and having eyed the Spaniard a
moment, replied with another question, which was only remarkable as
indicating the composure of the speaker, and as giving utterance to
tones exceedingly soft and pleasant:
"Was Olin deceived, and did Techeechee lie?" he said. "I bring the words
of Guatimozin to Malintzin, son of Quetzalcoatl, and Lord of the Big
Canoes with legs of crocodiles and wings of pelicans."
"Art thou not stained with the blood of Castilians?" rejoined Cortes,
but little pleased with the frank and unawed bearing of the envoy. "This
thing is ill of Guatimozin: why does he send me an enemy from
Tenochtitlan?"
The Lord of Death replied with what seemed a lurking smile, if such
could be traced in a peculiar and slight motion of lips, always sedate,
if not always melancholy;
"Has the Teuctli a _friend_ in Tenochtitlan?--Let Malintzin speak his
name: I will return.--My little children are yet awkward with the bow
and arrow."
"Hark to the hound!" exclaimed the Captain-General, struck more by the
hint conveyed by the last words than by the sarcasm so gently expressed
in the first: "He would have me believe the very boys of Mexico are
training to resist us! and that he thinks it better honour to encourage
the young cubs to malice, than to speak to me for terms of
peace.--Hearken, infidel: you spoke of the young man Olin. Why returned
not he to Tezcuco?"
"Malintzin was in a hurry for the blood of Iztapalapan: the king saw the
glitter of spears on the lakeside, and said to his servant, 'Go not to
Tezcuco with gold and sweet words, but to Iztapalapan with axes and
spears.'--"
"Ay, marry; but Olin, what of Olin-pilli?--I warrant me, the knavish
king discovered the craft of the knavish noble, and so killed him?--I
was a fool to give him the beads.--What sayst thou, infidel! what has
become of the Speaker of Wise Things? I sent him to Guatimozin for an
envoy; and, lo you, this old savage, the Silent Dog, has brought me what
Olin could not, or did not. Is Olin living?"
"How shall I answer? Ipalnemoani[13] is the maker of life; it is the
king who takes it. Olin-pilli is forgotten."
[Footnote 13: One of the titles of the Supreme God, (_Teotl_,) who was
not worshipped directly, but through the medium of his agents, the
inferior divinities.]
"Ay then, let him sleep; and to thy work, infidel, to thy work. Will
Guatimozin have peace? He is somewhat late of decision; but the great
monarch of Spain, who sends me to speak with him, and to enforce the
vassalage acknowledged by Montezuma, is merciful. Speak, then, and
quickly. My ships are on the lake, my soldiers are thicker than the
reeds on its banks, and fiercer than its waters, when the torrents rush
down from the mountains. Will he have the blood of his people flow
through the streets, as the waters of an inundation, when the dikes are
broken? Speak then, Lord of Death; will Guatimozin acknowledge himself
the king's vassal, pay tribute, and govern his empire in peace?"
"Hear the words of Guatimozin," said the ambassador, beckoning to the
Tlameme to open their packs: "The king sends you the history of his
land,"--taking up, from among many books, which made the contents of the
first bundle, a volume of hieroglyphics, and displaying its pictured
pages: "He has searched for the time when the king of Castile was the
lord of his people; but it is not written. How then shall he kiss the
earth before the Teuctli? He has sought to find to what race, besides
the race of heaven, the men of Mexico have paid tribute: It is not
written,--except this,--that once, when his fathers were poor and few,
the men of Cojohuacan called on them for tribute, and they paid it in
the skulls of their foes. The men of Castile call for tribute:
Guatimozin sends them such tribute as his fathers paid; here it
is--twelve skulls of the dogs of Chalco, taken in the act of rebellion."
And as he spoke, the grinning orbs rolled under his foot against the
platform.
"Hah!" cried Cortes, starting up, with as much admiration as wrath, for
he was keenly alive to every burst of audacious and heroic daring, "is
not this a merlin of a royal stock, that will try buffets with an eagle?
But, pho! the young man is besotted."
"Hear, further, the words of Guatimozin," continued the envoy, taking
from the third bundle two more books, and displaying them, as he had
done the first: "the king remembers that the wild Ottomies came down
from their hills, saying that they were foolish and pitiful, because
Ipalnemoani had kept them in darkness, so that they robbed one another,
and were blasphemers against heaven. The king gave them religion and
laws; and, behold, those that live upon the skirts of the valley, are
become wise and happy. The king says, 'Have not the Spaniards come like
the Ottomies? and are they not very ignorant and miserable?' These are
the king's words to Malintzin: 'Take this book, and learn how to worship
the gods: religion is a good thing, and will make you happy. Take this
book also, and understand the laws of men: justice is a good thing, and
will make you happy."
It would be difficult to express the varied feelings of wonder, anger,
scorn, and merriment, with which the Spaniards hearkened to this
extraordinary exhortation. Some stared, some frowned, some smiled, and a
few laughed outright; but all immediately betook themselves to looks of
sympathetic anger, when Cortes, again rising, stamped upon the platform,
crying with a fierceness that was in part unassumed,
"Knave of a heathen and savage, dost thou pass this scorn upon the
religion of Christ? this slight upon the laws of Castile? this slur upon
religious and civilized men? Look upon this cross, and say to
Guatimozin, that not a Spaniard shall leave his valley, till every slave
that acknowledges his sway, has knelt before it, and, abjuring the
fiendish idolatry of Mexitli, has sworn with a kiss, to worship naught
else. Look, too, upon this sword, and say to thine insolent prince, that
it shall not cease to strike and slay, until his whole people have
acknowledged it to be the abrogator of the old, and the teacher of a new
law, such as his brutish sages never dreamed of. In one word, give him
to know, that my purpose in his land, is to bestow upon it the cross of
heaven and the laws of Spain; and these I will bestow,--both,--so help
me the sword which I grasp, and the cross that I worship!"
A murmur of satisfaction and responsive resolution passed through the
assemblage, which had been considerably increased by the appearance of
such officers, returning from the lakeside, as were privileged to enter
the presence on such an occasion. But the stern voice of the
Captain-General produced no effect on the Mexicans, except, indeed, that
one of the three writers who had been all the time busily engaged, as
they squatted upon the floor, recording the speeches, in their
inexplicable manner, raised his eyes, when the Christian's voice was at
the highest, and eyed him askant for a minute or two. The Lord of Death
kept his glance firmly fixed on the aspect of the general, while
listening to the interpretation of his angry vows. Then, when Cortes had
concluded, he turned to the fourth pack, and resumed his discourse, as
if it were no part of his duty to reply to anything not immediately
touching his instructions.
"Hear, further, the words of Guatimozin," he said, pointing to an ear of
maize, a bundle of cacao-berries, a cluster of bananas, and divers other
fruits, as well as nuts and esculent roots, which appeared in the pack:
"Thus says the king of Mexico:--Is Castile a naked rock, where the food
of man grows not? Malintzin said to Montezuma, 'The land is like other
lands, with earth over the flint-stone, and with rivers to make it
fertile; soil comes down from the mountains, and heaven sends frequent
rains.' Look at Mexico: the sun parches it, till it becomes like sand,
half the year; the other half, the sky turns to water, and drowns the
gardens and corn-fields. But is man a dog, that he should howl when he
is hungry, and run abroad for food? God gave these good things to the
king; the king gives them to the Spaniard. Let him throw them upon the
earth, and sit hard by in patience, while the rain drops upon them; and,
by and by, he will have food for himself and his children: he will not
be hungry, and run forth, like a dog, to strange lands, seeking for
food.--Hear, further, the words of the king," continued the grave
barbarian, observing the impatience of Cortes, and turning his anger
into admiration, by suddenly displaying the contents of the fifth pack,
which consisted of divers ornaments and jewels of gold, with a huge
plate of extraordinary value, representing the sun: "Is there no yellow
dirt in Castile, to make playthings for the women and children? Thus
says the king: 'Let Malintzin take these things to his women and
children; and, lest they should, by and by, cry for more, let him send a
ship to Guatimozin, at the end of the _Tlalpilli_,[14] and more shall be
given him. Thus it shall be while Guatimozin lives; and thus it shall be
hereafter, if the king wills,--for what is Guatimozin, that he should
make a law for his successors?"
[Footnote 14: _Tlalpilli_--the quarter-cycle, or epoch of 13 years.]
The admiration with which the Captain-General surveyed the gorgeous
present, greatly moderated his disgust at the mode of making it. He
stepped down from the platform, and taking the massive disk into his
hands, gloated over its almost insupportable weight and dazzling
splendour, with the relish of one who seemed never to have felt any
passion less sordid than that of avarice. While thus engaged, ruddy at
once with delight and with the effort of sustaining such a precious
burthen, a paper was put into his hand, or rather held out for him to
receive, while a voice murmured in his ear,
"The award of the judges, sent to your excellency for confirmation."
The golden luminary fell, with a heavy clang, upon the floor, the flush
fled from his cheeks, and the look with which he turned to the untimely
and ill-omened messenger, Villafana, was even more ghastly with affright
than that which distinguished the aspect of the Alguazil.
"If your excellency thinks of mercy," continued the Alguazil, in the
same low and hurried voice,--"it is not yet too late. They have him on
the square, and are confessing him.--He has but a dog's life, and a
gnat's death, who puts them in the hands of De Olid."--
Cortes cast his eye upon the paper, and beheld, besides the date, a
preamble of two lines, and the signatures of the judges, the following
brief and pithy sentences:
"Concealing a spy and fugitive from justice--Guilty.
"Drawing sword upon a Christian--Guilty.
"Resisting with arms an officer in the execution of his
duty--Guilty.
"Sentence--To be beheaded, his right hand struck off and nailed
to the prison-door.--To take effect in half an hour.
"In the name of God and the king.
"DE OLID,
"MARIN,
"DE IRCIO."
"Butchers!" cried Cortes, with accents of unspeakable horror. "What ho,
a pen! a pen, knave! a pen!"
The agitation and violence of his voice surprised even the stoical
Mexicans; and the writers looking up, he became suddenly aware that the
implements with which they practised their rude art, would answer all
his purpose. Darting forward, he snatched from the hand of the nearest,
one of the many reeds which he held. The barbarian, although apparently
the oldest and most infirm of the three, mistaking the purpose of the
assault, started to his feet with a vivacity of effort, which, at any
other moment, would have drawn a sharp look of suspicion from the
Captain-General. But his thoughts were too much excited to be diverted
by any such seeming inconsistency.
It happened, by a natural accident, (for each reed was appropriated to
its peculiar colour,) that that which Cortes had seized contained a dark
crimson ink. Still, natural as the circumstance was, it had no sooner
touched the paper than he shuddered, and muttering 'Blood! blood!'
seemed as if he would have cast it away. But recovering himself in an
instant, with a faint and forced laugh, he subscribed the few words,
"Confirmed.--Respite for twenty-four hours.
"CORTES."
and putting the paper into Villafana's hands, he dismissed him with the
hurried charge,
"Away--see to it."
He then flung the reed back to the writer who had already resumed his
squatting attitude, and reascended the platform.
On those who surmised the cause of this sudden interruption, the
agitation of Don Hernan had the good effect of banishing from their
minds any lingering suspicions of his entertaining personal ill-will
towards the unfortunate Lerma. All went to show that he was shocked at
the young man's fate, and the necessity of ministering to it, even in
the simple act of confirming a judgment, awarded by others; but,
unhappily, the same feeling that exonerated the judge, still further
increased the odium attached to the criminal. How great, they thought,
must be the guilt of him whom it causes Cortes so much suffering to
condemn.--But the Captain-General, recovering himself, gave them little
time for such speculations.
"Well, infidel, thou speakest well," he cried, his voice becoming firmer
with each syllable; "What hidest thou in the sixth bundle?--or rather,
what if I should accept thy master's niggardly offer, and depart with
these baubles for women and children, as thou hast rightly called them?"
"Hear the words of Guatimozin," replied the ambassador, with a careless
emphasis, as if properly understanding the futility of the proposal,
and, indeed, with a look of scorn, as if learning to despise one capable
of Don Hernan's late weakness: "If Malintzin depart with the fifth pack,
cast the sixth into the lake, and tell him, that, in its place, he shall
have sent after him to the seaside, a thousand sacks of robes and four
thousand sacks of corn, to clothe and feed his people as they sail over
the endless sea. Say to him besides--"
"Pho," interrupted Cortes, "have done with this mummery, and get thee to
the sixth sack, which I am impatient to examine. What hast thou there?"
"The riches which are more precious to Mexico than the trinkets of her
children," replied the stately barbarian; and, as he spoke, he rolled
upon the floor, arrowheads and spearpoints of bright copper, sharp
blades of itzli and heavy maces of flint, which made up the contents of
the last bundle: "Hear the words of Guatimozin," he continued, with a
dignity of bearing that might have become a Spartan envoy in the camp of
the Persian; "thus says the king: 'What is the Lord of Castile, that
Guatimozin should call him master? what is Malintzin, that Guatimozin
should make him his friend? The Teuctli burns my cities, murders my
children, and spits in the face of my gods. His religion is murder, his
law robbery: he is strong, yet very unjust; he is wise, yet he makes men
mad. Guatimozin has called together the chiefs and the planters of corn,
the wise men and the foolish, the strong and the feeble, the old men,
the women and the children. He has spoken to them, and they have
replied: 'Is not the sword better than the whip? is not the arrow softer
than the brand? is not the fagot of fire pleasanter than the chain of
captivity? is not death sweeter than slavery?' Thus says the old
man,--'I am old; wherefore, then, should I be a slave for a day?' Thus
says the little infant,--'I am a little child; why should I be a slave
for many years?' This, then, is the word of the whole people; it is
Guatimozin who speaks it: 'If the gods desert me, what have I to yield
but life? if they help me, as they have helped my fathers, what have I
to do, but to drive away my foe? Let Malintzin look at my weapons, and
put two plates of the black-copper of Castile on his bosom, for I am
very strong in my sorrow, and I will strike very hard. Let Malintzin
fear: the rebels of Tezcuco and Cholula, the traitors of Chalco and
Otumba, are but straws to help him: can they look in the face of a
Mexican? Let Malintzin fear: is he stronger than when he fled from
Tenochtitlan, in the month of Mourning?[15] has not Mexico more fighting
men than when the horn of the gods sounded at midnight, and the Teuctli
sat on the stone and wept?--on the stone of Tacuba, by the water-side,
when the morning came, and his people slept in the ditches? If Malintzin
will fight, so will Guatimozin.' These are the words of the king; these
are the words of the people: they are said. The gods behold us."
[Footnote 15: Embracing a portion respectively of June and July, and
devoted to austere and penitential preparation for a coming festival.]
So spake the bold savage; and as if to show that even the basest and
feeblest shared his courage, and sanctioned his defiance, the very
Tlameme looked around them with a show of spirit, and the three old men
expressed their satisfaction with audible murmurs.
The Spaniards were surprised at the fearless tones of the Lord of Death,
and not a few were impressed with alarm as well as anger, when he
referred so unceremoniously to the events of the fatal Noche Triste. As
for Cortes himself, though the frown with which he listened to the whole
oration, had become darker and darker as the warrior-noble proceeded,
yet, apparently, he had become sensible, both from the tenor of the
discourse and the resolute bearing of the speaker, that it should be
answered with gravity rather than anger. Hence, when he came to reply,
it was in terms briefly impressive and solemn:
"My young brother Guatimozin is unwise, and he is digging the grave of
his whole people. He has evil counsellors about him. I have somewhat to
say to him; and, to-morrow, you shall be sent back with an answer, which
will perhaps dispel his foolish dream of resistance."--He observed that
the Lord of Death looked displeased and even alarmed, when the
interpreter made him sensible that he was to be detained until the
morrow. "Be not alarmed," he continued, sternly: "when didst thou ever
hear of a Christian aping the treachery of thy native princes, and doing
wrong to an ambassador? I tell thee, fellow, infidel though thou be, I
will do thee honour, in respect of thy young master. To-morrow thou
shalt eat at my board, for it is a day of banqueting; and to-morrow,
also, shalt thou be made acquainted with my answer to the king's
message, which it is not possible I should speak to-day. Rest you then
content.--Hark thee, Villafana," (for the Alguazil had returned,) "have
thou charge of this bitter-tongued knave and his dumb companions.
Entreat them well, but see that they neither escape nor communicate with
anyone in this army, Christian or misbeliever. And look well to thy
prison too.--This knave, Techeechee,--bring him to me when thou changest
guards at the prison."
Then, breaking up the audience, he remained for a time in conference
with a few of the chief officers, debating subjects of great importance,
but which would be of no interest to the readers of this history.