[figure description] Page 189.[end figure description]

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

[figure description] Page 190.[end figure description]

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

[figure description] Page 191.[end figure description]

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 lanched 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 behold 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 chace, 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.

[figure description] Page 192.[end figure description]

“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

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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,

[figure description] Page 194.[end figure description]

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 Tlamémé, or common
carriers, bearing presents, which, with Mexicans
of that day, as with Orientals of this, made no
small share of the matériel 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

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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,[10] 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.

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

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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 Izta

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palapan: 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[11] is the maker
of life; it is the king who takes it. Olin-pilli is
forgotten.”

“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 Tlamémé to open their
packs: “The king sends you the history of his
land,”—taking up, from among many books, which

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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

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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 lake-side, 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

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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 cacaoberries,
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:

[figure description] Page 201.[end figure description]

“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,[12] 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?”

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.”—

[figure description] Page 202.[end figure description]

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.

“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

[figure description] Page 203.[end figure description]

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.

“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

[figure description] Page 204.[end figure description]

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,—

[figure description] Page 205.[end figure description]

`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 Tezeuco
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?[13] 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.”

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 Tlamémé
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

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oration, had become darker and darker as the warriornoble
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 any one 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.

eaf015v1.n10

[10] 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.

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