The Fair God; or, The Last of the 'Tzins: A Tale of the Conquest of Mexico

by Lew Wallace

  CHAPTER VIII.

  THE ENTRY.

  It is hardly worth while to eulogize the Christians who took part inCortes' crusade. History has assumed their commemoration. I may say,however, they were men who had acquired fitness for the task by servicein almost every clime. Some had tilted with the Moor under the walls ofGranada; some had fought the Islamite on the blue Danube; some hadperformed the first Atlantic voyage with Columbus; all of them hadhunted the Carib in the glades of Hispaniola. It is not enough todescribe them as fortune-hunters, credulous, imaginative, tireless;neither is it enough to write them soldiers, bold, skilful, confident,cruel to enemies, gentle to each other. They were characters of the agein which they lived, unseen before, unseen since; knights errant, whobelieved in hippogriff and dragon, but sought them only in lands ofgold; missionaries, who complacently broke the body of the convertedthat Christ might the sooner receive his soul; palmers of pike andshield, who, in care of the Virgin, followed the morning round theworld, assured that Heaven stooped lowest over the most profitableplantations.

  "OUT OF THE WAY, DOG!" SHOUTED SANDOVAL]

  The wonders of the way from the coast to Iztapalapan had so beguiled thelittle host that they took but partial account of its dangers. When,this morning, they stepped upon the causeway, and began the march outinto the lake, a sense of insecurity fell upon them, like the shadow ofa cloud; back to the land they looked, as to a friend from whom theymight be parting forever; and as they proceeded, and the water spreadaround them, wider, deeper, and up-bearing denser multitudes ofpeople, the enterprise suddenly grew in proportions, and challengedtheir self-sufficiency; yet, as I have heard them confess, they did notwake to a perfect comprehension of their situation, and its dangers anddifficulties, until they passed the gates of Xoloc: then Tenochtitlanshone upon them,--a city of enchantment! And then each one felt that toadvance was like marching in the face of death, at the same time eachone saw there was no hope except in advance. Every hand grasped closerthe weapon with which it was armed, while the ranks were intuitivelyclosed. What most impressed them, they said, was the silence of thepeople; a word, a shout, a curse, or a battle-cry would have been arelief from the fears and fancies that beset them; as it was, though inthe midst of myriad life, they heard only their own tramp, or the clangand rattle of their own arms. As if aware of the influence, and fearfulof its effect upon his weaker followers, Cortes spoke to the musicians,and trumpet and clarion burst into a strain which, with beat of drum andclash of cymbal, was heard in the city.

  "_Ola_, Sandoval, Alvarado! Here, at my right and left!" cried Cortes.

  They spurred forward at the call.

  "Out of the way, dog!" shouted Sandoval, thrusting a naked _tamene_ overthe edge of the dike with the butt of his lance.

  "By my conscience, Senores," Cortes said, "I think true Christian in aland of unbelievers never beheld city like this. If it be wrong to theroyal good knight, Richard, of England, or that valorous captain, theFlemish Duke Godfrey, may the saints pardon me; but I dare say thewalled towns they took, and, for that matter, I care not if you numberAntioch and the Holy City of the Sepulchre among them, were not to beput in comparison with this infidel stronghold."

  And as they ride, listening to his comments, let me bring themparticularly to view.

  They were in full armor, except that Alvarado's squire carried hishelmet for him. In preparation for the entry, their skilful furbishershad well renewed the original lustre of helm, gorget, breastplate,glaive, greave, and shield. The plumes in their crests, like the scarfsacross their breasts, had been carefully preserved for such ceremonies.At the saddle-bows hung heavy hammers, better known as battle-axes.Rested upon the iron shoe, and balanced in the right hand, each carrieda lance, to which, as the occasion was peaceful, a silken pennon wasattached. The horses, opportunely rested in Iztapalapan, and glisteningin mail, trod the causeway as if conscious of the terror they inspired.

  Cortes, between his favorite captains, rode with lifted visor, smilingand confident. His complexion was bloodless and ashy, a singularity themore noticeable on account of his thin, black beard. The lower lip wasseamed with a scar. He was of fine stature, broad-shouldered, and thin,but strong, active, and enduring. His skill in all manner of martialexercises was extraordinary. He conversed in Latin, composed poetry,wrote unexceptionable prose, and, except when in passion, spoke gravelyand with well-turned periods.[41] In argument he was both dogmatic andconvincing, and especially artful in addressing soldiers, of whom, byconstitution, mind, will, and courage, he was a natural leader. Now, gayand assured, he managed his steed with as little concern and talkedcarelessly as a knight returning victorious from some joyous passage ofarms.

  Gonzalo de Sandoval, not twenty-three years of age, was better looking,having a larger frame and fuller face. His beard was auburn, and curledagreeably to the prevalent fashion. Next to his knightly honor, he lovedhis beautiful chestnut horse, Motilla.[42]

  Handsomest man of the party, however, was Don Pedro de Alvarado.Generous as a brother to a Christian, he hated a heathen with the fervorof a crusader. And now, in scorn of Aztecan treachery, he was ridingunhelmed, his locks, long and yellow, flowing freely over his shoulders.His face was fair as a gentlewoman's, and neither sun nor weather couldalter it. Except in battle, his countenance expressed the friendliestdisposition. He cultivated his beard assiduously, training it to fall inringlets upon his breast,--and there was reason for the weakness, ifsuch it was; yellow as gold, with the help of his fair face and clearblue eyes, it gave him a peculiar expression of sunniness, from whichthe Aztecs called him _Tonitiah_, child of the Sun.[43]

  And over what a following of cavaliers the leader looked when, turningin his saddle, he now and then glanced down the column,--Christobal deOli, Juan Velasquez de Leon, Francisco de Montejo, Luis Marin, Andreasde Tapia, Alonzo de Avila, Francisco de Lugo, the Manjarezes, Andreasand Gregorio, Diego de Ordas, Francisco de Morla, Christobal de Olea,Gonzalo de Dominguez, Rodriques Magarino, Alonzo HernandezCarrero,--most of them gentlemen of the class who knew the songs ofRodrigo, and the stories of Amadis and the Paladins!

  And much shame would there be to me if I omitted mention of twoothers,--Bernal Diaz del Castillo, who, after the conquest, became itsfaithful historian, and Father Bartolome de Olmedo,[44] sweet singer,good man, and devoted servant of God, the first to whisper the names ofChrist and the Holy Mother in the ear of New Spain. In the column behindthe cavaliers, with his assistant, Juan de las Varillas, he rodebareheaded, and clad simply in a black serge gown. The tinkle of thelittle silver bell, which the soldiers, in token of love, had tied tothe neck of his mule, sounded, amid the harsher notes of war, like agentle reminder of shepherds and grazing flocks in peaceful pasturesnear Old World homes.

  After the holy men, in care of a chosen guard of honor, the flag ofSpain was carried; and then came the artillery, drawn by slaves; next,in close order, followed the cross-bowmen and arquebusiers, the latterwith their matches lighted. Rearward still, in savage pomp and pride,strode the two thousand Tlascalans, first of their race to bear shieldand fly banner along the causeway into Tenochtitlan. And so theChristians, in order of battle, but scarcely four hundred strong,marched into a capital of full three hundred thousand inhabitants,swollen by the innumerable multitudes of the valley.

  As they drew nigh the city, the cavaliers became silent and thoughtful.With astonishment, which none of them sought to conceal, they gazed atthe white walls and crowded houses, and, with sharpened visions, tracedagainst the sky the outlines of temples and temple-towers, more numerousthan those of papal Rome. Well they knew that the story of what they sawso magnificently before them would be received with incredulity in allthe courts of Christendom. Indeed, some of the humbler soldiers marchedconvinced that all they beheld was a magical delusion. Not so Cortes.

  "Ride on, gentlemen, ride on!" he said. "There is a question I would askof a good man behind us. I will rejoin you shortly."

&nb
sp; From the artillerists he singled a soldier.

  "Martin Lopez! Martin Lopez!"

  The man came to him.

  "Martin, look out on this lake. Beareth it resemblance to the blue bayson the southern shore of old Spain? As thou art a crafty sailor, comrademine, look carefully."

  Lopez raised his morion, and, leaning on his pike, glanced over theexpanse.

  "Senor, the water is fair enough, and, for that, looks like bayous Ihave seen without coming so far; but I doubt if a two-decker could floaton it long enough for Father Olmedo to say mass for our souls in peril."

  "Peril! Plague take thee, man! Before the hour of vespers, by theBlessed Lady, whose image thou wearest, this lake, yon city, its master,and all thou seest here, not excepting the common spawn of idolatry atour feet, shall be the property of our sovereign lord. But, MartinLopez, thou hast hauled sail and tacked ship in less room than this.What say'st thou to sailing a brigantine here?"

  The sailor's spirit rose; he looked over the lake again.

  "It might be done, it might be done!"

  "Then, by my conscience, it shall be! Confess thyself an Admiralto-night."

  And Cortes rode to the front. Conquest might not be, he saw, withoutvessels; and true to his promise, it came to pass that Lopez sailed, notone, but a fleet of brigantines on the gentle waters.

  When the Christians were come to the first bridge outside the walls,their attention was suddenly drawn from the city. Down the street cameMontezuma and his retinue. Curious as they were to see the arch-infidel,the soldiers kept their ranks; but Cortes, taking with him thecavaliers, advanced to meet the monarch. When the palanquin stopped, theSpaniards dismounted. About the same time an Indian woman, of comelyfeatures, came forward.

  "Stay thou here, Marina," said Cortes. "I will embrace the heathen, thencall thee to speak to him."

  "_Jesu!_" cried Alvarado. "There is gold enough on his litter to furnisha cathedral."

  "Take thou the gold, Senor; I choose the jewels on his mantle," said DeOrdas.

  "By my patron saint of excellent memory!" said Sandoval, lisping hiswords, "I think for noble cavaliers ye are easily content. Take thejewels and the gold; but give me that train of stalwart dogs, and aplantation worthy of my degree here by Tezcuco."

  So the captains talked.

  Meantime, the cotton cloth was stretched along the dike. Then on landand sea a hush prevailed.

  Montezuma came forward supported by the lords Cuitlahua and Cacama.Cortes met him half-way. When face to face, they paused, and looked ateach other. Alas, for the Aztec then! In the mailed stranger he beheld avisitant from the Sun,--a god! The Spaniard saw, wrapped in the richvestments, only a man,--a king, yet a heathen! He opened his arms:Montezuma stirred not. Cuitlahua uttered a cry to Huitzil', and caughtone of the extended arms. Long did Cortes keep in mind the cacique'slook at that moment; long did he remember the dark brown face, swollenwith indignation and horror. Alvarado laid his hand on his sword.

  "Peace, Don Pedro!" said Cortes. "The knave knows nothing of respectablecustoms. Instead of taking to thy sword, bless the Virgin that aChristian knight hath been saved the sin of embracing an unbeliever.Call Marina."

  The woman came, and stood by the Spaniard, and in a sweet voiceinterpreted the speeches. The monarch expressed delight at seeing hisvisitors, and welcomed them to Tenochtitlan; his manner and courteouswords won even Alvarado. Cortes answered, acknowledging surprise at thebeauty and extent of the city, and in token of his gratification atbeing at last before a king so rich and powerful begged him to accept apresent. Into the royal hand he then placed a string of precious stones,variously colored, and strongly perfumed with musk. Thereupon theceremony ended. Two of the princes were left to conduct the strangers totheir quarters. Resuming his palanquin, Montezuma himself led theprocession as far as his own palace.

  And Cortes swung himself into the saddle. "Let the trumpets sound.Forward!"

  Again the music,--again the advance; then the pageant passed from thecauseway and lake into the expectant city.

  Theretofore, the Christians had been silent from discipline, now theywere silent from wonder. Even Cortes held his peace. They had seen theirregular towns of Tlascala, and the pretentious beauty of Cholula, andIztapalapan, in whose streets the lake contended with the land formastery, yet were they unprepared for Tenochtitlan. Here, it was plain,wealth and power and time and labor, under the presidency of genius, hadwrought their perfect works, everywhere visible: under foot, a soundingbridge, or a broad paved way, dustless, and unworn by wheel or hoof; onthe right and left, airy windows, figured portals, jutting balconies,embattled cornices, porticos with columns of sculptured marble, and herea palace, there a temple; overhead pyramidal heights crowned with towersand smoking braziers, or lower roofs, from which, as from hanginggardens, floated waftures sweet as the perfumed airs of the Indianisles; and everywhere, looking up from the canals, down from theporticos, houses, and pyramids, and out of the doors and windows,crowding the pavement, clinging to the walls,--everywhere the PEOPLE!After ages of decay I know it has been otherwise; but I also know thatconquerors have generally found the builders of a great state able andwilling to defend it.

  "St. James absolve me, Senor! but I like not the coldness of thesedogs," said Monjarez to Avila.

  "Nor I," was the reply. "Seest thou the women on yon balcony? I wouldgive my helmet full of ducats, if they would but once cry, "_VivaEspana!_"

  "Nay, that would I if they would but wave a scarf."

  The progress of the pageant was necessarily slow; but at last thespectators on the temple of Huitzil' heard its music; at last thedaughters of the king beheld it in the street below them.

  "Gods of my fathers!" thought Tula, awed and trembling, "what manner ofbeings are these?"

  And the cross-bowmen and arquebusiers, their weapons and glittering ironcaps, the guns, and slaves that dragged them, even the flag ofSpain,--objects of mighty interest to others,--drew from Nenetzin but apassing glance. Very beautiful to her, however, were the cavaliers,insomuch that she cared only for their gay pennons, their shields, theirplumes nodding bravely above their helms, their armor of strange metal,on which the sun seemed to play with a fiery love, and their steeds,creatures tamed for the service of gods. Suddenly her eyes fixed, herheart stopped; pointing to where the good Captain Alvarado rode,scanning, with upturned face, the great pile, "O Tula, Tula!" she cried."See! There goes the blue-eyed warrior of my dream!"

  But it happened that Tula was, at the moment, too much occupied tolisten or look. The handsome vendor of images, standing near the royalparty, had attracted the attention of Yeteve, the priestess.

  "The noble Tula is unhappy. She is thinking of--"

  A glance checked the name.

  Then Yeteve whispered, "Look at the image-maker."

  The prompting was not to be resisted. She looked, and recognizedGuatamozin. Not that only; through his low disguise, in his attitude,his eyes bright with angry fire, she discerned his spirit, its pride andheroism. Not for her was it to dispute the justice of his banishment.Love scorned the argument. There he stood, the man for the time;strong-armed, stronger-hearted, prince by birth, king by nature,watching afar off a scene in which valor and genius entitled him toprominence. Then there were tears for him, and a love higher, if notpurer, than ever.

  Suddenly he leaned over the verge, and shouted, "Al-a-lala! Al-a-lala!"and with such energy that he was heard in the street below. Tula lookeddown, and saw the cause of the excitement,--the Tlascalans were marchingby! Again his cry, the same with which he had so often led hiscountrymen to battle. No one took it up. The companies inside the sacredwall turned their faces, and stared at him in dull wonder. And hecovered his eyes with his hands, while every thought was a fierceinvective. Little he then knew how soon, and how splendidly, they wereto purchase his forgiveness!

  When the Tlascalans were gone, he dropped his hands, and foundthe--mallet! So it was the artisan, the image-maker, not the 'tzin, whohad failed to wake the army t
o war! He turned quickly, and took his waythrough the crowd, and disappeared; and none but Tula and Yeteve everknew that, from the _teocallis_, Guatamozin had witnessed the entry ofthe _teules_.

  And so poor Nenetzin had been left to follow the warrior of her dream;the shock and the pleasure were hers alone.

  The palace of Axaya' faced the temple of Huitzil' on the west. In one ofthe halls Montezuma received Cortes and the cavaliers; and all theirlives they recollected his gentleness, courtesy, and unaffected royaltyin that ceremony. Putting a golden collar around the neck of his chiefguest, he said, "This palace belongs to you, Malinche, and to yourbrethren. Rest after your fatigues; you have much need to do so. In alittle while I will come again."

  And when he was gone, straightway the guest so honored proceeded tochange the palace into a fort. Along the massive walls that encircledit he stationed sentinels; at every gate planted cannon; and, like theenemy he was, he began, and from that time enforced, a disciplinesterner than before.

  The rest of the day the citizens, from the top of the temple, keptincessant watch upon the palace. When the shades of evening werecollecting over the city, and the thousands, grouped along the streets,were whispering of the incidents they had seen, a thunderous reportbroke the solemn stillness; and they looked at each other, and trembled,and called the evening guns of Cortes "Voices of the Gods."

  FOOTNOTES:

  [41] Bernal Diaz, Hist. of the Conq. of Mexico.

  [42] Ib.

  [43] Bernal Diaz, Hist. of the Conq. of Mexico.

  [44] Ib.

  BOOK FIVE.