CHAPTER XCVII.

CHAPTER XCVII.

_How we entertained and amused Motecusuma during his confinement,
and granted him permission to visit his temple._

Our general was a man who thought of everything, and strove as much as possible to enliven the monarch in his confinement, that he might not feel the weight of his misfortune too deeply. Cortes, therefore, every morning after we had said prayers, visited the monarch with four of our principal officers, to inquire after his health and after his wants, and otherwise to amuse him in every way; in which they succeeded so well that Motecusuma one day himself declared his confinement was not irksome to him, as our gods had given us the power to take him prisoner, and Huitzilopochtli had allowed it.

Sometimes also Motecusuma played at a certain game with Cortes, which the Mexicans call the game of totoloc: it is played with small round glossy balls, which here were made of gold, and are pitched at a certain mark, also of the same metal: five throws finished the game, and the stakes were for valuable gold trinkets and jewels. I still remember once when Motecusuma and Cortes were playing at this game, Alvarado scoring for Cortes, and a distinguished cazique (his nephew) for the monarch, that Alvarado continually scored one too many for Cortes. This was observed by Motecusuma, who said, with a pleasing smile, that he was not exactly pleased when Tonatio (so they termed Alvarado) marked the game for Cortes, for he was guilty of Ixoxol in scoring, which means that he scored falsely, by continually marking one more than he ought.

Cortes, and we others who happened to be on duty at the time in the apartment, could not resist laughing at the observation of the monarch. And why, it will be asked, did we find that expression so amusing? Because Alvarado, notwithstanding the handsome and refined man he was, could not resist the temptation of scoring falsely, and had been discovered. However, all the gain was divided among those present; for what Cortes won he presented to the monarch's nephew and his servants; Motecusuma dividing his gains among those who happened to be on duty at the time.[70] And not a day passed that he did not present Velasquez de Leon, who was very kind to him, and was captain of the guard, and those who were on duty, with valuable gold trinkets and manufactured stuffs.

One night a sailor, named Truxillo, stood sentinel in the monarch's apartment. This fellow was very stout and strongly-built; he happened to forget himself, for a moment, in a way which, out of respect for the reader, I will not describe more minutely here. Motecusuma, who was a monarch of refined manners, happened to hear it at the moment, and considered himself grossly insulted. He inquired of his page Orteguilla who the low-bred fellow was? Orteguilla replied that the man was a sailor, and that such persons were little acquainted with good manners. It was upon this occasion also that Orteguilla explained to him the rank of every individual soldier, who were cavaliers and who were not, and many other things the monarch wished to know. Motecusuma, however, had not forgotten the insult which the sailor had offered to his person, for daylight had scarcely broken forth when he sent for him, and reproached him for his disrespectful behaviour, and advised him to mend his manners for the future; but sweetened down this lecture by presenting him with some gold trinkets, worth about five pesos. This kind treatment, however, had little effect on the rough sailor, who repeated his filthy conduct the following night, in the hopes of getting a second present when morning came. Motecusuma, however, disdained speaking to him any more, but complained to the captain of the guard, and desired that the fellow might be severely reprimanded and never allowed again to stand sentinel there.

Something similar happened to a soldier named Lopez, who was an excellent crossbow-man, and had a fine figure, though otherwise a man of little understanding. As he was one night on duty in the monarch's apartment, and the corporal came to make the rounds, he remarked to the latter, "A curse upon this dog, I am sure this standing sentinel at night will be my death!"

Motecusuma heard these words, and considered his feelings deeply wounded. When, therefore, Cortes came in the morning to pay the monarch his usual visit, he complained bitterly to him about the insult that had been offered him. Cortes was exceedingly vexed, and was so enraged with Lopez that he ordered him to be whipped. From that day every one who stood sentinel in the monarch's apartment maintained a respectful silence; though, as far as regarded myself and others of my companions who often stood sentinel in the same apartment, we needed no instructions as to how we were to behave in the presence of such a great monarch, who soon got to know all our names and peculiarities, was exceedingly kind towards us, and often distributed gold trinkets among us, besides manufactured cottons and pretty females. At that time I was yet a young fellow, and whenever I stood sentinel in the monarch's apartment, I always behaved with the greatest respect, and uncovered my head on passing by him. This drew his attention towards me, and, on inquiring who I was, Orteguilla informed him that I had accompanied the two former voyages of discovery to these parts. When, therefore, Orteguilla, at my desire, hinted to him that I should be much pleased with a pretty Mexican female, he sent for me, and said, "I understand, Bernal Diaz del Castillo, that you have abundance of gold and cotton stuffs, wherefore I will now give you a pretty young female. Treat her well, for she is the daughter of distinguished parents, who will, besides, give you more gold and cotton stuffs with her."

I very respectfully thanked the monarch for his kindness, and hoped God would bless him for it. When the page interpreted my answer, he said, "Bernal Diaz appears to me to have the true feelings of a well-bred man," and ordered three small plates of gold and two additional packages of cotton stuffs to be given me.

With respect to Motecusuma's mode of life, it was his custom to say his prayers the first thing in the morning, and sacrifice to his gods: he then partook of a little breakfast, which consisted not in meat, but solely in agi.[71] This being finished, he gave an hour's audience to the caziques, who came from distant parts in great numbers to lay before him certain disputes, and obtain his judgment. The remaining part of the day was then spent in amusement, particularly with his concubines, of whom he had a great number; some of these, at times, he gave in marriage to his generals, principal favorites, and likewise to us soldiers; as I, for instance, obtained Do�a Francisca, whom you might well see was a woman of distinction. Now and then the monarch would laugh, and then again he was pensive, and seemed to reflect on his confinement.

I must once more return to the soldier whom Cortes had so severely punished for calling Motecusuma a dog. Many to whom I have related this were surprised at the severity of his punishment, as the man had not said it to the monarch's face; besides that, our numbers were so small, and that the Mexicans would be sure to hear of it. My reply to this is, that all of us, even Cortes himself, paid Motecusuma the most profound respect, and no one passed by him without uncovering his head: add to all this, he was so very kind, and so courteous in his behaviour towards us, that we should have considered ourselves bound to pay his person and good breeding every possible respect, though he had not been the monarch of New Spain.

Lastly, it must be remembered that our lives were in his hands; for, at his very wink, his subjects would have flown to his rescue. When we saw how he was continually surrounded by so many distinguished personages, and the numbers of princes who came to wait upon him from distant parts of his empire, in the same way as if he had still been at liberty in his own palace, can we at all feel surprised, then, that Cortes should so severely have punished on the spot an insult offered to this monarch? Assuredly he did nothing more than the circumstances of the moment required!

[70] Alvarado, who sometimes also played a game with Motecusuma, showed little generosity, according to other writers. If he lost, he paid with chalchihuis stones; if he won, he was paid with bars of gold, each worth at least fifty ducats. Motecusuma frequently lost in one evening from forty to fifty of such gold bars to Alvarado; but the more he lost, the more good-humoured he appeared. (p. 258.)

[71] A kind of soup or broth, of which the so termed Spanish pepper formed the chief ingredient. (p. 260.)