prophecied would come from the rising of the sun, and I feel myself
indebted to your great emperor, to whom I will send a present of the
most valuable things I possess. It is now two years ago that I received
the first intelligence of him by some vessels which appeared off my
coast belonging to your country, the people on board of which likewise
called themselves subjects of your great emperor. Tell me, now, do you
really all belong to the same people?"

Cortes assured him we were all servants of the same great emperor; that
those vessels were merely sent out in advance to explore the seas and
the harbours, to make the necessary preparations for our present
expedition.

Motecusuma likewise remarked that then even he had contemplated allowing
some of those men to penetrate into the interior of his country, from
his great desire to see them, and had intended to pay them great
honours. Since the gods had now fulfilled his greatest desires, and we
now inhabited his dwellings, which we might look upon as our own, we
could rest from our fatigues, and enjoy ourselves, and we should not
want for anything. Although he had sometimes sent us word not to repair
to his metropolis, he had done so with great reluctance. He had been
forced to act so on account of his subjects, who stood in great awe of
us, and believed that we whirled fire and lightning around us, and
killed numbers of men with our horses; that we were wild and unruly
teules, and such like nonsense: as he had now gained personal knowledge
of us, and convinced himself that we were likewise formed of flesh and
bone, and men of great understanding, with great courage, he entertained
even a more elevated opinion of us than he had previously, and was ready
to share all he possessed with us.

Upon this, Cortes assured him that we felt ourselves vastly indebted to
him for the very kind feeling he evinced on our behalf.

Motecusuma, who was always of a merry disposition, though never, for an
instant, forgetful of his high station, now continued in a more humorous
style, as follows: "I am perfectly well aware, Malinche, what the people
of Tlascalla, with whom you are so closely allied, have been telling you
respecting myself. They have made you believe that I am a species of
god, or teule, and that my palaces are filled with gold, silver, and
jewels. I do not think, for an instant, that reasonable men as you are
can put any faith in all their talk, but that you look upon all