"You are acquainted with the traditions which say that the good Quetzalcoatl is to return and rule over us. That time has come and we must obey our new masters. You have been faithful vassals of mine, and I expect you to show me this last act of obedience by acknowledging the great king across the water as your lord also." The tears streamed down his face, and his haughty chiefs were very sad at heart, but they were loyal as well as brave men, and they answered:
"Your will is our law, and if you think the king of the strangers is the ancient lord of our country we are willing to acknowledge him as such."
As soon as this was done the grasping Spaniards compelled Montezuma to send throughout his kingdom for all the gold, silver, precious stones and feather-work that could be found, in the name of the king of Spain, but when they got it they divided it among themselves, and then quarreled fiercely over who should have the greater part.
Here indeed was their fabled El Dorado!
There was but one more humiliation awaiting Montezuma, and that was to have his own people revile him. The Spaniards had been so brutal and cruel in their dealings with the Aztecs that some of them began to doubt whether they could have come from Tlapalla, and whether Cortez was the Golden Hearted. Knowing this Cortez induced Montezuma to dress himself in his royal robes, and appear on the stone parapet of the palace where he was confined, to quiet the mob and induce them to go about their work peaceably. Cortez was beginning to fear for his own safety, but the populace were not to be tricked by him. They did not believe it was Montezuma before them, and hurling a stone at the royal palanquin accidentally hit the unhappy king on the forehead. The blow was not sufficient to kill him, but he took to his bed and refused to eat until he finally died. History says of him that "his great heart was burst in twain by the sorrows that oppressed his high courage." Certain it is that he could not live when he found that both his God and his people despised him. It has never been known what became of his body, for a terrible war followed his death.
Today we call his country and city Mexico.
The Child of the Sun
