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Bernal and Gonzalo, meeting, discuss the recent conquest of Nueva Galicia by the infamous Nuño de Guzman.

Gonzalo. “If to lay waste fields and towns,

If to assassinate war captives,

If to violate pledged faith,

Is to be Christian, I admit

That Don Nuño de Guzman

Is of Christians, the very type.

The Tlaxcallans complain,

Who have been our faithful allies,

That, like beasts of burden,

He has led them over

Hard roads, not fighting—

As they were led to expect—

But, bearing on their shoulders

Great, heavy burdens;

And that those, who, from fatigue,

Bernal, could go no further,

Were instanter thrown to the dogs,

Or left, without assistance,

In the forests. Their shoulders

Covered with wounds, I have seen;

Upon frightful chafed spots,

The memory of which appals me,

They carried our provisions;

Meantime, Don Nuño, tranquil,

Sought renown in war,

Or enriched himself,

By plundering defenseless villages.

Imagine, friend Bernal,

If he mistreats our allies,

What he would do to enemies.”

* * * *

Xochitl confers with Bernal as to what she ought to do:

Bernal.	“But, tell me. Before today
Has Cortes told you of his love?
Xochitl.	Until today, I have not seen him at my feet.
His consuming passion,
Through his betraying glance
I have, for some time, realized.
For this reason, Bernal, I avoid
Finding myself alone with him.
Bernal.	You ought to flee.
Xochitl.	I fear to find myself
Alone in the great world.
Bernal.	But, when the hawk
Sees a lonely dove,
He seizes it, within his talons;
When the volcano bursts forth
It destroys in its terrific energy
The palm, which grows at its base.
When the wave is lashed to fury,
The bark sinks in the sea;
And, at the blast of adversity,
Happiness vanishes.

(Pause.)

Xochitl.	Do you think Cortes ever——?
Bernal.	If he loves thee, good God——!
Xochitl.	Then, both of us must leave.
Bernal.	You will leave, with Gonzalo?
Do you know to what you expose yourself?
Do you know that, Hernando Cortes,70
If he sees himself mocked, is
Than the panther fiercer,
And that his rage would
Dash you to pieces at his feet?
Xochitl.	And what signifies life to me?
Bernal.	But Gonzalo, also, he——
Xochitl.	Hold! for God’s sake, do not speak
That murderous word.
Departure makes me tremble,
And I tremble if I remain;
Bernal! everything causes me terror;
My uncertainty is frightful——
To remain is impossible——
Without Gonzalo, go, I cannot.”

(She departs.)

* * * *

Cortes communicates his plans for Marina—first to Gonzalo, then to Marina, herself.

(Pause.)

Cortes.	“We are likely to have an uprising,
And I do not wish you to be
Involved in it; how good it is to die
In actual battle
And not fighting the vile rabble.
For this reason you are, with Marina,
To leave for Orizaba
At dawn.
Gonzalo.	(Aside). And she will remain here, without me!
Cortes.	I expect you at dawn, Gonzalo,
A passport, for leaving the city,
With a veiled lady,
I shall give you.
Gonzalo.	Veiled?
Cortes.	So
Will the passport read: I do not wish
Them to know who it is. You ought
To leave at dawn. Go
To rest yourself.
Gonzalo.	May happy
Dreams be yours. (Aside.) At dawn!
Xochitl ... soon I’ll return for thee.”

* * * *

Cortes.	“To counteract the plotting
Of so many enemies, I go to Spain.
In thinking of your happiness——
Marina.	You think of my happiness, Don Hernando?
Cortes.	—Considering that your nobility
Deserves a name, a grandeur,
Worthy of you, Marina,——
Marina.	I know not what vile treason my soul divines.
Cortes.	—Wealth, and state,
And a husband—Don Juan de Jaramillo——
Marina.	Cease! Hernando, cease!
Cortes.	You leave, tomorrow, for Orizaba.
Marina.	And, thus, you abandon me?
And thus you crown my loyalty and love?
Oh monster! Impious father!
And thy son, Cortes? My son?
No, the very panther
Does not abandon its little ones: that beast,
More human heart
Has, than the grand Christian conqueror.
Cortes.	We must needs separate.
And no power, you know it well,
Can bend my fixed purpose.”

In 1882, General Riva Palacio, author and statesman, published a little book Los Ceros (The Zeros), under the nom-de-plume of Cero. It was a good natured criticism of contemporary authors, written in a satirical vein. We will close with some quotations from it regarding Chavero.

“Well, then, let us study Chavero upon his two weak sides, that is to say upon his strong sides, because, it is a curious thing, that we always say—‘this is my forte,’ when we are speaking of some penchant, while common opinion at once translates, ‘this is his weakness’; strength is the impregnable side, but we call the more vulnerable, the strong side.

“Archæology and the drama! Does it seem to you the title of a comedy? But no, dear sir, these are the passions of our friend, Alfredo Chavero.

“True, archæologists and dramatists are lacking in this land so full of antiques and comicalities; but theatrical management is difficult and the way is sown—worse than with thorns—almost with bayonets.

“Alfredo has produced good dramas, but nobly dominated by the patriotic spirit, he has wished to place upon the boards, such personages as the Queen Xochitl, and Meconetzin, and with these personages no one gains a reputation here in Mexico.... Our society, our nation, has no love for its traditions. Perhaps those writers are to blame for this, who ever seek for the actors in their story, personages of the middle ages, who love and fight in fantastic castles on the banks of the Rhine, or ladies and knights of the times of Orgaz and Villamediana; those novelists, who disdain the slightest reference in their works, to the banquets, dress, and customs of our own society; who long to give aristocratic flavor to their novels, by picturing Parisian scenes in Mexico and sketching social classes, which they have seen through the pages of Arrsenne Houssaye, Emile Zola, Henri Bourger, or Paison de Terrail; and our poets, who ever speak of nightingales and larks, gazelles and jacinths, without ever venturing to give place, in their doleful ditties, to the cuitlacoche, nor the zentzontl, nor the cocomitl, nor the yoloxochitl.”

“As the Arabs have their Hegira, the Christians their era, and the Russians their calendar without the Gregorian correction, so Chaverito[4] has his personal era and chronology. The eolithic or neolithic ages signify nought to him, nor the jurassic nor the cretaceous periods; he counts and divides his periods in a manner peculiar to himself and comprehensible to us, the ignoramuses in geology, archæology, and palæontology.

“Thus, for example, treating of archæology he says: ‘in Manuel Payno’s boyhood’—when he refers to preadamite man; of men like Guillermo Prieto, he says ‘they are of the geological horizon of Guillermo Valle’; soldiers, like Corona, he calls ‘volcanic formations’; the customs’ house receipts he names ‘marine sediments’; ‘the stone age,’ in his nomenclature, signifies the time before he was elected Deputy;—when he says ‘before the creation,’ it is understood that he refers to days when he had not yet been Governor of the Federal District; and if he says ‘after Christ,’ he must be supposed to speak of an epoch posterior to his connection with the State Department; and it is claimed, that he is so skilled in understanding hieroglyphs, that he has deciphered the whole history of Xochimilco, in the pittings left by small-pox, on the face of a son of that pueblo.”

“Suppose, dear reader, you encounter one of those stones, so often found in excavating in Mexico, a fragment on which are to be seen, coarsely cut, some engravings, or horrible reliefs, or shapeless figures—have it washed, and present it to Chavero.

“Alfredo will wrinkle his forehead, take a pinch of snuff, join his hands behind him, and displaying so much of his paunch as possible, will spit out for your benefit, a veritable discourse:

“‘The passage which this stone represents is well known; it figures in an episode in the great war between the Atepocates,[5] warlike population of southern Anahuac, and the Escuimiles, their rivals, in which the latter were finally conquered. The person standing is Chilpocle XI, of the dynasty of the Chacualoles, who, by the death of his father Chichicuilote III, inherited the throne, being in his infancy, and his mother, the famous Queen Apipisca II, the Semiramis of Tepachichilco, was regent during his youth. The person kneeling is Chayote V, unfortunate monarch of the vanquished, who owed the loss of his kingdom to the treachery of his councillor, Chincual, who is behind him. The two persons near the victor are his son, who was afterward the celebrated conqueror Cacahuatl II, and his councillor, the illustrious historian and philosopher Guajalote, nicknamed Chicuase, for the reason that he had six fingers on his left hand, and who was the chronicler of the revolt and destruction of the tribes of the Mestlapiques. The two-pointed star-symbols, which are seen above, are the arms of the founder of the dynasty, Chahiustl the Great, and this stone was sculptured during the golden age of the arts of the Atepotecas, when, among their sculptors figured the noted Ajoloth, among their painters the most famous Tlacuil, and among their architects the celebrated Huasontl.’”