greedy for their precious jewels,
butchered the entire aristocracy of
the city while they were assembled
for a great religious ceremony. The
citizens rose against the Conquist–
adores, Montezuma was killed in
the fighting, and his successor,
Guitlahuac, finally drove the Span–
iards out of Tenochtitlan. Later,
Cortez laid siege to the city, using
a fleet of boats he had had spe–
cially constructed. Since the city
was surrounded by water, this fleet
was able to cut it off from the
mainland. Guitlahuac died of
smallpox, and his successor, Cuate–
moc, took over the defense. The
siege lasted ninety-three days, both
sides fighting with desperate fero–
city. Famine and disease decimated
the besieged population. Forty cap–
tured Spaniards were sacrificed on
the altar of Huitzilopochtli.
According to the old chronicles,
Cuatemoc was only twenty-five at
the time of the siege. He was tall,
very handsome, and his bravery
astonished the Spaniards. ("Cua–
temoc" means "Falling Eagle," an
&tec metaphor for the setting sun
-a fitting name for the king who
was dated to preside over the
death of his civilization.) After the
fall of Tenochtitlan, he said to
Cortez: "I have failed to defend
my city and my reign. I am in
your power. Take this dagger and
kill me." When Cortez offered
him
freedom, he refused it, but asked
mercy for his people. Put to the
torture to force him to reveal the
763
hiding-place of the treasure of the
Aztecs, he maintained a stoic sil–
ence. He rebuked an Aztec noble
who was being tortured with him
and who cried out unrestrainedly:
"And I? Am I lying on a bed of
roses?" They were, at that moment,
burning the soles of his feet.
Forced to make an expedition
into the south, Cortez took along
Cuatemoc and other nobles lest
they try to lead an uprising in his
absence. The journey was horribly
painful for every one. At last, deep
in the tropical forest, Cortez, either
really believing or pretending
to
be–
lieve that Cuatemoc was conspiring
against him, had his soldiers hang
the king and all his nobles. To the
very end, according to the chronic–
lers, Cuatemoc behaved with dig–
nity and nobility.
He was hung from a tree in the
forest of Chiapas, a long distance
from where his alleged bones were
found. What, then, had happened?
It appears that the king's mother
had been born near Ichcateopan,
and that-according to a widely–
accepted story, at least-some
faithful subjects had carried the
body of their king to that town.
The sufferings of this journey,
which lasted several months, are
recounted in great detail. It is
easy to see how such a belief arose
when one sees the devotion that
even today is aroused by the last of
the Aztec kings. But precisely be–
cause of this devotion, his remains
have been claimed by several
