CHAPTER 5

OF WHAT BEFELL THEM IN MALINALCO AND IN TULA AND CHAPULTEPEC

There is a distance of more than fifty leagues between Michoacán and Mexico. On the way lies Malinalco, where it happened that, when they complained to their idol about a woman in their company, a great sorceress whose name was Sister of their God (for with her evil arts she caused them much harm, trying in a certain way to make them adore her as a goddess), the idol spoke in a dream to one of those old men who carried the ark and commanded him to console the people in his name, again making them great promises; and he told them to leave that sister of his behind with all her family, for she was cruel and evil, breaking camp at night and in total silence, leaving not a trace of where they had gone. This they did, and the sorceress, finding herself tricked and left alone with her family, founded a town there that is called Malinalco; and the natives of Malinalco are held to be great sorcerers, as children of such a mother.

The Mexicans, because their numbers had greatly diminished through these divisions and through the numbers of sick and exhausted folk they had successively left behind, wanted to recuperate and stopped in a spot called Tula, which means "place of reeds." There the idol commanded them to dam a very large river and cause it to spread over a large plain, and by the arts that he taught them they surrounded with water a beautiful hill called Coatepec and made a large lake, around which they planted willows, poplars, junipers, and other trees. A large number of fish began to breed there, and many birds came, and a beautiful spot was created. As the place seemed good to them and they were tired of journeying, many wished to settle there and go no farther. The devil became terribly angry with this and, threatening his priests with death, ordered them to remove the dam from the river and let it return to its previous course; and he said that he would administer the punishment that they deserved to those who had disobeyed him. And because the devil's nature is to do evil, and because Divine Justice often permits those who take him as their god to be turned over to their executioner, it happened that at midnight a great noise was heard in a certain part of the camp; and in the morning, when they went there, they found lying dead all those who had wanted to stay there. And the manner in which they were killed was that their breasts were opened and their hearts torn out, for this was the way they were found; and thus their charming god showed those unhappy folk the kind of sacrifices that pleased him, which was to open men's breasts and tear out their hearts, as they did ever afterward in their horrible sacrifices.

After this punishment and after the land had dried up because the lake had lost its water, they consulted their god and by his will and command went forward little by little until they came to within a league of the City of Mexico, to Chapultepec, a place famous for its restorative qualities and coolness. They fortified themselves on this hill, fearing the nations that had already settled that land, for all were their enemies, chiefly because the Mexicans had been defamed by a certain Copil, son of that sorceress whom they had left behind in Malinalco; sent by his mother, after a long interval he had come in search of the Mexicans and tried to incite the Tepanecas and the other neighboring nations, and even the Chalcas, against the Mexicans, so that they came in arms to destroy them. Copil went to a hill called Acapilco, which is in the midst of the lagoon, anticipating the destruction of his enemies; but warned by their idol they attacked him, and taking him unawares killed him and brought his heart to their god, who commanded them to throw it in the lake. And they fancy that from it grew a cactus, where the City of Mexico was founded. The Chalcas and other nations began to fight with the Mexicans, who had chosen as their captain a brave man named Huitzilihuitli, and in the course of the battle he was captured and killed by the other side; but the Mexicans did not lose heart on account of this, and, fighting valiantly despite their enemies, they hacked their way through their squadrons and, carrying their old folk and their women and children in their midst, reached Atlacuihuatan, a town of the Culhuas, whom they found celebrating a festival, and there they made themselves strong. Neither the Chalcas nor the others pursued them out of pure shame at seeing themselves defeated by so few when they were so many, and they retired to their towns.