In the afternoon Montezuma reappeared with a large suite. Seating himself beside Cortés,26 he expressed his delight at meeting such valiant men, whose fame and deeds had already aroused his interest during their visits in the two preceding years at Potonchan and Chalchiuhcuecan.
If he had sought to prevent their entry into the capital, it was solely because his subjects feared them, with their animals and thunder; for rumors had described them as voracious beings, who devoured at one meal what sufficed for ten times the number of natives, who thirsted for treasures and who came only to tyrannize. He now saw that they were mortals, although braver and mightier than his own race, that the animals were large deer, and that the caged lightning was an exaggeration.
He related the Quetzalcoatl myth,27 and expressed his belief that they were the predicted race, and their king the rightful ruler of the land.
“Hence be assured,” said he, “that we shall obey you, and hold you as lord lieutenant of the great king, and this without fail or deceit. You may command in all my empire as you please, and shall be obeyed. All that we possess is at your disposal.”28
Cortés expressed himself as overwhelmed with these kind offers and with the many favors already received,
and hastened to assure the emperor that they were not misplaced. He and his men came indeed from the direction of the rising sun, and their king, the mightiest in the world, and the ruler of many great princes, was the one he supposed. Hearing of the grandeur of the Mexican monarch, their master had sent the former captains, brethren of theirs, to examine the route, and to prepare the way for the present commission.
He had come to offer him the friendship of their great king, who wished in no wise to interfere with his authority, but rather that his envoys should serve him and teach the true faith.