and “it seems,” says an esteemed biographer, “that the love felt by the couple, for this fruit of their union, inspired them with the infamous plan of feigning the death of the first born, that all the inheritance might pass to the son, availing themselves of a stratagem to remove suspicion.” A daughter of one of their slaves had died at that very time, and they made mourning as if the dead were their own daughter, secretly disposing of her to some merchants of Xicalanco, a town located on the border of Tabasco. Those of Xicalanco gave, or sold, her to their neighbors, the Tabasqueños, among whom Malintzin was, when on March 12, 1519, the Spanish armada, under orders of Herñan Cortes, arrived at the river of Tabasco, to which he gave the name Grijalva. It is well known that the Tabasqueños, at first, attempted to fight against the Spaniards in defense of their territory, but—before the unusual valor, before the fire-arms, before the battle horses of the Conqueror—a violent reaction took place, the combats ceased, and a peace, which could not last, was pretended.
Among the gifts with which the Tabasqueños desired to demonstrate their submission, were twenty women, of whom one was notable for her extraordinary beauty. Malintzin, the girl who had been cruelly thrust out from the parental home, was this woman. They baptized her under the name of Marina, which the Aztecs pronounced Malintzin. “When the Conqueror received her as a gift from the lords of Tabasco, in company with the other women, he distributed to each captain his woman, giving Malintzin to the Cavalier Alonso Hernández Portocarrero, who was cousin of the Count of Medellin.” So says the biographer to whom we have referred.
Continuing this imperfect narrative, we may say that Malintzin was useful to the conquerors from their arrival at Vera Cruz, since she knew the Aztec language,—although we cannot explain how she could, in a few days, learn the Spanish to discharge the rôle of interpreter so perfectly as historians declare. However that may be, this Indian woman