Friar Bernardino de Sahagún
Aztec Elders Describe the Behavior of
Moctezuma
During the s, Friar Bernardino de Sahagún published
General History of the Things of New Spain. His History compiled the stories of Aztec elders who lived through the conquest. They told their stories to Sahagún in a repetitive style, according to the conventions of Aztec oral histories, and he translated them into Spanish.
Moctezuma enjoyed no sleep, no food, no one spoke to him. Whatsoever he did, it was as if he were in torment. Ofttimes it was as if he sighed, became weak, felt weak. . . . Wherefore he said, What will now befall us Who indeed stands in charge Alas, until now, I. In great torment is my heart as if it were washed in chili water it indeed burns And when he had so heard what the messengers reported, he was terrified, he was astounded. . . . Especially did it cause him to faint away when he heard how the gun, at the Spaniards command, discharged how it resounded as if it thundered when it went off. It indeed bereft one of strength it shutoff one’s ears. And when it discharged, something like around pebble came forth from within. Fire went showering forth sparks went blazing forth. And its smoke smelled very foul it had a fetid odor which verily wounded the head. And when the shot struck a mountain, it was as if it were destroyed, dissolved . . . as if someone blew it away.
All iron was their war array. In iron they clothed themselves. With iron they covered their heads. Iron were their swords. Iron were their crossbows. Iron were their shields. Iron were their lances. And those which bore them upon their backs, their deer horses, were as tall as roof terraces.
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