Conquest of Mexico
Then, Nezahualcoyotl,—now,
In what thou hast, delight;—
And wreathe around thy royal brow
Life's garden blossoms bright;
List to my lyre and to my lay.
Which aim to please thee, and obey.
The pleasures, which our lives present,—
Earth's sceptres, and its wealth,—are lent,
Are shadows fleeting by;
Appearance colours all our bliss;
A truth so great, that now to this
One question, make reply.
What has become of Cihuapan,
Quantzintecomtzin brave,
And Conahuatzin, mighty man;
Where are they? In the grave!
Their names remain, but they are fled.
For ever number'd with the dead.
Would that those now in friendship bound.
We whom Love's thread encircles round.
Death's cruel edge might see!
Since good on earth is insecure.
And all things must a change endure
In dark futurity.
No. III.—See Vol. I., 113 (1), p. 448 (note)
translation from ixtlixochitl's "historia chichimeca," ms., cap 64
of the extraordinary severity with which the king nezahualpilli punished the Mexican queen for her adultery and treason
When Axaiacatzin, king of Mexico, and other lords, sent their daughters to king Nezahualpilli, for him to choose one to be his queen and lawful wife, whose son might succeed to the inheritance, she who had highest claims among them, from nobility of birth and rank, was Chachiuhnenetzin, daughter of the Mexican king. But, being at that time very young, she was brought up by the monarch in a separate palace, with great pomp and numerous attendants, as became the daughter of so great a king. The number of servants attached to her household exceeded two thousand. Young as she was, she was yet exceedingly artful and vicious; so that, finding herself alone, and seeing that her people feared her, on account of her rank and importance, she began to give way to the unlimited indulgence of her lust. Whenever she saw a young man who pleased her
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