me, and he and a servant of mine who joined him helped me to raise the horse. In the midst of this, the Spaniards came up, and the enemy all deserted the field, and I with the other horsemen returned to the city, for we were very weary. Although it was almost night and time for rest, I commanded that all the raised bridges over the water should be filled up with stones and adobes, so that the horses could go and come from the city without obstacle; nor did I leave there till all those difficult crossings had been repaired. We passed that night using great vigilance and giving close attention to the watches.
The next day, all the natives of Mexico and Temixtitan who already knew we were in Suchimilco planned an attack with great force by water and land, so as to surround us; for they believed we could not again escape
and the commander, on this occasion, made a rare display of feeling which led to the composition of a romance or ballad, long in popular vogue —
"En Tacuba esta Cortes
Con su escuadron esforzado,
Triste estaba y muy penoso,
Triste y con gran cuidado,
La una mano en la me j ilia
Y la otra en el costado," etc.
Standing on a lofty teocalli, a group of the leaders, including Julian de Alderete and Fray Pedro Melgarejo, surveyed the country, with the great capital floating on the waters of its lake, and one Alonzo Perez, noting the pensive sadness of the commander's mien, begged him not to feel dejected, for losses and destruction were incident to warfare, but that of him it could never be said that like Nero he had watched the burning city, quoting the couplet —
"Mira Nero de Tarpeya
A Roma come de ardia."
Cortes answered, calling him to witness how often he had begged the Mexicans to make peace and save themselves, adding that his sadness was not for any one cause alone, but from thinking of all the hardships still to be endured in reconquering the city, which with God's help they must now undertake.
