Mexico by James Michener

Author:James Michener [Michener, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-06-29T22:00:00+00:00

day in It is a matter of record in my family that on the spring 1524 when my ancestor Fray Antonio Palafox was watching the seven heretics burned in Seville, another ancestor, the Altomec Indian Lady Grey Eyes, was secretly explaining to her granddaughter in City-of-the- Pyramid the mystM of the new gods who would shortly rescue Mexico from barbarism. This is a Mother who loves/Lady Grey Eyes repeated, pointing to her treasured image, land this is her Son, who has come in gentleness to save us., The child Stranger could not comprehend, for she had never known

328 Mexico

a god of mercy, so Lady Grey Eyes explained once more. 'Here we suffer under evil gods, and men are constantly killed. But soon these gentle gods of the newcomers will occupy our temples, and injustice will end.' She could say no more, but as she clutched the emblazoned parchment to her cheek she felt her tears drifting across it. How long must we wait for the gods of mercy? she prayed silently.

That evening in Seville, while Lady Grey Eyes waited in the noontime heat of Mexico, Fray Antonio, the agency of salvation for whcin she waitrd. rode away disconsolately from the burning plain. Ahead, in cqual confusion of spirit, rode the marquis of Guadalquivir, but the crowds through which the horses moved appeared to experience no distress. They had enjoyed the burnings, which brought drama to an otherwise drab week, and their merriment as they trudged back to the city supported the contention of many authorities that a good public execution now and then did wonders for the morale of a city. Furthermore, it demonstrated the cohesiveness of Spain as it gathered strength for the salvation of the New World; Mexico might lie in remote parts of the world, but its presence was constantly felt in Seville, where the galleons stood in the river for all to see. Something of this excitement overtook Fray Antonio as he rode through the crowds, so that whereas he was repelled by the populace's reaction to the hurnings, he was nevertheless impressed by their sense of loyalty to the Church and to the nation that buttressed it. Dire enemies like Martin Luther were abroad, and they required strict measures to keep them from polluting both the Church and the country, and be did not doubt that he would encounter the same enemies in Mexico. He hoped that he would have the courage to combat them, but even as he expressed the wish he called to mind the young priest who had tried vainly to save the soul of the Jewish wonian as the fires consumed her, and he knew instinctively that it had been this young priest, and not the executioners, who had spoken for humanity and God on that burning afternoon. It was in this confused frame of mind that Fray Antonio returned to the centre of the city and followed the marquis as the latter rode past the cathedral, past the Moorish tower and across the plaza to his palace.

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