When Motecuhzoma [Montezuma) had given necklaces to each one, Cortés asked him: "Are you Motecuzoma? Are you the king? Is it true that you are the king
Motecuhzoma?"
And the king said: "Yes, I am Motecuhzoma." Then he stood up to welcome Cortés;
he came forward, bowed his head low and addressed him in these words: "Our lord,
you are weary. The journey has tired you, but now you have arrived on the earth.
You have come to your city, Mexico. You have come here to sit on your throne, to sit
under its canopy. The kings who have gone before your representatives, guarded it
and preserved it for your coming.
When Motecuhzoma had finished, La Malinche la Mayan woman) translated his
address into Spanish so that the Captain could understand it. Cortés replied in his
strange and savage tongue, speaking first to La Malinche: "Tell Motecuhzoma that
we are his friends. There is nothing to fear. We have wanted to see him for a long
time, and now we have seen his face and heard his words. Tell him that we love him
well and that our hearts are contented."
–from Miguel Leon-Portilla, a Mexican anthropologist, who gathered accounts by
the Aztecs, some of which were written shortly after the conquest
This question has two parts.
Part 1: How would you characterize the first meeting of Montezuma and Cortés? Cite two
pieces of evidence from the reading to support your answer.
Part 2: Does this reading support or contradict the ultimate result of Spanish and Aztec
contact? Explain.
Respond in paragraph form in at least 5 to 7 complete sentences.