Page:Letters of Cortes to Emperor Charles V - Vol 2.djvu/281

 in their country and greatly desired to repay them; but I knew for certain that he was alive and I prayed him to go and call him and to persuade him to come and see me, for he might be sure that he would be benefited by so doing. The son told me that it was true he was alive, and that if he had denied this to me, it was because he had been commanded to do so by his father; but that he would go and endeavour to bring him; and he believed that he would come, for he desired to know me, feeling sure I had not come thither to harm him, but on the contrary to give presents to him and his people. He would have come before except that, as he had given himself out as dead, he was now ashamed to appear before me. I besought the youth to go and use every means to bring him; and thus it was done, and the next day both came. I received them with much pleasure, the chief excusing himself because he had not known my disposition; and he said that now, having learnt it, he desired greatly to see me, and that it was true he had ordered me to be misdirected away from his towns, but that now he prayed me to come to the principal one where he resided, as there he had better arrangements for providing me and my people with everything we required. He immediately ordered a broad road to be opened thither, and, the next day, we left together; and I ordered one of my horses to be given him, on which he rode very happily till we reached the town, called Izancanac, which is quite large, and has many mosques, and is situated on the borders of a great lagoon which traverses the country as far as the ports of Terminos, Xicalango, and Tabasco; some of the people of this town were absent and others stopped in their houses. We found a great store of provisions, and Apaspolon remained with me in my lodging, though he had his own household close by. As long as I remained at Izancanac, he rendered me service, and gave me a lengthy account of the Spaniards I sought,