Now after this dreadful day I was kindly dealt with by the people of Tobasco, who gave me the name of Teule or Spaniard, and no longer sought to put me to sacrifice.  Far from it indeed, I was well clothed and fed, and suffered to wander where I would, though always under the care of guards who, had I escaped, would have paid for it with their lives.  I learned that on the morrow of my rescue from the priests, messengers were despatched to Montezuma, the great king, acquainting him with the history of my capture, and seeking to know his pleasure concerning me.  But the way to Tenoctitlan was far, and many weeks passed before the messengers returned again.  Meanwhile I filled the days in learning the Maya language, and also something of that of the Aztecs, which I practised with Marina and others.  For Marina was not a Tobascan, having been born at Painalla, on the southeastern borders of the empire.  But her mother sold her to merchants in order that Marina’s inheritance might come to another child of hers by a second marriage, and thus in the end the girl fell into the hands of the cacique of Tobasco.

Also I learned something of the history and customs, and of the picture writing of the land, and how to read it, and moreover I obtained great repute among the Tobascans by my skill in medicine, so that in time they grew to believe that I was indeed a child of Quetzal, the good god.  And the more I studied this people the less I could understand of them.  In most ways they were equal to any nation of our own world of which I had knowledge.  None are more skilled in the arts, few are better architects or boast purer laws.  Moreover, they were brave and had patience.  But their faith was the canker at the root of the tree.  In precept it was noble and had much in common with our own, such as the rite of baptism, but I have told what it was in practice.  And yet, when all is said, is it more cruel to offer up victims to the gods than to torture them in the vaults of the Holy Office or to immure them in the walls of nunneries?

When I had lived a month in Tobasco I had learned enough of the language to talk with Marina, with whom I grew friendly, though no more, and it was from her that I gathered the most of my knowledge, and also many hints as to the conduct necessary to my safety.  In return I taught her something of my own faith, and of the customs of the Europeans, and it was the knowledge that she gained from me which afterwards made her so useful to the Spaniards, and prepared her to accept their religion, giving her insight into the ways of white people.

So I abode for four months and more in the house of the cacique of Tobasco, who carried his kindness towards me to the length of offering me his sister in marriage.  To this proposal I said no as gently as I might, and he marvelled at it, for the girl was fair.  Indeed, so well was I treated, that had it not been that my heart was far away, and because of the horrible rites of their religion which I was forced to witness almost daily, I could have learned to love this gentle, skilled, and industrious people.