Note 844 — Chapter XXVI · LA NOCHE TRISTE. June 30, 1520.
Reading edition
La Noche Triste, as it has ever since been called. Amid so much that is romantic the tendency to further romance is often uncontrollable. The truth of this statement is open to grave doubts. ‘Llegó [Alvarado] á Cortés, que estaba ençima de unas gradas de un qü, sentado diçiendo muchas lástimas.’ Oviedo, iii. 514. Zamacois describes the enormous tree, yet standing, which shaded the stone and bears the name of ‘Arbol de la Noche Triste.’ Hist. Méj., iii. 424. Prescott improves the occasion by allowing the army to file past in sad dilapidation, regardless of the fact that the army was already gathered in Tlacopan. Mex., ii. 371-2. Testimony confirms the statement of Cortés that ‘fuí en la rezaga, peleando con los indios hasta llegar á una ciudad que se dice Tacuba’ [Tlacopan]. Cartas, 135-6.