Note 154 — Chapter VIII · THE COMBATANTS SALUTE. April-May, 1519.

Mexicans being unable to pronounce the ‘r,’ Marina became Malina, to which the tzin was added in respect, equivalent to doña or lady. Malinche was a Spanish corruption, which was at times applied by the Indians to Cortés, as the lord and companion of Marina, and Juan Perez de Arteaga had also the appellation added to his name, from being so often with her. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 52. Another conjecture is that her original name was Malina, or Malinalli, signifying ‘twisted thing,’ the term for one of the Mexican days, applied in accordance with a native custom of giving children the name of their birthday. The name indeed is not uncommon, the lord of Tlachquiauhco, for instance, being called Malinal or Malinaltzin. Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., ii. 31, 40. On finding her own name so similar to Marina, the Spanish priest gave her this at the font. The Indians usually acquired a surname after they grew up, and Tenepal is that found for Marina. Sigüenza y Góngora, Paraiso Occid., 38; Salazar y Olarte, Conq. Mex., 217; Arróniz, Orizaba, 171, 182. To Cortés she bore a son, who was recognized by his father and raised to the rank of a knight of Santiago. While on the way with Cortés to Honduras, in 1524, she was legally married to Captain Juan Jaramillo. This took place at Ostoticpac, near Orizaba, and excited no little comment. Some believe that the arrival of Cortés’ wife was the cause of the marriage; but although this may have led to his separation from Marina, it could not have affected the marriage, since the wife was already dead. Cortés no doubt found her an incumbrance, and sought to be rid of it in a manner honorable to her at least. Gomara accuses him of having made Jaramillo drunk for the purpose. Hist. Mex., 251; but this Bernal Diaz corrects. He knew one of the witnesses at the ceremony. Hist. Verdad., 25. Jaramillo had achieved a certain prominence as commander of one of the brigantines which aided in the siege of Mexico, and in other affairs, and is said to have been an hidalgo. Ixtlilxochitl marries her to Aguilar, probably because this seemed a fit union. Hist. Chich., 287. Camargo, Hist. Tlax., 143. Shortly after her marriage the army halted at Goazacoalco, whither all the chiefs of the neighborhood were summoned to tender submission and to receive instruction in the faith. Among them was a young cacique with his mother, whose resemblance to Marina at once called the attention of all acquainted with the story, and led to her recognition as the heartless parent. The old dame feared for her life, but Marina reassured her with tender caresses, excusing her conduct as controlled by the deceased stepfather, and cheered her with a number of presents. She presented her husband, and referred with fond pride to the son she had given to Cortés. Both mother and half-brother accepted baptism, he receiving the name of Lázaro, and she that of Marta, an appropriate name for one who perhaps lived long enough to lament the ruin of her people and country, an indirect result of her unnatural treatment of Marina. Bernal Diaz, who witnessed all this, and became further acquainted with the family, declares Gomara wrong, and says: ‘Conoci á su madre, y á su hermano,’ concluding ‘todo esto que digo, se lo oî muy certificadamente, y se lo jurò, amen.’ Hist. Verdad., 25; Clavigero, Storia Mess., iii. 12-14; Cogolludo, Hist. Yucathan, 38. Returning to Mexico, she received lands there and in her native province, but took up her residence in the capital, where her husband held a prominent position through his wealth and offices, such as regidor and as the first alférez of the city. ‘Recibieron pr Alferes de esta Ciudad a Juan Xaramillo.’ ‘Primer Alferes.’ Libro de Cabildo, MS., 216. Reference is made to lots and other grants made to him and his wife Doña Marina, on March 14, 1528, and other dates. Id. Both held repartimientos, one of which lay in Xilotepec. Marina appears to have been still living in Mexico city in 1550, impressing her memory upon the hearts of the grateful people, over whose welfare she even now watches. Invoked by them, her spirit is frequently encountered in its twilight flights on errands of mercy and consolation, issuing from the ancient groves of Chapultepec, where centres the recollection of Aztec glories. Ballads still perpetuate her virtues, and many a nature’s monument bears proudly the beloved name of Malintzin. Tradition also transforms her into a naiad who daily rises from the pool of Chapultepec, singing divinely. Rodriguez, Anáhuac, 461. She appears to have had several children by Cortés. Peralta mentions five besides Martin, of whom two died while young. The three remaining were daughters, of whom two became nuns, and the third, Leonor, the wife of Martin de Tolosa. Nat. Hist., 75. This is not wholly correct, however, for in the Libro de Gobierno del Virey Mendoza is a document, dated April, 1550, wherein the viceroy grants a petition from her in favor of her grandson, Don Alonso de Estrada, son of Luis de Saavedra, deceased, and encomendero of Tilantongo town. Alaman’s notes, in Prescott’s Mex. (Mex. 1844), ii. 268-9. In Cortés, Residencia, i. 123, ii. 70, 101, witnesses refer also to a daughter of the interpreter Marina, with whom Cortés is accused of having tampered, as he did with the mother. If so, this can hardly be Saavedra’s wife, but a Tabascan child; yet Marina’s master would not have presented a woman incumbered with a child when he sought to do honor to the Spaniards. Saavedra allows Marina to proceed to Spain with her husband, who procured for her a high position at court. Here she died, leaving several children, from whom descended some of the first families in Spain. Dic. Univ., ix. 778. But this authority is too full of blunders to be relied upon. Ideal portraits are given in Carbajal Espinosa, Hist. Mex., ii. 65, and Zamacois, Hist. Méj., ii. 350.