Note 58 — Chapter V · LA ARAUCANA

I sing neither of women, nor love, nor the gallantry of enamoured knights, nor the pledges, the delights, the tenderness of amorous passion and solicitude, but the valour, the exploits, the prowess of those intrepid Spaniards who by the sword placed the heavy yoke upon the untamed neck of Arauco.

I shall declare also especially noteworthy acts of a people who never obeyed a king, its daring and memorable enterprises, which with reason merit celebration, its rare stratagems, its praiseworthy resolutions that greatly magnify the Spaniards, since no conqueror is more esteemed than that one where the vanquished is renowned.