flesh, may I live in misery and die in torment by the dreadful death,
may my soul be rejected from the Houses of the Sun, may it wander
homeless for ever in the darkness that is behind the Stars, if I depart
from this my oath. I, Teule, swear to be faithful to the people of
Anahuac and to their lawful governors. I swear to wage war upon their
foes and to compass their destruction, and more especially upon the
Teules till they are driven into the sea. I swear to offer no affront to
the gods of Anahuac. I swear myself in marriage to Otomie, princess of
the Otomie, the daughter of Montezuma my lord, for so long as her life
shall endure. I swear to attempt no escape from these shores. I swear to
renounce my father and my mother, and the land where I was born, and to
cling to this land of my new birth; and this my oath shall endure till
the volcan Popo ceases to vomit smoke and fire, till there is no king
in Tenoctitlan, till no priest serves the altars of the gods, and the
people of Anahuac are no more a people."

'Do you swear these things, one and all?'

'One and all I swear them,' I answered because I must, though there was
much in the oath that I liked little enough. And yet mark how strangely
things came to pass. Within fifteen years from that night the volcan
Popo had ceased to vomit smoke and fire, the kings had ceased to reign
in Tenoctitlan, the priests had ceased to serve the altars of the gods,
the people of Anahuac were no more a people, and my vow was null
and void. Yet the priests who framed this form chose these things as
examples of what was immortal!

When I had sworn Guatemoc came forward and embraced me, saying:
'Welcome, Teule, my brother in blood and heart. Now you are one of us,
and we look to you for help and counsel. Come, be seated by me.'