"That we may be better acquainted with our colony of New Spain, of its peculiarities, its riches, the people who posse…"

"Your Most Lofty Majesty's royal cédula specifies that we, in providing the chronicle, shall inform ourself "from anci…"

"Think, imagine, picture yourself, Your Excellency, as that tree of great shade. See in your mind its immensity, its m…"

"My life has been long, as ours is measured. I did not die in infancy, as so many of our children do. I did not die in…"

"I have heard you Christians complain of our "multitudes" of gods and goddesses, who held dominion over every facet of…"

"The building themselves, from the distance, were dark and indistinct of contour, but the lights, ayyo, the lights! Ye…"

"No man ever took better care of his life. He lived only to go on living." I waited for more, but he said no more, so …"

"Surely my life awaits, whichever way I go from here, and whether I go alone or not." The cacao man smiled too, but ir…"

"Your Astute Majesty can hardly have failed to notice that the earlier pages have treated—casually, without remorse or…"

"You tell me then that I must perish like the flowers that I cherish. Nothing remaining of my name, nothing remembered…"