HISTORY OF THE SPANISH CONQUEST OF YUCATAN AND OF THE ITZAS

Back Forward Menu

the mass with great attention and took good notice of the Ceremonies,
decorations, and the altar-service, and he derived much pleasure from
what was shown him. He praised highly the music, saying that such a
thing had never been heard before, and those who were with him were
astonished and fascinated at seeing and hearing it.

"And when the religious and clerics had finished the divine office,
they preached to Canek, urging him to put away his idols and see how
good was the Law of God.... They told Canek that his idols were but
pieces of stone or old wood harboring demons and that he was deceived
in them and that all who believed in them would lose their souls and
would be carried to the Infernal regions.

"Canek replied that he would willingly leave his Idols and that he
wished to know the manner in which they venerated the True God of whom
they told him and whom they declared unto him, and he asked for a cross
in order to place it in his village. Don Fernando Cortes told him that