When they saw Tzihuacpopocatzin, they asked: "Is this Motccuhzoma, by any chance? " They asked this of their allies, the liars from Tlaxcala and Cempoala, their shrewd and deceitful confederates.
They replied: "He is not Motecuhzoma, our lords. He is his envoy Tzihuacpopocatzin."
The Spaniards asked him: "Are you Motecuhzoma, by any chance?"
"Yes," he said, "I am your servant. I am Motecuhzoma."
But the allies said: "You fool! Why try to deceive us?
Who do you think we are?" And they said:
You cannot deceive us; you cannot make fools of us.You cannot frighten us; you cannot blind our eyes.You cannot stare us down; we will not look away.You cannot bewitch our eyes or turn them aside. You cannot dim our eyes or make them swoon. You cannot fill them with dust or shut them with slime.
"You are not Motecuhzoma: he is there in his city. He cannot hide from us. Where can he go?
Can he fly away like a bird? Can he tunnel the earth?
Can he burrow into a mountain, to hide inside it?
We are coming to see him, to meet him face to face.
We are coming to hear his words from his own lips."
They taunted and threatened the envoys in this fashion, and the gifts of welcome and the greetings were another failure. Therefore the envoys hastened back to the city.