Contents
-BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
S.A. Bent, comp. Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men. 1887.
Guatemozin
[Son-in-law and successor of Montezuma II., emperor of Mexico; was the last prince of the Aztec line; forced to capitulate, after a brave defence of his capital against the Spaniards, was taken prisoner and tortured by order of Cortez, to compel him to reveal where his treasures were secreted; afterwards accused of inciting his subjects to rebellion, was put to death 1522.]
Am I, then, lying on a bed of roses?
When his companion, the cacique of Tacuba, who was put to torture with him, testified his anguish by his groans, Guatemozin coldly rebuked him by exclaiming, “And do you think I, then, am taking pleasure in my bath?” (Estoi yo en algun deleite, ó baño?)—PRESCOTT: Conquest of Mexico, Bk. VII. chap. i.; he adds in a note, “The literal version is not so poetical as ‘the bed of flowers,’ into which this exclamation of Guatemozin is usually rendered.”Jugurtha, when thrown into the subterranean dungeon of the Mamertine Prison at Rome (104 B.C.), which was half full of water, exclaimed, “Hercules! How cold is this bath of yours!”—SALLUST: Jugurtha, chap, cxxii., note.
