THE TREE OF THE SAD NIGHT
This drawing shows the army of Hernando Cortes fighting the Aztec
Indians long ago.
The Tree of the Sad Night in Tacuba, Mexico
Long ago, Hernando Cortes of Spain decided to capture the Aztec Indian
city of Tenochtitlan in what is now Mexico. The Aztec leader, Montezuma
II, thought Cortes was an Aztec god named Quetzalcoatl. Montezuma
welcomed Cortes and his army into the city with gifts of gold. The Aztec
had never seen guns and horses. And Cortes had never seen anything like
Tenochtitlan with its palaces, pyramids, and floating gardens. He wrote
to his king that it was the most beautiful city in the world.
The Aztec became angry with both Cortes and Montezuma. One night o they
killed many of Cortes’ men and drove Cortes out of their citv. It is
said that after the battle Cortes sat under a tree and wept. The night
is remembered as “La Noche Triste,” which means “The Sad Night.”
And today in a place called Tacuba, near Mexico City, you can still see
the Tree of La Noche Triste—the tree Cortes sat under.
After the battle of La Noche Triste, Cortes came back and conquered the
city of Tenochtitlan—the city we call Mexico City.
