Wow, per some chance did you skip a page?
ssSusan
-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Scott Berry
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 3:48 PM
To: bookshare
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] another question for The Last Days of the Incas
Hello there,
This page looks like there is some text missing. I went to the next page and
it does not correspond with this page at all.
Here is the page:
Atahualpa's arguments did him little good, however, for Pizarro, not wanting
to take any chances, now ordered that a chain be fastened around Atahualpa's
neck to prevent the emperor from escaping. Pizarro next called for a meeting
of his top commanders to discuss Atahualpa's fate.
While the rank-and-file Spaniards waited nervously in the city, scanning the
hills for signs of an approaching army, a handful of their leaders now
debated what to do with the captive Inca king. The makeshift jury included
the corpulent royal treasurer, Alonso Riquelme; the Dominican friar,
Vincente de Valverde-whose mistreated breviary had set off the massacre
eight months before; Almagro; Francisco Pizarro; and a few others. Almagro,
Riquelme, and several other captains wanted to execute the Inca emperor
immediately, believing that once Atahualpa was dead, it would be easier to
pacify the country. Pizarro and another group of captains, on the other
hand, were in favor of keeping Atahualpa alive.
They had been able to rule the country through Atahualpa for eight months,
after all-so why couldn't they continue? And who knew how the natives might
react if their lord suddenly turned up dead? The entire country might rise
up against them.
Like a hung jury, the Spaniards were unable to agree on whether Atahualpa
had been sending out secret messages or had been telling the truth. They
thus couldn't agree on whether they should execute the Inca lord or spare
his life. In order to address their most immediate threat, Pizarro decided
to send Hernando de Soto with four horsemen to ride north and investigate.
If they found no native army, then it was possible that Atahualpa had been
telling the truth. If, on the other hand, they found an army, then one thing
was certain: before the Spaniards lost their lives, Atahualpa would surely
lose his own.
After Soto and his men had galloped off, the rest of the Spaniards were
forced to wait nervously. Some fingered their ingots of gold and dreamed of
what they would do with them if they survived this adventure and made it
back to Spain. Others no doubt read well-thumbed, contraband novels of
chivalrous adventures, such as Amadis of Gaul. A few scribbled or dictated
At the time of the conquest, chivalric novels were all the vogue, one of the
most popular being Amadis de Gaula, the story of a knight errant who dons
armor and travels to the far ends of the earth. There he battles giants,
monsters, and other fantastic creatures, all the while remaining faithful to
his beautiful lady. Novels such as Amadis were considered so
128
--
Scott Berry
Email: sberry@xxxxxxxxxxx
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