This was Mexico and Malinalli knew it. When she finished her prayer, she took off the necklace of ceramic beads with the image of the lady Tonantzin—which was always hanging on her chest. It was the same one that her grandmother had given her when she was a girl. She also took out her rosary, the one she had made with the grains of corn with which, years before, her fate had been read to her. She buried both and with them buried her mother, her grandmother, herself and all the daughters of the corn. She asked the mother Tonantzin to nourish those grains with the waters from her hidden river, to help them bear fruit, to allow them to be food for the new beings that populated the Valley of Anáhuac.
Not knowing why, she remembered the Virgin of Guadalupe, that dark Virgin whose image Jaramillo and she had hung over their headboard. She was a revered virgin in the region of Extremadura, Spain. Jaramillo told her that the original image of the virgin was carved in black wood and showed the Virgin Mary with the Child God in her arms. Jaramillo carved a reproduction for her and as he did he told her that during the Arab conquest of Spain, the Spanish friars, fearing a desecration of the Virgin Mary, had buried her near the shores of the Guadalupe River—a name that was the Castilian rendering of the Arab wad al luben—and that meant hidden river. So when, years later, a pastor found her buried they named her after the river, the Virgin of Guadalupe.
That day Malinalli, seated on the hill of Tepeyac, after having buried her past, found herself, knew she was god, knew that she was eternal and that she was going to die, and that what gave life also died. She was at the apex of the hill. The wind blew in such a fashion that it almost knocked down the trees. The leaves fell away from them, filling her ear with music. The sound of the wind became clear. Malinalli felt the force of the wind on her face, her hair, over all her body and the heart of the sky opened itself for her.
Death did not frighten her. Everything around her spoke of change, of transformation, of rebirth. Tenochtitlán had died and in its place a new city rose that was ceasing to be a mirror, converting itself into earth and stone. Cortés had left off being a conquistador, and was becoming the Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca. And she was soon going to experience her last transformation. She accepted it gladly. She knew that she would always belong to the universe, would change shape, but continue to exist. She would be in the water where her children played, in the stars Jaramillo watched at night, in the corn tortillas that they ate daily, in the wind that held up the hummingbirds that danced around their spikenard. She would exist in the streets of the new city, in what had been the market of Tlatelolco, in the woods of Chapultepec, in the sound of drums, in the seashells, in the snow of the volcanoes, in the sun, in the moon.
Malinalli, seated and in silence, became one with the fire, with the water, with the earth. She dissolved in the wind, knew she was in everything and in nothing. Nothing could contain her, or make her suffer. There was no grief, no rancor, only the infinite. She remained in that state until the birds announced that they would be taking the afternoon away with them among their feathers.
When Malinalli returned to be by her husband and children, she looked different. She radiated peace. She embraced them tightly and kissed them, then played with her children before putting them to bed. She made love to her husband all night. Then, she went out to the patio and by the light of the moon and a torch, a sun and a moon, she tried to express in one image the experience of that magical day. She opened her codex and painted the luminous lady Tonantzin, the protector, covering with her blanket the house where her family was sleeping. Afterward, she washed her brushes in one of the fountains in the patio.
The silence was complete.
She breathed in the aroma of the spikenard, put her feet in the water, walked through the middle of the canal, and reached the center of the patio. There, she entered into the center of the Cross of Quetzalcóatl, the center of all crossroads, where the Cihuateteo, the women who had died during childbirth, who made up the entourage of the women who follow Tlazolteotl, Coatlicue, and Tonantzin, the different manifestations of the same feminine deity, appeared; and there, in the center of the Universe, Malinalli became liquid.
She was water of the moon.
Malinalli, like Quetzalcóatl before her, on facing her dark side, became aware of the light. Her will was to be one with the cosmos, and she forced the limits of her body to disappear. Her feet, in contact with the water, bathed by the moonlight, were the first to experience the transformation. They no longer held her. Her spirit became one with the water. It scattered in the air. Her skin expanded to the limit, allowing her to change shape and become one with everything that surrounded her. She was spikenard, she was orange tree, she was stone, she was aroma of copal, she was corn, she was fish, she was bird, she was sun, she was moon. She abandoned this world.
At that moment, a bolt of lightning, a silver tongue, lit the sky, heralding a storm and filling with light the still body of Malinalli, who had died instantaneously some moments before. Her eyes were absorbed by the stars, which immediately knew everything that she had seen on the earth.
On that thirteenth day of the month, Malinalli was born to eternity. Juan Jaramillo celebrated it in his own way. He brought together his children in the patio, which they filled with flower and song. Then they each read a poem written for Malinalli in Náhuatl. When the ritual was over, they remained silent in order to become impregnated by Malinalli before going to sleep.
In contrast with this simple ceremony, on that same date, the colonial authorities organized a great feast to commemorate the fall of Tenochtitlán, on the thirteenth of August in 1521. The celebration took place in the church of San Hipólito, since the date that marked the Spanish victory over the natives was the same as the day of that saint.
Jaramillo was invited to attend the celebratory Mass of the fall of Tenochtitlán several times, and several times he declined. Years later, they granted him the honor of carrying the banner during the feast of St. Hipólito—which commemorated the Spanish triumph over Tenochtitlán—but he declined, which the authorities took as an affront.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the air, in the invisible, an infinity of sideas flow. During their journey they cross one another and create luminous encounters that later shape themselves into images, sounds, words: into knowledge.
This book is a result of my search for answers to the questions: Who was Malinche? What did she think? What did she know? What were her thoughts?
I found the answers not only in books but in conversations with my friends and in my contact with the invisible, where time vanishes and it is possible to have lucky encounters with the past.
For this journey I tried on the company and unconditional support of Javier Valdés, who helped me with the work of investigation, of Salvador Garcini, who joined this effort and shared with us his dreams, of Antonio Velasco Piña, who enriched our knowledge of Mexico’s history.
Victor Medina and Soledad Ruiz made many invaluable suggestions.
My nephew Jordi Castells added his talent, his intuition, and his sensibility with the creation of the codex that accompanies this edition.
My brother Julio Esquivel and Juan Pablo Villaseñor gave me their time and their guidance through cyberspace in the gathering of facts.
Cristina Barros and Marcos Buerosto joined in with their knowledge of Mexican cuisine.
To all I extend my heartfelt gratitude.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Cortés, Hernán. Cartas de relación. Editorial Porrúa, nineteenth edition. Mexico, 2002.
Carrillo de Albornoz, José Miguel. Moctezuma, el semidiós destronado. Editorial Planeta Mexicana, S.A. de C.V., first reprint (Mexico): January, 2005.
Díaz del Castillo, Bernal. Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. Editorial Porrúa, twentieth edition. Mexico, 2002.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laura Esquivel was born in Mexico City inr 1950. Her first novel, Like Water for Chocolate (1989), stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for over one year, has been translated into more than thirty-three languages, and has sold about three million copies around the world. The film, based on the novel, with a script written by Esquivel herself, not only won several prizes but was an impressive box-office success. Laura Esquivel lives in Mexico.
MALINCHE
Laura Esquvel E
A Readers Club Guide
I n Malinche, Laura Esquivel reimagines the relationship between the Spaniard Hernán Cortés and the Indian woman Malinalli, his interpreter and mistress during his conquest of the Aztecs. Malinalli meets Cortés and, like many, including the Aztec king Montezuma, suspects that he is the returning forefather god of their tribe, Quetzalcóatl. She assumes that her task is to welcome Cortés/Quetzalcóatl and help him destroy the Aztec empire and free her people, but she gradually comes to realize that Cortés’s thirst for conquest is all too human.
Throughout Mexican history, Malinalli has been reviled for her betrayal of the Indian people. But recent historical research has shown that her role was much more complex. She was the mediator between two cultures, Hispanic and Native American, and three languages, Spanish, Mayan, and Náhuatl. She was also a slave, trying to rebel against the barbarous culture of her masters, the Aztecs. But her loyalty was to her own people, whom she was trying to set free.
Laura Esquivel challenges the traditional mythology through a character-driven portrait of the Adam and Eve of mestizo culture, Cortés and Malinalli, with the backdrop of the fall of the Aztec Empire. Told with the lyricism of the Náhuatl song tradition and pictorial language, Esquivel gives us a creation myth of the new-world hybrid culture and a legendary affair.
GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Laura Esquivel dedicated Malinche to the wind. What does this symbolize, and what other dedications would be appropriate for this book?
Other than Malinalli’s affair with Cortés and her eventual marriage to Jaramillo, the relationships she has in the book are maternal. Discuss the themes represented by Malinalli as granddaughter, daughter, and mother.
How did you feel about the drawings, which represent Malinalli’s telling of the story, at the beginning of each chapter? Did you realize they were codices? Were you able to “read” them? Did they enhance your understanding of the story?
Malinalli’s father tells her, “Your word will have eyes and will see, will have ears and will hear, will have the tact to lie with the truth and to tell truths that will seem like lies” (page 9). To what extent was her father’s prayer realized?
What forms of power might a translator have? Which ones did Malinalli have as a woman and a slave? Which ones do you think she used or was tempted to use? Was she aware of her own power?
Malinalli finds meaning in the Christian rituals, linking them to her culture’s stories and deities. Were you surprised at how easily she was able to embrace both traditions?
Which rituals and symbols are common to both the indigenous Indian religion and to Christianity? How does your own faith affect your response to Malinalli?
Toward the end of the tale, Malinalli questions the role of human sacrifice and the loss of life in war. Would a woman of that time and status have such progressive ideas? Discuss other times in the novel where she demonstrates such forward thinking. When does she not?
History and fiction intertwine in any work of historical fiction. As you read Malinche, did you find yourself wondering which details were historical and which were the fruit of the author’s imagination?
How do you think the derogatory usage of the word “Malinche” affected the author’s desire to reimagine Malinalli’s story?
Malinalli says, “The search for the gods is the search for oneself” (page 178). How does faith, the pursuit of meaning, and the desire to understand deity frame this novel?
Ultimately, how do you view Malinalli? As a traitor, a martyr, or as a heroine?
TIPS TO ENHANCE YOUR BOOK CLUB
Review the images from the front of the book. As a group, create a codex (storytelling through images) of a recent event in your group or town, utilizing sketches, photographs, or symbols but no words or letters. Or each group member could create a codex, which the rest of the group could then attempt to “read.”
Identify a restaurant or cookbook that specializes in traditional foods of Mexico, such as Rick Bayless’s Mexican Chicken. (simonsays.com/content/book.cfm? sid=33&pid=405956). Share a meal together that highlights the Indian and Spanish ingredients Malinalli features in her new mestizo dishes.
Purchase postcards or look online for the flag of modern-day Mexico and find out what the central image signifies. (Hint: It determin
ed the site of Tenochtitlán.)
Seek an opportunity to further understand Malinalli’s world by visiting a museum or art exhibit together.
Laura Esquivel is a screenwriter, and her first novel became the award-winning film Like Water for Chocolate. Discuss how you would film her novel Malinche. If you have read Like Water for Chocolate, which themes do you see repeated in Malinche?
A CONVERSATION WITH LAURA ESQUIVEL
What prompted you to write this novel?
The editors at a publishing house in Spain got in touch with me and suggested I write a biographical novel about Malinche’s life. I loved the idea and that’s how the project got started. Of course, it turned out to be more difficult than I was expecting. I spent two years doing research and my husband, Javier Valdés, helped me with this arduous task.
How much time did you devote to the book? What historical sources did you use in your research?
There is actually very little information on Ma-linche. What we know about her comes from the historical chronicles of the period, which don’t total more than a few pages. So my job was to try to imagine what Malinche was like, how she thought, how she interpreted what she witnessed, because I find it interesting that people see the world not as it is, but rather as they are. Taking this into account, it is essential to analyze someone’s belief system before judging their behavior. In making a novel out of her life, of course I had to use real events as the basis, and that’s where I had to immerse myself in the history, religious thought, and the astronomical, cosmic, and biological knowledge of the period in which Malinche lived.