617 / 1060
Royal
Commentaries. ·
.
BooK
II.
. A certain Souldier, named
rohn
de
Samaniego,
who
h~d
formerly been affronteo
by
Pedro
de Lerma
made enquiry after him, that he might cake a revenge
f~r
the
affront :
Two
days after the Battel
_he
w~
inforn;ed
ilia~
he lay
wound~d
m. the
Houfe
of
Pedro de
!01 Rio1
;
and gomg thither with th_e
mf?l~ce
of a v1ttonous
Souldier> he found
free
entrance into the Houfe, for
m
thtS
time of War _there
was
none
to
oppofe
him;
fo
that he w5!nt from.
Cham~er
to
Cham~er,
unrill
he
µme
to
a
poor
Bed on
whi~h
de
Lerma
was
laid
7
fittmg thereupon,
he
began
to
difcourfe with much fobnety and phlegm :
<c
Senior
Pedro de Lerma,
faid
he, I
am come
in
fatisfaeti~n
t0
my
Honour,
to
<'
kill
you for
a
box o'ch' Ear which you once gave me.
/ Sir,
anfwered
Pedro
de
"
Lerma,
you may well
remembe~,
that you
w~re
the full
Aggr~ifour,
and
ch~t
by
" your infolencies you gave me 1ull provocation.
It can
be little or no fat1sfac...
" tion
co
your Honour to
kill
a
Man that is wounded, and
dyi.ngin
h~s
bed.
If
<'
God
tball
fpare my life,
I
do.
her~
Vow, and engage my
Fait~to
~1':e
you
:1Il
'' the fatisfaetion you <hall reqwre either by word of mouth, or
m
wntmg, with
~c
all
the formalities .and circumfiances which the Rules of Souldiers can require
" in
reparation of Honour. No, Zounds, faid
Sama~iego~
I
will not fray fo
l<>?g,
'' but
I will kill
you
pr~fently,
for my Honour requires
1t.
I
deny
that; replied
"
Lerma,
for you mµtl rather lofe than gain Honour by killing
a
Man
wlio
.i3
" half
dead already : but
if
I
live,
I
will
give you entire fatisfaCl:ion.
tfiefe
were the precife Words both of one and the
other,
which
were repea–
ted
three
or four
nmes
~
the one threatning death, and the other prornifing fatis–
faelion.
At length whep
Pedro de
Lerma
imagined that
his
Adverfary was conten·
ced
with
his promife> and with the fatisfacnon
he
had offered him according
co
the
formalities
and rules df a Souldier ;
Samaniego
arofe, and laying his hand up–
on
his
Dagger, gave him many fiabs therewith untill he died ; afterwards going·
out
into the Marker-place,. he boafied, how in facisfaction of
his
Honour
he
had
fiabbed
Captain
Pedro
lie Le'nna:
And fatther to magnifie the glory ofhisExploir,
he recounted word for word all the difcourfe which had pafied between
them ;.
and how ofcen the fame words were repeated ; with which he was troublefome
to
all
that heard him, for he would admit of no other difcourfe wherefo·ever
he
~as,
than onely the vapours and boafis he made of this Ad:ion ; in which imper–
tjnency he continued, untill his infolence effecred his ruine ; and that as he
wa5
authour of his crime,
fo
he brought the puni!hment of
it
on his own head.
Tlie
manner whereof we fhall relate in this place; for though it be out of the order
of time ; yet not to lofe the opportunity of affecting the minds of the Readers
with a dete{btion of the mercilefs bowels of this
Samaniego,
whofe villany was
abominated in all parts of
Peru,
it
will
be m@ft feafonable to deliver a
Narrative'
of it, as follows.
.
"'
'
..
"'
~
. Five years after
this
villany
Wets
~erpetrated,
when
tb
e Kingdom
was'
quiec,
and
m peace, and freed from the
Diifentions between the
Pifarrift
J
and
Almagrians
;
(ohn
de
S1tn:11~iego w~
then .an
Inhabitant.inPuerto Viejo,
w~ere,
according to
his
ufual prachce, he
ll:ill
contmu
ed to magmfiethe glory of
his
Exploits Napouring
at every tum, that he had.
in
fatisfaction of his Honour killed
a:
Ca~n
wirb
his
Dagger, who had been Lieutenant-General of the Governour
Don
Francifco
p;..
pt~o,
and
tha~
none
d~rfi
ever
queili~n
him for it, adding Gloreover many things
~f.mto~erable
mfolences;
The Governour, who was chiefJull:iciary of this place
hem~
tired out with th
e inceffi.ntrepec:itlon of thefe matters; gave
Sdm.1tniego
td
~derll:and
by a certain
friend.ofhis, that it
wete
better, and more
agreeable
cb
his
Honour, to bury the
fe mattersin filence, than co make farther talk of chem:
for that fince he had revenged the injury, he fhould remain contented, and
en~
large
~? .fatt~er
on that
unpleafao~
fobjelt.
S4mtt:?Jitgo,
infiea~
of caking
this
kind
admomtto.n m. good part, was _v10lently enraged ; an'd going into' ihe Market–
pla~e,
efp1ed the Governour _with
~bout
fifteen or twenty
Sp_ani11rd1,
(for there
were 'Very few more Inhabitants m that ·Town) and as
they
were difcom-:.
~~
tleafantly together,
he
accofied the company, and with an angry Loof(
F
ff
f,,
.... i
-.
r
,