CHAPTER XCVII

    How Pero López de Ayala discovered the river Soconcho, found a well-peopled region, and returned to where the general Felipe Gutiérrez was, and how they all set out for that region.

BEFORE the death of the captain Diego de Rojas, Pero López de Ayala had started out with a few mounted Spaniards to explore to the eastward¹; passing without meeting with any resistance over wide arid² wastes and dense³ algarrobo forests, peopled by other Indians, who showed no inclination⁴ to attack them. At length they reached the banks of the river called Soconcho,[159] and found large villages on both sides. Reflecting that it would not be prudent⁵ to advance farther with so small a force, they returned to report to their leaders. When Felipe Gutiérrez heard what they had seen and discovered, he resolved to move his camp as far as the province of Tesuna, a distance of six leagues. He first sent Francisco de Mendoza to fetch certain Spaniards who had remained in Tucumá. In this service Mendoza heard much yelling and had some skirmishes with the Indians.

When they arrived in that province they found abundance of necessary things. The natives had retired⁶, not daring to offer battle to the Christians⁷. They now knew clearly that they were in the country of the poisonous herb, and that Diego de Rojas had been killed by it, and not by connivance⁸ of Felipe Gutiérrez as had been thought. After all were united the general Felipe Gutiérrez complained, saying that consent could not be given for Francisco de[335] Mendoza to take over the post which had been filled by Diego de Rojas, nor could he suffer him to do so; and thus there began to be enmity between them, Felipe Gutiérrez wishing Francisco de Mendoza to remain subordinate to him like the rest, while Mendoza, knowing that he could not prevent this, had, by making use of the effects of Diego de Rojas, gained friends who gave him to understand that they would not see him deprived of the post he then held, and over this they would all stake their lives. When Felipe Gutiérrez wanted to carry his intention into effect, some of those in the league formed by Mendoza admonished⁹ him to desist from a measure that must cause scandal and bloodshed, and be followed by no advantage, but engender¹⁰ great evil. And mediators thereupon intervening between them they made friends, and Mendoza retained his appointment as before. But although this was then arranged, the suspicion that each felt of the other was not removed.

1 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

2 arid   

adj.干旱的；(土地)贫瘠的

参考例句：

• These trees will shield off arid winds and protect the fields.这些树能挡住旱风,保护农田。
• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。

3 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

4 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

5 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

8 connivance   

n.纵容；默许

参考例句：

• The criminals could not have escaped without your connivance.囚犯没有你的默契配合，是逃不掉的。
• He tried to bribe the police into connivance.他企图收买警察放他一马。

9 admonished   

v.劝告( admonish的过去式和过去分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责

参考例句：

• She was admonished for chewing gum in class. 她在课堂上嚼口香糖，受到了告诫。
• The teacher admonished the child for coming late to school. 那个孩子迟到，老师批评了他。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 engender   

v.产生，引起

参考例句：

• A policy like that tends to engender a sense of acceptance,and the research literature suggests this leads to greater innovation.一个能够使员工产生认同感的政策，研究表明这会走向更伟大的创新。
• The sense of injustice they engender is a threat to economic and political security.它们造成的不公平感是对经济和政治安全的威胁。