VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE. 



261 



shield and protection ? Do you need more ? Give yourself neither 

 trouble nor concern on account of the illness of your uncle, who will 

 not die of this present malady ; and, moreover, rest satisfied that 

 even at this very instant he is perfectly cured.' 



The Indian, consoled and satisfied by the Virgin's assurance, 

 was fiDed with divine confidence, and without caring for any thing 

 else, he asked for the sign he was to take to the bishop. The Vir- 

 gin told him to ascend ihe hill to the spot where she had previously 

 conversed with him, and cutting the flowers he would find growing 

 there, to collect them in his tilma or blanket and bring them to her. 



The Indian obeyed unhesitatingly, although he knew that these 

 rude wastes produced nothing but thorns even in the most flourish- 

 ing springtide. 



Arrived, however, at the summit, he found a bed of various bud- 

 ding flowers j odorous and yet wet with dew. He cut, collected and 

 placed in his tilma as many of them as it would hold and bore them 

 to the Most Holy Virgin, who awaited him at the foot of a tree, 

 called by the Indians Cuautzahautl, (a species of palm of wild 

 growth, bearing only white flowers similar to those of the white lily,) 

 which grew in front of and near the source of the fountain. The 

 Indian bowed humbly and exhibited the flowers which he had cut. 

 The Virgin taking them in her blessed hands impressed them with 

 a holy virtue and arranged them in the Indian's tilma, (which was, 

 in fine, to be the repository of her sacred image,) and said to him, 

 4 This is the sign which I wish you to take to the bishop, in order 

 that he may build me a temple on this spot ;' and she charged him, 

 saying, 4 show no one what you have until you arrive in his pre- 

 sence !" 



With this she dismissed Juan; — and the Indian rejoicing in 

 the sign, (for he knew that through it his embassy would have a 

 happy issue,) he hastily took the path to Mexico. 



Juan Diego arrived at the palace of the bishop with the creden- 

 tials of his embassy, and informed various members of the family 

 that he wished to speak with him. Nevertheless he could not 

 obtain permission to enter, until, enraged at his importunity and 

 perceiving his tilma full of something, they sought to ascertain what 

 it contained ; and although in obeying the mandate of the Most Holy 

 Virgin, he resisted and hid from their sight these miraculous flowers, 

 they did not desist from using violence to discover what he seemed 

 so anxious to conceal. Seeing, however, that they were only flow- 

 ers wet with dew, and admirable for their beauty and fragrance, 

 they thrice attempted to seize some without being able to do so, for 



