"Reflections on a scene from "The Unmasking of Zorro"
by Karla Gregory
From time to time, a discussion ensues over the perplexing reaction of Zorro when Ortega falls to his death in "The Unmasking of Zorro". We have all wondered at Zorro's rather off-color laughter as he showers money down upon the soldiers below as Ortega's body lies nearby. As a response to Keliana's writer's challenge in January of 2001, I made this attempt to try and make sense of it all.
This scene picks up as Zorro races to save Rosarita from Ortega.
Zorro raced through the night on Tornado. He was desperately hoping to reach Rosarita before the false Ortega could get to her. Bernardo had finally arrived at the de la Vega hacienda well after dark. Standing behind Don Alejandro, he had almost blown his cover while he was trying to convey to Diego what he had learned. Diego’s father was determined to win the game of drafts they were playing and only Bernardo’s quick thinking allowed Diego to lose the game and say good night to his father. When he and Bernardo were finally alone, Bernardo told of what he had overheard at the Magistrado’s office concerning Rosarita's peril. Diego had hurried to the secret room to change as Bernardo ran ahead to get Tornado ready. Now, as Zorro pulled the great black stallion to a stop, he could hear voices over the wall of Don Domingo’s hacienda. Standing on the saddle and climbing to the top of the wall, he saw that he was late, but not too late. Ortega was, at this moment, trying to throttle Rosarita with the very shawl she had purchased only that afternoon. But she was still alive.
As Zorro leaped into the patio pulling his sword, Ortega spun around and saw him. Rosarita slumped to the ground in a faint. The fight between the two men was fast and furious. Early on, Ortega slipped by Zorro and nearly put his sword through Rosarita, still trying to kill her, but Zorro deflected it at the last moment. He then pressed Ortega hard and kept him away from her. At first, he grimly attended to this task. As Zorro, he took offense at this man who had caused so much misery in such a short time. This man was surely the cause of the real Ortega’s death. As the false commandante, he had torn innocent rancheros from their homes and families at the order of the Magistrado who was an agent of the Eagle, and now here, in this place, he was trying to kill Diego’s childhood friend Rosarita for no more than the thought that she might expose him as being an imposter. Zorro would never let this cold, malevolent man win this fight, for Rosarita would then be at his mercy.
Zorro knew that Ortega was a fair swordsman, not one to be taken lightly. They fought along the length of the portico, exchanging thrusts and parries, back and forth. Then the fight moved out into the patio. Zorro was now clearly in command of the fight and he smiled in anticipation of vanquishing this imposter. Ortega was growing more desperate and he used every trick he knew to keep from being killed or captured. He pushed a bench into Zorro, causing him to fall back, then leaped at him with his sword pointed at right at Zorro’s heart. Not to be taken so easily, Zorro blocked the thrust and in a swift movement, disarmed Ortega, sending the false commandante's sword flying.
Zorro now considered that he had the upper hand, but Ortega began to run away, throwing a stool and some other items in Zorro’s path, tripping him. From out of nowhere, Ortega pulled a knife and threw it at him. It plunged right into the top of a stool which he managed to snatch up just in time as a shield. As Zorro gave chase, Ortega pulled a trellis down on top of him and by the time he got free of it, Ortega was on his horse and gone. For a moment, Zorro looked out into the darkness, grimly clenching his jaw, listening to the fading hoof beats. He was frustrated that Ortega had gotten away. Then he remembered Rosarita and went to her just as she was coming to herself and helped her to rise. He could see that she was not hurt.
As he picked up her fallen shawl, he kissed her hand and said, "Until we meet again, Señorita." He sometimes found Rosarita a little difficult to be around, but he was very glad that she was safe. However, he could not stay with her. He had to find Ortega. He turned and ran out of the patio to mount Tornado and ride in pursuit. He could not see Ortega, but he had a hunch that he would return to the pueblo.
By the time Zorro arrived in the pueblo, Ortega was nowhere in sight, but his horse was standing in the plaza just below the Magistrado’s second story office. Zorro dismounted in a smooth motion almost before Tornado slid to a stop near the stairway. He ran lightly up the stairs and slipped silently to the Magistrado’s door, intending to listen and assess the situation before he took any action.
The dust that the bullet made as it grazed the wall just behind him hung in the air for only a brief moment as the pistol’s report echoed in the plaza. He turned and saw Ortega duck back behind the wall at the end of the balcony. Zorro gave chase. He would not lose his man this time.
As he rounded the corner of the building, he saw that Ortega had climbed onto the roof of the adjoining building and was trying to get away. Zorro followed. Ortega clambered up to the chimney sticking through the roof and flung his now useless pistol at Zorro, who ducked without slowing down. Ortega circled around and ran for the rooftop of the Magistrado’s building and began climbing up on it. He slipped and Zorro caught up to him. Swiftly, Ortega lashed out with his foot and caught Zorro in the chest, knocking him down. Then he began running across the rooftops again, heading toward the opposite end of the building. Zorro recovered his footing quickly and pursued. As Zorro ran up to Ortega, who had put another chimney between them, he was struck on the top of the head by a heavy bag of coins he had not seen in Ortega's possession. His vision was disrupted by a million exploding lights and pain burst in on his mind. He fell heavily, rolling and sliding down the sloping roof. As he came to a stop, blinking and trying to regain his vision, he found Ortega looming over him. Using his foot, Ortega tried to push Zorro over the edge of the building to his death.
Zorro grabbed the man's foot, and, using his strength, overturned Ortega and they began to grapple with each other, rolling on the roof together. Ortega got his hand under Zorro’s chin and began pushing the masked man's head back, exposing his throat. Zorro knew that they were perilously close to the edge of the roof, but he had no choice. He rolled over on his back and used the momentum to break free of Ortega. Ortega got up and started running away again still hoping to escape. Zorro shook his head to free it of the last of the flashing lights around the edge of his vision and scrambled to his feet, setting off after him. He was not used to hand to hand fighting and he found it rather distasteful, but on another level, one that was almost visceral, he felt that it was almost natural to fight Ortega this way. This was the kind of fighting that Ortega most naturally employed rather than the more honorable forms. Ortega was no nobleman in either thought or deed and a clean death in a fair contest of skill would be wasted on this man. No, he fought like a common bandido and so Zorro would do the same, even though he still had his sword and Ortega did not.
As if to bear this out, Ortega turned to face Zorro, backing up slowly as Zorro advanced. Holding out the bag of money, he said, "Half of this money is yours. Let me go free." He was speaking as one bandido to another, trying to buy off his adversary.
Zorro had worn the appellation of bandido in rueful fashion, the necessity of being who he was had led to that name being attached to him. But now, for the moment, he claimed it as his own in confronting this man without honor. Continuing to advance, he said menacingly, "Why should I settle for half when I can have it all!" With that, he leaped at Ortega and they began struggling again. Around and around they went, each striving to gain the upper hand. At last, Zorro saw an opening and delivered a punch to Ortega’s face with his left hand, throwing the man back against the chimney. Ortega used the chimney to lean against as he used his foot as a battering ram against Zorro’s chest. But this time too, Zorro caught the man's foot and turned Ortega over to fall and roll along the roof. His blood up, Zorro leaped on Ortega and they rolled down the roof together struggling with all their might. Suddenly, to his surprise, Ortega was on top and Zorro found himself at a disadvantage. He saw the gleam in Ortega’s eyes as the man saw an opportunity not to be wasted. Before he could be stopped, Ortega reached up and pulled the mask from Zorro’s face.
"Don Diego!" Ortega gasped in shock.
The moment that Diego had considered with dread so many times had come. The adrenaline pumping through his veins from the fight seemed to gather force inside his chest and express itself through his eyes. Ortega saw the look on Diego’s face and that sent a chlling fear coursing through him. Diego seemed to be on the verge of losing control of himself as he rapidly shook his head in anger and threw Ortega back. Ortega knew he had to get away. He knew the secret of Zorro. It would be worth his life and a fortune in reward money from the Eagle if he could just get the information to their mysterious leader. But first, he had to escape Diego.
Diego seethed as he pulled on his mask. He was as angry with himself as he was with Ortega for what the man had done. He had let his glands do his thinking for him ever since they had climbed up on the rooftops. His anger was such that, as it burned, he grew cold inside. He focused coldly on only one thing. He wanted Ortega. Ortega would not escape this time. His face expressionless, Zorro advanced upon Ortega who backed away from him.
Ortega continued to back up step by step towards the edge of the roof, away from the menace that was Zorro. He knew it was of no use to appeal to Zorro for mercy, so he appealed to Don Diego, the man behind the mask.
"Don Diego!" he cried. "Don Diego!" But tonight, the two were one and his appeals meant nothing. He fearfully continued to back away. Finally his foot slipped on the edge of the roof and he cried, "No........! " as he fell to his death, two stories below.
Zorro walked over and stood looking down on the scene as Sergeant Garcia and two of his lancers checked the fallen imposter. He still felt cold inside, nothing seemed to touch him. He looked around and spied the money bag that Ortega had dropped. This seemed to spark something within him. Ortega had tried to use that money to buy him off. As if he, Zorro, was a common criminal to be bought off by mere money. Well, he would show them what he thought of such a contemptuous thing. He took the bag and walked back to the edge of the roof. He called to those below.
"Here is gold, Señores. And it is all yours!" He showered the soldiers with gold coins. The dead man forgotten, the soldiers scrambled for the coins, Sergeant Garcia chief among them. There were priorities in the world and Garcia and the other men knew what they were. The dead man Ortega was not going anywhere, but the gold was a fleeting thing, to be snatched before it got away. The Magistrado came running up then and saw the dead imposter and the soldiers scrambling for the gold. He was beside himself as he tried and failed to get the soldiers to do something about Zorro.
Zorro was taking immense perverse pleasure in showering the Magistrado’s very own gold down upon him for the soldiers to pick up. He laughed coldly as he emptied the bag and then tossed it down. He did not leave until the Magistrado picked up one of the soldiers' muskets and fired it at him. Then he disappeared over the rooftop.
It was almost midnight before Diego appeared in his room. Bernardo was sitting in his usual spot at the foot of Diego’s bed, leaning back against the bedpost with his eyes closed. At once, he knew something was amiss. Diego was as silent as death as he came in and put on his blue bedrobe. Bernardo tried to ask what was wrong, but Diego ignored him and sat in the chair facing the fire. Bernardo came to stand beside him. Diego stared into the fire. Bernardo knew that unless Diego chose to look at him, he had no way to "speak" to his friend. So he resolved to wait by his side until his young master wished to communicate. They both stared into the fire a long time.
Finally, Diego took a deep breath and said, "Bernardo, I failed tonight. Tonight I became someone else. Someone I do not know." He looked up and Bernardo could see the agony of self doubt written in the younger man’s eyes. Bernardo held out his hands to ask for more. Diego turned back to the fire.
"I prevented the false Ortega from killing Rosarita and followed him back to the pueblo. I know that he killed the real Ortega. I know that he was guilty of cruel injustice. And I know that he was an agent of the Eagle bent on some plan to bring great harm to the people of California. He would have killed Rosarita in cold blood if I had not stopped him. But tonight, I caused a man to fall to his death from the rooftops of the pueblo." Diego looked back up, "And Bernardo, it did not have to be. The imposter did not have to die. I should have found a way to capture him and bring him to justice . . . . even though it might have meant my own capture or death."
At Bernardo’s look of horror, he continued, "Yes, Bernardo. The imposter knew who Zorro was. During the fight, he pulled the mask from my face. He knew me."
Bernardo shook his head slowly as he thought about what Diego had said. "I have to ask myself, did I cause the imposter to die because he found out my secret?" Diego said sadly.
Bernardo made a pushing motion with his hand and the motion of an object falling. "Did I physically push him over the edge? No. But I may as well have. He was cornered with nowhere to go. As I moved toward him, I felt nothing Bernardo, nothing. Only that he must not escape me. His fear of me caused him to back up until he fell."
Bernardo pointed towards his heart then towards Diego’s. "No, it was as if I was someone else who had no feelings at all. My anger at being discovered, my anger at the imposter, my anger at myself burned away at me until I could focus on only one thing: the imposter. Even when he died, I felt nothing, only a cold satisfaction that he was never going to escape me again."
Bernardo pointed to his watch. "I could not come home right away. I just rode through the hills. Little by little, I came back to myself. I am still not whole, Bernardo. I doubt if I will ever be after tonight."
Bernardo began to sign. What he said translates to this. "You are one man. One man in a thousand. A heavy weight rests on your shoulders. You are the protector of the people. A defender against tyranny. You must hide from your father and your friends just who you really are in order to do this. This takes a man of courage and sacrifice. Tonight you have sacrificed a part of your soul to be who you are."
"But, Bernardo, I would sacrifice my life before I would lose part of my soul! What is life if you have lost part of your own soul?" said Diego in anguish.
Bernardo signed again. "Sacrificed. Not lost, my friend. A price paid for those whom you love and defend. They need you and they will renew your soul. You will become stronger for their sake. Tonight will never happen again. That is not who you are. It is not who you have become. Sleep tonight. Tomorrow, look upon your father. The servants. The peons in the pueblo. The vaqueros. The children. They will renew your soul. You will see."
Bernardo put his hand on Diego’s shoulder. He saw in Diego’s eyes a first glimmer of hope. Yes, he was sure that Diego would overcome this night. It might take time, but he would be there to give Diego all the support that he could.
Diego ventured a small smile and gently grasped Bernardo by the arm. "Gracias, Bernardo. I do not know what I would do without you. I will do as you say. And we will see. Go to bed now. I will sit here for a while longer and watch the fire before I go to bed. You have given me much to think about."
Bernardo left quietly through the secret passage to go to his room leaving Diego staring into the fire. Sometime before the dawn, Diego slept.
