A literary criticism of the short story "The Two Shores," which appeared in the 1992 book "The Orange Tree," by Carlos Fuentes. The plot and characters of the story are described, particularly the narrator, Jerónimo de Aguilar, a dead man who was held captive by the Mayans. The story is a contribution to the reconsideration of the Spanish conquest of the Americas, particularly Mexico. The idea that the story may present a counterfactual historiography, an idea created by critic Niall Ferguson, is considered.