Apu Ollantay | Page 9

wash grief away. Pachacuti. Rise, my beloved, my star, Thy place is on thy dear father's knee.

(Cusi Coyllur rises and sits on a stool by her father. An attendant approaches.)

Attendant.
O King! thy servants come to please thee.

Pachacuti.
Let them all enter.

(Boys and girls enter dancing. After the dance they sing a harvest song.)

Thou must not feed, O Tuyallay,[FN#17] In nusta's field, O Tuyallay. Thou must not rob, O Tuyallay, The harvest maize, O Tuyallay.

[FN#17] The tuya (coccoborus chrysogaster) is a small finch, and tuyallay means 'my little tuya.'

The grains are white, O Tuyallay, So sweet for food, O Tuyallay. The fruit is sweet, O Tuyallay, The leaves are green O Tuyallay; But the trap is set, O Tuyallay. The lime is there, O Tuyallay. We'll cut thy claws, O Tuyallay, To seize thee quick, O Tuyallay. Ask Piscaca,[FN#18] O Tuyallay, Nailed on a branch, O Tuyallay. Where is her heart, O Tuyallay? Where her plumes, O Tuyallay? She is cut up, O Tuyallay, For stealing grain, O Tuyallay. See the fate, O Tuyallay, Of robber birds, O Tuyallay.

[FN#18] The piscaca is a much larger bird than the tuya. These piscacas (coccoborus torridus) are nailed to trees as a warning to other birds. They are black, with white breasts.

Pachacuti.
Cusi Coyllur, remain thou here, Thy mother's palace is thy home Fail not to amuse thyself, Surrounded by thy maiden friends.

(Exeunt the Inca Pachacuti, the Ccoya Anahuarqui, and attendants.)

Cusi Coyllur.
I should better like a sadder song. My dearest friends, the last you sang To me foreshadowed evil things;[FN#19] You who sang it leave me now.

[FN#19] In the tuya she sees her husband Ollantay, while the poor princess herself is the forbidden grain.

(Exeunt boys and girls, except one girl who sings.)

Two loving birds are in despair,[FN#20] They moan, they weep, they sigh; For snow has fallen on the pair, To hollow tree they fly.

[FN#20] This is a yarahui or mournful elegy, of which there are so many in the Quichua language. The singers of them were known as yarahuec.

But lo! one dove is left alone And mourns her cruel fate; She makes a sad and piteous moan, Alone without a mate. She fears her friend is dead and gone-- Confirmed in her belief, Her sorrow finds relief in song, And thus she tells her grief. 'Sweet mate! Alas, where art thou now? I miss thine eyes so bright, Thy feet upon the tender bough, Thy breast so pure and bright.' She wanders forth from stone to stone, She seeks her mate in vain; 'My love! my love!' she makes her moan, She falls, she dies in pain. Cusi Coyllur. That yarahui is too sad, Leave me alone.

(Exit the girl who sang the yarahui.)

Now my tears can freely flow.

SCENE 3

Great hall in the palace of Pachacuti. The INCA, as before, discovered seated on a golden tiana L. Enter to him R. OLLANTAY and RUMI-NAUI.

Pachacuti.
The time has arrived, O great Chiefs, To decide on the coming campaign. The spring is approaching us now, And our army must start for the war. To the province of Colla[FN#21] we march-- There is news of Chayanta's[FN#22] advance. The enemies muster in strength, They sharpen their arrows and spears.

[FN#21] Colla-suyu, the basin of lake Titicaca.
[FN#22] Chayanta, a tribe in the montana south of the Collas.

Ollantay. O King, that wild rabble untaught Can never resist thine array; Cuzco alone with its height Is a barrier that cannot be stormed. Twenty four thousand of mine, With their champis[FN#23] selected with care, Impatiently wait for the sign, The sound of the beat of my drums,[FN#24] The strains of my clarion and fife.

[FN#23] Champi, a one-handed battle-axe.
[FN#24] Huancar, a drum; pututu, fife.

Pachacuti.
Strive then to stir them to fight, Arouse them to join in the fray, Lest some should desire to yield, To escape the effusion of blood.

Rumi-naui.
The enemies gather in force, The Yuncas[FN#25] are called to their aid; They have put on their garbs for the war, And have stopped up the principal roads. All this is to hide their defects-- The men of Chayanta are base. We hear they're destroying the roads, But we can force open the way; Our llamas are laden with food-- We are ready to traverse the wilds.

[FN#25] Yunca, inhabitant of warm valley. Here it refers to the wild tribes of the montana.

Pachacuti.
Are you really ready to start To punish those angry snakes? But first you must give them a chance To surrender, retiring in peace, So that blood may not flow without cause, That no deaths of my soldiers befall.

Ollantay.
I am ready to march with my men, Every detail prepared and in place, But alas! I am heavy with care, Almost mad with anxious suspense.

Pachacuti.
Speak, Ollantay. Tell thy wish-- 'Tis granted, e'en my royal fringe.

Ollantay.
Hear me in secret, O King.

Pachacuti (to Rumi-naui).
Noble Chief of Colla, retire; Seek repose in