Scene 4

Apu Ollantay, by Clements Markham, [1910], at sacred-texts.com

SCENE 4

A rocky height above Cuzco to the NE. Distant view of the city of Cuzco and of the Sacsahuaman hill, crowned by the fortress.

(Enter OLLANTAY armed.)

  Ollantay. Alas, Ollantay! Ollantay!
Thou master of so many lands,
Insulted by him thou servedst well.
O my thrice-beloved Coyllur,
Thee too I shall lose for ever.

p. 361

O the void ¹ within my heart,
O my princess! O precious dove!
Cuzco! O thou beautiful city!
Henceforth behold thine enemy.
I'll bare thy breast to stab thy heart,
And throw it as food for condors;
Thy cruel Inca I will slay.
I will call my men in thousands,
The Antis will be assembled,
Collected as with a lasso.
All will be trained, all fully armed,
I will guide them to Sacsahuaman.
They will be as a cloud of curses,
When flames rise to the heavens.
Cuzco shall sleep on a bloody couch,
The King shall perish in its fall;
Then shall my insulter see
How numerous are my followers.
When thou, proud King, art at my feet,
We then shall see if thou wilt say,
'Thou art too base for Coyllur's hand.'
Not then will I bow down and ask,
For I, not thou, will be the King--
Yet, until then, let prudence rule.

(Enter PIQUI CHAQUI from back, R.)

Piqui Chaqui, go back with speed,
Tell the Princess I come to-night.
  Piqui Chaqui. I have only just come from there--
The palace was deserted quite,
No soul to tell me what had passed,
Not even a dog ² was there.

p. 362

All the doors were closed and fastened,
Except the principal doorway,
And that was left without a guard.
  Ollantay. And the servants?
  Piqui Chaqui. Even the mice had fled and gone,
For nothing had been left to eat.
Only an owl was brooding there,
Uttering its cry of evil omen.
  Ollantay. Perhaps then her father has taken her,
To hide her in his palace bounds.
  Piqui Chaqui. The Inca may have strangled her;
Her mother too has disappeared.
  Ollantay. Did no one ask for me
Before you went away?
  Piqui Chaqui. Near a thousand men are seeking
For you, and all are enemies,
Armed with their miserable clubs.
  Ollantay. If they all arose against me,
With this arm I'd fight them all
No one yet has beat this hand,
Wielding the champi sharp and true.
  Piqui Chaqui. I too would like to give a stroke
At least, if my enemy was unarmed.
  Ollantay. To whom?
  Piqui Chaqui. I mean that Urco Huaranca chief,
Who lately was in search of thee.
  Ollantay. Perhaps the Inca sends him here
If so my anger is aroused.
  Piqui Chaqui. Not from the King, I am assured,
He cometh of his own accord
And yet he is an ignoble man.
  Ollantay. He has left Cuzco, I believe;

p. 363

My own heart tells me it is so
I'm sure that owl announces it.
We'll take to the hills, at once.
  Piqui Chaqui. But wilt thou abandon the Star?
  Ollantay. What can I do, alas!
Since she has disappeared?
Alas, my dove! my sweet princess.

(Music heard among the rocks.)

  Piqui Chaqui. Listen to that yarahui,
The sound comes from somewhere near.

(They sit on rocks.)

SONG

In a moment I lost my beloved,
  She was gone, and I never knew where;
I sought her in fields and in woods,
  Asking all if they 'd seen the Coyllur.

Her face was so lovely and fair,
  They called her the beautiful Star.
No one else can be taken for her,
  With her beauty no girl can compare.

Both the sun and the moon seem to shine,
  Resplendent they shine from a height,
Their rays to her beauty resign
  Their brilliant light with delight.

Her hair is a soft raven black,
  Her tresses are bound with gold thread,
They fall in long folds down her back,
  And add charm to her beautiful head.

Her eyelashes brighten her face,
  Two rainbows less brilliant and fair,p. 364
Her eyes full of mercy and grace,
  With nought but two, suns can compare.

The eyelids with arrows concealed,
  Gaily shoot their rays into the heart
They open, lo! beauty revealed,
  Pierces through like a glittering dart.

Her cheeks Achancara ¹ on snow,
  Her face more fair than the dawn,
From her mouth the laughter doth flow,
  Between pearls as bright as the morn.

Smooth as crystal and spotlessly clear
  Is her throat, like the corn in a sheaf
Her bosoms, which scarcely appear,
  Like flowers concealed by a leaf.

Her beautiful hand is a sight,
  As it rests from all dangers secure,
Her fingers transparently white,
  Like icicles spotless and pure.

  Ollantay (rising). That singer, unseen and unknown,
Has declared Coyllur's beauty and grace;
He should fly hence, where grief overwhelms.
O Princess! O loveliest Star,
I alone am the cause of thy death,
I also should die with my love.
  Piqui Chaqui. Perhaps thy star has passed away,
For the heavens are sombre and grey.
  Ollantay. When they know that their Chief has fled,

p. 365

My people will rise at my call,
They will leave the tyrant in crowds
And he will be nearly alone.
  Piqui Chaqui. Thou hast love and affection from men,
For thy kindness endears thee to all,
For thy hand's always open with gifts,
And is closely shut only to me.
  Ollantay. Of what hast thou need?
  Piqui Chaqui. What? the means to got this and that,
To offer a gift to my girl,
To let others see what I have,
So that I may be held in esteem.
  Ollantay. Be as brave as thou art covetous,
And all the world will fear thee.
  Piqui Chaqui. My face is not suited for that;
Always gay and ready to laugh,
My features are not shaped that way.
To look brave! not becoming to me.
What clarions sound on the hills?
It quickly cometh near to us.

(Both look out at different sides.)

  Ollantay. I doubt not those who seek me--come,
Let us depart and quickly march.
  Piqui Chaqui. When flight is the word, I am here.

[Exeunt.

Footnotes

361:1 Pisipachiyqui, to suffer from the void caused by absence. Pisipay, to regret the absence of, to miss any one.

361:2 The Dominican text has misi, a cat, instead of allco, a dog. Von Tschudi thought that misi was a word of Spanish origin. p. 362 Zegarra says that it is not. Before the Spaniards came, there was a small wild cat in the Andes called misi-puna. But the Justiniani text has allco, a dog.

364:1 Achancara, a begonia. A red flower in the neighbourhood of Cuzco, according to Zegarra. One variety is red and white.