Scene 5

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

p. 388

SCENE 5

A secluded part of the gardens of the Virgins, (L.) flowers, (R.) a thicket of mulli ¹ and chilca, ² concealing a stone door.

(PITU SALLA and YMA SUMAC.)

  Pitu Salla. In this garden is a door of stone,
But wait until the Mothers sleep,
The night comes on. Wait here for me.

[Exit.

(Yma Sumac reclines on a bank and sleeps. Night comes on, Yma Sumac awakes.)

  Yma Sumac. A thousand strange presentiments
Crowd on me now, I scarce know what--
Perhaps I shall see that mournful one
Whose fate already breaks my heart.

(Pitu Salla returns with a cup of water, a small covered vase containing food, and a torch which she gives to Yma Sumac. She leads Yma Sumac through bushes to the stone door, fixes the torch, presses something, and the door swings round.)

(CUSI COYLLUR is discovered senseless, extended on the ground, a snake twining itself round her waist.)

  Pitu Salla. Behold the princess for whom you seek.
Well! is thy heart now satisfied?

p. 389

  Yma Sumac. Oh, my friend, what do I behold?
Is it a corpse that I must see?
Oh, horror! A dungeon for the dead!

(She faints.)

  Pitu Salla. What misfortune has now arrived?
O my Sumac, my dearest love,
O come to thyself without delay!
Arouse thee. Arise, my lovely flower.

(Yma Sumac revives.)

Fear not, my dove, my lovely friend,
'Tis not a corpse. The princess lives,
Unhappy, forlorn, she lingers here.
  Yma Sumac. Is she, then, still a living being?
  Pitu Salla. Approach nearer, and you can help.
She lives indeed. Look. Watch her now.
Give me the water and the food.

(To Cusi Coyllur, while helping her to sit up.)

O fair princess, I bring thee food
And cooling water to refresh.
Try to sit up. I come with help.
  Yma Sumac. Who art thou, my sweetest dove?
Why art thou shut in such a place?
  Pitu Salla. Take a little food, we pray.
Perchance without it You may die.
  Cusi Coyllur. How happy am I now to see,
After these long and dismal years,
The new and lovely face of one
Who comes with thee and gives me joy.
  Yma Sumac. O my princess, my sister dear,
Sweet bird, with bosom of pure gold,
What crime can they accuse thee of,
That they can make thee suffer thus?
What cruel fate has placed thee here
With death on watch in serpent's form?

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  Cusi Coyllur. O charming child, the seed of love,
Sweet flower for my broken heart,
I have been thrust in this abyss.
I once was joined to a man
As pupil is part of the eye;
But alas! has he forgotten me?
The King know not that we were joined
By such indissoluble bonds,
And when he came to ask my hand,
That King dismissed him in a rage,
And cruelly confined me here.
Many years have passed since then,
Yet, as you see, I'm still alive;
No single soul have I beheld
For all those sad and dismal years,
Nor have I found relief nor hope.
But who art thou, my dear, my love,
So young, so fresh, so pitiful?
  Yma Sumac. I too, like thee, am full of grief,
For long I've wished to see and love,
My poor forlorn and sad princess.
No father, no mother are mine,
And there are none to care for me.
  Cusi Coyllur. What age art thou?
  Yma Sumac. I ought to number many years,
For I detest this dreadful house,
And as it is a dreary place,
The time in it seems very long.
  Pitu Salla. She ought to number just ten years
According to the account I've kept.
  Cusi Coyllur. And what is thy name?
  Yma Sumac. They call me Yma Sumac now,
But to give it me is a mistake.
  Cusi Coyllur. O my daughter! O my lost love,

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Come to thy mother's yearning heart.

(Embraces Yma Sumac.)

Thou art all my happiness,
My daughter, come, O come to me;
This joy quite inundates my soul,
It is the name I gave to thee.
  Yma Sumac. O my mother, to find thee thus!
We must be parted never more.
Do not abandon me in grief.
To whom can I turn to free thee,
To whom can I appeal for right?
  Pitu Salla. Make no noise, my dearest friend.:
To find us thus would ruin me.
Let us go. I fear the Mothers.
  Yma Sumac (to Cusi Coyllur). Suffer a short time longer here,
Until I come to take thee hence,
Patience for a few more days.
Alas! my mother dear! I go,
But full of love, to seek for help.

[Exeunt closing the stone door, all but Cusi Coyllur. They extinguish the torch.

Footnotes

388:1 Schineus Molle, a tree with pinnate leaves, and panicles of red berries, well known in the Mediterranean countries, into which it was introduced from Peru. Called by the English 'pepper tree.'

388:2 Several bushes are called chilca in Peru. Eupatorium chilca (R. P.), baccharis scandens, and molina latifolia. Stereoxylon pendulum is called puna chilca.