ACT III

SCENE 1

The Pampa Moroni, a street in Cuzco. Enter RUMI-ÑAUI (L.) 1 in a long black cloak with a train, and PIQUI CHAQUI (R.), meeting each other.

  Rumi-ñaui. Whence, Piqui Chaqui, comest thou?
Dost thou here seek Ollantay's fate?
  Piqui Chaqui. Cuzco, great lord, is my birthplace;
I hasten back unto my home.
I care not more to pass my days
In dismal and profound ravines.
  Rumi-ñaui. Tell me, Ollantay--what does he?
  Piqui Chaqui. He is busy now entangling
An already entangled skein.
  Rumi-ñaui. What skein?

p. 380

  Piqui Chaqui. Should you not give me some present
If you want me to talk to you.
  Rumi-ñaui. With a stick will I give thee blows,
With a rope I will hang thee.
  Piqui Chaqui. O, do not frighten me!
  Rumi-ñaui. Speak then.
  Piqui Chaqui. Ollantay. Is it Ollantay?
I can remember no more.
  Rumi-ñaui. Piqui Chaqui! Take care!
  Piqui Chaqui. But you will not listen!
I am turning blind,
My ears are getting deaf,
My grandmother is dead,
My mother is left alone.
  Rumi-ñaui. Where is Ollantay? Tell me.
  Piqui Chaqui. I am in want of bread,
And the Paccays 1 are not ripe.
I have a long journey to-day--
The desert is very far off.
  Rumi-ñaui. If you continue to vex me
I will take your life.
  Piqui Chaqui. Ollantay, is it? He is at work.
Ollantay! He is building a wall,
With very small stones indeed;
They are brought by little dwarfs--
So small that to be a man's size
They have to climb on each other's backs.
But tell me, O friend of the King, 2

p. 381

Why art thou in such long clothes,
Trailing like the wings of a sick bird 1--
As they are black it is better.
  Rumi-ñaui. Hast thou not seen already
That Cuzco is plunged in grief?
The great Inca Pachacuti 2 is dead,
All the people are in mourning,
Every soul is shedding tears.
  Piqui Chaqui. Who, then, succeeds to the place
Which Pachacuti has left vacant?
If Tupac Yupanqui succeeds,
That Prince is the youngest
There are some others older. 3
  Rumi-ñaui. All Cuzco has elected him,
For the late king chose him,
Giving him the royal fringe;
We could elect no other.
  Piqui Chaqui. I hasten to bring my bed here. 4

[Exit running.

Footnotes

379:1 Rumi-ñaui is the interlocutor in the Justiniani text, in the Dominican text, and in the text of Spilsbury. Yet Zegarra would substitute the Uillac Uma or High Priest for Rumi-ñaui. His argument is that the interlocutor was of the blood-royal, and that the High Priest was always of the blood-royal, while Rumi-ñaui was not. But the text does not say that the interlocutor was of the royal blood. Zegarra also says that the interlocutor wore a black cloak with a long train, and that this was the dress of the High Priest. But it was not the dress of the High Priest as described by the best authorities. It was probably the general mourning dress. The threats addressed to Piqui Chaqui were likely enough to come from a soldier, but not from the High Priest as he is portrayed in this drama.

380:1 Paccay (mimosa incana), a tree with large pods, having a snow-white woolly substance round the seeds, with sweet juice.

380:2 The Zegarra and Spilsbury texts have Ccan Incacri, which Zegarra translates, 'relation of the Inca, of the royal family.' Spilsbury is more correct. He has 'partisan of the Inca.' The more authentic Justiniani text has Ccan Paña. The particle ri is one of emphasis or repetition. It does not mean a relation.

381:1 The Zegarra and Spilsbury texts have hualpa, a game bird. The Justiniani text has anca, an eagle, which is the correct reading.

381:2 The Inca Pachacuti does not appear to advantage in the drama. But he was the greatest man of his dynasty, indeed the greatest that the red race has produced. He was a hero in his youth, a most able administrator in mature age. As a very old man some needless cruelties are reported of him which annoyed his son.

381:3 The eldest son was Amaru Tupac. He was passed over by his father with his own consent, and was ever faithful to his younger brother. He was an able general.

381:4 This was exactly what Piqui Chaqui was sent to Cuzco to find out. The expression Apumusac puñunayta, 'I go to fetch my bed,' is one of joy at any fortunate event, in Quichua.

Next: Scene 2