Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/395

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SCENE II
THE YARAHUI
355

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;[1]
You who sang it leave me now.

[Exeunt boys and girls, except one girl who sings.

Two loving birds are in despair,[2] They moan, they weep, they sigh;For snow has fallen on the pair, To hollow tree they fly.
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.'
  1. ↑ In the tuya she sees her husband Ollantay, while the poor princess herself is the forbidden grain.
  2. ↑ 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.

AA 2

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