DAWN IN COPACABANA

Text based on that found in the Cuarta parte de Comedias nuevas (Fourth Part of the Comedias) of Pedro Calderón de la Barca (Madrid: Buend´â, 1672). Spanish text edited in electronic form by Ezra Engling and then transferred to HTML format for presentation in the AHCT collection of digital texts by Vern Williamsen en 2000. For a complete edition with variants, notes, and an extensive introduction, see the edition prepared by Ezra Engling and published in London by Tamesis Ltd. in 1995.

English translation prepared by Duke students in Spanish 142, “Translating the Comedia” taught by Professor Margaret R. Greer, Fall, 2006. Participating students: Jenna Claunch, Rebecca Crotty, Mirels Davila, Pratiyancha Gupta, Brooke Jandi, Kellyann Jones, Bronwym Lewis, Nneka (Diana) Okpala, Michele Peppers, and Jorge Suárez

Readers: If you note corrections that should be made, please send word to me: mgreer@duke.edu

Cast of Characters

PizarroAlmagroCandiaInca Guáscar, kingYupangui, Indian gallantTucapelGuacoldaGlaucaIndian PriestIdolatrySailorsSoldersSeveral IndiansTwo angelsFour (Indian) PriestessesCount of Coruña, don Lorenzo de MendozaGovernor, don Jeronimo MarañónA gilderIndian named AndrewA youthAccompanimentMusicians

ACT ONE

Instruments and voices backstage, and all those who can enter together, dressed as Indians, singing and dancing; Yupangui, an Indian gallant, a Priest, Glauca, and Tucapel and, behind them all, the Inca Gúascar, king. All with bows and arrows

YUPANGUI: On the fortunate daythat Inca Guáscar celebratesthe ages of the Sun that werehis glory and our blessing,

let the festivities proceed! 5Music:

Let the festivities proceedand acclaiming both deities,the Sun in the heavens, and the Inca on earth,let echoes repeat the sound of our voices,may he live, may he reign, may he triumph and conquer. 10

Inca: How greatly I esteem seeing that in honor of the sacred peakthat rests on the cloudsabove Copacabana,in abundant gratitude 15for having been the firstcradle of the child of the Sunfrom whose illustrious ancestrymy origin comes, you demonstratesuch joy!

Yupangui: We could hardly 20fall short in our obligationto such an inherited debt.Five centuries have passed, great sir, of a gift as sublimeas giving us his son 25so that from him you descendand today marks another fivethat all your people every year renewthe memory of that day,demonstrating how much we owe to your light.And thus, do not thank us forcelebrations that are born todayfrom two causes: one, that you shouldbe our monarch, and the other, 35that you come in person to our worshipto which effect we come to Tumbezwhere the Sun displays his temple,

to receive you, proclaiming with many voices … 40

Yupangui and Music: May you live, may you reign,may you triumph and conquer.

Inca: Both one and the other cause, bind youin no small part, Yupanguisince you are not unawarethat you too descend from that 45first light,, by which as an Inca,if not of royal grandeur,you are of royal stock.

Yupangui My greatest fortune is that(Although my greatest fortune

Aside if I were to consult my suffering), Aside 50is not that but rather the happyday that I came to see Guacolda, lovely priestess of the sun, !Oh, what a kindness, 55that after a year and a day,is happily remembered!)

Sacerdote: Until we reachthe foothills of the highlandwhere it is well that the priestesses 60of this temple come, since the sacrifice of the caged beasts we carry for their bloody altar, 65takes place there todaylet the singing proceed.

Glauca Well said.May the dancing, Tucapel, resume.

Tucapel: It shows off, Glauca, how muchyou enjoy making a move.

Yupanqui: You two always have to quarrel! 70Together: Well, who has fun without quarreling?Yupanqui: And who besides me, would have the

patience to put up with you?Music: Let the festivities proceed

and acclaiming both deities,the Sun in the heavens, and the Inca on earth,let echoes repeat the sound of our voices,may he live, ...

Within, from a distance

Voices: Land! land!Inca: Listen! What strange voices are

those whose articulation soundshuman, without our knowingwhat they are saying to us?

Yupanqui: You should not find it strange that such new ones are heard in these woodssince there are as many idols here 85as peaks in their jungles.From here to Copacabanathere is not a flower, leaf, stalk or stonein which some lesser goddoes not pay obedience to the Sun. 90And thus here, not only does one hearambiguous responsesof languages we do not understandbut also sees different wild beastswhose eyes and mouths 95exhale fire and breath smoke.And perhaps what greater one than seeing a scaly snakethat curls completely around, 100spiraling in a circle until it bites its tail,as if to give us to understand howmysterious is the junglethat shelters suchprodigies? 105

Inca: That being soshould not make it a reason to upset or astound me.Let the festivities proceed!

Music: Let the festivities proceed 110Dancing And acclaiming both deities,

the Sun in the heavens, and the Inca on earth,let echoes repeat the sound of our voices,may he live, may he reign, may he triumph and conquer.

Within, at a distance, Pizarro and Spaniards

Pizarro: Now that we see land, come on, 115lower the sails.to reach the shore

All: Lower the sails.

Indians stop dancing

Inca: Be quiet; the voices are returning,in case you can understand them.

One: Silence!Another Silence!

WithinGuacolda: Oh, how sad! 120Inca: What new echo is now lamenting

in our own language?Tucapel: A woman’s voice

and, by all indications,a priestess.

Yupanqui: (Guacolda Aside 125is the one who comes speaking.)

Guacolda come in as if frightened

Guacolda: Valiant sons of the Sun,whose illustrious descendantsextend to today in the greatInca who reigns among you,suspend the sacrifices 130that you are preparing toyour supreme deity, and all of you, respond to my voice and come to theseashore to see the wonder that is approaching our woodlands. . 135

Inca: Lovely priestesswhose divine beautyqualifies you aboveall those whom your cloister encloses 140consecrated to your deity,what is this? (I can scarcely speak Asideastonished by such rarebeauty.) When such a throngawaits your offeringyour rich gifts, 145instead of arriving festivelyand accompanied by beautifulnymphs of the Sun, alone, sad,confused, absorbed and astonishedyou come to upset them..

Guacolda: Don’t 150blame me until you know the

cause, noble Gúascar Inca.

Inca: What is the cause?Guacolda: It is . . .Yupanqui: (Who would believe that I am dying Aside 155

to know it and not to know it?)Guacolda: From that temple that on the shore

of the sea shines in competitionwith the one that also on the shore of the lagoon that lies nearthe valley of Copacabana, 160in sight of the peakon whose eminent summitthe Sun one beautiful dawnrose to give us his son, 165so that no less noble should be the cacique who has dominionover the seventy-two nations that today, --after dividing the inheritancewith your brother Atabaliba-- 170you command, rule, and govern.From that temple, again I say,I came with all those priestesses who,dedicated to the Sun, untilon his death they merit 175being his victim some day,live attending his worshipwith the desire of arrivingso surrendered to your presencethat my soul and my life 180might be the first gift of the offering,when turning my eyestoward the sea we saw in its spherea strange marvel, whosedetails particulars I do not know how to give you.Because if I say that it is a reef that travelsI speak in error, since its violence belies as a reefit being a reef;if I say a pregnant cloud 190that thirsty, decends todrink the sea, I am in worse error,because it comes without a storm;if I say a seagoing fish,the wings with which it comesflying must belie me; if I say

a sailing bird that comes swimming,it must belie me as well;so that in every aspectit is a monster of such strangenessthat it is a reef in stature,a cloud in its lightnessand a monster of the sea and wing,since in varying species 205it seems a fish when it swimsand a bird when it flies.The cries that it pronouncesare voices of a strange languagewe have not heard before today. Seeing it,all the priestesses fled in hasteto save their lives, seeingthat if it does come to land,flight will not serve toshelter or defend them, 215for that which travels so fastby sea, who will it do on land?I alone, not such much controlled bycourage as by fainting,stayed fixed by it; and seeingthat they had closed the doorsof the temple to my retreat,neither fully alive nor deadI have come to this site where,so that you will not believemy voice more than your eyes,I ask you to turn them toward the sea.Look at it, to see how horriblyit now approaches the shores.Let flight save you, your highness 230since defense cannot do so.

Inca: Let flight save me,against whom earth, water,air and fire engender their threats in vain? Prepare arrowsthat we use against other animals—although not of equal ferocity—poisoned with a thousandvenomous plantsagainst this one; for I 240will be the first to undertaketo make my shot good.

Yupanqui: May my breast

be the shield for your life.(Oh, Guacolda, if you understood Asidethe ambivalent servicethat as loyalty, obliges meand as love. forces me!)

Guacolda: (Oh, if you, Yupanqui, could see Asidethe suffering that you cost me!)

All: We will all do the same.Tucapel: Except me, Glauca. . .Glauca: What’s your intent?Tucapel: . . . that you put yourself in front,

with which you will solve things for all of us.Glauca: I, for everyone?Tucapel: Yes.Glauca: How?Tucapel:

Becauseif he catches you first, 255he will be so stuffed by you, that he will notbe hungry for the rest.

Inca: Now that your loyaltysets itself to my defense,let it not be in my offense.Together with all we will forma wing, and let the cloudof our arrows be so thickthat it rains frozen hail 265of stones and feathers on itsscales, that it may diebled to death in the waves.

Within

Pizarro: Put down the anchor and tie fast,saluting this wilderness with a salvo 270

Guacolda: What are you waiting for, when you areexposed to their shots?

As they shoot toward the tiring room, a firearm is shot within, and all the Indians are frightened. Voices within

Voices: Fire it.Some: How astounding!Others: What horror!

All:What sorrow!

Tucapel: What a fine timbered voicethe lady beast has! 275

Inca: A monster that complainswith such a roar on seeing itself wounded, doubtlessis a monster.

Guacolda: Since the armedwrath of our bows and arrows 280are useless against it, let the thickness of our wildsdefend us.

Todos: Let the brambles shelter us.

the Indians exit, and the Inca and Yupanqui remain alone

Inca: Cowards,you leave your king like this!But, what does it matter if I remainmyself?

Yupanqui: Consider, your highness.that while all say that placing life knowingly at risk is courage, 290no one calls it prudence.In such surpassing dangers which force cannot touch,industry prevails.

Inca: How?Yupanqui: Order let loose the fierce beasts

that are caged in severalgrottos for the sacrifice;and let them struggle, beast against beast,letting this wonder sate itselffirst on them rather than 300on people.

Inca: Your counsel me well;let vigor yield to reasonfor once. (I should say rather Asidelet it yield to desire, since I acceptit only to save the life of thatlovely priestess.)

Yupanqui (Beautiful Guacolda AsideI have now fulfilled my obligation to loyaltylet me now satisfy [love’s] courtesy.

Where has fear taken you?)Voices: To the woods, to the woods!

A ship is revealed, with Pizarro, Almagro, Candía and sailors on it.

Pizarro: The land

that is visible from hereis not, like the others, the barren landwe left behind, for, crowning all 315with most lofty summitswe see it covered with people.

Almagro: Thanks be to God, great Pizarrothat after so many fortunesdestroyed, shipwrecks, becalming, 320hunger, thirst and stormsas we have sufferedsince, opening the routefrom the sea of the north to the south,we crossed New Spain 325and in Panamawe set sail.Again, thanks be to Godand a thousand times I say it,that after so many risks 330worries, frights and tragedieswe have succeeded in discovering theseIndies unknown until today,Only studious geographyknew of them, whose knowledge showing the globe to be round, found necessary the existence of that remote portion, hidden as long as no ship sailed around the world,

Pizarro Since we only came to discover it,let it suffice us to see it 345for now, when we do not haveforces to conquer it.And thus, since these newsare the objective of our enterprise,let us return, now that we haveexperience of these seas,where better suppliedwith more war provisions,

more ships and more men,foodstuffs, powder and fuses 355we may return to conquer itin the name of the fifth CaesarCarlos, may he live happy.

Candía: We will have to do that, since ofthe thirty of us who set out, 360no more than thirteen remain whoknow how to take arms, and theseamen, few in number, and even those ill.But before we take newreturn routes, 365it would be well, since we arrivedhere, to take from theseremote parts—because it could be that when they see usthe valiant will believe it 370and the cowards will not--some evidence, be itfruit, trees or grassesthat there aren’t found there; and besides thatit would be a reasonable 375in case the sea, which hasalways been a theater of contingenciesshould finish us off,and others should come with the same end,to leave signs that we camehere, so that they should not acquirethe glory of having beenthe first in this very arduousand difficult enterprise.

Pizarro: What signs should they be 385that we might leave here?

Candía: What more evident signs,since the propagation ofthe faith is our first cause,that in these woods [we leave] a cross. 390for there will be no one who might see itwho would not say, “Spaniardsarrived here, for this is the evidenceof the zeal that animates themand the faith that gives them life”? 395

Pizarro Not only an heroic, but alsoa religious proposition.

Almagro: Well, since it is another man’s advice,in order to have some part

in such a generous act, 400let the execution be mine.I will go ashore in the skiff.

Candia: No, nor is it well to understand,sire don Diego de Almagro,that in this assembly 405the proposal being minethat the execution be yours.It was my vow, and the riskhas to be mine.

Almagro: For the samereason it is well that we divide 410the difference between the two.Be content, Peter of Candia,that the vow be yours,and leave the act to me.

Candia: Before I consent… 415Almagro: Before I…Pizarro What is this?

Remember that our friendshipmade us all equals.If we come to competeover the position, I will use those powerswith which the king rewards my services,since I come as General;and he who does not look, does not observethat I am here…

The two: then give the orderto whomever you prefer. 425

Pizarro. I will. Pardon me, Almagrothat this reason has more force.You, Pedro de Candia, go.

Candia: Pilot, put the skiffin the water, while Itake arms and preparethe wooden cross.

Exits

Pizarro: Meanwhile,so that frightened, peoplemay leave the shore,and he have more space, 435fire another cannon.

They fire, and the ship is covered up. Voices within

Voices: Heavens,mercy, Heaven, mercy!

Yupanqui drags Tucapel in

Tucapel: How do you expect that heavenbe merciful with you—oh, poor me—if you don’t aren’t with me, 440dragging my by forceto the sight of these horribleramparts that yawnthunder and sneeze lightning?

Yupanqui: If Guacolda fled in the first confusionwhen we heard its roar,and when I asked about her, you told methat she had come thisway, why do you wonder at 450bringing you, now that the Inca issafe and she—oh, sadness!—does notappear, for you to tell me the paththat she took?

Tucapel: It isn’t easyto know where a girl whose been 455shut up takes offthe day she’s let loose.She came here, but I don’t knowwhere she ran off to.

Yupanqui: Stars,always affable with my choiceand always against my happiness,tell me of Guacolda. Butif my objective is to defend herfrom that marvel, as long asI do not lose sight of it 465and I can see it and not her,I will know that it does not offend herand will know that she is safe,consoling the sorrow of my not seeing her, with seeing 470that it cannot see her either.And thus I alone on the beachwill be sentry on guard,I have to see its actions.

Tucapel: If you have to be alone, allow 475

me to go.Yupanqui Not that.Tucapel: Well, how does being alone and with me

go together?Yupanqui Very well,

for in the moment that it comesnearing the shore,you will go. . .

Tucapel: That’s lovely!Yupanqui . . . to tell them to let the fierce beasts

loose. Tucapel: Now that is not good . .

the fierce . . . what?Yupanqui the fierce beasts, I say;

since knowing where the monster is, 485if you flee toward it, they will fall on the monster.

Tucapel: And the fierce beasts and the monsteron me, which will be a veryhealthy piece of business.

Yupanqui Be quiet and listen, 490There’s an even greater fear than you think.

Tucapel It must be huge.Yupanqui Haven’t you noticed

that it stays in the sea and that it throwsa smaller monsterout of its stomach?

Tucapel I’ll go fast 495to bring the fierce beasts.

Yupanqui Wait;although this one is reaching shore,it isn’t coming out on shore either,but there it throws out of its breast what looks like a man.

Tucapel Good God! 500What kind of offspring is this,that a huge beast gives birth toa smaller beast, and this little beastto a man?

Yupanqui And such a strange appearance 505--the white color of his face and the tangled hair and beard, wonders increased byhis dress and the kind of armshe bears.

Tucapel: I’m going to get the fierce beasts

ready against him.Yupanqui: Hold on;

it’s a failing of my courage to think that I need defense against a man, 515especially when I begin to suspect thatalthough I could fire on him from here, it would be base to kill himwithout exploring what these520marvels are. I’ll go out to meet him.

Tucapel: Not me,and now I can’t run away either. This crevicewill have to hide me.

Tucapel hides and Candia enters, armed with a cross and some rough trunks.

Candia: When future agessay that Francisco Pizarro first cut through the waves of the Southern Sea to discover these new western Indies, 530let them also say that Pedro de Candia was the first to set foot on its sandy shore.

Yupanqui: As a man surely vomited from the foamthat seagoing beast drank, spit out on land,who are you? Where do you come fromand where are you going?

Candia I don’t comprehenda bit of his language, but from his actsI understand that he must be anoble and courageous cacique,since when they leave the wholeshore unprotected, he alone remains. 545

Yupanqui: Why don’t you answer me?Who are you? Where do you come from?And where are you going?

Candia: If you are disturbedby seeing my ship in your seas andme in your forestslisten and I’ll tell you the cause.

Yupanqui: (Like me, he talks without my deducing what he says to me.) Aside

Tucapel: (That two people should talk Asidewithout either one knowing what the other says is nothing new.) 555

Yupanqui: If you are a human being and want tobe present at the sacrificeswe make to the Sun, and as proofthat you come looking for the god of lightning 560you come forging his thunder, come;we will receive you peacefully.Tell us, then, what are your intentions?

Candía Noble cacique—since your courage demonstrates your nobility-- 565I come seeking neither your goldmines nor the silver in your veins. Religious zeal brings me; the supreme faith ina single God, and curing you ofthe blind idolatry you suffer. To that end I bring this standard, He raises the crossthe most treasured signof Christian forces. 575

Yupanqui Without knowing what you are telling me,I know what you intend to do,since hoisting that tree trunk, you clearly showthat you are calling me to battle; 580therefore, this arrow shot from my bowwill answer you.putting an arrow in his bow

Candía Although I don’t knowwhat you are trying to say to me,I do know that you calling me to combatsince you are waiting for me with yourbowstring drawn. Shoot then, 585but watch out because if you miss me,you will die with this sword.

Yupanqui I’m sorry for the advantage I have with aweapon that can be hurled, when you cannot throw yours,because I would rather subject you with my armsrather than having you die…But what is this? Who deadens my hand thattrembles with cold, stops my heartbeats 595and my breath?But it’s too much, too much, that everything—woe is me!—failsif the splendor that burns me 600is an icicle that freezes me? He drops his bowA tree trunk that sends off raysand blinds me with pure lightis more than a trunk. I do not flee

from you, whoever your are, 605but from the overpoweringarms that defeat me with witchcraft.Let the wild animals loose, so it Leavingwill pour its poison on them,this venom of lights 610that terrifies me and puts me to flight.And, to the jungle, the valley, the woods,Peruvians, for today the land and the sea are the depths of the deepest abyssagainst us!

Exits, and going after him, Candía meets Tucapel

Candia: Wait; 615after him. . . But who’s here?

Tucapel: (Oh, I wish I knew how to tell him (Aside)that I’m a fool and that anyone whopays attention to a fool is a greater fool!I, yes, when ….)

Candía: Hold on, don’t run away. 620

Voices within

Voices: To the hills, to the valley, to the jungle,unleash the wild animals!

Tucapel (… I’ll bet the first one they meetis me.)

Candía: Woe is me! What’s that I see?A thousand fierce animals coming from the deep caves, yawningnew horrors among these hills,cover the whole shore

A lion and a tiger enter, doing what the verses say

and among them, a lion and a tiger 630sharpening their claws readying their pawsare coming toward me. Althoughit’s impossible to defend myself,I’ll die killing them. Buthowever furiously they approach, 635on seeing me they stopand instead of attacking, they tremble.With that, the lion, dragging hisuntamed mane of crowning curls,

and the tiger, his chest to the groundcome humbling at my feettheir indomitable heads.

It’s right for me to repaysuch a courtly debt.

He caresses them.

Tucapel: Look how he pampers themand how they court him!Who’s ever seen before a lap tiger,or a pet lion, who playwith their owner and he with them 650like guests at a party!

Candía Dear Lord, since this favorrewards in advance my desireto raise your militant banneramong these barbarians, whereyour faith now planted may grow,climbing this cliff, I will set itin your name on its highest point

He climbs to the top of the mountain

Tucapel: Woe is me! He’s leaving me 660between the lion and the tiger!But going behind him I’ll besafe. But they turn against meto defend him.

Candíad: Nowthat your banner stands fluttering over the rough bulwark of thisrustic parapet, Lord,

He leaves the cross and climbs down, cutting branchesI’ll go back to the sea with tokens ofthese branches and fruits

670and with this native from whomwe can learn the language tounderstand it on returning.You, come with me; now yourlet your friends,. . .

Tucapel: Ay, they are coming near me! 675Candía remain at peace. That I may go in

peace they indicate, returning to

the hills. Come along, you.Tucapel: Glauca, now that you see that they

are taking me to feed the beast,don’t you be food for other beastswhile I’m away.

Candía: New worlds,heavens, sun, moon and stars,birds, fish, beasts, trees,mountains, seas, peaks, jungles, 685I leave a good pledge as proofthat if your people todayworship the sun that risesas son of the beautiful dawn,a happy day will come 690when over these same peaksa better dawn will break,with a better sun in its arms!

Exits, taking Tucapel with him, and Idolatry enters, dress in black with stars, a sword and a baton.

Idolatry Before I see that day, I, who am the Idolatry,of this barbarous people who in the quivering fields of the west,not knowing another sun nor another dawn,in worshipping the light, worship the shadows…Before, I say again, the day that Peru,my immemorial possession, seesinvasions from New Spain, it will seewhether God limits my acts and takes away the powers he gave me; 705my anguish, my suffering and fearswill stir up with the magic horror of my horrorsboth spheres, land and sea, today,for the sea, before that ship goes with the newsof this discovered beach 710let me attack, capsize, and pursue it,although now with a wind at the stern it may sayto my disgrace and affront,

within

Pizarro: Turn seaward.All: Bon voyage, good sailing. 715Idolatry: And the land too, will see to its damage

the error of so many years revalidated,

not only returning to the practice of the sacrificeleft in abeyance, but with more terror, since if beforethe victim was this or that rough beast,now I will make the sacrifice a human being,because since Copacabana is a temple of the sun,and that peak its altar,on which the Spaniard put as a signthe wooden cross,at the sight of which I shudder, moan, and die;it is well that there—without daring to be seenin these outrages—so what happened in New Spainwon’t occur, where raising another cross on another mountain,I had it set on fire,and flaming without being burned, what that blindinsult secured was that instead of embracing it,they feared it, accepted, and venerated it. 735And thus I say again, without my risking thatthis poor people be moved to insult it,it is right to satisfy my delirium, with a sacrilegious intent,by extending my sacrifice within sight of itfrom barbarity to cruelty;to which end, swift oracles will sound throughout the mountainside, , now with soft, now with sad voices, saying…

Within

All: Good news!, the monster now goes running away! 745

Idolatry: No, don’t go onlet the times say it without my saying it,since they come back together again, repeating. . .

She and all: Good news, the monster is now running away!

She exits, and the Inca, Guacolda and the four priestesses, the priest, and Glauca enter, with all the Indian men and women possible, with bow and arrows

Guadolda: Is that surprising, if it saw the armed squadronof rows of wild animals prepared against it?Who doubts that that is what made itleave without coming onto land?

Yupanqui enters

Yupanqui: No, sir; its coming and its return 755is born from a higher cause;there is a greater marvel hidden in it.

Inca: How is that?

Yupanqui: Coming back to the shoreafter leaving you, to see if I could find out who was causing us such horror, 760I saw a little boat that it launchedin the sea, rather like some raftson which we cross lagoons.Then with that I first began to form the ideathat rather than an animal, it was a construction.Seeing later the astonishment of seeingthat float throw out on land a manof a strange appearance. I don’t want to recountthat I spoke to him and he to me, consideringthat we did not understand each other,and I cannot say what we told one another.It is enough to know that in that lengthy duel,actions said what voice did not.He raised a tree trunk he broughtagainst me; and my quiver (armed) a harpoonagainst him, but the momentI wanted to draw the bow, a radiantlight blinded me, and my arm deadenedwith the bow and harpoon, I lost consciousness.You may blame my fear, but do not blame it 780unless you forgive the wild animals as well.I saw from far away that a liongave him rough caresses, and a tiger followed this action, and protected by both,he climbed up that cliff on which he left placed 785on its threatening darknessan unworked piece of wood of a rough tree trunk;and with that, returning to the sea, he took with himTucapel, a servant who was with meon the seashore. 790

Glauca: How could you say it wasn’t a divine thingthat did no harm to anyoneand has been so useful to me?

Priest: Be quiet, foolish woman.Yupanqui: So that

if reason on which I ground myself naturallyinforms me, without that discourse owing anything to art,there must be on the other sideof the sea another republic, another world,another language, another dress and another people; 800and that people so clever and so valiantthat they have known how to populate those seaswith singular constructions;

and more dismaying, they have knownhow to forge thunder and lightningwith such lightning bolts that theyblind men and animals.And to think that they have been moved to such anenterprise as to come to foreign shoresjust to place a piece of wood. 810living on the waves, bringing lightning, subduing wild beasts?No, sir, that is not possible;there is some more incomprehensible mystery here.And thus we should reason out togetherwhat we have to do, and prepare 815in case they come back again,and once prepared, let it be as it may be.

Inca: Paying attention to this event,however little I understand it, I feel it much more;and thus I do not know, I do not know what we shoulddo.

Priest: I do.Inca: What is it?Priest: That we continue—

leaving that crude woodplanted there until we see what flower or fruit it gives—the sacrifice, and that we all appealto the temple of the Sun, to see if we canprocure that it tell uswhat we have to do.

Yupanque: That is right.Guacolda: Then let the

appeal continue, but with a very different tone,so that what was harmony is made a lament.

Inca: Beautiful father of the day, 830from such confusion, tell us,will you wish to restore us?

Idolatry singing within

Idolatry Yes.Inca: It already answered my voice.

Idolatry: ToGuacolda Let me appeal too,

if you are moved to answer me…Idolatry Wish Priest What is your wish? How can we,

who believing your merit, know not

what is your will?

Idolatry To oblige

Priestess 1 To oblige you is our desire, and we come to invoke your aid. in blind confusion

Idolatry the SunYupanqui The brilliant, all-seeing Sun alone

could know the tyrannical nature that arrived here,

Idolatry A human lifePriestess 2 a human life, if you say, it was,

how did it astound us with such horrors?Tell us, lord, what our defense…

Idolatry must be

Priestess 3 Your light our defense must be. Howbest can we demonstrate our faith?

Idolatry the sacrifice.Priestess 4 If the sacrifices are the best plea,

we go to perform them. Let that whichyour people devote to you be accepted.

Inca: From all that we have heard,we deduce nothing.

Priest, Yes, we do,if we combine the meaning ofthat which has been answered.

Yupanqui: And how do we combine it?Priest: Each one saying--since the response

was to each one--what he said.

Inca: You begin, GuacoldaGuacolda To …Idolatry To…Priest Wish…Idolatry WishPriestess To obligeIdolatry To obligeYupanqui The SunIdolatry The sunPriestess 2 A human life

Idolatry A human lifePriestess 3 Must beIdolatry Must bePriestess 4 The sacrificeIdolatry The sacrifice

All singing, with music

All: “To wish to oblige the sun, 870a human life must be the sacrifice.”

Priest Doubtless the Sun, offended that in your presence a wild animalshould be the rough victim,today wished that we elevate itto a rational being,giving indication of his angerthat it is not a real sacrificethat the royal person attends.

Inca: If that is what he warns us 880Why does he not tell us which life?

Priest Since it is that of the priestesschosen by lot.The most noble women arein the temple, dedicated to that,he designating when they will besacrificed to their god.

Priestesses: We live obligated to that,we who are consecrated to the Sun.

Glauca: And we are excused from it,we who are born peasants.

Inca: (If it should be that one’s lot ---woe is me!) AsideYupanqui: (What a great sorrow it would be “

if it should be her lot!)Inca And the lots,

how are they chosen?Priest This way: 895

each one should give an arrow,and with them in my hand and their hands, the most noble or oldest manis called on to come, with his eyes blindfolded,so that he can not note their identity,and the owner of the arrow he picksis to be delivered to the altarwhen the four days are completedthat the law allows, in which her parentsand relatives give her congratulations

for her happy selection.Priestesses In obedience,

here are the arrows.

The priest takes the arrows together, and each priestess takes hers.

Glauca: And then people will say it’s badnot to be nymphs of the Sun.

Inca: Now name the man who is to come choose.Priest: With you here, it is not

right for me to name him. You,your majesty, should name him

Inca: Yupanqui.Yupanqui Your highness?Inca Since it

should be the most noble,I name you.

Yupanqui: I mustobey.

Priest And you mustbe blindfolded here.

Yupanque Thatcould well be omitted, since I comeblindly, even if my eyes were not covered.

They blindfold him(Who, heavens, would believe, who, Asidethat where Guacolda stands,I would value that she not bethe one whom my star chooses?)

Priest Come over this way.Yupanqui Now

I’m touching all the arrows.Priest You must chose one, no more.

Yupanqui comes to the arrows and takes that of Guacolda

Now you can uncover your eyes. 930Who did you chose?

Guacolda: Me!Yupanqui (Weighty sorrow!) AsideGuacolda (Such pain!) Aside

The two withdraw to the corners of the stage

Inca: Since it is not right for you to see me,nor anyone condemned to death,

although it be a happy death;not without pity, lovely beauty

do I leave you.(I really leave to avoid havingmy grief explode here.) Exits

Priest: You are blessed, for today 940you will be the crucible of our faith. Exits

Priestesses: You are fortunate, for you goto be the bride of the Sun. Exit.

Glauca: Good congratulations, but I don’t like them. Yet, how can I be such a brute, that I don’t cry over Tucapel’s capture?

Glauca and all except Yupanqui and Guacolda exit.

Yupanqui: Two charges, lovely Guacoldatoday arise against me;that with my sight I chose you, 950and today I chose you without it.But neither from one nor the othercan my lot, happy or unhappy, be released, consideringthat once it was to adore youanother to elevate you,and both to lose you.

Guacaolda: From one or the other –woe is me!—anyexcuse would be in error,and I go leaving lovein that first state,in which I do not know if I should lamentmore that you chose, and notthat I was the chosen.And thus, I deny that you have erredblindly, for he was not blindwho saw what he had to see.

Yupanqui: Now my affliction is greater, 968seeing that you resign your willto my blindness.970

Guacolda: Perhaps it is not resignation.Yupanqui: Then what?Guacolda: Desperation

that my father should haughtily

avenge his disdainful enmity against the two of us, because you 975followed Gúascarwhen he followed Atabaliba,

and in order not to give me to you, hebrought me by force to the temple. I do not knowif I will be able to resign myselfto dying as a sacrifice,because even if there were nothingof that violent severityor this unfortunate lovenor anything else to fear, 985passing from being to nonbeingwould contain the same pain.For some natural illuminationis infinitely opposed to the fact that for no crime in me, there should be in a celestial deity such a thirst for human bloodthat, fierce and cruel, makes it obligatory that,without religious hatred, one follower of the faithshould kill another; is it a law, tell me,that a god not die for meand that I should die for him?

Yupanqui: I don’t know; but I do know that my reason, astonished by your reasoning, has left me in such confusion 1000that… but I will say nothing except that if I could findan opening by which withoutarguing against faith in thesun, I could see my lifesurrendered rather than yours…

Guacolda: No, don’t go on, for althoughthis temple has a door to thelagoon, and on the lagoon, raftson which supplies come, andI can, opening it by night,go to a desertedisland to hide myself opportunely,fearing the sun of your fortune,my suffering realizes in vain 1015that there is night, there is a temple, and there isa door, raft, island, and lagoon. Exits

Yupanqui How could her resignedindignation say more clearlythat my love was an accomplice 1020

to the situation in which my lothas put her? Nor couldher suffering offer more clearly the means to save her life. 1025But how can I—woe is me--launch myself into a daringso serious as to take away fromthe sun such a victim? Butwhy do I doubt or hold back?For if there were no precepts to break, there would be no guilt,and the sacrifices of love wouldbe unappreciated, for theaffections are nourished by them. 1035I’ll go where if she comes out,to see if I am fearful or fearlessof the sun, she may see that…

The Inca enters

Inca: YupanquiYupanqui Your highness?Inca: I came looking for you

with a sorrow that I would onlyentrust to you. 1040

Yupanqui: How can Iserve you, since you knowmy love, my loyalty, and my zeal?

Inca: Assured of both, I will tellyou that from the veryinstant that I saw the rare,unparalleled beauty, of that priestess, whoconquered me without designor encouragement, winning,between wonder and fear,to triumph with fewer arms; 1050I neither live nor know myself,and more so now, since addingmight to might, lightning to lightning, flame to flame, fire to fire, 1055compassion for her fortuneincreased the pain. I don’t want toinsist on how powerful two contradictory emotions that—to attack, unite

pity and tenderness; I would givemy life that she might not die. No, do not listen to me betweensuspense, disturbance and confusion, as if you are saying 1065to yourself, how, against the Sun,to whom I owe so many glories,do I dare to offend his worship,nor even to imagine it? But 1070before you pronounce such words,my voice will meet yours to tell youthat, for a love that has no remedybut dying of seeing death,I do not doubt to gild offenseswith the rays of the sun himself,particularly when I cansoothe his anger with otherpresents. And postponing to let be what will be, 1080either his pardon or his anger,she must live, and youmust be the instrument.The four legal days in whichher parents and relativescelebrate her, deceivingpain with deference,I give you as the space of timeto think how it will be, lettingyour wit make use of the night,the lagoon, rafts and temple doors, 1090or your courage, resolute inall events, or of disguises forthe robbery, or of arms for the uproar. You, finally, have to get her tosafety, and then. makingamends to the Sun,time will tell.

Within

Idolatry: Gúascar!Gúascar The wind

says my name; it must bepeople who come following me.So they don’t see us talking alone, casting

suspicion on our conversation,while I go out to meet them 1105this way, you stay here,taking note that I leave toyour wit or to your couragemy honor, soul and life.Let that beauty live, and let 1110your king live, or let both die. Exits

Yupanqui: Heaven help us!Who else has the world seenso under attack at one timeby jealousy, loyalty and love?Did I say jealousy? I did well tobegin with them, a sufferingso impolite and rudethat in competition with other evilsit always takes first place.By jealousy—woe is me!-- 1120I say again, that I see Guacolda adored by another man;by loyalty, because he is a personwith whom I can neither declare myselfnor seek satisfaction; 1125and by love, because when,against the divine edictsthat threaten her life, I amdetermined to rescue her,my very means of doing so 1130turn against me, whether I succeed or not;Because if I don’t succeed, I let herdie, and if I do succeed, it isfor another man. With which, 1135in the middle of this debate,I come to ask, which is the lesserpain, to die for me,or to live for another master?In which confusion . . .

Within

Idolatry: Guáscar! 1140Inca Guáscar!

Within

Inca: Swift echosince you come looking for me,why do you flee?

Yupangui: Again the voice calls him,and following its sound he entersthe center of the forest. Letmy pain remain suspended here,since it neither is nor will beresolved quickly,and go to see—now that 1150the whole valley of Copacabana is full of mysteries—what that voice is, that without being able to locate its owner, into the most rugged, most entangled, and desertedparts it leads the Inca as it speaks. 1155

Yupanqui exits and the Inca and Idolatry enter

Inca: Tell me,who you are, since I follow youand do not even find you.

Idolatry Myself.Inca: Seeing you, I know even less,

and thus, having seen you,I ask again who you are. 1160\

Idolatry: I am the deity to which the worshipof the sun belongs, and I cometo fight for him with you,and since, for my greater victorythe duel has to be face to faceand body to body, what are youwaiting for? Come meet my arms.

Inca: If I confess myself surrenderedto your light or shadows, 1170what is the struggle over?

Idolatry: What anappropriate reaction it is that ingratesgive themselves up so quickly!How is it possible that he whoowes so many empires to the sun 1175blocks his sacrifices?

Inca: Because I don’t owe themto the sun. If he gave them to his son,and I descend from his son,it was not a gift to me,

but rather an inheritance. And beyond that,if I do owe them to the sunas a father, if I offend him today,would it be so much for him to forgive me tomorrowfor such a pardonable error 1185as loving a beautiful womanwhom he created?

Idolatry: More than you think.Inca: That

is a threat, and lovedoes not fear threats.

Idolatry: (Good heavens!) AsideFor him to persist in his passion 1190without my appearance frightening himmakes it clear to me that the daythe sacred wood of thecross entered Peru,it is to bring to an end the 1195bloody practice of my sacrificesBut, why does that seem strange, if I notethat on the altar of the crossall cruelty ceased,because there all sacrifices 1200became peaceful. Butno, I will not give in to defeat,for even if it reveals the secretthat I have kept for so many years,I will put such fear in him 1205that he will not dare to blockmy triumph in having human sacrifices within sight of the sacred wood

To the IncaSo, in effect,

you base your opinion on this realmbeing an inheritance and not a gift,and it being easy for a father to forgive?

Inca: Yes.Idolatry: Well, you

cannot trust in that; neither was thesun your father nor could he have been,nor could this empire have been yourswithout me.

Inca: What?Idolatry: Listen carefully.

Manco Capac, a rich and noble

chieftain, was the one to whom heaven. . .But before I say it, 1220I want you to see itso that my truthfulness will notbe suspect. And thus, I seekto have one marvel vouch foranother marvel. 1225What do you see in that grotto?

A boulder opens, and reveals a young man dressed in animal skins, resting on a rock

Inca: A handsome youthdressed in rough skinswho lies on a rock.

Idolatry: Then listen to what he says. 1230Inca: I am already listening.Youth: Father, when will the day come

that you will take me out ofthis dark place to see the light?If I have already have learnedyour lessons; if I learnedeverything that you have taught meso much to your satisfactionthat you have admired seeinghow I transferred your understanding 1240to my own, what are you waiting forto see me on the exalted thronethat you have promised me? Considerthat the a long-awaited benefit is diminished by all that whichdesire takes from its valuation,for although a great jewel is a blessing,waiting for it is a high price.Come, then, let come my second 1250birth from the hard heartof that rock, if you don’t want your relief for my feelingsto arrive too late, with mydeath arriving sooner. 1255

The grotto closes

Ina: Although I understand what they say,I do not understand the purpose.

Idoltary: How surprising it that, if another marvelhas to tell it first?

You have already seen the center of the woods, 1260now go from one extreme to the otherand look now at the summit.

A sun comes above the peak of a steep crag, and behind it a golden throne with rays of sunlight surrounding it and on its cloud machine a richly dressed youth, with a crown and scepter.

What do you see on it?Inca: I cannot

say; a sun that comes dawning overits horizon dazzles me.

Idolatry: Keep onlooking at it, as do allthe people you see assembling in that deserted place

Inca: It is true; it is all covered 1270with people, and now I am tryingto see it.

Idolatry: And what do you see?Inca: Amidst

diverse iridescence and reflectionsthat blind one on seeing them--and are not visible without lookingat the sun—I see that another sunis emerging as if it were a piece of the sun. And in its light a handsomethrone on which, as if in a mirror,it appears that the sun itself 1280were being portrayed in it.

Idolatry: Who comes seated on it?Inca: If I remember his particulars,

it appeared to bethat afflicted youthI saw wrapped in skins 1285richly attired and with a crownand scepter.

Idoltary: Listen to his triumphs,since you heard his laments.

Youth: Excellent Peruvians, 1290whose faith, piety and zeal

                       in adoration of the sun                        today attains its merited reward,                        good news, the happy fulfillment                        of the once confusing                        news that a Tomé or Thomas left 1300

                        sown in all of Peru, in the primitive age of

                        our fathers and grandfathers,                   has arrived, saying                        that in the arms of the purest dawn,                        the heir of the great god had come                        light from light, to the universe!                        But even though it said that he had arrived,                        you should understand him as                        the invisible creator of all the elements,                        people, animals, fish, and birds, 1310                        but not in soul and in body                        as my father sends me today                        to be your monarch.                          If you receive me, you will see                        that I descend from this mountain                         to live with you, rule over you, and maintain you                        in law, in peace, and in justice;                        and if not, I will return

with him to his sublime throne, 1320                        where offended by your disdain of me,

his lightning bolts and thunderthreaten you.

 Within

Voices:             Come down, sir, come down,                        since we praise you, saying…  1325 Within Music: “Welcome to a youth so beautiful,                        the son of the sun to be our king.” Youth:              I will go to you now, because I go hearing… Within Music and All: Welcome to a youth so beautiful,                        the son of the sun to be our king.” 1330

The sun disappears above and the throne below

INCA: I still do not understand.

IDOLATRÍA:You

will understand now. Listen closely.Manco Capac, the rich and noble cacique, was one upon whom the heavensbestowed, among other natural talents, a subtle wit.He, plotting, on the very daythat his beautiful wife gave birth to a tender infant, howhis son might one day become the leader 1340of the Peruvian empire, his desire brought him to me for advice, wishing to speak to that deity to whom he owes,as I already told you,the worship of the sun. I,finding the path fertilefor the growth of its worship,gratefully told him that, publicizingthe news that the infant had died, 1350he should raise it in secret;and he did what I said so completelythat even the wet nurse that he shut inwith his son now lies dead within.As his son grew older, 1355I also advisedthat he make it known that the sunhad revealed to him in his dreamsthat his son would one day rule his empires. 1360And as this word spread,on those forgotten, ruinedfoundations, that hisresolution fabricated,falsifying truthsin the shadow of pretences,                                       1365the common people went aboutneither fully doubting nor believing,until on a certain day he summoned the towns                                                1370so that all came togetherto receive him; and, with my skill

and his industry, as you have seen, he was able to falsify rays of the sunon the peak of the mountain,  1375so that its reflections

belying the distancemade its eminence credible. ascribe to the exalted.Thus, you descend from this deceit, and although in five hundred                                 1380years of the immemorial possession, the kingdom is now yours,there is none in which it was not introduced violently;with all that, the day that you,                                        1385or another in your stead, block decrees                                        that their oracles preparein the name of the sun, it is certainthat I, not having succeededin magnifying you, 1390I will avenge myself. And thus, fearmy rage, since you see that I can.making amends to the sun,banish your trophies,pomp and majesty, just like                                                1395you see me vanish.

Vanishes

Inca: Listen, hold on, hear me, wait.

Within

All: We hear him over there; come quickly.Inca: What has happened to me?

Some Indians and Yupanqui enter

All: What is this, sir, what is this? 1400Inca: I do not know, I do not know. I have

lived five centuries in one moment,with the years rolling backward,and what I have deduced from themis that the sun should not lose its worship 1405on my account.

Aside to Yupanqui

And therefore, the orderI gave you, Yupanqui, do notcarry it out nor even think of it.Let that beauty die and your king

live.

The Inca and the Indians exit

Yupanqui: Who would believe that at the same time 1410that I lament his ordering that she live,I lament his ordering that she die?But let nothing make me a coward;I am resolved that she should live,and let the sun be angered or not, 1415since he is such a cruel godthat he orders in his worship,against all natural law,that others die for him,when he has not died for others. 1420

Exit.