Ollantay. I would fain, O magnanimous King,
Follow thee in the Chayanta war;
Thou knowest my love for such work.
Peaceful Cuzco is not to my taste,
I prefer to be thy Cañari,[1]
To march in the van of thy force,
And not to be left in the rear.
Tupac Yupanqui. Thou shouldst find the wife of thy choice,
And with her reign happily here
In Cuzco; repose without care;
Rest here while I'm absent in war.
Ollantay. Great King, thy sorrowful slave
Already had chosen a wife.
Tupac Yupanqui. How is it I know not of this?
It should be reported to me.
I will load her with suitable gifts;
Why was this concealed from my eyes?
Ollantay. In Cuzco itself disappeared
That sweet and adorable dove;
One day she did rest in my arms,
And the next no more to be seen.
In grief I made search far and near,
Earth seemed to have swallowed her up,
To have buried her far from my sight;
O such, mighty King, is my grief.
Tupac Yupanqui. Ollantay! afflict not thyself,
For now thou must take up thy place
Without turning thy eyes from thy work.
- (To Uillac Urna.)
High priest, obey my command.
- ↑ Cañari, a warlike tribe of Indians, in the south part of the kingdom of Quito. They were first conquered by Tupac Yupanqui, and they became devoted to him.
