Excerpts from Ollántay, a Quechua Play
LIGHT-FOOT
I have slept, and dreamt sinister things.
OLLÁNTAY
What have you dreamt?
LIGHT-FOOT
That I strangled a fox.
OLLÁNTAY
The fox was surely yourself.
LIGHT-FOOT
It is true that my nose grows sharp, and my ears long.
OLLÁNTAY
Lead me to Star’s house then.
LIGHT-FOOT
But it is still light out.
*
[…]
*
OLLÁNTAY
Run, Light-Foot; go tell [Star,] my beloved to wait for me this night.
LIGHT-FOOT
Just a moment ago, at night’s fall, I was in her home. And her house was deserted, and no one could give reason as to why. There isn’t even a single cat in this house! All doors are locked, except for the main entrance, which no one guards.
OLLÁNTAY
And the servants?
LIGHT-FOOT
Mice themselves, finding nothing on which to gnaw, have abandoned this house; and the owl, atop a roof ledge, sings a sinister song.
OLLÁNTAY
Perhaps her father has taken her, and hid her away in his palace.
LIGHT-FOOT
Perhaps he has strangled her. Her mother has disappeared as well.
*
[…]
*
OLLÁNTAY
My heart tells me she has disappeared from Cuzco, and the song of the owl sings, in a message meant for me.
*
[…]
*
STAR
How old are you?
BELLA
Very old, I imagine. Because, oh, how I detest this house, how it bores me, how time seems truly long.
SALLA (Bella’s Maid)
By my count, you must be ten years old, more or less.
*
[…]
*
OLLÁNTAY
Where is your mother?
BELLA
In a faraway corner of this house. Here it is, my lord, that my mother is consumed. Perhaps she is already dead.
*
[…]
*
MOTHER STONE
Is it real or is it a dream, seeing you here before me now, beloved king?
ASTROLOGER
It is my job to untie her, and console the wretched.