(Ollantay kneels before the Inca.)
Thy thrall: I bow to thy behest,
Thy fiat now will seal my fate.
O King, my services are great,
I pray thee grant one last request.
I ask for Cusi Coyllur’s hand
If the Ñusta’s[32] love I’ve won.
O King! you’ll have a faithful son,
Fearless, well tried, at thy command.
PACHACUTI.
Ollantay, thou dost now presume.
Thou art a subject, nothing more.
Remember, bold one, who thou art,
And learn to keep thy proper place.
OLLANTAY.
Strike me to the heart.
PACHACUTI.
’Tis for me to see to that,
And not for thee to choose.
Thy presumption is absurd. Be gone!
(Ollantay rises and exit R.)
SCENE 4
A rocky height above Cuzco to the NE. Distant view of the city of Cuzco and of the Sacsahuaman hill, crowned by the fortress.
(Enter OLLANTAY armed.)
OLLANTAY.
Alas, Ollantay! Ollantay!
Thou master of so many lands,
Insulted by him thou servedst well.
O my thrice-beloved Coyllur,
Thee too I shall lose for ever.
O the void[33] within my heart,
O my princess! O precious dove!
Cuzco! O thou beautiful city!
Henceforth behold thine enemy.
I’ll bare thy breast to stab thy heart,
And throw it as food for condors;
Thy cruel Inca I will slay.
I will call my men in thousands,
The Antis will be assembled,
Collected as with a lasso.
All will be trained, all fully armed,
I will guide them to Sacsahuaman.
They will be as a cloud of curses,
When flames rise to the heavens.
Cuzco shall sleep on a bloody couch,
The King shall perish in its fall;
Then shall my insulter see
How numerous are my followers.
When thou, proud King, art at my feet,
We then shall see if thou wilt say,
‘Thou art too base for Coyllur’s hand.’
Not then will I bow down and ask,
For I, not thou, will be the King—
Yet, until then, let prudence rule.