﻿Vol. 
  2] 
  INCA 
  CULTURE 
  — 
  ROWE 
  321 
  

  

  Thou 
  who 
  art 
  from 
  the 
  beginnings 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  until 
  its 
  end! 
  

  

  Thou 
  gavest 
  life 
  and 
  valour 
  to 
  men, 
  saying, 
  

  

  "Let 
  this 
  be 
  a 
  man" 
  

  

  And 
  to 
  the 
  woman, 
  saying, 
  

  

  "Let 
  this 
  be 
  a 
  woman." 
  

  

  Thou 
  madest 
  them 
  and 
  gavest 
  them 
  being. 
  

  

  Watch 
  over 
  them, 
  that 
  they 
  may 
  live 
  in 
  health 
  and 
  in 
  peace. 
  

  

  Thou 
  who 
  art 
  in 
  the 
  highest 
  heavens, 
  

  

  And 
  among 
  the 
  clouds 
  of 
  the 
  tempest, 
  

  

  Grant 
  them 
  long 
  life 
  

  

  And 
  accept 
  this 
  our 
  sacrifice, 
  

  

  O 
  Creator. 
  

  

  [Translation 
  by 
  Means 
  from 
  the 
  Spanish 
  of 
  Molina 
  of 
  Cuzco.l 
  

  

  The 
  great 
  bulk 
  of 
  Inca 
  literature 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  taken 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  

   narrative 
  poems 
  (Cieza, 
  1880, 
  bk. 
  2, 
  chs. 
  11, 
  12; 
  Sarmiento, 
  1906, 
  

   ch. 
  9). 
  Mythology, 
  legend, 
  historical 
  romance, 
  and 
  history 
  were 
  

   handed 
  down 
  from 
  generation 
  to 
  generation 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  long 
  poems 
  

   (ballads, 
  sagas, 
  and 
  little 
  epics) 
  which 
  were 
  learned 
  word 
  for 
  word 
  and 
  

   repeated 
  at 
  public 
  gatherings 
  until 
  everyone 
  was 
  familiar 
  at 
  least 
  with 
  

   their 
  content. 
  Because 
  the 
  ideas 
  of 
  Inca 
  religion 
  were 
  so 
  thoroughly 
  

   woven 
  into 
  these 
  poems, 
  they 
  were 
  frowned 
  on 
  by 
  the 
  missionaries 
  

   and 
  none 
  was 
  ever 
  literally 
  recorded. 
  However, 
  summaries 
  of 
  several 
  

   were 
  preserved 
  in 
  Spanish 
  prose 
  by 
  Sarmiento, 
  Betanzos, 
  and 
  

   Pachacuti. 
  There 
  are 
  passages 
  in 
  Sarmiento's 
  text 
  which 
  are 
  strongly 
  

   reminiscent 
  of 
  the 
  medieval 
  Spanish 
  "prosificaciones" 
  of 
  older 
  epic 
  

   material. 
  The 
  stories 
  of 
  Mayta 
  Capac, 
  Yahuar 
  Huacac, 
  the 
  war 
  

   with 
  the 
  Chanca, 
  and 
  the 
  civil 
  war 
  between 
  Huascar 
  and 
  Atahuallpa 
  

   were 
  almost 
  certainly 
  summarized 
  by 
  Sarmiento's 
  interpreters 
  from 
  

   Quechua 
  narrative 
  verse. 
  In 
  the 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  Chanca 
  war, 
  the 
  

   anonymous 
  character 
  of 
  a 
  Quilliscachi 
  Indian 
  is 
  introduced 
  for 
  the 
  sole 
  

   purpose 
  of 
  providing 
  a 
  dramatic 
  link 
  between 
  the 
  two 
  camps 
  and 
  

   reporting 
  the 
  events 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  camp 
  when 
  necessary 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  

   avoid 
  too 
  frequent 
  changes 
  of 
  scene. 
  

  

  Although 
  no 
  actual 
  examples 
  of 
  pre-Conquest 
  narrative 
  poems 
  in 
  

   Quechua 
  have 
  been 
  preserved, 
  two 
  ballads 
  of 
  the 
  1570's 
  preserved 
  by 
  

   Morua 
  give 
  some 
  idea 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  forms. 
  Unfortunately, 
  the 
  pub- 
  

   lished 
  text 
  is 
  so 
  corrupt 
  that 
  considerable 
  study 
  will 
  be 
  necessary 
  

   before 
  the 
  two 
  fragments 
  can 
  be 
  adequately 
  translated, 
  and 
  Morua's 
  

   translations 
  are 
  unduly 
  free 
  (1922-25, 
  bk. 
  2, 
  ch. 
  15). 
  The 
  meter 
  is 
  

   trochaic 
  tetrameter. 
  As 
  similar 
  meter 
  is 
  common 
  in 
  Spanish 
  also, 
  

   there 
  has 
  been 
  some 
  debate 
  as 
  to 
  whether 
  its 
  occurrence 
  in 
  Quechua 
  

   verse 
  was 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  Spanish 
  influence. 
  Much 
  more 
  early 
  text 
  

   material 
  is 
  necessary 
  to 
  settle 
  the 
  problem. 
  

  

  The 
  nature 
  of 
  Inca 
  drama 
  is 
  a 
  thorny 
  problem, 
  revolving 
  for 
  the 
  

   most 
  part 
  around 
  the 
  question 
  of 
  the 
  antiquity 
  of 
  the 
  play 
  called 
  

   "Ollanta," 
  of 
  which 
  some 
  five 
  18th- 
  and 
  19th-century 
  manuscripts 
  are 
  

   known 
  to 
  exist. 
  The 
  play, 
  though 
  often 
  proclaimed 
  a 
  masterpiece, 
  

  

  