5: QUITO
A feast in the central plaza of Quito – Atahualpa is sat with his sister-queen, Coya Asarpay – they are wearing vermillion, the colour of the Incan Kings. Before them & around a totem pole full of jaguars, pumas & condors a “taqui” is in full flow – the dancers are male & female, their faces painted crimson with gold or silver bands, ear-to-ear, above the nose – one has a tambourine – there are also dancers with animal masks wearing animal skins & one dressed like a devil – the beat is played out by a huge drum mounted on the back of a male porter & beaten by a woman – music is provided by bone flutes, stone syrinxes, pan-pipes, trumpets & whistling jars – as they move around the totem pole the dancers take various steps forwards, backwards, left, & right, clapping & twirling as they go.
YA GOTTA LOVE THE MAN
Big up the Quito with my amigos
Adore Atahualpar wherever he goes
Him born among us, him always one of us
Happy & glorious singing the chorus – its
You gotta love the man !!
But he’s more like a god to us
So I’ll do what I can
Yes we will do what we can
To make him love us too
My lord (my lord) My lord
I’m so in love with you
When I saw his eyes
I’ve never seen no finer thing
Life’s a paradise
When Atahualpa is your king
Yes Atahualpa is our king
Where the old Guayllabamba flows like a tamber-
Rine to the beat of the queen o’ the samba
He is among us, him always one of us
Happy & watching us singing the chorus – its
You gotta love the man !!
But he’s more like a god to us
So I’ll do what I can
Yes we will do what we can
To make him love us too
My lord (my lord) My lord
I’m so in love with you
When I saw his eyes
I’ve never seen no finer thing
Life’s a paradise
When Atahualpa is your king
Atahualpa is our king
You are our everything
A conch blows – Coya Asarpay stands
Coya Asarpay
Citizens of Quito, subjects & kin,
As his sister-wife Coya Asarpay
I speak upon Atahualpa’s behalf
Such love as ours an endless summer makes
& so, on this day of Purucaya
We feast to celebrate the noble life
Of our shar’d father, & thine emperor
The Sapa Inca we call Huayna
From Tupac & Yupanqui descended
Let us add his legend to the noble rolls
Who stabiliz’d the distantmost frontiers
Civilized all countries we have conquer’d
Imposing laws & justice ever fair
Many of us here have walk’d the great roads
He laid out between Quito & Cuzco
To see the Sun Temple, newly rebuilt
With gold & silver plates lining the roof
But let us turn the pages of the years
Deeper in time, to when King Cacha reign’d
& conquer’d sought a just peace thro’ marriage
Therefore Princess Paccha of the Schyri
First met Huayna, fell in love at once
With him, her beauty heal’d him of warlust
& lovingly foster’d a family
Emblemiz’d by my brother-king & I
Who reverentially demand a toast
To King Huayna, father, emperor,
& Sapa Inca, vessels to the sun !
All
{raising glasses}
Huayna, Sapa Inca, glorious!
Coya Asarpay
These are the clippings from our father’s feet
& these are cuttings from his royal mane
& this an entrails from his belly drawn
Together they shall form a fair statue
To set up in a house in Qutio, where
All can still worship him as if alive
Enter Apumayta & Marichanchi with Chalcuchima
Chalcuchima
Your majesties
Coya
Tell us Chalcuchima
Who are these men
Chalcuchima
They are both ambassadors
From Huascar
Atahuallpa
Welcome, speak freely, please
Apumayta
Atahuallpa, we are come from Cuzco
Five hundred leagues along thy father’s road
Bringing your brother’s verdict on these days
We have heard you are very good-temper’d
Carry yourself with Royal Dignity
Therefore these words will nobly be receiv’d
Which we intend to say
Atahuallpa
Please, say them now
Apumayta
Before
Marichanchi
All the Incas know you are a bastard
That considering yourself an equal
To the true Sapa Inca, Huascar,
Insults your brother & the royal line
Apumayta
He wishes, nor bids, you swear allegiance
Command Quito a common curacas
Tho benefiting from fraternal love
You shall be favorite among his chiefs
As does befit a son of Huayna
Atahualpa
Dissatisfied am I of this discourse
My brother’s desperations, by thy voice,
Boasting his powers is an ugly thing
Apumayta
You dare offend the Unique lord again
These scraps are from the once elegant suits
Of fine hammer’d gold you sent to the king
He knows you wish to bribe the Cuzco lords
& so returns them torn & trampl’d all,
This the head of the noble who brought them
Flay’d into silent insignificance
Atahualpa
My brother’s a drunk, an amarucu
Gnawing on a thousand foolish things
Wife-stealing, he slays complaining husbands
Nobody dares to give him wise counsel
Else suffer his ego’s ferocity
Yet, one must act with grace against the crude
& I dare not betray my father’s will
Quito belongs to its ancestral line
My mother first inheritor of this
& while prepar’d to swear obedience
To Cuzco & my brother, this province
Lies far outside his primogeniture
Ambassadors of Huascar, hear me,
Take this message to him, yet with silver
& gold, Callucuchima go with them
& Quizquiz too, my valiant captains
Escort these men to Cuzco in safety
Marichanchi
Not just your captains – your entire army
Your brother has demanded this as well
Atahualpa
He what? my warriors? he wants my men?
Apumayta
Yes, every soldier that fights for you
Now fights for him, commands Sapa Inca
Atahualpa
Let us oppilate the northern borders
I must maintain an army in Quito
The frontiers & the warring tribes beyond
Are held in place by my meritous men
Marichanchi
My great lord said if this you did refuse
Reprove the dare, declare thee enemy
& state thou will be attack’d for certain
Let fierce & bloody war enforce his rights
Apumayta
& all of you who Quito calls a home
By this vile treason shall be attainted
Atahualpa
Then take defiance out of this grim mouth
Quito lies not within my brother’s realms
Depart in peace & tell Huascar this
The sullen presage of his life’s decay
Shall haunt me day & night, unless he veers
Unto understanding this possession
Is mine, always was, always shall be
Now be gone, delay this feast no longer
The ambassadors bow & depart
Atahualpa
This is a dark disturbance of the soul
My shadowselves are skulking at my feet
A reckoning is coming to these times
Commander of our armies, speak you first,
Your years & well proved valour carry weight
Coya
It would be wisest to reach agreement
With oour elder brother, Incan power
Will spoil & mold if rotten at its core
Atahualpa
But I could never fasten to such terms
Insulting to our father’s honour, no!
QuizQuiz
We should strike first, seize important places
A battle better fought on chosen ground
Atahualpa
Altho’ this war inevitable seems
Let rash, hot haste not hurry us to fight
As our vital mind responds to events
It drives our bodies, we are what we think
Making decisions twyx wrong & right
Should always be easy, our conscience king,
But sometimes intolerance crowds, corrupts
All our natural rationalities,
& then, when brains embattl’d agitate
Contorted, discordant, distorted thought
Destroys our harmonious decisions
I must retire
Coya
Brother
Atahualpa
Alone my love
Exit Atahualpa
Coya
The feast has ended, go back to your homes
Exit Coya
Quizquiz
What do you think
Chalchucima
It will be a long war
Especially when the pale-faced White Ones
Are now at Tangarala, riding sheep
As large as chinchona
Ruminagui
A sheep’s a sheep
& timid creature ridden by dumb fools
Whose tricks, explosions, might have terrifed
The Mayans & Aztecs to the north,
But Incas are of stronger fibers born
We’ll toss them from the Andes peaks, break bones
As down they’ll fall, to never more return
Chaluchima
Better to stay united, even so
Just in case
QuizQuiz
The Incas have a thousand
Warriors for every one they muster,
We could easily defeat Huascar
& later on destroy the Spanish host
Rumanagui
Enough – there’s still plenty of wine about
Now left undrunk
QuizQuiz
Ah! a terrible waste
Chaluchima
Yes, let us toast Huayna & his son
Atahualpa, our future Incan King
Exit all
6: An Indian village
The Conquistadors are lying about in pain & sickness – de Valverde is attending to the sick – enter Hernando & Felipe
Don Pizarro
How did you do Hernando, who is this
Don Pizarro
Tell him your name
Felipe
My name is Fellipilo
Don Pizarro
You speak Spanish
Felipe
Yes
Don Pizarro
How
Felipe
I’m from Tumbez
I learnt the language off the garrison
You once left there yourself Don Pizarro
Felipe
You know my name
Felipe
Your legacy is long
Don Pizarro
Hah!
Felipe
I can also speak Quechua, sir
Don Pizarro
Quechua
Hernando
It is the Incan language
Felipe
Since conquer’d by Inca Pachacuti
Quechua’s the second tongue of Tumbez
Hernando Pizarro
He’s been very valuable so far
On making inquiries of this sickness
Drew truth-hoods from a hiding native’s mind
Don Pizarro
Which are?
Hernando
Felipe, speak
Felipe
You have eaten crabs
Whom have partaken of the poison tree
Gonzola Pizarro
Mountains of trials, mires of miseries
This land is haunted by the devil’s own
Where this satanic epidemic endured
Of goblin warts, deep-seated verrucas
Pedro Catano
& getting to this desperation place
Jungles thick with rampant disillusion,
Leagues of treeless & waterless deserts
Wastes our vigour, as do wide estuaries
Which we must swim with all our gear in tow
De Valverde
Do not forget the mosquitoes, Pedro,
The most evil creation upon God’s Earth
Hernando
Indeed, o priest, why e’er He gave them life
I’ll never understand
De Valverde
No, you would not
The ways of God beyond the reach of minds
Made merely mortal by Him, let us thank
Him we are still alive, his purpose yet
Seems unreveal’d, but as we tread the roads
The gleam of truth grows nearer, we’ll survive
Don Pizarro
I am sure we will, Felipe
Felipe
Yes
Don Pizarro
Tell me,
What of the village governor, & why
There’s not a living soul among the huts
& all of them burnt down apart from his
Felipe
He & his people fled into the hills
Leaving behind the ashes of their lives
Obeying their commanders in Cuzco
Don Pizarro
In Cuzco, you mean the new Incan King
Felipe
Yes, Huascar is his name, he is strong
Don Pizarro
I am sure – so, Felipe, can you help us
& if you can, you’ll be awarded well
By his majesty imperial, Charles
We need good food & accurate guidance
Out of these god-forsaken pits of pain
Felipe
I can do all those things Don Pizarro
This is a bad climate – the next province
Guamcavilcas is a land of plenty
Lacuma fruits and waddling caimitos
Will serve a tasty banquet for your men
Valverde
This man has been sent to us from heaven
As I have said to all you all along
We are just agents of a divine force
Which swept across the ocean to fulfil
Some deeper destiny, to spread the word
Of Jesus & his sacred sacrifice
Whatever scourges we must here endure
Is nothing to his hardships on the cross
So, find your faith, conquistadors, & sing
MERCY
A-e-g-d
I see sometimes
I sense the essence of these seminal times
Sometimes I’m up where the sun always shines on my life
{Lord have mercy)
But I feel sometimes
I taste the flavours of these terrible times
I find im flagging when the sun never shines on my life
{Bring me mercy)
Lord give me mercy
Give me your mercy
When you’re waiting for mercy
O what in the world must I do
I see I feel
This things amazing but its terribly real
The futures coming but the devil is stealing our days
{Lord have mercy)
I feel, I see
This things incredible but getting to me
When future comes no-one knows if its been all staged
{Bring me mercy)
Lord give me mercy
Give me your mercy
When youre waiting for mercy
O what in the world must we do
All I can see is the end of the road
I want to die of my own accord
No one likes a sailor
To die on land with mud on his feet
I cant find a hope to hold onto
Don’t have a clue of where they’ve all gone to
No one likes a sailor
To suffocate so far away from the sea
Good men, calm down
Let’s find solutions to this merry go round
We’ll follow royal roads going to Cuzco town
{Bring me mercy)
Calm down, good men
We’ve hit the bottom but were close to the end
Because tomorrow we’ll be hearing the tender sound
Of mercy
Lord give me mercy
(Give me mercy)
Pedro
Felipillo, tell us of the Incas
Felipe
Beyond the straits of Huayna Capac
Begins their empire properly, these days,
However, them disunified,
Gonzala
& why
Felipe
They’re divided into warring factions
Huascar claims hegemony of all
But has a young brother, Atahualpa,
Who dwells in Quito, they have come to blows
Like toddlers squabbling over rattling toys
Now only one of them shall win the crown
The other brother destin’d then to die
Valverde
Another sign ! If they were unified
Our little force could never win the day
But that they battle at each other’s throats
Must be ordain’d by heaven, let us pray
Dear Father, who gave us life, who loves us
Thank you for making Inca fight himself
Their power like the leaves which brown on floor
Give us the strength to brush them all aside
When underneath, upon the land pristeen
We’ll build thy churches, raise royal standards
Enlarge thy Christendom in Jesus’ name
Thy son you gave to teach us of mercy
& merciful we’ll be to the Incas
Once they’ll accept thine article divine
Per Dominum nostrum Christum
Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit
Regnat in unitate Spiritus
Sancti Deus, per omni saecul
Saeculorum… amen
Conquistadors
Amen
Felipe
Amen
Don Pizarro
Felipillo
Felipe
Yes
Don Pizarro
Can you find us food
Felipe
There are dogs here, waiting for their masters
Hidden in the hills
Gonzala
Their meat is good
Felipe
Yes
Don Pizarro
Then that will have to do, Don Hernando
See to it, take any of my soldiers
With strength enough to hunt, on my command
Exit Hernando & Felipe
Gonzala
A moment Francisco
Don Pizarro
Yes, what is it
Gonzala
Optimism, promises, hope & faith,
This Incan empire sounds omnipotent
& we so very few & fading fast
Let us return with stronger forces soon
But better to renew our strength than fail
When under-strength, slain, never to return
Don Pizarro
Thick-eyed musing to melancholy leads
Do not be frighten’d, brother
Gonzala
I am not
Don Pizarro
There will be no turning back, we are few
But we are very strong in every way
& once this sickness passes we shall rise
& march upon the Incas as King Charles
Has order’d, let that be an end of it
Remember how the Portuguese seamen
Imagin’d that beyond Cape Bojador
Sea monsters swam thro sheets of liquid flame
Man are prone to habitate the unknown
With whispering images of terror
We shall defeat the Incas, mark my words
Gonzala
Brother, I am sorry e’er to doubt thee
Don Pizarro
From now on let us put our faith in God
& let him fill the weapons in our fist
The vitality of our bodies
& render spirits inviolable
Gonzala
Of course
Don Pizarro
Now let us go & hunt some dogs
Like when we children in Trujillo
Gonzala
We are a long way from Trujillo now
But my heart is at its happiest here
Yes, let us go & hunt these damn dogs down
Don Pizarro
Good man – a wager on the contest
Gonzala
Sure
Exit Don Pizarro & Gonzala
7: A Narrow Mountain Pass
Huascar is marching with a few of his men including Marichanchi & Apumayta – Huascar is wearing a golden tunic, a golden helmet & carries a golden shield full of feathers & war insignias
Apumayta
My lord I do not like this road at all
Why leave the army’s bulk & risk attack
Huascar
There’ll be no problem, Apumayta,
Beyond all that bustle & congestion
This road, tho’ steep, is quicker, yet narrow
Then high above the plains of Quipaipán
Spread under this rapid reconnaissance
We’ll see where Atahaulapa moves his men
While there’s a further bounty to this march
We need to be in Quasca by tonight
& fortify its walls, or let our foes
Reach them first, & aim warak’as at us
Marichanchi
This war we fight unsettles steadily
The traitor has taken Caxamalca
With forty thousand men there camp’d entrench’d
Twould better be to settle this elsewhere
We’ll never take that town, we should return
To Cuzco, gather superior force
Huascar
The traitor must be hunted down & slain
Apumayta
My Lord, all respect to your majesty
The importance of thy posterity
Depends upon a winning victory
But in this dark campaign you’ve lost so much
I am your only living general
& most of your veterans are slain
The army is shock’d & demoralized
Huascar
& the army will do as I command
{turns to soldiers}
Warriors, we march on Caxamalca
Warriors cheer – they begin to beat out a rhythm on wancara drums
Marichanchi
Hail to Sapa Inca, the Unique One
Generous his bounty, stormy his might
An enduring pillar of battlerage
Sing forever of his prowess & rage
A lion for valour dauntless in deed
Vanquisher of warriors, howe’er great
HUASCAR’S TRAP
We’re soldiers of Huascar marching off to war
Our wise & able master’s fighting to restore
His father’s sacred empire, & when they come ashore
We’ll push the dreaded white ones over equator
Hu-as-car, hu-as-car devoted are your boys
& we’ll march with you anywhere with pride & poise
Enter QuizQuiz & Rumanagui with many warriors
Huascar, Huascar – we’ve caught you in a trap
We’re promising your brother king we’ll bring you back
& we shall hunt you anywhere you’ll dare to flee
Just come with us without a fuss you’ll soon be free
Huascar, Huascar, no need to fight today
You’ll soon be back in Cuzco where the chullus play
There is a skirmish – Apumayta is slain, Huascar is captured
Huascar, this axe shall go slicing thro your neck
If just one of your soldiers comes out of the speck
That snaketh thro the valley, below us in the plain
So send to them your messengers, else die in pain
Altho’ they might outnumber us thirty to one
What use is such an army when its head is gone
Huascar is led away
Huascar, Huascar, must come with us today
Your army might be larger but its miles away
Huascar, Huascar, must come with us today
Your army might be larger but its miles away
Huascar, Huascar, must come with us today
Your army might be larger but its miles away
8: Paita
The Conquistadors are dining in Pizarro’s tent, which is made of boughs & palm leaves
Don Pizarro
How swift can change swoop in on shining wings
Twas just eleven days since when we squirm’d
In filth & hunger, waiting but to die,
& now… Paita’s perfect little port
The best on all this coast, a friendly place
Abundant with fresh foods of the district
Its position reachable easily by sea
From Nicaragua now re-supplied
With twenty men & seven stallions
Captain de Soto, welcome to host
& Caballeros, to our sov’reign toast
Don Pizarro
Eat
Gonzalo
It is most impressive, this progress
Spain has never known a greater extent
Don Pizarro
In honour of this we intend to found
A city on the banks of the Chira
So ships from Panama can safely berth
A native township call’d Tangarara
Shall be the nucleus
Captain De Soto
A native name?
Something more Spanish surely should befit
Our first true civic settlement betwyx
Equator & Capricorn
Valverde
San Miguel
The enemy of the fallen angels
He drove them out of Paradise, his blade
Admonishing the greed of Satanus,
The Incans are devils, so let them hear
The name of our martial archangel
Don Pizarro
San Miguel? Of course… any objections
Then San Miguel it is, a fine, strong name
It shall have a church, a hospital, houses
Of authority, each Conquistador
Shall have a stone brick’d villa handsome made
& Indians to run its quaint estate
Valverde
I want to build a monastery here
& bring Mercedarians from Seville
Whose bright, white habits shall dazzle our foes
Like lights of heaven, drawing them to Christ
Don Pizarro
You shall be given anything you need
Captain De Soto
I have a letter for you, Francisco
Don Diego de Almagro sent it
Don Francisco Pizarro
Give it here… what does the old dog want now
{begins to read it}
Gonzola
What does it say
Don Francisco Pizarro
He has built a large ship
Is almost ready to embark
Hernando
For where?
Don Pizarro
Here – with as many as he can recruit
He wishes to claim those parts of Peru
Which lie outside the boundaries assign’d
To me in the concession of our King
Captain De Soto
That was two hundred and fifty leagues south
Of the equator, right
Don Francisco Pizarro
He can have that
But something rankles worse in this letter
He stakes a claim to half the gold we find
Hernando Pizarro
Half the gold! The bandit!
Don Pizarro
But I’m afraid
The King decrees it so
Enter Pedro & Felipe with a local chief – Urco
Pedro
Caballeros
Don Pizarro
Pedro Catano, you are late for lunch
Pedro
My apologies, Don Francisco
Don Pizarro
You bring an Indian to my table
Why?
Pedro
He is the chieftain of Paita
Hernando
And? we can speak with him after we eat
Don Pizarro
No let him stay, he clearly needs to speak
Tears well within his eyes like empty bowls
Left in the rain outside, Young Felipe
Felipe
Sir
Don Pizarro
Do you speak his language
Felipe
Yes I do, sir
Don Pizarro
Extract from him the best account you can
Valverde
& Felipe, translate it accurately
Felipe
I shall
{he speaks to the chief}
His name is Urco… he says this
He was a great lord once, ‘til Old Cuzco
Came conquering, those crude Capucunna
Destroy’d twenty-five of his villages
& all who liv’d within them put to death
They’d even slice open pregnant bellies
Bring out the babes & slay them just before
They kill’d its mother, a mad massacre…
He says he will be happy to assist
To him the Incas just detestable
Don Pizarro
Thank him for his honesty, & inform
Him, he’ll now be the chief representative
Of his Imperial Highness from now
In this place, soon to be call’d San Miguel,
Tell him we shall be bounteous with gifts
Out of the sea they’ll come from far off lands
& all the richest pickings shall be his
Felipe
He thanks you & offers you his daughter
Don Pizarro
His daughter, tell him there’s no need for that
You may leave us now
Exit Felipe & Urco
Valverde
The Incas are beasts
The sooner we defeat them the better
Gonzola
Agreed
Hernando
How many are we now
At the last count
The Christians among us number thus
There’s sixty-seven horsemen, while on foot
We number one hundred & seventeen
Among them are three well-train’d bombardiers
& a squadron of keen-eye’d crossbowmen
Pedro
I’ve heard there are a million Incas
Arm’d to the teeth, all itching to despoil
Our Spanish skins
Gonzola
I’ve heard you are frighten’d
Pedro
Not frighten’d, a realist, we are few
They are many, there’s logic in caution
Don Pizarro
Anyone who wishes to stay behind
& build this town has my blessing, they shall
Be given Indians enough to aid
Their settlement, for San Miguel shall be
A vital link in the long chain to Spain
& needs to be completely protected
Spread the word among the men, next morning we depart
At nine, that they must make their choice by then
But I intend to advance & conquer
With such as stay with him, whate’er the count
Captain de Soto
My men will march with you Don Pizarro
We havn’t sail’d this far to idle sit
None of them have titles to go home too
The best hidaglos, but most are peasants
An artisan or two, in Spain they’re dust
But here they’re mighty fiefdoms in the flesh
Hernando
The Indians are rigid in the field
Their system of command depends on fear
Of whomever commands them, common sense
Is rarely used, just blind obediance
Compar’d to them each of us an army
Who exercises his initiative
Thro’ carefully co-ordinated plans
Our arsenal contains traps & treachery
Our tactics are Ceasarian in style
Gonzola
Let us march to their mad endamagement
our muskets have their bowels full of wrath
Ready to out spit iron indignation
Valverde
& whether we’re twenty or two hundred
Our victory has long been fate ordain’d
Indians are sinners, to purge their faults,
By higher spirits summon’d to this place,
Idolatrous practices, abhorrent
Customs, religious rituals
Are all the devil’s work, they sacrifice
Each other – no we have to defeat them
Irredeemably, so we can save them
Don Pizarro
& so we shall Vincenzo, let us toast
Once more, in brotherhood, to victory
The Conchordia Folio 