Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/191

Rh is restored to the arms of her lover, and they receive the blessing of their sovereign.

The drama of Ollantay is not alone in allowing a romantic passion to transgress the usages of the Inca court. We have another instance in the loves of Quilacu and Curi Coyllur, which are told in a subsequent chapter, and another given by Morua, in the love of the Princess for the shepherd-boy  It is most fortunate that this ancient drama has been preserved through having been reduced to writing by an appreciative scholar. The Inca Indians had a remarkable aptitude for dramatic representation, of which the Spanish priests took advantage. They collected Inca dramatic traditions and songs and compiled religious plays from them, in imitation of the Autos Sacramentales then in vogue. Garcilasso de la Vega mentions these religious plays, and adds that the 'Indian lads repeated the dialogues with so much grace, feeling, and correct action, that they gave universal satisfaction and pleasure, and with so much plaintive softness in the songs, that the audience shed tears of joy at seeing their skill and ability.'

I have two of these plays in my possession, written in the Quichua language. One was arranged by Dr. Lunarejo, a native of Cuzco and a celebrated Quichua scholar of the eighteenth century; but the date is 1707, before his time. It is entitled ' El pobre mas rico,' and was acted