Page:The Incas of Peru.djvu/448

APPENDIX E

INCA FOLKLORE

The following little fairy tale is the only one of its kind which has been preserved, and which certainly belongs to the time of the Incas. It was told to Fray Martin de Morua, who was a Quichua scholar, in about 1585, by old Amautas well versed in Inca folklore, who gave it the following title:

Fiction or Story of a Famous Shepherd named Accoya-napa,^[1] and the Beautiful and Discreet Princess, Chuqui-llantu,^[2] Daughter of the Sun.

In the snow-clad Cordillera above the valley of Yucay, called Pitu-siray,^[3] a shepherd watched the flock of white llamas intended for the Inca to sacrifice to the Sun. He was a native of Laris,^[4] named Acoya-napa, a very well disposed and gentle youth. He strolled behind

1. In the manuscript copy the word is Acoytrapa, but the word trapa is not Quichua. I think the t is a clerical error for a, and the r for n. This makes Acoya-napa. Acoya is provision, in this case pasture, and napa is the sacred sacrificial llama, or its image in gold or silver.
2. Chuqui means a lance, and llantu a shade or shadow; Chuqui-llantu, 'the shadow of the lance,' in allusion perhaps to the princess's sylph-like form.
3. Pitu-siray means a couple. The range is so called from two twin peaks.
4. For some account of Laris see pp. 144 and 145.

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