human
I have come, Prigio said, with presence of mind,
gpt
Riding on a beast that flies, said the old priest,
human
In what can I help my people?
gpt
Thou knowest; why should we instruct thee? Thou knowest that on midsummer-day, every year, before the shadow shrinks back to the base of the _huaca_ {190} of Manoa, we must offer a maiden to lull the Earthquaker with a new song. Lo, now the shadow shrinks to the foot of the _huaca_, and the maid is not offered! For the lot fell on the daughter of thy servant the Inca, and he refuses to give her up. One daughter of his, he says, has been sacrificed to the sacred birds, the _Cunturs_: the birds were found slain on the hill-top, no man knows how; but the maiden vanished.
human
Why, it must have been Jaqueline. I killed the birds,
gpt
Silence, not a word!
human
And what makes you bear arms against the Inca?
gpt
We would slay him and her, answered the priest;
human
Then wherefore would you slay them, when you must all perish?
gpt
The people, oh Pachacamac, would have revenge before they die.
human
Oh, folly of men! said the king, solemnly; then he cried:
gpt
Lead me to the Inca; this day you shall not perish. Is it not predicted in the Cord of the Venerable Knots that I shall slay this monster?
human
Hasten, oh Pachacamac, for the shadow shortens!
gpt
Lead me to the Inca,