Parallel Myths (25 page)

Finally, Cavillaca placed the little boy on the ground and he immediately crawled to his true father—Coniraya. Seeing his shabby appearance, she was so outraged that she stormed out of the assembly and fled toward the sea.

Coniraya, however, was still deeply in love with her and ran through the countryside in pursuit. He asked the animals for assistance in finding her. First, he asked the mighty condor, who told the truth. In thanks, Coniraya blessed the condor, assuring it that it would fly and nest higher than any other bird, safe from all danger. No other creature would be able to prey upon it or disturb its eggs.

Further along, Coniraya met a fox, which lied to him. The fox said that Cavillaca had passed through many days before and there was little hope of catching up to her. Knowing that this was a lie, Coniraya cursed the fox and all its descendants. To this day, humans hunt the fox and the people of the high Andes hate the animal, considering it a bad omen.

Then Coniraya asked the puma, who told the truth. The puma told Coniraya to hurry as Cavillaca had just passed through. Then Coniraya blessed the great cat. It would be the executioner of evildoers
and be free to eat the llamas unhindered. As a sign of respect, no hunter may remove the head of the puma from its body to this very day.

Coniraya next met an obnoxious group of parrots, who answered only by repeating his questions. He cursed the parrots, giving them loud voices that made it easy for hunters to find them. Since the parrots did not know the difference between truth and falsehood, they were forever condemned to only repeating what they heard.

Finally Coniraya arrived at the coast only to find that his beloved and their son had been turned to stone. Filled with grief, Coniraya met the daughters of the god Pachachamac, who served as the guardians of the sea. Their mother, Urpi-Huachac, was away visiting when Cavillaca arrived. Coniraya knew that Urpi-Huachac had changed Cavillaca and their son into rocks. Coniraya charmed the elder of the two daughters and had intercourse with her, as an insult to Urpi-Huachac. When the younger daughter refused his advances, she flew away in the form of a pigeon. He cursed her, and to this day pigeons are utterly dependent upon the scraps left by others in order to eat.

He saw the sacred fish pond that Urpi-Huachac tended. At that time, it contained all the fish in the world. In his wrath, he ripped a hole in the side of the pond, releasing all the fish into the sea, where they live today.

OLLANTAY AND CUSICOLLUR

NOTE
: This love story became the basis of a famous sixteenth-century Peruvian play that is still performed.

O
llantay was an honest, just, and brave warrior, faithful to the emperor, or Inca. However, he broke one of the most important laws of Tahuantisuyo (the Inca Empire) by falling in love with the beautiful Cusicollur, the Inca’s daughter. Cusicollur loved Ollantay as well, and the two went secretly to a kindly old priest to be married.

The old priest listened to them sympathetically, but sadly replied that a commoner could never marry a daughter of the Inca, a descendant of Inti or Viracocha, the sun-god. In fact, were he to marry them, the old priest himself could lose his life. Cusicollur told the priest that it was not a sin for her to marry Ollantay; rather, it was a greater sin to keep them apart.

Sometime later, Cusicollur learned that she was pregnant. She told her father and he sent her away to live with the priestesses of the sun, where no man may ever go, not even the Inca himself. There she gave birth to a beautiful little daughter named Yma Sumac, which means “very beautiful.” The child was taken from her to be raised in a separate part of the temple. Meanwhile, the great Inca pronounced a death sentence on Ollantay.

The Inca’s troops pursued Ollantay and his men into a valley, where Ollantay’s men soundly defeated the pursuers. However, the Inca’s general, Rumanahui, waited for Ollantay’s warriors to fall asleep. Then Rumanahui opened the gates and his warriors took Ollantay and all his men prisoner. Ollantay himself was bound with ropes to be taken to Cuzco, capital of the empire, for execution.

On the journey to Cuzco, a messenger ran to Rumanahui with the news that the old Inca had died and his son, Tupac Yupanqui,
*
Cusicollur’s brother, was now ruler of Tahuantisuyo. Ollantay was a boyhood friend of the new emperor; perhaps there was still hope.

At Cuzco, Tupac Yupanqui awaited Ollantay and looked very sad. “My father, dear friend, the great Inca Pachacutec, ordered your execution and there is nothing I can do but carry it out. But, since you are my friend, I will allow you to speak.”

Ollantay told the emperor that he understood the law and his friend’s duty to carry it out. But he was not a traitor to the emperor; the law was a traitor to love. This law had kept apart two people who loved each other and even had a child together. He could never love anyone but Cusicollur. Then he told the emperor, “The gods, not
men, decide who falls in love with whom.” Thus, it was the will of the gods that he and Cusicollur marry. Even though the new Inca was a god himself, he could not stop the power of love.

Tupac Yupanqui was deeply moved by these words. Today he is still remembered as one of the wisest and most compassionate of all the Incas. He revoked the death sentence on Ollantay, convinced that this was the will of the gods. Tupac Yupanqui then ordered Cusicollur and Yma Sumac brought to the palace. Ollantay and Cusicollur were married, and Ollantay became the Inca’s chief general and adviser.

(Scotland and Ireland)

A
ngus Og [“Angus the Young”] is the Gaelic god of love. And as love always makes people youthful, the name fits. Four bright birds hover about his head—the embodiment of his kisses. Anyone hearing the songs of these birds falls hopelessly in love. Angus is the son of the Dagda (“the Good God”), the Supreme Being. Angus himself is constantly in love.

Once Angus fell dangerously ill from “love sickness” for a young girl, and his mother, Boanna, searched all of Ireland to find her without success. Then the great Dagda was called in, but even he could not find her. The Dagda asked Bov the Red for assistance, as Bov knew all mysteries. Bov himself did not know where she was, but he eventually found her at the Lake of the Dragon’s Mouth.

Angus then went to see Bov and they feasted together for three days. Eager to see his beloved, Angus begged Bov to take him to her. When they arrived at the Lake of the Dragon’s Mouth, Angus saw a hundred and fifty beautiful maidens, the most beautiful in the world, walking in pairs, each pair linked by a chain of pure gold. One maiden was taller than the rest; this was the girl that Angus loved. Angus was seized with desire and wanted to carry her off. However,
Bov warned that she would not be separated from the others without difficulty. The girl’s name was Caer, and she was the daughter of an unrelated semidivine prince of the province of Connacht.

Angus went to see the king and queen of Connacht to seek their assistance in winning the hand of Caer, but even the king and queen had no power to help. What irony! Angus, who made all lovers fall in love, was unable to win the hand of his own beloved without help. The king and queen, however, did agree to send a message to Caer’s father asking for Caer’s hand on Angus’s behalf.

Angus approached Caer’s father to ask her hand, but the older man refused to see the young suitor. The armies of the Dagda and the king of Connacht besieged the home of Caer’s father and took him prisoner. However, Caer’s father finally explained that he had no power to give his daughter in marriage; her magic was more powerful than his. He further explained that Caer lived six months out of every year in the form of a woman and the other six months in the form of a swan. On the feast of Samhain,
*
Caer would be found again at the lake with the other girls, all in the form of swans.
†

Angus went to the lake on the feast of Samhain and begged Caer, now a swan, to be his bride. She asked who he was and he explained that he was Angus Og, the god of love. As he spoke his name, he himself was transformed into a swan, and he and Caer lived together forever after. Angus now often appears to lovers in the guise of the swan, and this is why lovers like to meet near lakes.

(Algonquin Indian)

A
lgon was a great hunter who found a strange circle cut in the prairie grass. Hiding in the bushes nearby, he watched to see what might have caused it. Finally, a great willow basket descended from the sky bearing twelve beautiful maidens. The maidens got out of the basket and began singing celestial songs and doing circle dances. All of the girls were beautiful, but the most beautiful of all was the youngest, with whom Algon was immediately smitten.

He ran toward the circle in the hope of stealing her away, but just as he arrived, the girls were alarmed and left in the basket, which flew high into the sky. This happened again three more times, but Algon’s resolve only grew. Then he devised a strategy.

He placed a hollow tree trunk near the circle. Inside the tree trunk lived a family of mice. He took some charms out of his medicine bag and transformed himself into a mouse. When the girls in the basket next arrived, he and the other mice ran among the girls. The girls stomped on the mice, killing all of them but Algon, who then resumed his human form and carried off his beloved.

He took her to his village and in time she fell in love with him. They had a son and the three lived very happily for a time. But as the years passed, the sky-girl grew very homesick. She spent the entire day gazing up at the sky, thinking of her sisters and parents. This homesickness continued until she could no longer bear it. So she built a magic willow basket, placed her son and some gifts for her people in it, climbed in, and headed for the sky. She remained there for years.

In her absence, Algon pined for his wife and son. Every day he went to sit in the magic circle, in the hope that they would return. He was now growing old.

Meanwhile, in the far-off sky-country, his son was growing into manhood. The lad asked questions about his father, which made the
sky-girl miss Algon. She and her son spoke to her father, the chief of the sky-people. He told them to go back to the earth, but ordered them to return with Algon and the identifying feature of each of the earth animals.

Then the sky-girl and the son returned to earth. Algon was overjoyed to see them and was eager to gather the gifts the sky-chief wanted. From the bear, he took a claw; from the eagle, hawk, and falcon, a feather; from the raccoon, its teeth; and from the deer, its horns and hide. He placed all of these gifts in a special medicine bag, and ascended with his wife and son to the sky-country in their willow basket. His father-in-law divided the tokens among his people, offering tokens to Algon and the sky-girl; and they chose the falcon feather. The chief said that they should always be free to travel between the sky-country and the earth, and so Algon and his wife became falcons. Their descendants still fly high and swoop down over the forests and prairies.