An Inca Account of the Conquest of Peru (12 page)

Manco Inca Yupanqui's Speech to his people about the raising of the treasure which he handed over to the Spaniards during his first Imprisonment

“My brothers and sisters, a few days ago I had already had you gather in this way in order to introduce to you a new race [género] of people, which landed in our country. I am referring to those bearded ones who are now staying in this city. I did so because they claimed to be Viracochas
³⁸
and because their clothes appeared to corroborate their claim. Then I commanded you to serve and venerate them as you would do for me personally and to pay tribute to them with whatever your region has to offer for I presumed that they were a grateful people and that they were emissaries of Him that, according to their words, appeared to be Teqsi Viracocha” (meaning “God”).
³⁹
“However, I now believe that I was mistaken in my assumptions. For you must know, my brothers, that they are the sons not of Viracocha but of the Devil [demonio], as they have proven to me time and again since they first arrived in this country. What they have done to me since their arrival, and are still doing to me, is evil, as you can see with
your very own eyes. If you truly love me, you must feel great pain and sorrow when seeing your lord in chains and, without any wrongdoing on his part, so maltreated; only because I admitted such people to this county and, thus, put the noose around my own neck. If you want to do something for me, attempt, by your lives, to find a reasonable amount of gold and silver—for that is this what they covet—so that I can redeem myself from this pain and this captivity in which you see me now.

How the Indians responded to Manco Inca's call to gather a treasure while he was in captivity

Thus, a multitude gathered from the four parts of the land, which is more than 1,200 leagues long and almost 300 leagues wide and according to cosmography divided up into east, west, north, and south. We name these parts in circular order Antisuyu, Chinchaysuyu, Contisuyu, and Collasuyo, for Antisuyu refers to the east, Chinchaysuyu to the north, Cuntisuyu to the west, and Collasuyo to the south. This way of dividing up the land originated in Cuzco, the center and capital of the entire land. My ancestors, who lived there since the beginning, therefore called themselves the Lords of Tahuantinsuyu, which is to say “Lords of the four parts of the earth,” for they were convinced that there was only this one world. For this reason, they always used to send messengers into the four parts, as my father also did for this aforementioned gathering, so that the entire population may come to the capital. Thus they communicated with the innumerable people, who came to the capital. Although many people had died at Cajamarca and during the chase for Quisquis, as well as during many other battles, which I will omit here for brevity's sake, more than ten thousand gathered, counting only the officials. When they were thus gathered before my father and saw him in such a miserable condition, they exclaimed with great sorrow, “Sapai Inca! Which heart in this world would not break and melt in lamentation at
the site of our king suffering from such oppression and pain? To be sure, Sapai Inca, by admitting such people into the country, you have made a grave mistake. But since what happened has happened and cannot be changed now, we, your subjects, are prepared to do everything that you command us to do. Whatever it is that you might order us to bring, it is nothing next to all that we owe to you. If that of which you speak is not enough and it is necessary for us to sell ourselves, our wives, and our children in order to redeem you from your torment, we will readily do it to serve you. And know, our lord, whatever you may command us to bring will be done in due time and exactly as you have commanded, even if it means digging up the earth with bare hands.”

When my father, Manco Inca, saw how eagerly his subjects wanted to serve him and to fulfill his wishes, he thanked them and said, “Truly, Apoes” (which means “lords”), “I am very obliged for your proven willingness to redeem me from the torment to which I am subjected by sacrificing yourselves and your possessions. I give you my royal promise that you will not regret it; [and] unless I die, I will make it up to you. All of this has been entirely my own fault, the result of letting such bad people into the country, and now I have to deal with it. You can do me a great favor by bringing the treasure quickly, because I am suffering very much from my captivity and maltreatment. In order to prevent those men from torturing me any longer, it is necessary that you fill that
bohío
there—by which he meant a great house—with gold and silver to the bursting. Perhaps, the sight of this will stop them from molesting me.”

The generals and the other people replied in unison, “Señor Sapai Inca, that is nothing next to what we owe to you. It will be done as you command immediately.” And thus, they all took leave in order to get what my father had demanded from them. After a short time, they returned with the desired things, which were piled up and arranged in accordance with my father's orders.
The next day my father called for the Spaniards, who followed his call immediately.

How the Spaniards arrived at Manco's House while he was imprisoned and what happened after their Arrival

After the Spaniards had arrived at the place where my father was imprisoned and fettered, they greeted him as they had done on previous occasions and my father, too, paid them the customary respects when he saw that they had arrived and entered his house. He started the conversation by inquiring about the macho capito, who was not present at the time. Thus, he asked Hernando Pizarro, “Apo, where is the macho capito?” Hernando Pizarro replied that he had stayed at home, being ill; but my father, who wanted to see him, said, “Shouldn't we call him?” And Gonzalo Pizarro and the others replied, “As you wish, Manco Inca, call him here. It would be appropriate to call for him on your behalf.” My father sent a few of his generals to call on him, but the governor replied that he was currently ill and that he would attend to my father's requests as soon as he felt better. When my father learned that he would not come, he addressed the Spaniards with the following words.

The Speech of the Imprisoned Inca to the Spaniards, as he handed over the first Treasure to them

“Gentlemen, for many days now you have been doing me great injustice by treating me the way you do, despite the fact that I did not give you any reason whatsoever, especially considering that I admitted you into my country, that I have received you with great honors and pomp in my city and my house, and that I have willingly let you have everything that I owned in my land and my house, which was, you may remember, not insignificant:
more than two million in gold and silver; more, as I know, than everything your king owns taken together. You know very well that it was in my hands whether or not to admit you into my country; for had I not wished it, you would not have been able to enter, even if there had been ten times as many of you as you are. You don't know how powerful the people of this country are and how many fortresses and troops there are. You would do well to remember my benevolence in inviting you, without you having to ask for it, and how I sent you everything I could as a token of friendship, because I had been informed that you were Viracochas, emissaries of Tecsi Viracocha. You would do well to remember that immediately after your arrival I provided you with servants and summoned the entire population of the land in order to call on them to pay tribute to you. And in gratitude for this, as well as for the devotion and benevolence I have shown you, you have imprisoned me and brought me into this situation, all on the pretext that I wanted to rise up against and kill you, although I never thought of anything like this. I know well that greed has blinded you and seduced you to commit such foolishness; that is the reason why you have mistreated me like this. I never would have thought that people who initially appeared in such positive light, and who even claimed to be sons of Viracocha, would become guilty of such acts. On your lives, release me and understand that I wish you no evil but only to please you. In order to satisfy your greed and the great hunger that you have for silver, you shall be given what you request. But beware that you receive it under the obligation not to torment and maltreat me and the entire population of this country. Don't think that I am handing these things over to you out of fear, for I am doing it voluntarily. Why should I be afraid? After all, the entire country is under my power and command. If it were my wish, my people could chase you out of the land in a very short time. And don't think that I am worried about the fetters with which you have kept me imprisoned. Had I wanted
to, it would have been very easy for me to rid myself of them. But I didn't do it in order to make you understand that my conduct is inspired by love, not fear. That's why I have been dealing with you like this and will continue to deal with you as I have been. Let us keep the peace from now on and live in love and friendship. For you should know that it would greatly upset Viracocha” (which is to say “God”) “and your king if it were to be any different. And I, too, wouldn't want it any differently.”

When my father was finished with his speech, the Spaniards who had come with Hernando Pizarro, Gonzalo Pizarro, and Juan Pizarro thanked him for his words and even more for the gifts, namely the treasure and the other pieces of jewelry.

How the Spaniards thanked Manco Inca for the treasure and the Jewelry that he handed over to them at his Release

“Señor Manco Inca, all of us who are present here, as well as the lord governor Don Francisco Pizarro, know very well that we are indebted to Your Highness, who is the son of such a father as Huayna Capac, for our possession of the land that we now own and for the happiness and joy we feel about being here. If Your Highness were not what you are, which is a person of royal blood, we would not have the land that we now have and not the riches that we received by your generous hands. May it please our Lord the Almighty God (whom Your Highness calls Viracocha), our Father in his divine majesty, to requite the benevolence you have shown us and the good deeds you have done us by making you realize who His most Holy Majesty is. May your knowledge of Him make you love Him; may your love of Him perfect your knowledge of Him; and may your perfect knowledge of Him make you rejoice in Him and His Kingdom forever, as we, too, enjoy ourselves, having gotten to know the favors that Your Majesty has bestowed up us.” Hernando Pizarro added on behalf
of everyone, “All these noblemen and myself are most happy about the favors that Your Highness have shown us. We are now obliged for the rest of our lives to serve you and to assure you that we, these gentlemen and I, will not do you any harm, now or ever, provided we don't have a sufficient reason for it.”
⁴⁰

After the Spaniards had thus addressed my father with this explanation and declaration of gratitude, he ordered the treasure to be turned over to them. They received it but left it untouched until they had reported to the governor everything that had happened. While some of them were waiting around, others immediately set out to get him, so that he could thank my father for the treasure and also so that he could be present at its reception and distribution. As it turned out later, it was only on account of the governor's request that the Spaniards had actually freed my father from his prison; had they not been ordered to do so, they wouldn't have done it. Thus, those who had gone to call him had done so in order to notify him that my father had already been released. As soon as he learned of what had happened and that my father had already been released, he came by. Upon his arrival, he greeted my father with the following words.

The Governor's Arrival at the House of Manco Inca

“May God preserve Your Highness, Señor Manco Inca. A minor illness has prevented me from coming earlier with these gentlemen to kiss your hands. It pained me greatly not being able to do what I so much desired, which is to meet with Your Highness. But this temporary absence, which, as I said, was due to my illness, will not happen again. I was very upset by the news of your arrest, especially in light of the possibility that it was entirely unjust, and my anguish will be even greater if it does turn out to be so. Indeed, as I am beholding these generosities of Your Highness, it now seems to me that this is precisely the case. As I always was and still am convinced of Your Highness's goodness,
I have asked these gentlemen not to molest you so much. I am sure that a person who has brought us into his country with such goodwill and who has so plainly turned it over to us, with all of its treasures, could not be instigated so easily to do something that he shouldn't do. I entreat you, Your Highness, not to let the pain get the better of you, for these noblemen and I will do everything from now on not to cause you any more pain but, on the contrary, to pay you all the respect that is due to a person of the rank of Your Highness. It seems to me that Your Highness, now as then, are conducting yourself toward me and these gentlemen in the way we are used to, which is quite evident in the riches and treasure with which you have presented us, as well as in the share due to me in my function as governor, as well as the Royal Fifths, which is due to His Majesty. I kiss Your Highness's hand, for I know that His Majesty will be very pleased by what Your Highness has given here, which will add to what I already sent. For this favor, I am in your debt to a degree that I cannot express in words.”

Manco's Answer to the Governor

“You are welcome, Apo” (which means “lord”). “I have longed to see you for many days, and I don't know why you wouldn't want to do me the favor. I desired to see you so much and called for you—I don't know how many times—in order to complain to you about your soldiers. But you have denied me this favor in order to please them, despite the fact that I desired and have done everything to please you. You have poorly requited my good intentions and my benevolence. Without any provocation on my part, these soldiers have tormented and hurt me by putting these iron fetters on me as though I was their llama” (which means “sheep” [
carnero
]). “It seems to me that this harassment is motivated more by greed than heroism. Obviously, I've been held prisoner more because of insatiable greed than because of
any jurisdiction that they might rightfully claim over me. As you have seen for yourself and can testify, you [Spaniards] defeated me not by the force of arms but through pretty words. Had you not pretended to be sons and emissaries of Viracocha and had we not given any credit to the ingratiating devices that have brought to bear on me, I should like to know how you would have fared when entering our country. But because I conducted myself in the way I have done toward you, you treat me in this manner. Some noble recompense that you are giving me here for all the good things I have done for you! I don't even know how much gold and silver I paid your soldiers there in order to save myself from their harassment. But have it distributed as you see fit. And if you are a good Apo, you'll order them not to give me any more grief in the future, because I don't wish to give them any either; for let me assure you that they will regret it if they do.” When the governor heard my father's answer, he was very pleased by it and commanded the Spaniards to receive the treasure, saying, “Let us receive what his Highness Señor Manco Inca Yupanqui has given us with such goodwill. Not only in this instance but for a long time now has he shown us great favors. And let's remember, gentlemen, that we have already received from him many things since we came into his country and that we have requited his generosity poorly. On your lives, from now on you shall pay him respect and high esteem, for he deserves it.” Happy about the treasure that my father had given them, the soldiers responded to the governor with great joyfulness in the following manner.