The Fruit is Sweet, The Leaves Are Green, Quechua Harvest Song
1470 CE • Peru
O Tuyallay,[coccoborus chrysogaster]
In Ñusta’s field,
O Tuyallay.
Thou must not rob,
O Tuyallay,
The harvest maize,
O Tuyallay.
The grains are white,
O Tuyallay,
So sweet for food,
O Tuyallay.
The fruit is sweet,
O Tuyallay,
The leaves are green
O Tuyallay;
But the trap is set,
O Tuyallay.
The lime is there,
O Tuyallay.
We’ll cut thy claws,
O Tuyallay,
To seize thee quick,
O Tuyallay.
Ask Piscaca,[coccoborus torridus]
O Tuyallay,
Nailed on a branch,
O Tuyallay.
Where is her heart,
O Tuyallay?
Where her plumes,
O Tuyallay?
She is cut up,
O Tuyallay,
For stealing grain,
O Tuyallay.
See the fate,
O Tuyallay,
Of robber birds,
O Tuyallay.
From "Apu Ollantay: a drama of the time of the Incas," recorded around 1470, Apu Ollantay, first translated from Quechua 1770, translated to English 1910, archived online by Project Gutenberg, 2003.
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