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.Of necessity, theGovernor ruled his men with a taut and sometimes ferocious discipline.Mike's host did not go abroad wearing his sword.But Quizo brought it out to show, in the evenings when other men, all pakoyoc loaded about the ears with yellow metal, dropped in to dine, to drink, to sniff a little dope, above all to talk.Mike very soon confirmed what had already begun to seem distinctly probable:Quizo's house was a potential center of rebellion, against both the Spaniards and Manco's collaborationist faction of the native aristocracy.Once Quizo had described to his other guests the incident of the two Conquistadors, and had shown them the gatekeeper's old staff, whittled like a wooden butt for sword practice—Mike looking at it now experienced a certain queasy sensation in his gut—onceQuizo had done this the other men all spoke freely in front of Mike, and much of their speech showed their disaffection.These grumbling magnates represented only a minority.Most of their peers in Cuzco were, at the moment, solidly behind Manco, whose time of official coronation was fast approaching.Anyway, Quizo's cronies did not expect immediate renewal of civil war in Cuzco, or fear midnight arrests, though such things might come.The present situation among the Incas was, Mike thought, more like a vast and deadly family quarrel than anything else.Almost any two of the pakoyoc.if they looked back a few generations, could discover some blood relationship.The ruling class or tribe of Tawantinsuyu, whom he thought of as Incas though that name strictly belonged only to the ruler, formed in effect a single family of several thousand members.Each successive ruler might have scores of wives, and several times that many children, though not all considered legitimate.His chief wife was most likely his own full sister, and almost every one of the nobility shared to some extent in the blood royal."Roca Yupanqui has not said of which lineage he comes," one distinguished guest remarked one evening, glancing down the room in Mike's direction.Like so many distinguished beggars, these lords of Cuzco were all sitting on the floor, fingering chunks of meat out of little stewpots and drinking gravy.Mike had given this expected question some advance thought.It was a point on which the Mask had been no help.In fact he had noticed that the Mask never seemed to care what its wearer said, but only what he did.Now he paused for a sip of chicha."When my head was injured by the enemy," he began, "much of my life before that time was taken from my memory.But to replace old things, new things were given.A vision, in which I struck down men in shining armor, and in which it was given to me to speak and understand their language.And more things were given, also, of which I may not yet speak.That I must serve the Inca faithfully was told me in the vision; and it Page 88ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlwas told me also that the details of my lineage and family no longer mattered, for the world of Tawantinsuyu is to be born anew."The men looked closely at Mike and were impressed.The evening was rather quiet after that, until the time came for the visitors to take their leave.It was now the middle of December, 1533.A couple of days after his remarks about his visions, another, smaller gathering took place in Quizo's house.This time besides Mike there was but a single guest, to whom Quizo himself deferred.Willak Umu, Servant of the Sun and high priest of Inti's Temple, who dwelt in its Golden Enclosure, Coricancha.The night before, Mike's Mask had shown him the visage of an unknown Indian man, stern and ascetic, who seemed to be beckoning him forward through a great golden doorway—and this man, Mike saw as he joined Quizo in welcoming their distinguished visitor, was Willak Umu.When the social preliminaries had been disposed of, and the time for serious discussion was at hand, the high priest announced: ' "The Bearded Ones are insane with their craving for gold.And He-who-is-to-be-Inca indulges them in it.I fear that once his coronation is over, the most sacred treasures will not be spared.""Quisquis may yet defeat Manco and the Spaniards," Quizo asserted doggedly."They have not yet returned from pursuing him.""Quisquis and his army have fought them time and again," the high priest pointed out."At best they manage to break off battle before great numbers of our men are killed.At worst they are badly beaten.I do not think this time will be different."Quizo was gloomily silent."I have decided," Willak Umu went on, "that there is some gold that must be saved.Already many gold plates have been pried from the walls of the Temple, to help make upAtahualpa's ransom.All will be taken in the end, down to the last speck, for the suncasapa are madmen in this regard [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Of necessity, theGovernor ruled his men with a taut and sometimes ferocious discipline.Mike's host did not go abroad wearing his sword.But Quizo brought it out to show, in the evenings when other men, all pakoyoc loaded about the ears with yellow metal, dropped in to dine, to drink, to sniff a little dope, above all to talk.Mike very soon confirmed what had already begun to seem distinctly probable:Quizo's house was a potential center of rebellion, against both the Spaniards and Manco's collaborationist faction of the native aristocracy.Once Quizo had described to his other guests the incident of the two Conquistadors, and had shown them the gatekeeper's old staff, whittled like a wooden butt for sword practice—Mike looking at it now experienced a certain queasy sensation in his gut—onceQuizo had done this the other men all spoke freely in front of Mike, and much of their speech showed their disaffection.These grumbling magnates represented only a minority.Most of their peers in Cuzco were, at the moment, solidly behind Manco, whose time of official coronation was fast approaching.Anyway, Quizo's cronies did not expect immediate renewal of civil war in Cuzco, or fear midnight arrests, though such things might come.The present situation among the Incas was, Mike thought, more like a vast and deadly family quarrel than anything else.Almost any two of the pakoyoc.if they looked back a few generations, could discover some blood relationship.The ruling class or tribe of Tawantinsuyu, whom he thought of as Incas though that name strictly belonged only to the ruler, formed in effect a single family of several thousand members.Each successive ruler might have scores of wives, and several times that many children, though not all considered legitimate.His chief wife was most likely his own full sister, and almost every one of the nobility shared to some extent in the blood royal."Roca Yupanqui has not said of which lineage he comes," one distinguished guest remarked one evening, glancing down the room in Mike's direction.Like so many distinguished beggars, these lords of Cuzco were all sitting on the floor, fingering chunks of meat out of little stewpots and drinking gravy.Mike had given this expected question some advance thought.It was a point on which the Mask had been no help.In fact he had noticed that the Mask never seemed to care what its wearer said, but only what he did.Now he paused for a sip of chicha."When my head was injured by the enemy," he began, "much of my life before that time was taken from my memory.But to replace old things, new things were given.A vision, in which I struck down men in shining armor, and in which it was given to me to speak and understand their language.And more things were given, also, of which I may not yet speak.That I must serve the Inca faithfully was told me in the vision; and it Page 88ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlwas told me also that the details of my lineage and family no longer mattered, for the world of Tawantinsuyu is to be born anew."The men looked closely at Mike and were impressed.The evening was rather quiet after that, until the time came for the visitors to take their leave.It was now the middle of December, 1533.A couple of days after his remarks about his visions, another, smaller gathering took place in Quizo's house.This time besides Mike there was but a single guest, to whom Quizo himself deferred.Willak Umu, Servant of the Sun and high priest of Inti's Temple, who dwelt in its Golden Enclosure, Coricancha.The night before, Mike's Mask had shown him the visage of an unknown Indian man, stern and ascetic, who seemed to be beckoning him forward through a great golden doorway—and this man, Mike saw as he joined Quizo in welcoming their distinguished visitor, was Willak Umu.When the social preliminaries had been disposed of, and the time for serious discussion was at hand, the high priest announced: ' "The Bearded Ones are insane with their craving for gold.And He-who-is-to-be-Inca indulges them in it.I fear that once his coronation is over, the most sacred treasures will not be spared.""Quisquis may yet defeat Manco and the Spaniards," Quizo asserted doggedly."They have not yet returned from pursuing him.""Quisquis and his army have fought them time and again," the high priest pointed out."At best they manage to break off battle before great numbers of our men are killed.At worst they are badly beaten.I do not think this time will be different."Quizo was gloomily silent."I have decided," Willak Umu went on, "that there is some gold that must be saved.Already many gold plates have been pried from the walls of the Temple, to help make upAtahualpa's ransom.All will be taken in the end, down to the last speck, for the suncasapa are madmen in this regard [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]