(Exeunt boys and girls, except one girl who sings.)




Two loving birds are in despair,[FN#20]
They moan, they weep, they sigh;
For snow has fallen on the pair,
To hollow tree they fly.



[FN#20] This is a yarahui or mournful elegy, of which there are so many
in the Quichua language. The singers of them were known as yarahuec.




But lo! one dove is left alone
And mourns her cruel fate;
She makes a sad and piteous moan,
Alone without a mate.
She fears her friend is dead and gone--
Confirmed in her belief,
Her sorrow finds relief in song,
And thus she tells her grief.
'Sweet mate! Alas, where art thou now?
I miss thine eyes so bright,
Thy feet upon the tender bough,