The Story:
Act 3 begins with Pedro asking the Friar why it is all right for the Spanish soldiers to rape the Inca women -- but not for him to be fond of the Inca girl. It is because his soul is in danger, is the reply, since she is a heathen. The soldiers, on the other hand, do not love the women, so their souls are safe. The Bible permits murder and rape of conquered people, he has been told. The Friar tells Pedro to forget about her.
Pedro then asks whether it would be all right if the girl converted to Christianity. Before he gets his answer, there is confusion, and we learn that the Indians are preparing for another sacrifice. Song of the Moon has been chosen. The Bishop doubts that she will agree to convert.
Act 3 begins with Pedro asking the Friar why it is all right for the Spanish soldiers to rape the Inca women -- but not for him to be fond of the Inca girl. It is because his soul is in danger, is the reply, since she is a heathen. The soldiers, on the other hand, do not love the women, so their souls are safe. The Bible permits murder and rape of conquered people, he has been told. The Friar tells Pedro to forget about her.
Pedro then asks whether it would be all right if the girl converted to Christianity. Before he gets his answer, there is confusion, and we learn that the Indians are preparing for another sacrifice. Song of the Moon has been chosen. The Bishop doubts that she will agree to convert.
Click here to listen to an excerpt. (1.00MB, 1 min 25 sec.)
Bishop: She certainly won’t now! The villagers are getting ready for another sacrifice. Everyone is there. Rumor has it that Song-of-the-Moon has been chosen. The Girl rushes in, sees Pedro, and runs to him. Girl: Pedro! Pedro! It’s wonderful! You must listen! The priest of Wiñawayna has selected me for an offering! I’m so excited! I can hardly wait to tell everyone. Friar: (To the Bishop) We should just let them go ahead with it. Then she will no longer be a problem. For Pedro’s sake. Don’t interfere. (The Bishop nods.) Pedro: Song-of-the-Moon! You can’t go! I won’t let them! You don’t know what you’re doing! Friar: Pedro, this is very important to them. You must not intervene. |
Pedro entreats the Friar and Bishop to convert the girl immediately – so they cannot sacrifice her. Reluctantly, she agrees to listen
Click here to listen to an excerpt. (1.04MB, 1 min 31 sec.)
Bishop: First, about God. There is only one, and he is a God of love. Girl: But Pedro told me about three. Does that make four now? Friar: No, no! There is only one. Girl: But your god is cruel! He orders the killing of my people! You’re killing my people! Bishop: Here, in the Bible, it is written: (opens his Bible) God prohibits the killing of the innocent. Friar: True, that is in Exodus, but in First Samuel He does order the killing of innocent women and children. Bishop: Yes, I had forgotten that. And in Psalms He orders the children of the Daughters of Babylon to be dashed against the stones. Friar: But still, in Chronicles we learn “His mercy endureth forever”, and … Girl: Well which is it? Pedro: Just listen. You will understand. Girl: They kill us, and make us slaves! Friar: You see, in Exodus, it says “Put every man his sword by his side...." |
The Girl listens to the Friar and Bishop argue about theology, with contradictory Bible passages exchanged back and forth. She questions the contradictions, while begging them to let her go back to the ceremony. Pedro urges her to remain and to believe. The Indians can be heard chanting their sacrificial ritual in the background.
Click here to listen to an excerpt. (1.41MB, 2 min 3 sec.)
Pedro: Only the Pope can understand these questions. God only knows the answers, and He tells them to the Pope. Girl: Please let me go…. Bishop: That’s right. God knows everything, the past and the future. You have only to call, to call on him, and … Friar: But in Genesis it says that God asked Cain where his brother was. So He didn’t know. Bishop: But, in Jeremiah it says that God is everywhere. Nothing is hidden from His view. Friar: Oh, but, in Genesis, the Lord says: “I will go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, and if not, I will know.” So God did not know until He went down. Bishop: But, in the Book of Hebrew, it says that …. (One of the Indians pulls the Girl by the arm.) Girl: That’s enough! I do not accept your faith, and I never will. How can something be true and false at the same time? I think you worship a false god, and I am going to give myself to the True One! To the True God! (She runs offstage with the Indians.) Pedro: No! Come back! Come back, Song-of-the-Moon. Song-of-the-Moon, I love you. |
Hearing Pedro, she returns, slowly. More theological arguments and contradictions fly, and finally the girl and Pedro both declare that they cannot believe the things they are being told. She again runs offstage with the others. Pedro is beside himself, and declares that he is now convinced that the Christian Faith is nothing but superstition.
The Friar and Bishop are horrified, and declare Pedro a heretic. As soldiers drag him away, the Friar boasts that the girl is not even a virgin – and then explains that, five years ago during the conquest of Cuzco, as the soldiers were raping the Inca nuns and other women, he himself had raped a 10-year old girl and left her in a swamp. Pedro begs an old Inca woman to tell him how Song of the Moon came to the village, and finding that it is indeed the same girl, declares that they cannot sacrifice her now. A virgin sacrifice requires a virgin – so the girl is saved, if only he can run up the mountain and tell them before it is too late. But Pedro is held fast by the soldiers, so he calls to the old woman to climb the mountain quickly and deliver the news. She hobbles as quickly as she can, with evident pain, as the scene ends.
In the final scene, the old woman and the girl reappear, the girl distraught and ashamed. The woman reminds her of Pedro's affection, and the girl runs about trying to find him. She asks the Friar, who sternly advises her to look for Pedro in Perdition, where she is headed. She then stumbles on a pile of ashes, still smoking, and realizes that Pedro has been burned as a heretic. She sings a lament to her lost Pedro.
The Friar and Bishop are horrified, and declare Pedro a heretic. As soldiers drag him away, the Friar boasts that the girl is not even a virgin – and then explains that, five years ago during the conquest of Cuzco, as the soldiers were raping the Inca nuns and other women, he himself had raped a 10-year old girl and left her in a swamp. Pedro begs an old Inca woman to tell him how Song of the Moon came to the village, and finding that it is indeed the same girl, declares that they cannot sacrifice her now. A virgin sacrifice requires a virgin – so the girl is saved, if only he can run up the mountain and tell them before it is too late. But Pedro is held fast by the soldiers, so he calls to the old woman to climb the mountain quickly and deliver the news. She hobbles as quickly as she can, with evident pain, as the scene ends.
In the final scene, the old woman and the girl reappear, the girl distraught and ashamed. The woman reminds her of Pedro's affection, and the girl runs about trying to find him. She asks the Friar, who sternly advises her to look for Pedro in Perdition, where she is headed. She then stumbles on a pile of ashes, still smoking, and realizes that Pedro has been burned as a heretic. She sings a lament to her lost Pedro.
Click here to listen to an excerpt. (1.92MB, 2 min 48 sec.)
Girl: In you I felt the tenderness of a young llama, suckling its mother for the first time. Pedro. In your eyes I saw I know not what. Was it love? Did I see it there? Pedro. Did you say it? Did you say it? You love me! You love me! And I did not answer. Why did I not answer? Why? Why? Why did I not say to the Friar “Yes, Yes?” Why did I not say to the Bishop “Yes, Yes?” “Yes, yes, yes, it is all true, it is all true” even when it isn't? “Yes, yes, yes.” Pedro. That’s what they want. Not love, which comes from you; not truth, which they do not know. Just “Yes.” Pedro. Did you say you love me? I did not answer. I did not answer. Pedro! Do you believe in the Spanish heaven? Do you believe in it now? Pedro, Pedro! Can I believe in it too? Pedro. Pedro. If there really are angels, you are one of them. If they have feathers, please Pedro, please Pedro, Pedro. Please fold your feathers around my heart. |