They soon, however, forgot this aim and mercilessly massacred 3,000 unarmed Indians in their market place, largely through fear for their own personal safety. They took as prisoner the Inca god-king, Atahualipa, whom his people believed to be son-of-the-sun. Pizarro put him up for ransom, promising to free him when a room was filled with gold.
While this strange procession of gold was arriving from all parts of the empire, the two priests, Valverde (the hypocritical self - moralist) and De Nizza (the philosophical moralist), continually tried to convert Atahualipa to Christianity, but the immensely strong sun worshipper was not to be moved.
As the room filled and melting-down began, morale began to go fast and fights started to break out. The whole company was becoming increasingly afraid and pressing Pizarro to kill the king for whom he had developed a great affection. Eventually, under pressure from his officers: Estete, the royal Veedor; De Candia, commander of artillery; and Diego, master of horse; Pizarro was persuaded to break his word and execute Atahualipa, much to the disgust of his second-in-command, Hernando De Soto, who refused to witness the act.
Atahualipa accepted the reasons for his impending death and promised Pizarro that he would rise again in the next day's light. Before his murder he was baptized a Christian, because this was the only way that Valverde would permit his body to stay in one place ready for re-incarnation. Straight after this the Inca re-asserted his allegiance to the sun: 'Inti! Inti! Inti!, and was garotted.
The play ends with a very moving Inca lament before Pizarro expresses his regrets and Old Martin the narrator who as a boy was Pizarro 's page, sums up; We gave Peru greed, hunger and the cross: three gifts for the civilised life.
Peter Loose L6A