ABSTRACT
That which we call the second age, and the idolatry that was practised in it, had its origin with Manco Ccapac, the Ynca who first established the empire of the Yncas, kings of Peru, who reigned for a period of four hundred years, though the Father Blas Valera says that it was for more than five hundred and near six hundred years. We have already spoken of Manco Ccapac, relating who he was and whence he came, how he founded his empire and subjugated the Indians who were his first vassals, teaching them to sow, and rear flocks, to build houses, and to perform the other acts necessary to sustain the natural life. We recounted how his sister and wife, the Queen Mama Ocllo Huaco, taught the women to sew, weave, and bring up their children, to serve their husbands with love and cheerfulness, and to perform all the other household duties of a good wife. We also stated that they taught the natural laws to their people, and gave them laws and precepts for a moral life, for the common good of all, that they might not offend each other, either in their honour or their estates. They also taught the Indians their idolatry and ordered them to worship the Sun as principal God, persuading them that it was right to do so, by reason of its beauty and splendour. They declared that the Pachacamac* (which means the sustainer of the world) had not in vain advanced the Sun so far above all the stars of 102heaven, granting them as his servants, that they might adore him, and hold him as their God. They represented the benefits which he conferred every day, and that which he had finally conferred upon them by sending his children to bring them from the condition of brutes to that of men, as they already knew from experience, and would see hereafter more fully, as time went on. On the other hand they undeceived the Indians respecting their own base and vile gods, asking them what trust they could have in things so contemptible, to help them in time of need? and what benefits they had received from those animals, as they had done every day from their father the Sun. They pointed out that a glance would undeceive them, and show that the herbs, plants, and trees which they worshipped were created by the Sun for the use of men and the sustenance of beasts. They showed the difference between the splendour and beauty of the Sun and the ugliness and filth of the frog, the lizard, and the other vermin they looked upon as gods. Moreover, they ordered the Indians to hunt these vermin, saying that they should rather cause horror and dislike than give rise to feelings of esteem and adoration. With these arguments, and others as simple, the Ynca Manco Ccapac persuaded his first vassals to adore the Sun and receive him as their God.
