The Legend of Mummy Mountain & The Parrots of the Andes

5) The Legend of: Mummy Mountain
(De Perú: Valle del Mantaro))


Advance: in the Valle del Mantaro by Huancayo, Peru there resides three enchanting sites, where all seem to be tucked away together (in the area of Chupaca/Ahuac): Here resides Laguna Nahuinpuquio (where legends have come and gone, some forgotten), and the 9th Century (800-1400 AD Wanka site) Ruinas De Arwatuno, overlooking the valley below and the Laguna. But there is a third legend, almost forgotten, it would seem hidden from the minds of the youth of the area today, but not from a few old timers: the legend of Mummy Mountain (that resides nearby, and can be seen with the naked eye from any location thereby), a tall tale possibly, or perhaps as true as the mountain itself—for it looks its name. I will leave that for your imagination to deliberate and make a decision on, I can only tell what I have heard, and so I shall tell it to you:

In the year 825 AD, there was a great man by the name of Uraurampi, who appeared in the valley, and brought with him his faith in a god called Tunanmaca. The valley was rich with rain and here he founded the Wanka culture. But in time he knew he would pass on (as Tunanmaca had told him, “To each man, a time and place is assigned him to die”), and so he skilled all his sons in the art of warfare lest some foe take this rich valley away from them.
He lived to a ripe old age, and before he died he asked Tunanmaca a favor,
“Take my body; make it into a mummy, place it so I can watch over my people and land.”
And the favor was granted. And thus, as the years passed, the landscape changed, where his people buried him, into a hung mountain sculptured into what looks like a resting body, one resembling a mummy.
And so the legend ends with these final words: should there be war to where Uraurampi´s people need him, they need simply awake him, and he will make the earth tremble and swallow the rival.

Afterward: Today standing below the old ruins, perhaps the very ones his sons built (Arwaturo) one can see this Mummy shaped mountain, and with rain clouds, its silhouette even more so; it is not hard to realize (without a doubt) why it is called, Mummy Montana.


Note: written after leaving the archeological site, about 35-minutes ride from Huancayo, Peru (in the Andes) 8-13-2006, No: 1424.








6) Los Loros (parrots) de Andes
(De Perú)

During the time of harvest
Parrots (loros) of the Sierras
Search high and low for food
Like hungry children of the Devil
They fly—hundreds of them—
(Like a swarming plague, in packs)
Through mountainous passages
Into villages looking for corn,
Wheat, grains, fruits, foods—!
Always in a group, never alone,
They echo their noisy voices
Unto the high heavens,
Like a dark overlooking cloud.

Now, overlooking the farmers’ fields,
In the clap of an eye, they they’ve eaten
Every trace of corn, every crumb of wheat
Every seed of grain, planted by the farmers
Leaving only tears and pain…!

And the youth of the land
(Early in the morning they wake…
And wait, anticipate,
Wishing to save the harvest)
Grab slingshot, rock and hand
Trying to kill the ascending foe
In the wheat and cornfields—.
But lo, the Loros are keen and swift,
They hide in trees and bushes,
Wait for the youth to fall to sleep:
And with wit, and yellow beaks,
Green wings and red necklaces
They eat everything…!


Note: No: 1423, 8-14-2006 (Written while in the city of Huancayo, Peru, in the Andes)