The Sleeping Giant and the Wobbly Path to Ollantaytambo
After Machu Picchu, Perusa and Peruso's journey leads to Ollantaytambo. There, steep stairs, enormous stones, and a giant who'd better keep sleeping await.
After they had explored Machu Picchu and the puma had decided that it preferred to hunt elsewhere, Perusa and Peruso set off on their next adventure.
This time, the path led to Ollantaytambo – a place that was supposedly so steep that you might think the mountains would fall on your head.
"Why do all these cities always have to be on such high mountains?" Peruso asked, hands on his hips, as he looked up at the massive terraces.
"You could build a city on a meadow! Right next to a big cornfield!"
"But then it wouldn't be as safe from enemies," explained Perusa, who always liked to be right. "Besides, once you're up there, you'll have the best view in the world!"
"View is good, but I'd prefer corn cake," Peruso grumbled.
The Wobbly Path Begins
On their way up the steep stairs of Ollantaytambo, they stumbled upon a group of workers carving huge boulders.
Peruso, always looking for a shortcut, asked one of the workers: "Uh, why are you doing this? You could just use smaller stones!"
The worker scratched his head and laughed. "You're a really clever boy! But this is the Sapa Inca's command. The walls must be big and strong to keep enemies away."
"Enemies?" Perusa exclaimed excitedly. "Are there really enemies here?"
The worker looked around and leaned towards the children.
"There are rumors," he whispered. "A huge sleeping giant is said to live in the mountains. Some say he wakes up when the stars align. But those are just stories, of course."
"Just stories?" Peruso's eyes lit up. "That sounds like the best adventure ever!"
The Sleeping Giant Wakes Up... Almost
They had barely snuck through the narrow streets of Ollantaytambo when they heard a loud rumble.
The ground vibrated as if a giant elephant was stomping over the mountains.
"What was that?" Perusa asked, stopping. "Was that the giant?"
Peruso shrugged. "Or maybe Wolli, finally stomping up the mountain after all those corn leaves."
But then an old man came running, gesticulating wildly and shouting: "The giant! The giant is waking up!"
Perusa and Peruso looked at each other, their eyes as wide as moons.
"This is our chance!" Perusa exclaimed, running towards the sound.
"Our chance for what?" Peruso asked after him. "To be trampled?"
But Perusa had already rounded the next corner. And then they saw it: a massive statue, looking like a sleeping man, half carved into the rock, half hidden in the earth.
But something was indeed moving. The earth shook, and the statue seemed to breathe.
"He's breathing!" Peruso shouted. "The giant is breathing!"
"Or it's just the wind," said Perusa, trying to stay calm, although she wasn't entirely sure herself. "But... we have to find out what's going on here!"
In the Giant's Cave
They climbed closer to the sleeping giant, who was in a huge cave. Small stones lay scattered all around them, and an old, fragile altar stood in the middle of the room.
"Maybe that's the cause," Perusa murmured, pointing to the altar. "Something is waking the giant."
Peruso looked around, his eyes searching for a quick escape. "Or we wake him... and then run away really fast!"
"No!" Perusa cried, holding him back. "We have to be smarter. Maybe he's not evil."
Peruso shook his head. "Giants are always hungry. And you know what they like to eat best? Little children throwing corn kernels!"
But before they could argue further, a part of the cave wall suddenly collapsed, and the statue began to move more intensely.
The loud rumble filled the air, and stones trickled down from above. Perusa and Peruso threw themselves to the ground.
And at that moment, everything stopped.
Silence.
The statue was still. The ground no longer shook. And the giant? He continued to sleep soundly.
"Huh?" Peruso asked, looking around confused. "Was that all?"
"Maybe it was just a tremor," Perusa said, standing up. She dusted herself off.
"Or... he decided not to wake up. But I think we should get out of here before he changes his mind."
The Escape and the Best Corn Cake in the World
The two ran back to the village as fast as they could, where the workers greeted them.
The workers hadn't noticed the whole drama.
"And?" one of them asked. "Did you see the sleeping giant?"
Peruso, who always had a flair for the dramatic, stretched himself up and said with a serious voice: "We didn't just see him... we defeated him!"
"Defeated?" the worker asked.
"Yes!" Perusa exclaimed. "With nothing but our courage and a few corn kernels!"
The workers laughed, and Peruso grinned broadly.
"And now... I'd really like that corn cake you've been talking about!"
And so, Perusa and Peruso sat by the fire in the evening, with a huge piece of corn cake in hand, reflecting on their latest adventure.
They had discovered the sleeping giant and almost woken him. But the next adventure was surely waiting in the mountains or in the deep valleys of the Inca Empire.
"I bet the next adventure will also have llamas," Peruso said with a mouthful.
"Hopefully not ones that run faster," Perusa laughed.
And the two friends enjoyed the rest of their cake under the twinkling stars of the Inca sky.
(c) by PeruMagazin
Perusa and Peruso