Illustration by H. J. Ford
"The Story of the Yara
" is a Brazilian folk tale. It was collected by Andrew Lang and placed in The Brown Fairy Book.
A young man, Alonzo, falls in love with and becomes engaged to a beautiful maiden named Julia. However, shortly before their wedding, he begins hearing an entrancing song that threatens their future happiness.
Terrified, Julia begs him to avoid the pools where he first heard the melody, but even she is aware that the Yara's power may prove too strong to resist.
Will Julia's gift to her beloved be able to save the day?
This fairy tale includes examples of the following tropes:
- Affectionate Nickname: Alonzo naturally has a number of pet names for Julia such as "queen of my soul", "flower of my heart", and "my angel" to express his fondness for his betrothed.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Averted. Julia, the heroine of the tale, is quite lovely. However, the Yara also appears as a beautiful woman with a lovely singing voice, and she is the murderous villainess.
- Being Watched: Though he can't resist the pull of the forest after three nights, Alonzo feels on edge thanks to Julia's warnings, and he has a feeling of being watched while he's trying to bathe. He looks around and sees no one. However, he spots the Yara just as he's about to dive into the water.
- Chekhov's Gun: In a desperate attempt to protect her fiance from the Yara, Julia sings into a seashell and gives it to him, hoping that the sound of her voice will be enough to break the spell. In the end, Alonzo has just enough strength to use the shell and overwhelm the Yara's song.
- Danger with a Deadline: For whatever reason, the Yara only goes after men who are on the eve of their wedding. Alonzo points out that he's been frequenting the jungle pools on hot nights for a long time, and nothing has ever gone wrong. Julia herself says that the pools won't be dangerous after they marry. However, in the period in between, the Yara is a major threat to Alonzo's life and their happiness.
- Faint in Shock: Downplayed. One day, Alonzo saves Julia from a dog attempting to bite her throat. Afterwards, she's faint from the experience and has to be helped onto the veranda.
- Fright Beside Them: Played With; the night Alonzo first hears the Yara, he searches the bushes around the pool, believing that it was a friend pranking him. However, when he returned home, he checks on his friend and finds him sound asleep. He's merely puzzled by the experience, but Julia, who believes in the Yara, is terrified.
- Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Inverted. The Yara appears as a beautiful woman with golden hair, but she is extremely dangerous and regularly kills the men she appears to in this form.
- Laughing Mad: When Julia first mentions the Yara, Alonzo begins laughing and can't stop himself. Julia is heartbroken because only people who have had experience with the Yara laugh that way.
- Love at First Sight: Alonzo, a non-native, attends a feast in the region for the first time and sees Julia there. From that moment, he can't get her off his mind by day or night.
- Magic Music: The Yara sings an incredibly sweet song to ensnare her chosen prey. It grows louder with every day the victim has to experience it and draws him irresistibly to the forest.
- One-Hit Kill: One day a few weeks after he first sees her, Alonzo comes across Julia being attacked by a savage dog. He lays the beast out on the path with a single punch.
- The Power of Love: Alonzo manages to resist the urge to go to the pools for three days because he can't stand to see Julia's tears and anxiety about him. In the end, he survives his encounter with the Yara only because of his love for Julia and the shell full of her singing that she begged him to carry.
- Rescue Romance: Alonzo falls in love with Julia at a dance, but there is no sign she's aware of this until sometime later. However, she and her parents quickly take to Alonzo as a suitor when he saves Julia from a dog.
- Rule of Three: Alonzo manages to resist the temptation for three nights before giving in.
