The Brown Fairy Book, part 10 · page 21 2101And Julia flung herself on the ground weeping bitterly.102At this sight Alonzo became suddenly grave, and kneeling by her side, gently raised her up.103“Do not cry so, my angel,” he said, “I will promise anything you please.104Only let me see you smile again.”105With a great effort Julia checked her sobs, and rose to her feet.106“Thank you,” she answered.107“My heart grows lighter as you say that!108I know you will try to keep your word and to stay away from the forest.109But—the power of the Yara is very strong, and the sound of her voice is apt to make men forget everything else in the world.110Oh, I have seen it, and more than one betrothed maiden lives alone, broken-hearted.111If ever you should return to the pool where you first heard the voice, promise me that you will at least take this with you.”112And opening a curiously carved box, she took out a sea-shell shot with many colours, and sang a song softly into it.113“The moment you hear the Yara’s voice,” said she, “put this to your ear, and you will hear my song instead.114Perhaps—I do not know for certain—but perhaps, I may be stronger than the Yara.”115It was late that night when Alonzo returned home.116The moon was shining on the distant river, which looked cool and inviting, and the trees of the forest seemed to stretch out their arms and beckon him near.117But the young man steadily turned his face in the other direction, and went home to bed.118The struggle had been hard, but Alonzo had his reward next day in the joy and relief with which Julia greeted him.119He assured her that having overcome the temptation once the danger was now over; but she, knowing better than he did the magic of the Yara’s face and voice, did not fail to make him repeat his promise when he went away.120For three nights Alonzo kept his word, not because he believed in the Yara, for he thought that the tales about her were all nonsense, but because he could not bear the tears with which he knew that Julia would greet him, if he confessed that he had returned to the forest.121But, in spite of this, the song rang in his ears, and daily grew louder.122On the fourth night the attraction of the forest grew so strong that neither the thought of Julia nor the promises he had made her could hold him back.123At eleven o’clock he plunged into the cool darkness of the trees, and took the path that led straight to the river.124Yet, for the first time, he found that Julia’s warnings, though he had laughed at her at the moment, had remained in his memory, and he glanced at the bushes with a certain sense of fear which was quite new to him.125When he reached the river he paused and looked round for a moment to make sure that the strange feeling of some one watching him was fancy, and he was really alone.126But the moon shone brightly on every tree, and nothing was to be seen but his own shadow; nothing was to be heard but the sound of the rippling stream.127He threw off his clothes, and was just about to dive in headlong, when something—he did not know what—suddenly caused him to look round.128At the same instant the moon passed from behind a cloud, and its rays fell on a beautiful golden-haired woman standing half hidden by the ferns.129With one bound he caught up his mantle, and rushed headlong down the path he had come, fearing at each step to feel a hand laid on his shoulder.130It was not till he had left the last trees behind him, and was standing in the open plain, that he dared to look round, and then he thought a figure in white was still standing there waving her arms to and fro.131This was enough; he ran along the road harder than ever, and never paused till he was save in his own room.132With the earliest rays of dawn he went back to the forest to see whether he could find any traces of the Yara, but though he searched every clump of bushes, and looked up every tree, everything was empty, and the only voices he heard were those of parrots, which are so ugly that they only drive people away.1 2← previousThe Brown Fairy Book, part 9next →The Brown Fairy Book, part 11↑ back to The Brown Fairy BookThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg3282/10/page/2/