Myths, Legends and Peruvian Stories (Mitos, Leyendas y Cuentos Peruanos)
Selections and Notes by José María Arguedas and Francisco Izquierdo Ríos
Costa – Leyenda (Coast – Myth)
002. La Playa De Yasila (The Beach of Yasila)
From the Port of Paita, Piura Region. Told by señor Miguel Carrilo, 70 years old, to Consuelo Vatgas, a fourth-year high school student at the private school “Our Lady of Lourdes (Nuestra Señora de Lourdes)” in Piura.
Yasila is a beautiful beach located in the proximities of Paita.
About the origin of this name, some said that it comes from two words that came together. A young man named Zila lived on that beach, and when his relatives called for him, they’d say “Ya Zila”, and by joining these two words, they called this beautiful beach “Yasila”.
According to others the origin of the word dates back to the time of the last Incas in a region called Chinchasuyo. There was then a very respected family, in which the eldest son always stood out as a wise man, or Amauta.
At that time the tribe named as Chief a man called Yucay, who was an enemy of the Amauta. Since his childhood, the son of the family had always distinguished himself by his ingenuity, that is to say, the son of the respected family. This son was Huayna, a contemporary of Yucay. On the other hand, Yucay was envious and always searched for a way to undo Huayna’s accomplishments, but Huayna, who was more able than Yucay, managed to prevent him from doing so.
Some years passed by when Yucay distinguished himself as a warrior and was elevated to Chief. The first thing that he did was to expel Huayana’s family and order them to secretly leave in the middle of the night. Huayna’s family was made up of seven people, and they left with more than 100 llamas, as they were allowed to take their treasures with them.
The journey was difficult until they reached an isolated beach. They were afraid; but were able to get accustomed to the solitude later on and decided to remain there. And they began to build their homes.
But as happiness is never long lasting, one day some unknown, uncivilized Natives came and disturbed their peace by attacking them. They thought of saving themselves and embarked on a large boat, groaning and asking for help. But seeing that it was hopeless, they resolved to keep quiet.
The Huayna’s family continued to travel in their canoe, singing hymns to the sun, and in their stanzas they repeated several times: “Yasila, Yasila”. Hence the people around that time opted to call this place Yasila.
—– VOCABULARY —–
Atrayente – attractive, appealing
Acerca – (relating to; used with “de”) about
Remontarse – (to rise into the air) to soar up (pájaro, avión); (to move back in time) to go back; (to originate) to date back; (finance) to amount
Remontar – (to conquer) to overcome, to get over, to surmount (formal); (to travel up) to go up (slope, river); (to repair) to mend
Destacarse – (to be conspicuous) to stand out, to be outlined, to be silhouetted
Destacar – (to direct attention to) to emphasize, to stress, to highlight; (to send) to detail, to station, to post, to assign; (to be conspicuous) to stand out
Penoso – (miserable) pitiful, sorry, sad; (arduous) laborious, hard, difficult; (horrible) terrible, awful; (pejorative) (very bad) pathetic; (shameful) embarrassing; (timid) shy; (timid person) shy person
Gemir – (to express suffering) to moan, to groan; (to howl) to whine; (to make a moaning sound) to moan (wind), to groan (steps, chair)
Himno – (music) anthem, ode, hymn (religious); (literature) ode
Estrofa – verse, stanza