A Lenda da Vitória Régia - Naiá e Jaci - Folclore Brasileiro #02 - Foca na História

Naia was a young and virgin Indian from the Amazon. Her beauty attracted the attention of every boy in the tribe. But she ignored them all.

She had decided to devote all her love to the moon. The Moon was the goddess Jaci, the night’s guardian. She had great admiration for young and pure girls and, sometimes, she would choose one of them to turn to turn her into a star, and so she would dance with the goddess in the skies.

Naia dreamt of the day when she would finally be chosen by the goddess. Every night, the girl left her place and kept waiting for the moon to appear. When she appeared, Naia spent the night contemplating the goddess.

The girl was getting weaker every day, she did nothing but wait to be grabbed by the goddess Jaci. One day, Naia, who was waiting for the moon to emerge, realized that Jaci appeared much closer than before. Naia had no doubts whatsoever and threw herself into the goddess’s arms.

But, actually, this was not the true goddess, just the reflection of the moon in the water. Naia, who was already weak, ended up drowning in the river. The goddess Jaci was moved by Naia's death.

The moon turned the young woman into a beautiful water flower. And, during the night, Naia could finally dance with the moon, when she was reflected in the waters. And this is the story of how the goddess Jaci created the Victoria Amazonica flower, whose full splendor can only be seen at night.