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all our goodwill. For now, farewell."
The barge and the canoes swung about; oars and paddles
dipped into the ocean, the black flotilla receded into the east,
and disappeared.
MERMAID
There was an old belief that every land animal had its
counterpart in the sea. There's nothing to that, of course,
but we still see traces of that legend in the names given
some sea creatures. The "sea horse" is a tiny creature,
but it does have a head reminiscent of that of a small.
bony horse. Then there is the sea cow (manatee), the sea hog
(porpoise), the sea lion and sea elephant (seals), the sea robin
and sea wolf (certain fish), and so on.
It would be astonishing if, under these circumstances,
people didn't decide the sea must also harbor the equiva-
lent of human beings sea people, in other words.
They did decide that, and legends are full of ' 'mermen''
and "mermaids." (The prefix is from an archaic English
word "mere" meaning "sea" or "lake.")
There are many circumstantial tales of mariners having
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seen mermaids, but nevertheless they do not, in reality,
exist. Some people suggest that sailors are fooled by the
sight of manatees or dugongs (the "sea cows" referred to
above). These have breasts in the human position, and a
female manatee rising to the surface with one flipper
clasping her young to her breast might, at a distance, and
to a near-sighted sailor, suggest a mermaid.
Mermaids are sometimes viewed as malevolent crea-
tures who deliberately lure ships onto reefs and rocks by
exhibiting their beauty to sailors who have not seen a
woman for a long time. In this way, mermaids resemble
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4 Hans Christian Andersen
the sirens of Greek legend, and the lorelei of Teutonic
legend. All may be personifications of wind and storm.
In more modem times, however, mermaids tend to be
portrayed as sweet and innocent, playful and alluring, and
in the following story, this is done.
THE LITTLE MERMAID
Hans Christian Andersen
Far, far from land, where the waters are as blue as the petals
of the cornflower and as clear as glass, there, where no
anchor can reach the bottom, live the mer-people. So deep in
this pan of the sea that you would have to pile many church
towers on top of each other before one of them emerged
above the surface.
Now you must not think that at the bottom of the sea there
is only white sand. No. here grow the strangest plants and
trees; their stems and leaves are so subtle that the slightest
current in the water makes them move, as if they were alive.
Big and small fishes flit in and out among their branches, just
as the birds do up on earth. At the very deepest place, the
mer-king has built his castle. Its walls are made of coral and
its long pointed windows of amber. The roof is oyster shells
that are continually opening and closing. It looks very beauti-
ful, for in each shell lies a pearl, so lustrous that it would be
fit for a queen's crown.
The mer-king had been a widower for many years; his
mother kept house for him. She was a very intelligent woman
but a little too proud of her rank; she wore twelve oysters on
her tail; the nobility were only allowed six. Otherwise, she
was a most praiseworthy woman, and she took excellent care
of her grandchildren, the little princesses. They were six
lovely mermaids; the youngest was the most beautiful. Her
complexion was as fine as the petal of a rose and her eyes as
blue as the deepest take but, just like everyone else down
there, she had no feet; her body ended in a fishtail.
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Hans Christian Andersen
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The mermaids were allowed to play all day in die great hall
of the castle, where flowers grew on the walls. The big amber
windows were kept open and the fishes swam in and out, just
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