Fairy tales in English - A Mermaid For a Bride

 A Mermaid For A Bride


Not far from the mainland of Scotland there is a rocky little island called Haskeir. Well, there are so many islands and islets in the sea. What is special about it? Its specialty is, always hundreds of seals are swimming around it. In days gone by, not hundreds but thousands of seals guarded it. No boat could reach the island unless the seals lent their help to it and drew it ashore. If any boat tried to reach the island without the proper authority, the seals simply upturned it! You are curious to know why the seals were so zealous in guarding the island, aren't you? It happened like this. Long long ago, in a seashore village lived a widow and her three sons. It fell on the eldest son's lot to manage the household. They had a small piece of land on the sea. The boy worked hard on it till sundown. But before starting his work on the field, he would set small nets in the crevices between the large rocks. When the seawater entered the rocks at the tide, a number of fish too entered the area.


When the water receded, the fish got stuck in the nets. The boy would collect the fish in the evening and return home. Nobody else dared to enter that rocky area first because it was awfully slippery and secondly because it inspired fear. The boy, his mother, and his two brothers had few needs and so their days passed smoothly. One evening the boy found that not a single fish had been detained in any of his nets. He was disappointed, but he went farther into the rocky land to see if he could get any good shell at least. He found no shell, but what he saw was amazing. There, on a rock, sat a mermaid, a fish down the waist, and a woman upwards. She was weeping. "Is there any dearth of salt in the sea that you must add your salty tears to it?" asked the boy. The mermaid turned and looked at him, startled and frightened. "I cannot but weep, for I lost my comb! And then I am detained!" she said in a sweet voice, still crying. "Losing a comb is not an unusual thing. But who detained you?" "As I was looking for my comb, the water receded, How can I go?" said the mermaid. Now, a mermaid was a very rare thing. Once in a century, a human being could see one. In fact, the king knew that there were mermaids in the sea off his coast and he said that anybody who can catch one alive would receive a dukedom. Here was the golden chance for the boy to become a duke. He could run and inform the king's agent who lived in a town at a distance of an hour's walk and the needful would be done. But how on earth to be unkind towards such a beautiful creature? "Don't you worry," said the boy.



"I will dig a small channel for a few yards to the sea and then you can swim back. And so far as your comb is concerned, I can make one for you." "Will you? Thanks a lot. But mine was a magic comb. Every time I combed my hair with it, the hair dazzled like gold." "I will see if I can put a little magic into it. We have a very old woman in our village who is as wise as she is old," said the boy. He then set to work. He succeeded in digging a small channel in an hour. The water from the sea came right to the tip of the mermaid's tail. She splashed into it and, thanking the boy, swam away. "Wait for me here tomorrow for your comb," said the boy. He sat working on a shell for the whole night, close to a lamp. By morning he had carved out of it a fine comb. He met the old woman and asked her if she could put a little magic into it. The old woman held out the comb against the rising sun and said, "My son, already there is plenty of magic in it." "How?" the boy asked with surprise. "Perhaps because you made it with intense love!" said the old woman.


The boy was happy. In the evening he saw the mermaid waiting amidst the rocks. Great was her joy when the boy gave her the comb. She combed her hair and the hair dazzled like gold! "Good God! It has magic in it!" she exclaimed. "It has," agreed the boy, blushing, and reported to her what the old woman had said. The mermaid too blushed. But it was time for the tide to subside. She splashed into the water, but not before saying, "Let us meet again tomorrow!" The next day the boy was surprised to see the mermaid changed into a fully human girl. "As I kept on combing my hair with your comb, this change came over me," she said sweetly. "Is it not surprising?" asked the boy. It is and it creates problems too. My father says that I must marry a human being. Whom can I marry but you?" "What can be luckier for me than marrying you?" said the boy. He danced with joy but stopped because the place was very slippery. He decided to dance at home. He took leave of the mermaid, promising to meet her the next day. But he could not dance at home.


His mother said that never in the history of Scotland anybody had married a mermaid. She has to consult the village elders. The village elders voted against the proposal. "A mermaid for a daughter-in-law? Only kings and princes can do such a thing, not a farmer boy. No!" they said. The boy stood before the mermaid with a face looking as gloomy as a clouded moon. When asked by the mermaid, he said, "Only a prince can marry a mermaid, not a farmer's son!" "I see!" said the mermaid. "My father, the king of the underwater world, would talk to the village tomorrow. Ask them to gather on the seashore before the sundown." The village elders gathered on the sands. As the sun went down, there was seen a great turmoil in the sea. A furlong off the shore some rocks raised their heads. There was swift wind. By and by a full island emerged. A voice came from the sea, announcing, "I make the boy who seeks my daughter's hand the prince of the new island. Has anyone any more objection to the proposed marriage?" "Oh no! We are most happy and proud too!" said the village chief. "Thanks!" said the voice from the sea. So, the boy, better we call him a young man, married the mermaid and lived on the island. His mother and brothers also went to live with him. The seals guarded the island, as instructed by the mermaid's father and the king of the ocean.

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