The Mermaid and the Boy

The Mermaid and the Boy

Long, long ago, there lived a king who ruled over a country by the sea.

When he had been married about a year, some of his subjects, inhabiting

a distant group of islands, revolted against his laws, and it became

needful for him to leave his wife and go in person to settle their

disputes. The queen feared that some ill would come of it, and implored

him to stay at home, but he told her that nobody could do his work for

him, and the next morning the sails were spread, and the king started

on his voyage.

The vessel had not gone very far when she ran upon a rock, and stuck so

fast in a cleft that the strength of the whole crew could not get her

off again. To make matters worse, the wind was rising too, and it was

quite plain that in a few hours the ship would be dashed to pieces and

everybody would be drowned, when suddenly the form of a mermaid was

seen dancing on the waves which threatened every moment to overwhelm

them.

“There is only one way to free yourselves,” she said to the king,

bobbing up and down in the water as she spoke, “and that is to give me

your solemn word that you will deliver to me the first child that is

born to you.”

The king hesitated at this proposal. He hoped that some day he might

have children in his home, and the thought that he must yield up the

heir to his crown was very bitter to him; but just then a huge wave

broke with great force on the ship’s side, and his men fell on their

knees and entreated him to save them.

So he promised, and this time a wave lifted the vessel clean off the

rocks, and she was in the open sea once more.

The affairs of the islands took longer to settle than the king had

expected, and some months passed away before he returned to his palace.

In his absence a son had been born to him, and so great was his joy

that he quite forgot the mermaid and the price he had paid for the

safety of his ship. But as the years went on, and the baby grew into a

fine big boy, the remembrance of it came back, and one day he told the

queen the whole story. From that moment the happiness of both their

lives was ruined. Every night they went to bed wondering if they should

find his room empty in the morning, and every day they kept him by

their sides, expecting him to be snatched away before their very eyes.

At last the king felt that this state of things could not continue, and

he said to his wife:

“After all, the most foolish thing in the world one can do is to keep

the boy here in exactly the place in which the mermaid will seek him.

Let us give him food and send him on his travels, and perhaps, if the

mermaid ever blocs come to seek him, she may be content with some other

child.” And the queen agreed that his plan seemed the wisest.

So the boy was called, and his father told him the story of the voyage,

as he had told his mother before him. The prince listened eagerly, and

was delighted to think that he was to go away all by himself to see the

world, and was not in the least frightened; for though he was now

sixteen, he had scarcely been allowed to walk alone beyond the palace

gardens. He began busily to make his preparations, and took off his

smart velvet coat, putting on instead one of green cloth, while he

refused a beautiful bag which the queen offered him to hold his food,

and slung a leather knapsack over his shoulders instead, just as he had

seen other travellers do. Then he bade farewell to his parents and went

his way.

All through the day he walked, watching with interest the strange birds

and animals that darted across his path in the forest or peeped at him

from behind a bush. But as evening drew on he became tired, and looked

about as he walked for some place where he could sleep. At length he

reached a soft mossy bank under a tree, and was just about to stretch

himself out on it, when a fearful roar made him start and tremble all

over. In another moment something passed swiftly through the air and a

lion stood before him.

“What are you doing here?” asked the lion, his eyes glaring fiercely at

the boy.

“I am flying from the mermaid,” the prince answered, in a quaking

voice.

“Give me some food then,” said the lion, “it is past my supper time,

and I am very hungry.”

The boy was so thankful that the lion did not want to eat him, that he

gladly picked up his knapsack which lay on the ground, and held out

some bread and a flask of wine.

“I feel better now,” said the lion when he had done, “so now I shall go

to sleep on this nice soft moss, and if you like you can lie down

beside me.” So the boy and the lion slept soundly side by side, till

the sun rose.

“I must be off now,” remarked the lion, shaking the boy as he spoke;

“but cut off the tip of my ear, and keep it carefully, and if you are

in any danger just wish yourself a lion and you will become one on the

spot. One good turn deserves another, you know.”

The prince thanked him for his kindness, and did as he was bid, and the

two then bade each other farewell.

“I wonder how it feels to be a lion,” thought the boy, after he had

gone a little way; and he took out the tip of the ear from the breast

of his jacket and wished with all his might. In an instant his head had

swollen to several times its usual size, and his neck seemed very hot

and heavy; and, somehow, his hands became paws, and his skin grew hairy

and yellow. But what pleased him most was his long tail with a tuft at

the end, which he lashed and switched proudly. “I like being a lion

very much,” he said to himself, and trotted gaily along the road.

After a while, however, he got tired of walking in this unaccustomed

way—it made his back ache and his front paws felt sore. So he wished

himself a boy again, and in the twinkling of an eye his tail

disappeared and his head shrank, and the long thick mane became short

and curly. Then he looked out for a sleeping place, and found some dry

ferns, which he gathered and heaped up.

But before he had time to close his eyes there was a great noise in the

trees near by, as if a big heavy body was crashing through them. The

boy rose and turned his head, and saw a huge black bear coming towards

him.

“What are you doing here?” cried the bear.

“I am running away from the mermaid,” answered the boy; but the bear

took no interest in the mermaid, and only said: “I am hungry; give me

something to eat.”

The knapsack was lying on the ground among the fern, but the prince

picked it up, and, unfastening the strap, took out his second flask of

wine and another loaf of bread. “We will have supper together,” he

remarked politely; but the bear, who had never been taught manners,

made no reply, and ate as fast as he could. When he had quite finished,

he got up and stretched himself.

“You have got a comfortable-looking bed there,” he observed. “I really

think that, bad sleeper as I am, I might have a good night on it. I can

manage to squeeze you in,” he added; “you don’t take up a great deal of

room.” The boy was rather indignant at the bear’s cool way of talking;

but as he was too tired to gather more fern, they lay down side by

side, and never stirred till sunrise next morning.

“I must go now,” said the bear, pulling the sleepy prince on to his

feet; “but first you shall cut off the tip of my ear, and when you are

in any danger just wish yourself a bear and you will become one. One

good turn deserves another, you know.” And the boy did as he was bid,

and he and the bear bade each other farewell.

“I wonder how it feels to be a bear,” thought he to himself when he had

walked a little way; and he took out the tip from the breast of his

coat and wished hard that he might become a bear. The next moment his

body stretched out and thick black fur covered him all over. As before,

his hands were changed into paws, but when he tried to switch his tail

he found to his disgust that it would not go any distance. “Why it is

hardly worth calling a tail!” said he. For the rest of the day he

remained a bear and continued his journey, but as evening came on the

bear-skin, which had been so useful when plunging through brambles in

the forest, felt rather heavy, and he wished himself a boy again. He

was too much exhausted to take the trouble of cutting any fern or

seeking for moss, but just threw himself down under a tree, when

exactly above his head he heard a great buzzing as a bumble-bee

alighted on a honeysuckle branch. “What are you doing here?” asked the

bee in a cross voice; “at your age you ought to be safe at home.”

“I am running away from the mermaid,” replied the boy; but the bee,

like the lion and the bear, was one of those people who never listen to

the answers to their questions, and only said: “I am hungry. Give me

something to eat.”

The boy took his last loaf and flask out of his knapsack and laid them

on the ground, and they had supper together. “Well, now I am going to

sleep,” observed the bee when the last crumb was gone, “but as you are

not very big I can make room for you beside me,” and he curled up his

wings, and tucked in his legs, and he and the prince both slept soundly

till morning. Then the bee got up and carefully brushed every scrap of

dust off his velvet coat and buzzed loudly in the boy’s ear to waken

him.

“Take a single hair from one of my wings,” said he, “and if you are in

danger just wish yourself a bee and you will become one. One good turn

deserves another, so farewell, and thank you for your supper.” And the

bee departed after the boy had pulled out the hair and wrapped it

carefully in a leaf.

“It must feel quite different to be a bee from what it does to be a

lion or bear,” thought the boy to himself when he had walked for an

hour or two. “I dare say I should get on a great deal faster,” so he

pulled out his hair and wished himself a bee.

In a moment the strangest thing happened to him. All his limbs seemed

to draw together, and his body to become very short and round; his head

grew quite tiny, and instead of his white skin he was covered with the

richest, softest velvet. Better than all, he had two lovely gauze wings

which carried him the whole day without getting tired.

Late in the afternoon the boy fancied he saw a vast heap of stones a

long way off, and he flew straight towards it. But when he reached the

gates he saw that it was really a great town, so he wished himself back

in his own shape and entered the city.

He found the palace doors wide open and went boldly into a sort of hall

which was full of people, and where men and maids were gossiping

together. He joined their talk and soon learned from them that the king

had only one daughter who had such a hatred to men that she would never

suffer one to enter her presence. Her father was in despair, and had

had pictures painted of the handsomest princes of all the courts in the

world, in the hope that she might fall in love with one of them; but it

was no use; the princess would not even allow the pictures to be

brought into her room.

“It is late,” remarked one of the women at last; “I must go to my

mistress.” And, turning to one of the lackeys, she bade him find a bed

for the youth.

“It is not necessary,” answered the prince, “this bench is good enough

for me. I am used to nothing better.” And when the hall was empty he

lay down for a few minutes. But as soon as everything was quiet in the

palace he took out the hair and wished himself a bee, and in this shape

he flew upstairs, past the guards, and through the keyhole into the

princess’s chamber. Then he turned himself into a man again.

At this dreadful sight the princess, who was broad awake, began to

scream loudly. “A man! a man!” cried she; but when the guards rushed in

there was only a bumble-bee buzzing about the room. They looked under

the bed, and behind the curtains, and into the cupboards, then came to

the conclusion that the princess had had a bad dream, and bowed

themselves out. The door had scarcely closed on them than the bee

disappeared, and a handsome youth stood in his place.

“I knew a man was hidden somewhere,” cried the princess, and screamed

more loudly than before. Her shrieks brought back the guards, but

though they looked in all kinds of impossible places no man was to be

seen, and so they told the princess.

“He was here a moment ago—I saw him with my own eyes,” and the guards

dared not contradict her, though they shook their heads and whispered

to each other that the princess had gone mad on this subject, and saw a

man in every table and chair. And they made up their minds that—let her

scream as loudly as she might—they would take no notice.

Now the princess saw clearly what they were thinking, and that in

future her guards would give her no help, and would perhaps, besides,

tell some stories about her to the king, who would shut her up in a

lonely tower and prevent her walking in the gardens among her birds and

flowers. So when, for the third time, she beheld the prince standing

before her, she did not scream but sat up in bed gazing at him in

silent terror.

“Do not be afraid,” he said, “I shall not hurt you”; and he began to

praise her gardens, of which he had heard the servants speak, and the

birds and flowers which she loved, till the princess’s anger softened,

and she answered him with gentle words. Indeed, they soon became so

friendly that she vowed she would marry no one else, and confided to

him that in three days her father would be off to the wars, leaving his

sword in her room. If any man could find it and bring it to him he

would receive her hand as a reward. At this point a cock crew, and the

youth jumped up hastily saying: “Of course I shall ride with the king

to the war, and if I do not return, take your violin every evening to

the seashore and play on it, so that the very sea-kobolds who live at

the bottom of the ocean may hear it and come to you.”

Just as the princess had foretold, in three days the king set out for

the war with a large following, and among them was the young prince,

who had presented himself at court as a young noble in search of

adventures. They had left the city many miles behind them, when the

king suddenly discovered that he had forgotten his sword, and though

all his attendants instantly offered theirs, he declared that he could

fight with none but his own.

“The first man who brings it to me from my daughter’s room,” cried he,

“shall not only have her to wife, but after my death shall reign in my

stead.”

At this the Red Knight, the young prince, and several more turned their

horses to ride as fast as the wind back to the palace. But suddenly a

better plan entered the prince’s head, and, letting the others pass

him, he took his precious parcel from his breast and wished himself a

lion. Then on he bounded, uttering such dreadful roars that the horses

were frightened and grew unmanageable, and he easily outstripped them,

and soon reached the gates of the palace. Here he hastily changed

himself into a bee, and flew straight into the princess’s room, where

he became a man again. She showed him where the sword hung concealed

behind a curtain, and he took it down, saying as he did so: “Be sure

not to forget what you have promised to do.”

The princess made no reply, but smiled sweetly, and slipping a golden

ring from her finger she broke it in two and held half out silently to

the prince, while the other half she put in her own pocket. He kissed

it, and ran down the stairs bearing the sword with him. Some way off he

met the Red Knight and the rest, and the Red Knight at first tried to

take the sword from him by force. But as the youth proved too strong

for him, he gave it up, and resolved to wait for a better opportunity.

This soon came, for the day was hot and the prince was thirsty.

Perceiving a little stream that ran into the sea, he turned aside, and,

unbuckling the sword, flung himself on the ground for a long drink.

Unluckily, the mermaid happened at that moment to be floating on the

water not very far off, and knew he was the boy who had been given her

before he was born. So she floated gently in to where he was lying, she

seized him by the arm, and the waves closed over them both. Hardly had

they disappeared, when the Red Knight stole cautiously up, and could

hardly believe his eyes when he saw the king’s sword on the bank. He

wondered what had become of the youth, who an hour before had guarded

his treasure so fiercely; but, after all, that was no affair of his!

So, fastening the sword to his belt, he carried it to the king.

The war was soon over, and the king returned to his people, who

welcomed him with shouts of joy. But when the princess from her window

saw that her betrothed was not among the attendants riding behind her

father, her heart sank, for she knew that some evil must have befallen

him, and she feared the Red Knight. She had long ago learned how clever

and how wicked he was, and something whispered to her that it was he

who would gain the credit of having carried back the sword, and would

claim her as his bride, though he had never even entered her chamber.

And she could do nothing; for although the king loved her, he never let

her stand in the way of his plans.

The poor princess was only too right, and everything came to pass

exactly as she had foreseen it. The king told her that the Red Knight

had won her fairly, and that the wedding would take place next day, and

there would be a great feast after it.

In those days feasts were much longer and more splendid than they are

now; and it was growing dark when the princess, tired out with all she

had gone through, stole up to her own room for a little quiet. But the

moon was shining so brightly over the sea that it seemed to draw her

towards it, and taking her violin under her arm, she crept down to the

shore.

“Listen! listen! said the mermaid to the prince, who was lying

stretched on a bed of seaweeds at the bottom of the sea. “Listen! that

is your old love playing, for mermaids know everything that happens

upon earth.”

“I hear nothing,” answered the youth, who did not look happy. “Take me

up higher, where the sounds can reach me.”

So the mermaid took him on her shoulders and bore him up midway to the

surface. “Can you hear now?” she asked.

“No,” answered the prince, “I hear nothing but the water rushing; I

must go higher still.”

Then the mermaid carried him to the very top. “You must surely be able

to hear now?” said she.

“Nothing but the water,” repeated the youth. So she took him right to

the land.

“At any rate you can hear now?” she said again.

“The water is still rushing in my ears,” answered he; “but wait a

little, that will soon pass off.” And as he spoke he put his hand into

his breast, and seizing the hair wished himself a bee, and flew

straight into the pocket of the princess. The mermaid looked in vain

for him, and coated all night upon the sea; but he never came back, and

never more did he gladden her eyes. But the princess felt that

something strange was about her, though she knew not what, and returned

quickly to the palace, where the young man at once resumed his own

shape. Oh, what joy filled her heart at the sight of him! But there was

no time to be lost, and she led him right into the hall, where the king

and his nobles were still sitting at the feast. “Here is a man who

boasts that he can do wonderful tricks,” said she, “better even than

the Red Knight’s! That cannot be true, of course, but it might be well

to give this impostor a lesson. He pretends, for instance, that he can

turn himself into a lion; but that I do not believe. I know that you

have studied the art of magic,” she went on, turning to the Red Knight,

“so suppose you just show him how it is done, and bring shame upon

him.”

Now the Red Knight had never opened a book of magic in his life; but he

was accustomed to think that he could do everything better than other

people without any teaching at all. So he turned and twisted himself

about, and bellowed and made faces; but he did not become a lion for

all that.

“Well, perhaps it is very difficult to change into a lion. Make

yourself a bear,” said the princess. But the Red Knight found it no

easier to become a bear than a lion.

“Try a bee,” suggested she. “I have always read that anyone who can do

magic at all can do that.” And the old knight buzzed and hummed, but he

remained a man and not a bee.

“Now it is your turn,” said the princess to the youth. “Let us see if

you can change yourself into a lion.” And in a moment such a fierce

creature stood before them, that all the guests rushed out of the hall,

treading each other underfoot in their fright. The lion sprang at the

Red Knight, and would have torn him in pieces had not the princess held

him back, and bidden him to change himself into a man again. And in a

second a man took the place of the lion.

“Now become a bear,” said she; and a bear advanced panting and

stretching out his arms to the Red Knight, who shrank behind the

princess.

By this time some of the guests had regained their courage, and

returned as far as the door, thinking that if it was safe for the

princess perhaps it was safe for them. The king, who was braver than

they, and felt it needful to set them a good example besides, had never

left his seat, and when at a new command of the princess the bear once

more turned into a man, he was silent from astonishment, and a

suspicion of the truth began to dawn on him. “Was it he who fetched the

sword?” asked the king.

“Yes, it was,” answered the princess; and she told him the whole story,

and how she had broken her gold ring and given him half of it. And the

prince took out his half of the ring, and the princess took out hers,

and they fitted exactly. Next day the Red Knight was hanged, as he

richly deserved, and there was a new marriage feast for the prince and

princess.

[Lapplandische Mahrchen.]