THE MERMAID AND THE BOY

Edition and rights: Original English text from Project Gutenberg ebook #31201, marked public domain in the USA. The literary text below is reproduced without AI rewriting.

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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
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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
does 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.

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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
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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.

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‘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
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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.

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‘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
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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
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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
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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
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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
floated 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
[Pg 180]
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.

[Lappländische Mährchen.]

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