Mermaid

Here is the story of the mermaid. Once upon a time, there was a family of fishermen who had only one son. The father went fishing every morning. One day his net weighed so much and so much that he could hardly pull it out of the water; when he finally did, he saw that his catch was a huge fish that said to him:

• I'll eat you up if you don't promise to bring me the first person you meet.

The story of the mermaid

The fisherman thought that, like every day, his little dog would be the first to rush to welcome her, and he resigned himself to having to give her away. The fish sank into the sea as the fisherman returned home; but that day, who went out first to greet him? Instead of the little female dog, it was her son!

The father asked him why he had rushed to meet him, and the son replied that he was worried about his delay. The father told her about his adventure, that he had caught a mermaid in his net and that she demanded that he deliver to her the first who came out of his house to welcome her.

The young man recognized that his father was obliged to keep his word; but before surrendering, he decided to visit some friends in the neighboring village to say goodbye to them.

Along the way he encountered an ant, a wolf and an eagle; all three were fighting over the remains of a dead donkey and all three wanted the bulk of it, refusing to share it. When the boy passed, they called him and asked him to decide. He attributed the flesh to the eagle, the bones to the wolf, and the skin to the ant. As he was leaving they held him back, and he feared for a moment that they would want to eat him too; but on the contrary they told him that they wanted to thank him for his good services.

The wolf gave him a small piece of ear, which had the virtue of transforming into a wolf as soon as it was shaken, saying: "Miserable me!" The wolf ! "The eagle gave him a feather, which had the property of being converted into an eagle if one said:" Misery of me! The Eagle ! "And the ant, a little paw that would turn into an ant if we said:" Misery of me! The ant ! "

Provided with these gifts, the son returned home and told his father to bring him to the mermaid. When it was time to be delivered to the fish, he took up the pen and as soon as he had said the words "Misery of me!" The Eagle ! He transformed into an eagle and with a single flap of his wing flew to the palace where the princess, seeing such a beautiful bird, had it caught and tied to the foot of her bed.

In the night he turned into a man; the princess was frightened; the young man reassured her and told her his story. The king wanted him to stay in the palace where he made himself loved by all. Every day he went out in a coach with the king and the princess and sometimes they even took a boat trip on the sea.

One day, the mermaid saw it, seized it and carried it away under the eyes of the king and the princess. The king said he would find a way to tear her away from the mermaid.

Knowing her taste for gold and silver, he had a silver oar made and one day he and his daughter started looking for the mermaid and told her that even though she only showed half of the young man's body, they would give him the silver oar.

The mermaid only showed them the head of her prisoner and they could do nothing; the princess then said that if she really agreed to show half the body, she would give him a golden oar.

The mermaid accepted the deal for another day, and she did pull out half of the young man's body; the latter, taking advantage of this freedom, took the form of an eagle and flew away. The siren exclaimed:

• Ah! Chenapans, you deceived me! But I will take revenge!

As the princess returned to the palace, the earth suddenly opened and swallowed her up. The eagle seeing what was happening said:

• I will get her out of this mess.

He transformed into a man again and asked several masons to dig small holes in the crevice. He then took out the little ant's foot and said:

• That I turn into an ant.

He was thus able to enter a castle where a giant was guarding the princess. He resumed his eagle form and the princess recognized him immediately. He became a man again to fight the giant, while he had the princess transformed into an ant and carried her with him.

They hurried to the palace where the king welcomed them with joy and allowed his daughter to marry his deliverer.

They lived very happy; but they always took great care never to pass near the sea where they risked meeting the mermaid.