The Story of a Little Mermaid

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The Story of a Little Mermaid

Minji Kwon

Where every drop of the oceanshone like the jewels of the Highest King’s crown, far, far away from all the evergreen lands, there was a little mermaid who dreamed of living happily ever after with a human. When she was a child, in the coral palace where every mermaids and mermen lived, the little mermaid and her grandmotherwould lie on the pink giant clam bed; and the grandmother would tellher a story about a quiet and thoughtful Sea princess who loved a handsome human prince.One night, the story telling started little later than usual. The little mermaid was tired, but she wanted to hear the story again.

“The youngest Sea princess with fair skin and blue eyes had the most beautiful voice in the sea,” said grandmother.“Her smile shone like the sun in the sky, and her fishtail shone like jewels.”

“Just like my tail!” The little mermaid excitedly said. “Right, grandma?”

“Yes, dear, she was a mermaid just like you and me. Look at your tail, it shines like sapphire as well!” the grandmother smiled at her granddaughter for alittlebit and then continued with the story. “This Sea princess saved a human prince on her fifteenth birthday. She loved him so dearly that she went to a sorceress to trade her voice for human legs. She could no longer sing or speak, but she believed that the prince would love her back. She thought the prince would marry her,” said the grandmother.

“But he didn’t marry the Sea princess!” said the little mermaid. She had heard this story for had almost a thousand times and had memorized every word of it. She still tried very hard to stay awake to listen to the story one more time. Just like a fish on the grass, she flopped her fishtails on her clam bed to keep her eyes open. The grandmother looked at this darling sight and smiled. She thought the little mermaid was the loveliest creature of all the sea creatures.

“My, my; yes, you are right.”said the grandmother. “The prince married someone else. He never knew that the Sea princess saved him. He thought someone else did. He married someone else, and the Sea princess went to heaven.”

“Was she happy there?” asked the little mermaid.

“I don’t know, Dear,” said the grandmother. “I think she would have been happier in the sea. After all, she could not see her grandmother, father and sisters anymore. Humans are silly creatures. The prince was not worthy of her voice and tail.”The little mermaid saw the hint of sorrow in the grandmother’s eyes. But by the next day, just like any other child, she had forgotten about the grandmother’s sadness.

Instead, she thought ‘Why couldn’t the silly Sea princessmarry the prince?It can’t be that hard. I think the Prince would’ve loved her if she had told him who saved him. Why did she trade her voice for legs? What is the use of legs, anyway? If she hadher voice, she would’ve been loved.’The little mermaid had never seen human legs; everyone around her had fins and tails. Her grandmother tried to tell her what the human legs looked like, but it was too hard to grasp. Sometimes she stared at a crab’s legs or an octopus’ legs. Her fishtail was so much prettier than those. After all, the mermaid was the prettiest creature in the deep sea. She couldn’t even imagine that she had to be something else to be loved. ‘Humans must be something amazing,’thought the little mermaid. ‘The Sea princess in the story was willing to lose her voice and her tail for one.’Herquestions grew as she aged, and finally, they turned into a yearning for ahuman. She wanted a human, a kind of being that a mermaid would give her fishtail and voice for. She did not even wish for a charming prince. All that she wanted was a sweet and kind human who would love the little mermaid for who she was. She knew that there were plenty of humans on the earth;at least, that is what her grandmother told her. There must be someone who would love her. She was not sure how beautiful the Sea Princess in the story was, but the little mermaid was a beautiful little creature herself. All the sea creatures loved her crystal fair skin and dark night purple eyes.When she sang, every mermaid and merman stopped and listened to her. When she sang ahappy song, everyone shone with ajoyous smile; when she sang asad song, everyone sighed as if it were the last day of the world. Every sea creature in the deep sea praised how her tailshone like pearls and sapphires.However, the little mermaid only wished for a human, not a sea creature; she wanted a human like the onethe Sea princess gave up her fishtail and voice for.

As much as she wanted a human, however, she was afraid to leave the deep sea. After all, she had never seen a human before. She swam up to the surface of the ocean and talked to the birds and sea animals about the humans. Not every one of them loved humans, but they told her about how they walked, talked and lived. Most of theanimals were tired of her continuous questions, but a seagull was always happy to answer her. It did not take a long time for them to be best friends.They talked about the land and people who were far, far away. One day, the mermaid told the seagull.

“I really wish that I could see a human.”

“You could swim to the land,” he said. “It takes four days and four nights to get there.”

“I’m too scared to go,” said the mermaid. “After all, I don’t even know what they look like.”

“I have an idea!” said the seagull. “Give me a week or more,”the seagull flew away. It was the longest week of her life. She didn’t know what the seagull was thinking, but she trusted him. Everyday, she went up to the surface of theocean and waited for him. After little more than a week, she finally saw him in the sky.

“You are here!” said the mermaid. The seagull had something in his mouth. “What is it?”asked the mermaid. He sat on the rock and gave it to the mermaid.

“It is a painting of a human,” said the seagull.

“Painting?” asked the little mermaid. The seagull spread the rolled paper with his wings. There was a painting of a handsome young man. The little mermaid’s eyes were fixed on the painting. She had never seen such a beautiful creature.

“I wanted to see a human because I wanted to have what the Sea princessin the story couldn’t,” said the little mermaid.

“You did?” said the seagull.

“I know it’s silly,” said the little mermaid. “Not anymore, though. Now I know how beautiful they are.”She kept the painting under her pillow and looked at it everyday. Her yearning for a human became greater than ever. But there was no one who could help the little mermaid with her desire.

Unlike in the grandmother’s bedtime story, there was no sorceress under the sea. There had been once, but the little mermaid’s grandmother told her that the wicked creature had been driven away by the sea king, the father of Sea princess. So there was no hope for the little mermaid of having human legs. She had to find a human who would love her shining sapphire blue tail. ‘I don’t need legs to be loved,’ the little mermaid thought. She had apretty face and prettier heart. Her voice was sweet and her words were sweeter. Every sea creature closed his eyes and listened when her voice echoed down in the deep sea. On her fifteenth birthday, she told her grandmother about her plan to live happily ever after with a human. She wanted to swim all the way to the seashore and meet the people nearby. She was sure that she could find a man who would love her pretty face and her shining fish tail. She thought her grandmother would be on her side.

She was wrong. When her grandmother heard her plan to be with a human, she begged the little mermaid to desist. From her wrinkles, eyes and mouth, every part of her face showed her sorrow. “I can’t lose you the way I lost my sister!” exclaimed her grandmother. “The story was to warn you, not to encourage you. Humans are ignorant and selfish. You will only suffer if you love a human.” She sat the little mermaiddown and sorrowfully told her that how the bedtime story was real after all. The grandmother was the older sister of the Sea Princess who lost her voice. Although her little sister went to heaven, the grandmother still wished that her little sister could sing and live with her. The grandmother blamed everything on the prince. “If only the prince had married my sister,” said the grandmother. “I could have at least seen her near the seashore.I wouldn’t have to close my eyes to remember how she smiled. I cannot let you do the same.”

The poor little mermaid loved her grandmother dearly, but for her whole life, she had dreamed of being in love with a human. Her desirefor a human had started from questions and wonder, but with the painting that the seagull gave her, the wonder grew and bloomed into yearning and desire. ‘Humans may be silly as Grandmother says, but whatever she says, I cannot give up on my dream like this,’ thought the little mermaid. The little mermaid soon left the deep ocean where all the other mermaids and mermenlived and went to the surface.Her grandmother told every sea creature that no one should take her to the land. Since the little mermaid had never gone near the land, there was no way for her to find it alone. When all the sea creatures refused to tell her where to go, the seagull promised to help the little mermaid. With the painting of the charming young man in her hand, she left the deep sea and began to travel with her friend. It took thema while to find land, but the trip wasn’t boring at all. The seagull told stories—and.they had plenty to plan for this new phase of the little mermaid’s life.

“I have seen many humans,” said the seagull.“But I have never seen a single one who deserves you. Do you still wish to be with them?”

“Don’t be silly,”said the little mermaid. “you know how much I’ve waited for this moment.”

The seagull silently looked at the little mermaid and handed her a little whistle, “Just promise me to blow it when you want to cry, ” said the seagull. “I am not a human, but I can let you cry under my wings.”

The little mermaid did not understand why the seagull was so worried. ‘Silly little seagull,’ thought the mermaid, but she agreed to do so. It wouldn’t hurt to have a friend in this brand new place.

On the first day, when they finally got to the seashore, the little mermaid hid behind a big rock. She waited until the moon shone upon the lonely pale sands. This was a scene she had dreamed of. ‘When a man walks on the beach by himself, I will sing an enchanting song. He will look for me, and when he finally finds me, he will fall in love with me,’ thought the little mermaid. She had no doubts.When she was satisfiedwith her plan, she heard someone walking on the beach. She peek out from behind the rock; it was a beautiful young man just like the one in her painting. She started to sing: about her friends in the deep sea, and her dream to be with ahuman. Her voice echoed the air, and the man was drawn to the rock where she was hiding. He saw her beautiful smile and tried to reach her.

“Who are…”he began, but before he finished his question, he saw her shining fishtail. “Monster!” screamed the man. He did not fall in love with her. Instead, he ran away.

“I’m not a monster,” mumbled the little mermaid. She could not understand what was happening, but it didn’t take her too long to realize that she was rejected. The rejection was a painful thing to understand. Her sorrow became tears, and those tears became pearls.She had never seen her tears before. In the deep sea, everyone was happy, and there was no reason to cry.It was the first time she realized that the pearls scattered from her eyes instead of tears. The sorrowful little mermaid remembered to blow thewhistle, and the seagull came. “Why is he calling me a monster?” asked the mermaid.

“Because you don’t have legs,” said the seagull.

“But everyone loves my fishtail,” said the mermaid.“They told me it’s beautiful.”

“It is. ” said the seagull. “It is more beautiful than the moon upon the sky. Humans are silly little creatures. They are such silly things.”

The seagull let her cry under his big wings, and he asked her to go back home, but she didn’t listen to him. She swam to one seashore after another. The seagull was always by her side. Despite her effort, there was no one to love her for who she was. The seagull could not bear seeing the little mermaid in pain, and he told her a little secret. “Humans hold pearls as something dear.They can trade those for anything. If you give those to them, maybe someone will stay with you long enough to see how pretty and lovely you are,” said the seagull. The seagull only wanted the little mermaid to be happy.After the little mermaid had learned the value of her tears, she scattered the pearls near the seashore. There were plenty of things for her to cry about.

Soon, people came to the shore to gather those pearls. From young to old, men and women came down to the shores to find pearls.She decided to wait until all those people went back to their homes. She didn’t need all those people; she just wanted one man to love her. People searched for pearls all day and all night. When the sun finally peeped from the horizon of the ocean, all the people on the beach decided to go homeafter the long search, except for one. The man was walking on the beach with a pocketful of pearls. He had more than enough, but he still looked for more. The little mermaid swamright in front of him. Before he could scream “monster,” she showedhim a handful of pearls, and asked, “don’t you want more of these?” The greedyman said yes, and she told himwhat she wanted for return. “If you love me,”said the little mermaid. “I can give you my pearls.” She had been away from her home for so long, and she wanted to be loved. ‘Crying once or twice more won’t hurt me,’ thought the little mermaid. She missed her grandmother and friends. And nobody on shore seemed to love her.