The Bureau of Dreams to be Continued by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

The Bureau of Dreams to be Continued

Page 515

The Mermaid asks her grandmother if humans can live forever. Her grandmother explains that humans have a much shorter lifespan than mermaids, who live around 300 years, but that they have an eternal soul that lives on in Heaven, while mermaids turn to sea foam at death and cease to exist.

The Mermaid, longing for the prince and an eternal soul, visits the Sea Witch who lives in a dangerous part of the ocean, surrounded by a forest of polyps, mud, and whirlpools. The Witch helps her by offering a potion that gives her legs in exchange for her voice; her tongue, as the Mermaid has the most enchanting voice in the world. The Witch says that once the Mermaid becomes a human, she will never be able to return to the sea. Consuming the potion will make her feel as if a sword is being passed through her body. When she recovers, she will have human legs and will be able to dance as no human has ever danced before; however, the pain of losing her tail will never leave her. She will constantly feel as if she is walking on sharp knives, and her feet will bleed terribly. Moreover, she will obtain a soul only if she wins the prince's love and marries him, for then a part of his soul will flow into her. Otherwise, at dawn on the first day after he marries someone else, the Mermaid will die with a broken heart and dissolve into sea foam upon the waves.