Rachel H. White           

Resume & Bio
New Works
Paint & Colored Pencil
Drawings & Prints
Links

Mermaid's Trail
monotype print

The mermaid is but one of many seamen's tales of the magical creatures of the deep. The people of the sea, half-human and half-fish, are portrayed in tales as sometimes good, but also sometimes mischevious. Hans Christian Anderson wrote the children's story of The Little Mermaid, probably the most famous tale of the mer-people:
It was now a case of each man for himself. The young Prince was the one she was looking for and as the ship broke up, she saw him disappear into the depths of the sea. Just for one moment she felt quite pleased, for now he would come down to her; but then she remembered that humans can't live under the water and that only as a dead man could he come down to her father's palace. No, no, he mustn't die! So she swam in among the drifting beams and planks, with no thought for the danger of being crushed by them; she dived deep down and came right back up again among the waves, and at last she found the young Prince. He could hardly swim any longer in the heavy sea; his arms and legs were beginning to tire, the fine eyes were closed; he would certainly have drowned if the little mermaid had not come. She held his head above water and then let the waves carry her along with them wherever they pleased. By morning the gale had quite gone; not the smallest trace of the ship was to be seen. The sun rose red and glowing out of the water and seemed to bring life to the Prince's cheeks, but his eyes were still shut. The mermaid kissed his fine high forehead and smoothed back his dripping hair. He was like the marble statue down in her little garden; she kissed him again and wished that he might live. Presently she saw the mainland in front of her, high blue mountains with the white snow glittering on their peaks like nestling swans. Down by the shore were lovely green woods and, in front of them, a church or a convent-she wasn't sure which, but anyhow a building. Lemon and orange trees were growing in the garden, and tall palm trees in front of the gate. At this point the sea formed a little inlet, where the water was quite smooth but very deep close in on the rock where the fine white sand had silted up. She swam here with the handsome Prince and laid him on the sand with his head carefully pillowed in the warm sunshine. Now there was a sound of bells from the large white building, and a number of young girls came through the garden. So the little mermaid swam further out behind some large boulders that were sticking out of the water and covered her hair and breast with seafoam, so that her face wouldn't show; and then she watched to see who would come to the aid of the unfortunate Prince. It wasn't long before a young girl came along. She seemed quite frightened, but only for a moment; then she fetched several others, and the mermaid saw the Prince come around and smile at those about him; but no smile came out of her, for of course he didn't know she had rescued him. She felt so sad that, when he was taken away into the large building, she dived down sorrowfully into the sea and went back to her father's palace.

Anderson, Hans Christian. The Little Mermaid and Other Stories, Heirloom Edition. Flensted Publishers, Odense, Denmark, 1963. Pp. 43-46.

Back to Orb