Lori Hile - Mermaids

Throughout history, people from all over the world have told stories of mermaids,which are strange sea creatures with the head and arms of a human but the scalesand tail of a fish. Some of these tales are clearly myths. But others have been reportedas fact by sailors, explorers, and townspeople living near rivers, lakes, or oceans.

In the first part of this book, we will follow some exciting eyewitness sightings.In the second part of the book, we will use the scientific method (see page ) toexamine these accounts and help answer the question: Could mermaids really exist?

Mermaid mythology: Mermen

Not all mermaids are female. Male mer-creatures, usually called mermen, have alsobeen sighted and featured in stories. In fact, one of the first recorded mermaidmyths is about a Babylonian god named Oannes, with the upper body of a man and thetail of a fish. Triton, a Greek god of the sea, was also depicted as half-man, half-fish.While mermaids are usually described as beautiful creatures, with long, blonde locksand rosy cheeks, mermen often have ugly features including green teeth, pig eyes,and long, red noses.

Lightning flashed over the North Sea as sheets of rain pelted the waters below. Wildwinds whipped white-capped waves sideways, sweeping a strange, sleeping creatureinto Zuiderzee Bay, off the coast of Holland (in the present-day Netherlands). Withnothing to cling to, the creature washed across the bay and into Lake Purmer, inthe village of Edam.

Normally, a stone wall called a dike blocked the bay from flooding the town, butthe storm had carved a huge hole in the dike.

After the winds quieted, townsmen fixed the hole in the dike, unaware that they werealso trapping the creature in the lake. Much of the village remained underwater,so several young women sailed across the flooded fields in little boats to milk theircows, which were grazing on dry patches of land. As they neared the waters edge,one of the girls screamed. There, caught in the mud, lay a creature unlike any shehad ever seen.

Covered only by a tangle of moss and seaweed, the creature had the face and upperbody of a woman. But instead of legs, the creatures body curved into the tail ofa fish!

The young women hovered over the creature, believing she was dead.

Then, suddenly, the creatures eyelids fluttered open, revealing a pair of wild eyes.

Trembling, the girls rushed back to their boats and fled for home.

The next day, two bold girls rowed back to the lake and pulled the squirming fish-womanon board. They covered her in a blanket and paddled her back to Edam. There, theygently removed the moss and seaweed from her body and dressed her in womens clothing.They fed the fish-woman food from their own cupboards and tried to teach her to speak.But the creature would only utter strange singsong sounds.

The fish-woman enjoyed baths, and when the young girls got busy with their dailychores, she would wriggle her way toward the lakeonly to encounter a guard who wasstationed there to prevent her from jumping in. Soon, the fish-woman learned to spinwool into yarn, like an ordinary townswoman. But she seldom smiled and was oftenseen gazing sadly toward the sea.

After she died, the strange creature was given a proper burial, and a statue of amermaid was built in her honor next to the Purmer Gate in Edam. On it, these wordswere printed:

This statue was erected [built] in memory of what had been caught in Lake Purmerin the year 1403.

For many years, the mermaid statue remained by the gate, looking out at the lake.

As Dutch sailors neared the South Asian island of Borneo in the late 1700s, theywere startled to see a fish with a body as long as a womans! After catching thecreature in their nets, they could see the fish had webbed fingers and two smallbreasts.

The creatures skinny body began with an oval-shaped head and ended with a long,blue tail. Mystified, the sailors placed the odd, quivering creature into a tub ofwater.

The sailors kept careful watch on the creature and sometimes heard it whimper likea mouse. Believing it hungry, they offered it small fish, shells, and crab to eat.But the creature refused and eventually died, after four days and seven hours.