THE OLD MAN ON THE SEA

Long long time ago , in a small village by the sea, lived an old fisherman. He lived in a small little hut made of driftwood and draped with sea nettles. The windows of his hut were tiny and round and had seashells embedded all around. The tiny little door could never manage to close and flapped open in the sea breeze like the jaws of a shark.

 

Inside the hut, it was always dark and damp. The old fisherman kept a lamp burning on the table but there was hardly any light. The old man was bent with age and could barely stand up straight. Everything in his house smelled of the sea and was crusted with salt.

 

It had been ages since the old man had seen anyone or talked to anyone. He had a small boat in which he would venture out to the sea and cast out his net to gather up small fishes. Age and time had closed off the old man and made him look more like an old turtle than a man.

That day too he got up from his bed and took his boat out to the heaving seas but something was strange today. The skies were grey and leaden. It looked as if the sky would just fall into the sea and that would be the end. The waters were unruly and heaved with great emotion. The waves crashed with ferocity and the surf thundered up the rocky beach as if the dogs of hell were rushing out. The wind was biting cold and snatched at the old man in anger. The sky and the sea all roiled with anger. There was no boat on the rolling waters except the old man’s. 

 

The old man gnashed his teeth and threw out his net. He clamped his old, beaten, ragged pipe and hauled the net with all his might. The net was heavy and chafed at the old man but the old man fought with the waves and brought the net up into his boat. There was something thrashing about in the folds of his net. As the old man pulled away the net, the wind died down and the waters calmed as they waited with baited breath to see what the old man had caught.

 

The old man was gobsmacked to see that he had caught a sea nymph, a mermaid. The mermaid looked exhausted and wary of the old man. She was dressed in a shimmery armour but her shimmery tail was pierced through with an iron harpoon. Her pale skin looked bloodless as she looked up at the old man.

 

 The old man had heard of mermaids and that their tears turned into pearls and the touch of their scaly tail could heal any wound but this one looked completely defeated. Something turned in the old man’s chest, maybe his salty old heart cracked a little but he just could not bear the mermaid’s tears or her pain. He approached the mermaid and very gently bound his old ragged cravat around the tail. Then he turned his boat around and took her to his hut.

 

He gestured and told her to hold on as he prepared to yank out the harpoon. The mermaid understood and grabbed the rim of the old wash tub as the old man pulled it out. The mermaid screeched a painful gut wrenching cry and fainted. The old man was staggered at the sound but he quickly bathed the wound and bound it with medicines. The old man filled the wash tub with sea water and stoked the fire in the hearth. He prepared a thin gruel to feed her and took care of the wounded mermaid.

 

Days passed and the mermaid grew healthy. Everyday, the old man would take his boat out to sea and the sea was kind to him. His net would be full of fishes of various kinds. Seaweed, kelp and driftwood would wash up to his feet as he walked out to the beach.  The old man would cook and feed his guest. He carved charms, necklaces and jewellery from the driftwood and gift it to the mermaid. He would talk to her and sing little sea shanties. His heart was filled with love for his finned guest.

 

One day, the mermaid called him and said, “Father, I am healthy now. I must leave you for my duty waits.” The old man was sad but he said smiling proudly at the mermaid, “I am glad to see you healthy, my child. I will take you out to sea but remember me and come visit me sometime.”

 

Next day, the old man woke up very early. He gathered up all the things that he had carved for his sea dwelling daughter. He made a little package of fish cakes and sea kelp. Then he put the mermaid in his boat with the package and rowed out to the waters beyond the breaking surf. There in the high waters, he looked tearfully at the mermaid and said, “I had forgotten how lonely I was. You gave me so much love, my daughter. Remember, that my house is always open for you. Come and visit this sad old man soon.” The mermaid sighed and kissed the old man’s crusty face. “Father, I will remember and soon I will come for you. Look for me when the sea boils and the sea horses thunder up the beach. I will be there.” Then the mermaid jumped into the sea and vanished into the blue.

 

The old man came back to his silent, dark house and went to bed. His heart was sad and nothing cheered him. Next day, he took his boat and went to sea but he did not cast his net, just drifted about in his little boat thinking deep thoughts. Days passed and the old man became ill. He knew his days were coming to a close so he took his boat out for the last time. He looked down into the blue sea and said, “Oh my daughter, it has been so long since you left and I am getting old and frail now. My eyes are weak and my heart is sad. I wish that I could talk to you for the last time because I feel as if my time has come. Be brave and be happy, my daughter. Your old father is tired now and wishes to sleep.”

 

The old man sat back in his boat and looked out to the horizon as he waited for the sun to set and life to ebb. Just as the old man closed his eyes for the last time, the waters boiled up around the boat and sea horses surged up from the depths. The mermaid swam up and gently whispered to the old man, “ Come father, I have come to take you with me. Rest your weary head in the palace below the waves.” The old man smiled and taking the mermaid’s hand slipped beneath the waves.

 

 

On some nights, when the moon is round and silver and the seahorses thunder up the beach, you can see the old man on his old boat, bobbing gently upon the waves. The fisherfolk say that you will be lucky and your nets will be full if you see the old man on the sea.