Prologue

We've lived in a small harbor town since I was a little girl. When I was a child, my father was given land in the town for his services to the king and became governor. On dark nights, when the sea was raging outside and the wind was singing, I was afraid to sleep. Then my grandmother would sit on the edge of the bed and tell me the same story. It always started like this: 

On a dark night at sea by the light of the silver moon amidst thick fog, one can hear a singing so beautiful that it drives even the strongest mad. Fools who follow the sweet voice are doomed. No matter how alluring the singing may be, he who goes to it will never return. That music which is as peaceful as the waves in the calm, comes from the lips of the bestiaries. Bestias are not like what we usually call monsters. They are monsters with the faces of beautiful maidens. When any sailor sees one, he'll be captivated by love. 

I didn't understand my grandmother's words then, but as I grew up, I heard stories of shipwrecks and paradise songs in the middle of the night waters. Sailors said that once you see such a maiden, you cannot love anyone else, but if she gives you a kiss, you will not be afraid of her charms. For children who had never been to the sea, the words of adults seemed like drunken delirium or a fairy tale. 

One of those nights, I asked my grandmother:

- Why are those monsters singing? 

Grandma took my hands in hers and said: 

- They are grieving for what they have lost.

- What have they lost? 

Then I thought Grandma seemed surprised by the question. She adjusted the blankets and, stroking my cheek, said calmly. 

- The most precious thing a person can have. They lost themselves. 

- Themselves? 

- Yes, darling. These, as we say, monsters, were once human, but the sea took their souls. Since then, they've been singing songs of woe that humans mistake for songs of the gods. 

- How did they become monsters? 

- They were born as monsters. 

My grandmother's words made me afraid. Feeling that I was trembling, she stroked my head soothingly. 

- People call these monsters mermaids. No one knows exactly where they came from or who they really are. They say that many years ago, a sailor survived a wreck and returned three years later with a baby girl in his arms. This little girl grew up to be extremely beautiful and her voice mesmerized the listeners. Then the rumor spread that the sailor had brought a mermaid baby with him. 

- What happened to that girl? 

- She left. 

- She's gone? 

- Yes, sweetheart. The girl didn't belong with people and had to go. 

Grandma smiled at me and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. 

- 'There's another way. 

- What is it? 

- To become a mermaid, you have to get a curse. My grandmother said she knew a girl who died at sea and became a mermaid.

At these words, a strong wind rushed into the room and extinguished the candles. I hid under the blanket out of fear. I have never heard the continuation of this story. My grandmother went on a ship to my uncle's wedding and never came back. Their ship disappeared. Sailors said that the wreck washed up on our shore. From the look of the wreckage, they thought the ship had crashed on the rocks. My father said the captain was inexperienced, but the sailors said they were ruined by a mermaid.