A dog barked and the dancers stopped. They went to the man, and kissed his hand.

 

‘Come! Let’s pray,’ the witch said softly. The fisherman wanted to do this, and he followed her. But when he came near the man, he called God’s name.

 

When he did this, the witches screamed and went away. A horse came and the man got on it. He looked at the fisherman sadly, and then disappeared.

 

The witch with red hair tried to fly away too, but the fisherman stopped her.

 

‘Let me go,’ she cried. ‘You must not say God’s name.’

 

‘No,’ he answered, ‘You are my prisoner. Tell me the secret now.’

 

‘What secret?’ said the witch. She tried to escape.

 

‘You know,’ he answered.

 

She began to cry and said to the fisherman, ‘Ask me anything, but not that!’

 

He laughed, and didn’t want to release her.

 

She could not escape and so she said, ‘I am as beautiful as the mermaids,’ and she put her face near his.

 

But he pushed her away and said, ‘I will kill you. You must tell me the secret now.’

 

She trembled. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘It is your soul, not mine.’

 

She gave him a little knife.

 

‘Why did you give me this knife?’ he asked.

 

She was silent for a moment. She was terrified. Then she said to him, ‘Our shadow is not the shadow of our bodies. It is the body of our souls. Stand on the beach with your back to the moon. Cut your shadow from your feet. Then you must tell your soul to leave and it will leave.’

 

The young fisherman trembled. ‘Is this true?’ he said.

 

He released her and took the knife. Then he walked to the sea.

 

The fisherman’s soul then said to him, ‘I am your servant. Do not send me away now. Did I do anything bad to you?’

 

The young fisherman laughed. ‘You didn’t do anything bad, but I do not need you,’ he answered. ‘The world is big. Go where you want. But do not disturb me because my love is calling me.’

 

His soul called him many times, but he did not listen.

 

He then arrived on the beach and stood on the sand with his back to the moon. White arms came out of the foam and they asked him to come.

 

His soul said to him, ‘Do not send me away without a heart. The world is cruel. Give me your heart.’

 

‘How can I love my mermaid without a heart?’ he cried.

 

‘Please,’ said his soul, ‘give me your heart. The world is cruel and I am afraid.’

 

‘My heart is with my love now,’ he answered. ‘Go away.’

 

‘But I also need to love,’ said his soul.

 

‘Go away. I do not need you!’ cried the young fisherman.

 

He took the little knife and cut his shadow from his feet. The shadow stood up in front of him, and it was very similar to the fisherman.

 

The fisherman moved back slowly, and he was afraid. ‘Go away!’ he murmured, ‘and never come back again.’

 

‘No, but we must meet again,’ said the soul. The soul’s voice was like a flute.

 

‘How will we meet?’ cried the young fisherman. ‘Will you follow me into the sea?’

 

‘Once every year I will come to this place, and call you,’ said the soul. ‘Perhaps you will need me.’

 

‘I do not think I will need you,’ cried the young fisherman, ‘but you can call me. I can come here again.’ He went into the water, and the tritons played their musical instruments. The little mermaid came to meet him. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him on the mouth.

 

The soul stood on the beach and watched them. And when they disappeared into the sea, the fisherman’s soul walked away and cried.