The Poem of the Mermaid (I)

The young poet found a stranded mermaid on the edge of the bay. Her long tail was submerged in the repeatedly rising tide, but her bruised body was crouched among the sharp rocks, losing the room to struggle. Hearing footsteps, she raised her head and gave the poet a weak glance. With just a glance, the poet saw the sea of stars in her turquoise eyes. The beauty is pure and flawless, soul-stirring. Not far from the sea level floating several ships, the young man recognized the logo on the sails, it is a fleet of ships set up specifically to capture mermaids, it is said that they will be in the deep sea on the mermaid colony to intercept, the single mermaid forced to shore, and then captured while they are stranded. Live mermaids are the most favored plaything of high society these days, and each one can fetch a good price. And now the fleet is heading towards the port not far away, perhaps soon someone will follow the trail to this bay and find this valuable live prey. The mermaid was still crouching on the shore, looking up with difficulty at the young poet in front of her. She did not make any sound, only the wet black hair like seaweed like sticky cheeks, with the faint breath up and down, quiet and mournful. Not at all like the legendary evil creatures that would charm sailors with their songs and then drag them into the water and eat them. Before the poet realized, the body had begun to move first, taking off his coat and wrapping up the mermaid, carrying her out of the bay. The poet lived in a semi-basement at the edge of this coastal town, a dark and damp place, so bad that no one usually wanted to come near it, perfect for hiding a mermaid. And there happens to be a huge water tank abandoned by the landlord, three or four meters long and wide, one meter high, is a generous pool, enough to dip the mermaid in it to stretch the fishtail, not narrow. It is to fill it with water that requires the poet to carry the iron bucket back and forth on many trips. In this process, the mermaid just floating in the pool, slender fingertips clasping the edge of the tank, quietly staring at the poet back and forth. The poet noticed that she didn't seem to be able to speak, even when the fishtail accidentally hit the wall of the pool and shook the wound, she could only make a slight hoarse huffing sound. This means that she was born with those who were captured after the need to poison mute and then sold to the nobility of the mermaid, can not sing a siren song, can not confuse the mind, taking lives. The poet, who had been tense for a long time, was inexplicably relieved. Although the mermaid is written in the legend of the dream creature, also needs to cure the wounds medicine, and hunger for food to live. Looking at the wisps of red in the water, and the pale, miserable face of the mermaid, the poet tightened his hands, but when he touched his dried-up money bag, he could only bury his head in embarrassment. A poet in desperate need, how to rescue a mermaid in distress? The answer was right in front of him. Along the path he walked in carrying the mermaid, there were several pieces of fish scales from the mermaid's tail scattered on the floor. They reflected a soft glow, shiny and bright like the stars in the night sky, by simply staining the light that fell from the only window at the top of the semi-basement. The poet unknowingly attracted by them, after gazing for a long time, reached out to pick up the fish scales. He saw that the mermaid was also staring at those fish scales, the bland face melted with ignorance. The poet subconsciously held those fish scales, they had a strange texture, like silver-blue jade, warm and cold, as if it would seep into his palm. The poet's intuition was right, these fish scales are indeed worth money. Otherwise the town jewelry store owner in the sight of them, fat face squeezed a pair of narrow smile eyes will not have greedy light in the flash.