The mermaid and the dog

Once upon a time, there was a village on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Here, in the streets of the village, a stray dog used to wander. It ate whatever it found to be edible. Black in color, having white spots, cocked ears, a healthy body, and a hairy tail, it was an adorable dog. Its days were spent barking at and fighting with other dogs, searching for and snatching edible things, and barking at strangers, and so on.

One fine evening, the dog was wandering on the coast in search of any edible food. The sun had set. It was getting dark. The sound of chanting psalms and chimes coming from the temple at the other corner of the village and the susurration of waves were making the surroundings more pleasant and charming. All of a sudden, a strange and new smell entered his nostrils. He got alert, and he smelled again and tried to recognize the smell, but he failed. He had never experienced such a smell. He got curious and looked towards the direction from where the smell was coming. He thought for a little while and decided to go there. Following the smell, he reached near a rock formation partially submerged in water. The smell was coming from the rocks of that formation. With great curiosity and some fear, he looked around and proceeded to the pile. No sound was coming from the rocks. Only the smell was coming. He entered the rock formation and reached a big rock. He waited for a moment and then went behind it and saw a young and beautiful lady staring at the sky, sitting on the earth.

The dog noticed that instead of having legs, the lady had a fishtail. The upper part of the body is human-like, and the lower part of the body is like a fishtail. He got confused and began to growl and bark at her.

Hearing the barking and growling, the lady got afraid and immediately jumped into the water and, within no time, fled deep into the water.

The dog went there but found no one. He barked for some time and then began to sniff the spot where that lady had sat.

The lady was not a human. She was a mermaid who came up on the surface of the water from the depths of the ocean to see the world outside the ocean.

The next evening, when the dog was wandering on the coast in search of food, he again found the same pleasant smell coming from the same rock formation. He looked at that rock formation for a while. In the dark, it looked mysterious to him. He decided to go there. So he walked to that rock formation and found that same lady watching towards the village. This time, instead of barking and growling, the dog observed her for a little while. When the dog was assured that she was harmless, he went near to her and then woofed softly. Hearing the woof, the mermaid got startled and turned her face and found a creature looking at her with curiosity. The dog seemed quite harmless to her, and she, instead of fleeing, looked at him with curiosity. Both of them looked at each other for a little while, and the dog realised that the strange looking lady was harmless and merciful. So the dog went near to her wagging its long tail and began to sniff her. At first, the mermaid got afraid of it, but soon she realised that the dog was innocent and friendly. From here, their friendship began.

The dog was happy to get a friend. The mermaid was not an ordinary mermaid. She was the princess from the kingdom of mermaids located thousands of meters below in the deep sea where no human can reach. She was intelligent and curious and wanted to see the land and meet the people on the land. Her parents, at first, tried to stop her from doing so, but when she remained insistent on going up to see the land, they allowed her on the condition that she would not try to make contact with the humans because the humans are dangerous and would catch or kill her. So she followed the advice of her parents and always came up to land with great caution and always stayed away and hidden from the humans.

Soon she realised that the dog is quite different from the humans.

Whenever she came up to meet her friend, she brought something tasty to eat for the dog. The dog, too, sometimes brought stolen flowers and fruit for her. 

One evening, a fisherman named Mohan, when returning late from fishing, his eyes fell on the mermaid. He was surprised seeing her. He was a clever and opportunistic man. He moved silently towards the rock formation, and without making any noise, he made sure that it was a mermaid. He returned without disturbing her. A wicked idea came into his brain that night. 

He began to keep an eye on the mermaid. One evening when the mermaid came up and proceeded to the rock formation, a net fell upon her. It was Mohan and his two friends who threw the net on her. The mermaid was in his possession. They dragged the mermaid out of the water onto the coast. Mohan looked at her in the light of his torch and said, "Now we will earn lakhs of rupees by showing her in exhibitions."

One of his friends said, "Before someone sees her, take her to my hut."

They lifted her, and before they could walk a single step, someone jumped at them. They were shocked at this attack, and the mermaid slipped from their hands. It was the dog who came in the nick of time to rescue her. Without wasting a second, the dog pierced Mohan's hand with sharp teeth. One of Mohan's friends hit the dog with a stick. The dog ran in opposite directions crying with pain. After running some yards, the dog returned again and took a long and high jump on Mohan's friend and tore his cheeks. Seeing this horrific dog, Mohan's other friend ran away. Mohan was a stubborn and strong man. He took out his knife and rushed at the dog. The knife went down on the dog's belly, but the dog was not ready to stop. The dog targeted Mohan's eyes. The next moment, one of Mohan's eye was out of its socket. Mohan could not bear the pain. Blind in one eye, he fled away.

The mermaid, tied in the net, was shocked and was seeing that fierce fight with tears in her eyes, and she was trembling and unable to even open her mouth.

Now the dog turned to the mermaid to cut the net. He was wounded and trembling. He looked into the eyes of the mermaid and began to lick her body to give her warmth and consolation. And then he began to cut and tear the net with his teeth and paws.

Soon the net began to loosen, and it made some space for the mermaid, and she, too, began to cut and tear the net. After working for more than an hour, the mermaid got out of the net.

The dog was soaked with blood and now was about to fall. It was wagging its tail. He barked in a weak and low sound and began to look at the sea as if he were asking the mermaid to go to the deep sea, to her home. The land was unsafe for her. All of a sudden, he fell and began to whine in pain. After a short while, he passed away.

Seeing that, the mermaid began to weep. Just then, someone came near to her and said, "Oh my daughter, are you ok?" It was her mother mermaid. The mother mermaid looked at the dead dog in the pool of blood. She said to her daughter, "Let us go home. The land is dangerous for us."

Hearing this, the mermaid said to her mother, "You are right, Mother; this dog saved me. Had this great creature not come to save me, I would have been lost in this dangerous land." Her mother took her in her arms, and they returned to their home, thousands of meters below in the deep sea.