32 THE YOUTH’S CABINET.

terrestris insencneeehteai

never been caught and examined by a by the music, and thus drawn to the
naturalist. Do not, however—I repeat | shore, where the sirens were ready to
it—give me credit for the belief, that} make them pay for their entertainment
such an intelligent, genteel-looking sea- | by taking their lives.
lady as the one representetl in the en-| These sirens, I am inclined to believe,
graving, has ever had a being. I can- | were playing hide and seek in the brain-
not easily believe that. Some poet, in | chamber of some of the people who have
one of his highest flights of fancy, or | seen a sea-monster which they called a
else some one who has a knack of tell- mermaid. At any rate, there is a good
ing fish-stories, has evidently had a hand | deal of fable, to say nothing respecting
in sketching this picture. These poets, | heathen mythology, in the stories about
by the way, take great liberties some-|the mermaid. A great many of these
times: when they want to tell large | stories were collected, a few years since,
stories, they just step over the boun- by a French gentleman, and published
dary line of sober prose into poet-land, | with others of a similar nature, in a book
and then’ they seem to think they have | called “ Melanges d’ Histoire Naturelle.”
a licence to call in the aid of fancy as | You would be amused, if you should
often as they please, and for the man-| read these stories—more amused than
ufacture of about as wild tales as they | instructed, perhaps; though we may
choose. For instance: the poet takes the | find kernels of excellent wheat, if we
liberty to introduce the mermaid to us | will only look carefully for them, in
as a very fine singer. “Hark!” he says, | places which appear barren enough. [
will give you a specimen of these stories:
Near the middle of the eighteenth
century, there was a good deal of ex-

 

   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
 
 
  
 
 
   

“What fairy-like music steals over the sea,
Entrancing the senses with charmed melody ?
"Tis the voice of the mermaid, that floats o’er

the main, ; _ _ | citement produced, especially among the
deen wr her song with the gondolier’s | 1ovors of the marvellous, by a detailed and
strain.”

somewhat straight-forward and plausible
account of a mermaid seen on the north-
ern coast of Germany. According to
the story, the sea-lady was first seen by
& young woman, who was very much
frightened, as well she might have been,
The mermaid was sunning herself on
the rocks when she was first discovered,
but she immediately fled to the water,
uttering a frightful scream as she made
the plunge. After remaining in the wa-
ter a short time, she appeared again, ap-
parently perfectly composed, and quite

It is very likely that mariners and others
accustomed to life on the ocean, who
have seen something that they called a
mermaid, have been aided in their no-
tions of the animal by what has been
written about the sirens. The sirens,
as perhaps you are aware, were inferior
goddesses, according to the mythology
of the ancient Greeks, who lived on an
island, and who had a great talent for
singing. A part of their trade was to
decoy people upon their island, after
which they destroyed them. They sang | willing to give anybody who wished, .an
80 sweetly, that those who passed any- | opportunity for examining her,

where near their island were charmed i She proved to be of about the size of