Stories about mermaids. Scary stories - the whole truth about mermaids first hand, photos Read scary stories about mermaids
For hundreds of years now, humanity has been trying to get the only correct answer to the question: do mermaids exist? As always, society is divided into two camps. Some people shout that this is all just fiction, and the facts do not prove anything. Others firmly believe in the existence of mermaids. Evidence of the existence of these mythological creatures has been collected since the 19th century. In this article we will figure out whether mermaids are a myth or truth?
Who are mermaids?
Before you begin to analyze the evidence for the existence of mermaids, you should figure out what kind of creatures they are. You can find descriptions of mermaids in legends, myths, and even in ordinary children's fairy tales. You can even find descriptions of eyewitnesses that date back to the 17th and 18th centuries. However, those who actually managed to meet these unique creatures describe them appearance completely different. And not only the appearance is different, you can find different names, different descriptions of character traits and behavior. For example, in European countries the word “mermaid” will be common, while the Greeks called these mythological creatures “siren”, and the Romans firmly believed in the existence of nymphs. What is the truth about mermaids?
Mystic
If we turn to the mystical point of view, then in the understanding of magicians, a mermaid is an accumulation of energy, a spirit of water, whose ability is to fulfill desires and help others. There are a huge number of myths and legends about mermaids. But such a mermaid is just a clot of energy, an incorporeal creature that controls the water element. However, the mythical creatures found by people in the vastness of the ocean also differ from the heroes of myths and fairy tales. Scientists have put forward a version that several species of so-called mermaids live at the bottom of the sea. Of course, they don't look much like the wonderful characters from their cartoons. Some experts put forward the theory that man originated from these sea creatures, because life originated in the ocean. The debate about whether mermaids are a myth or reality has become serious.
This version has not yet received a full scientific substantiation, but history is rich in examples and eyewitness accounts that confirm their existence. Many are also of the opinion that it is true that mermaids attack when meeting people.
They exist?
So is the mermaid myth or reality? The best proof of their existence is documented. The first mention of mythological creatures dates back to the 12th century and belongs to Irish chronicles. The description says that the creature had the body of a woman, but instead of legs there was a fish tail. It was called the word “margigr”.
The next mention appeared only in 1403 in Holland. The book “Wonders of Nature” by Sigault de la Fonda describes a rather atypical situation. After a terrifying storm, a strange girl was thrown ashore from the water. She was covered in mud and algae, and instead of legs there was a fin. The book says that people took the girl to the city and taught her how to do housework. The siren spent 15 years on land, among people, but never began to speak their language and tried to return to the water at every opportunity, but this never happened. Soon the siren died among ordinary people.
17th century references
The next significant mention, which is ready to answer the question of whether mermaids are a myth or reality, dates back to 1608. On June 15 of this year, two men set off on a journey under the guidance of the famous navigator G. Hudson, where they discovered a living mermaid. Two sailors with fire in their eyes convinced everyone around that they had seen a siren with long black braids, a bare bust and a huge fish tail. However, none of the other sailors could confirm the words of the two men.
A new storm of discussions in the 17th century was caused by the found archives about the amazing guy Francisco de la Vega Casar. He lived in Lierganes and was distinguished by his ability to swim excellently. Legend has it that a sixteen-year-old boy went swimming and fell into the abyss. He got sucked in and people were never able to find the boy. After some time, the sailors discovered a very strange creature at the place where the guy went missing. It was still the same guy, but his skin was snow-white, and scales grew on some parts of his body. Membranes grew on the boy’s limbs, but he himself could not speak as before, but only made sounds incomprehensible to human hearing. The creature was distinguished by its incredible strength, but it was still caught and taken to the temple, where an exorcism ritual was performed on the guy. For three weeks the young man was subjected to rituals of expelling demons and only a year later he was returned home to his mother, who immediately said that her son was not a person at all. Two years later, the guy was able to escape and disappeared into the sea.
Evidence of the existence of monsters in the 18th-19th centuries
In 1737, a new wave of discussion began on the topic of the existence of mermaids, as more evidence appeared. New story happened already in England, where fishermen, along with the day's catch, pulled a strange creature onto land. Frightened by the sea monster, the sailors immediately killed it, and those who were on board claim that the sea creature moaned like a man. Waking up from fear, the fishermen discovered that in front of them was a male siren. The appearance of the creature was frightening, but remotely the mermaid was very similar to a person. The siren's corpse was used for a long time as an exhibit in the museum in Exeter.
The year 1739 also became significant; an article appeared in Scot’s magazine, which talked about what the sailors had caught a real mermaid, but there was no significant evidence of this fact, since the sailors had to cook and eat the caught sea creature.
Discussions were returned to in 1881, because on October 31, a Boston publishing house released news that people had caught the body of a strange creature. was a woman, because the entire upper part of the body looked like an ordinary person, and everything below the waist was covered with scales, instead of legs there was a fin. And this was not the last case of the nineteenth century when sailors managed to catch a siren.
Mermaids in the USSR
In the Soviet Union, the situation was more complicated, and the story of the appearance of a mermaid on the shores of Lake Baikal was kept secret for a long time. In 1982, combat swimmers were trained on the western shore of the lake. This is where the unusual was found. One of the tasks for the swimmers was to scuba dive to a depth of 50 meters, and it was there that the unusual creatures were found. They reached about three meters in length and were covered with scales. Scuba divers are firmly convinced that these were not people, since the creatures moved much faster and without swimming suits and special equipment.
The squad leader decided that the swimmers needed to make contact with the creatures, and prepared a team of 8 people. All scuba divers were well equipped and prepared for the task. But the mission was never completed: as soon as the squad approached the siren and attempted to throw nets at the creature, it seemed as if by the power of thought it pushed them to the shore of the lake. After the incident, all members of the operation fell ill with decompression sickness, three of them died two days later, others remained disabled.
Strange monsters in the USA
The territory of the United States has not been spared strange stories. For example, an interesting incident occurred in 1992 in the village of Key Beach, Florida. Eyewitnesses say that near the shore they noticed unusual creatures with a human-like upper body, and the lower part was like that of a seal. When people tried to come closer to look at the unusual creatures, they quickly disappeared to the bottom of the sea. After some time, the fishermen took their nets out of the water, but they were cut, and the catch was released.
An unusual exhibit is presented in the Tombstone Museum. It represents the body of a creature, the upper part of which is quite similar to a human one. Arms, shoulders, neck, ears, nose, eyes - the strange creature had it all. Locals claim that they often catch such creatures in their fishing nets. The best proof of the debate about whether the mermaid is a myth or reality is a photo. However, their reliability is questionable.
Mermaids: myth or reality?
It is actually very difficult to answer the question whether these unusual inhabitants of the sea exist. Dragons were also considered ancestral legends until complete dinosaur remains were found. As for mermaids, they really could exist, but due to the fact that they often came across to people, a person could completely destroy their race. Some scientists believe that sirens are just a type of dolphin. One can argue for a long time about the real and mythical existence of mermaids; one can firmly believe or reject it. But the fact remains that people still encounter unusual creatures. Perhaps high technology and human activities, including in the depths of the sea, force these sea creatures to hide in the depths of reservoirs.
– a universal symbol, because references to them can be found in the folklore of all countries of the world. The appearance of the mermaid is associated with the symbolic expression of some inner need of men. An unattainable seductress, attractive and voluptuous, and at the same time cold and elusive. Her eternal youth and beauty, magical voice and art of seduction will always lure helpless sailors into the trap.
Mermaids are mythological creatures that live in bodies of water (ponds, lakes, seas, creeks, etc.). Mention of them exists in the folklore of many peoples of the earth.
In some places, the mermaid is a water spirit. The Slavs believed that mermaids became girls who drowned themselves from unhappy love or who were betrothed brides who died before the wedding. The mermaid is usually depicted as a woman with long flowing greenish hair and a fish tail. However, it can have a pair of legs and a pair of tails, which in turn can be not only fish.
She sings wonderful songs, and often also plays the harp. It is not for nothing that the mermaid is a symbol of singing women, personifying the beauty of the sight and sound of water. They were often depicted with certain objects in their hands. Most often with a mirror, which symbolized the moon influencing the tides and thereby increasing the power of the mermaids.
Living in water, mermaids only occasionally come ashore to comb their beautiful hair with a golden or copper comb. At this time, you can sneak up on her and snatch the comb. According to legends, having taken away any item from a mermaid, she is obliged to fulfill any of your wishes in exchange for the item. Mermaids are capricious, capricious and powerful, just like the rivers in which they live. They can do good, but they can also do harm.
There are also cases where mermaids take revenge very cruelly, having been deceived or somehow offended. Local legends say that one day a mermaid gave a certain young man gold, silver and diamonds that she collected on a sunken ship. He accepted the gifts, but gave some jewelry to his beloved girlfriend.
But what’s even worse is that he did not meet with the mermaid the promised number of times, which caused her jealousy and anger. One day the mermaid swam up to the young man’s boat and directed it to the nearest cave, saying that all the treasures ever lost in this bay were there. At that moment the young man fell asleep. When he woke up, he found himself chained to a stone with gold chains so that he could only reach a pile of diamonds at the entrance to the cave. And although he now possessed treasures, he remained an eternal prisoner because of his own greed.
According to some legends, a mermaid is fallen Angel, whose food is living flesh. With singing and wonderful music, she lures sailors into her nets. And here this image is mixed with equally famous sirens. If, which happens very rarely, this method of attraction does not work, she relies on the unique smell of her body, which no man can resist.
Having caught and tranquilized her prey, she tears it into pieces with sharp green teeth. Therefore, the sailors considered the mermaid a very bad omen. After all, this meant that whoever saw her would soon drown in the sea.
The Slavs believed that in the mermaid week following Trinity, mermaids emerge from the water in human form, run through the fields, swing through the trees and can tickle those they meet to death or drag them into the water.
Therefore, during this week it was forbidden to swim, and when leaving the village, it was necessary to take wormwood with you, which the mermaids were supposedly afraid of. When meeting a person, she asks: “Wormwood or parsley?” If the traveler answers: “Wormwood,” the mermaid answers in disappointment: “Spit and leave!” and disappears. If the answer is the word “Parsley,” then the mermaid joyfully exclaims: “Oh, you darling!” and tries to tickle the unfortunate man to death.
Mermaids do not like girls and young women, and when they see one in the forest, they attack her, tear off her clothes and drive her out of the forest with branches. On the contrary, mermaids persistently flirt with young guys, try to overturn fishermen’s boats, or lure a swimmer into the depths in various ways.
If mermaids (one or more) pester a person, then you need to look at the ground and not look at them. If this does not work, you should prick at least one mermaid with a needle or pin, which the wary villagers always carried with them. Then the whole crowd of mermaids rushes into the water with a scream, where their voices are heard for a long time.
With the establishment of Christianity, a new legend appeared in the legends about mermaids. Now they were described as beings who passionately desired to gain a soul in order to experience the feelings of earthly love.
Christians believed that a mermaid could receive a soul only when she promised to leave the sea and dreams of returning there someday and settling on land. This led the mermaid to a severe internal conflict, since for a creature that is only half human, such a life is not possible. Having turned into a human, they immediately look for their betrothed.
But marriages with them, who remain mysterious creatures somewhere deep down, are usually short-lived. The conclusion of such a marriage is always associated with some condition, and when the condition is violated, they immediately disappear. There is a touching and sad story written in the 6th century. It tells the story of a mermaid who visited daily a monk from the holy brotherhood of Jonah on a small island near Scotland.
She prayed for a soul, and the monk prayed with her to give her strength to leave the sea. And although the mermaid passionately loved the monk and really wanted to have a soul, she was unable to betray the sea. And, in the end, crying bitterly, she left this island forever. They say that the tears she shed turned into pebbles, and to this day the gray-green pebbles of the coast of Iona are called “the tears of a mermaid.”
Of course, the most popular stories about mermaids were among sailors. Previously skeptical Christopher Columbus noted during his first voyage that he saw three frolicking mermaids off the coast of Guiana. Over the long months of sea voyages, sailors suffered from boredom and, perhaps, that’s why they saw mermaids almost regularly.
The famous English traveler Henry Hudson describes his meeting with a mermaid as an ordinary incident. In his diary for June 15, 1625, there is an entry that one of his crew, looking overboard, saw a mermaid. The top, from her navel and back, were like a woman's; very white skin and flowing black hair. When she dived, they saw her tail, similar to the tail of a brown dolphin, covered with spots like a mackerel.
Although mermaids were supposed to be cruel and depraved, sailors were confident in their tenderness and purity. The desire to catch the mermaid was so great that the sailors saw the heroines of their passionate dreams everywhere. One author once noted that it was human imagination from the oceanic depths that gave birth to these beautiful, mysterious and dangerous sea goddesses.
Beginning in the mid-19th century, belief in mermaids noticeably weakened. When steamships replaced sailing ships and sea voyages became much shorter, sailors began to talk less and less about being seduced, seduced and teased sirens. However, mermaids were not completely forgotten. In 1900, in the north of Scotland, landowner Alexander Gunn met one of them. When he and his dog were trying to save a sheep stuck in a crevice, he raised his head and met the gaze of a mermaid leaning on a nearby reef.
She had long wavy golden-red hair, green eyes and arched eyebrows. She was extraordinarily pretty. It's hard to say who was more amazed - Gunn, the mermaids or the dog. However, the dog was the first to give vent to her feelings. Whining and tucking her tail, she rushed behind the farmer. Gunn saw that the mermaid was scared, but she was still angry and quickly dived into the water.
There were so many rumors about mermaids that over time, fakes, inevitable in such cases, began to appear. The first of them were made from monkeys, which were attached with fish tails. Of course, now many people can sincerely say that they really believe in the existence of mermaids. However, mermaids have acquired a certain pseudo-reality.
The legends about them are so widespread and fascinating that mermaids, creatures of the human subconscious, have turned into an eternal symbol.
Fairy tale for preschool and primary school children
Egorova Galina Vasilievna.Position and place of work: teacher of home education, KGBOU "Motyginskaya comprehensive boarding school", Motygino village, Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Description of material: This fairy tale is written for children of different ages. Therefore, it will be of interest to teachers primary classes and educators. This fairy tale tells how an evil witch became good. This fairy tale can be used in extracurricular reading lessons at school and for reading with the family. My daughter also took part in the composition.
Target: Formation of the significance and importance of friendship through the content of a fairy tale.
Tasks:
-educational: talk about the importance of having friends;
-developing: develop memory, attention, imagination, ingenuity, logical thinking, ability to analyze and draw conclusions;
- educational: cultivate a desire to have friends, a sense of empathy, and an interest in reading fairy tales.
Content
Once upon a time there lived a little mermaid named Zhemchuzhina in the underwater kingdom of Oceania. And although she was a mermaid, she still loved bright jewelry, shiny tops and shell hair clips. Very often she could be found at the mirror with new beads.
The entire family of the little mermaid was endowed with a magical gift. It was pearl magic. With its help, one could protect oneself from enemies, decorate one’s home, or turn into a person.
Very often balls were held in the underwater kingdom. And they invited seahorses, angelfish, giant squid, monkfish, hammerhead fish, crayfish, crabs, octopuses, green turtles, shrimp and starfish.
And now Zhemchuzhina’s birthday was approaching. Everyone was preparing for the big holiday. And no one even suspected the treachery that the evil sorceress Thorn was planning.
Zhemchuzhinka's parents invited musicians from the neighboring underwater kingdom to the ball. And her sisters put together a beautiful necklace from elite mother-of-pearl pearls. Well, the chefs did a great job! We prepared a tall, fluffy cake soaked in cream and decorated with pearls. Cakes dipped in dark chocolate and sprinkled with strawberries. Cupcakes with sweet vanilla aroma. The smell of all these sweets spread throughout the underwater kingdom.
Suddenly, in the midst of the fun, a witch appeared. She grabbed the little mermaid and rushed off with her on a trio of sea horses. There was silence, silence and bewilderment in the hall.
The evil witch hid the princess in a dungeon. Thorn wanted to get a ransom for her. And she sent a letter to the king, which said: “If you want to get your daughter alive and unharmed, then I must receive seedlings of young pearls.”
The inhabitants of the underwater kingdom read the message and became thoughtful. They began to think about how they could return both the princess and deceive the sorceress. And this is what they came up with. They collected a basket of small clown fish eggs, sprinkled them with pearls, sent them to the evil witch and began to wait.
Stupid Thorn was delighted to receive the long-awaited ransom. She grabbed the heavy basket and sent the princess home. And what a surprise she was when, after a while, funny and funny fish - clowns - began to appear instead of pearls. The witch realized that she had been deceived. But I just didn’t get angry. The fish turned out to be very cute and beautiful. And really, why does she need these pearls when they gave her so many friends with whom she won’t be lonely.
Since then, Thorn has not bothered the inhabitants of the underwater kingdom with her pranks. She just became kind because she made friends. And now she was not bored with the mischievous clown fish. They were always trying to climb somewhere, or asking Thorn to play hide and seek with them, or just all reading a funny illustrated magazine together.
In a word, a truce has come in the underwater Odyssey.
Mermaids are considered mythical creatures that never existed and were invented by ancient peoples based on pagan ideas about animate nature. This is the official point of view. Scientists do not even think about revising this concept, which in our time is considered dogma. Another part of people who tend to believe in mermaids believe that they are some kind of spirits, creatures that came to the world of people from some other realities and are more like ghosts and ghosts than physical organisms. So who is right? Those who consider mermaids to be a figment of the imagination of ancient people with a primitive understanding natural phenomena or those who consider mermaids to be spirits? It is possible that neither one nor the other is right. The purpose of this article is not at all to present one point of view or another. Here we will simply get acquainted with some evidence that has come to us thanks to the records of eyewitnesses of the appearance of mermaids in the past.
So. The first eyewitness accounts of mermaids that we will consider are references to missionaries who carried out their activities in African countries, in particular in Angola. The missionaries, who were clearly opposed to the pagan ideas of the African aborigines, quite seriously claimed that they themselves had more than once met mermaids who lived in local rivers and lakes. According to their own testimony, the aborigines treated these creatures as a completely common phenomenon and even more. Mermaids were caught and eaten. Many of those who are trying to debunk this myth talk about certain aquatic inhabitants who only look like humans from afar, but in fact are ordinary animals, such as Sea Cows. Thus, they were mistaken for mermaids by impressionable missionaries. And yet, if you imagine this situation, then how short-sighted a person must be to confuse an ordinary animal with a mermaid and then claim that it really was a creature resembling a mythical creature?!
Chronicles of Iceland from the 12th century mention a half-woman, half-fish who was often observed off the coast of Greenland (Grimsey Islands). Judging by the descriptions, the creature had a rather terrifying appearance: a large mouth, a double chin, wide eyebrows and a very piercing gaze. The Icelandic chronicle Speculum Regale of the 12th century says that people called this monster Margigr. Margigr looked like the fairy-tale mermaid we all know. From the waist down she looked like a woman who looked very human, and below the waist she had a fish tail with scales and fins. Another Icelandic chronicle says that in 1161, near Orford, a man was caught who was thickly covered with hair, but with a bald head. After they unsuccessfully tried to get him to talk, the captured mermaid man was thrown back into the sea.
Several accounts date back to the 15th century. In 1492-93, the famous navigator and traveler Christopher Columbus wrote that he saw three mermaids at once off the coast of Guiana. A certain Sigault de la Fond wrote that in 1403, as a result of a storm that destroyed a dam and caused a lot of trouble, a mermaid was thrown ashore. The woman was found in the meadow. She couldn't speak and was completely naked. She was brought to Haarlem, where she was taught how to dress and even knit stockings. It was written that the mermaid lived among people for several years, but never learned to speak. Several times she tried to run away back into the sea, but she was always caught and returned. As a result, she died and was buried according to Christian custom.
In the 17th century, G. Hudson wrote in his ship's log that one of his crew members, looking overboard, saw a mermaid. He began to call other sailors, and in response to his cries another one came. The two of them witnessed how a strange woman with very white skin and black hair swam right up to the ship itself. She, in turn, also looked at people with interest. When the wave overturned the water creature, they saw that she was only half a woman. Instead of legs and the entire lower part of her body, she had a fish tail, which looked like the tail of a brown dolphin and which was all spotted, like a mackerel. This event took place on June 15, 1608, and Thomas Hills and Robert Raynar witnessed the appearance of the mermaid.
In the same 17th century, English navy captain Richard Whitbourne wrote in his memoirs that he met a strange creature that resembled a mythical mermaid in 1610. This happened in St. John's Harbor in Newfoundland. Judging by Whitbourne's stories, the creature quickly swam up to him and looked at him not in fear, but rather joyfully. The mermaid woman's face was proportional and very beautiful. There were strange blue stripes on the head. In addition to him, another member of the team witnessed the appearance of the creature. The mermaid approached and they moved away to a safe distance, but still remained close enough to examine the mermaid in great detail. Seeing that the people were afraid of her, the mermaid dived and swam away, often looking back at the captain. A little later, the mermaid frightened a certain Horij, who at that time was the captain’s servant, and later became the captain himself. He, along with other people, was in a boat when the creature swam up to it and, grabbing the edges, tried to climb into the boat. The people who were in the boat were scared to death, but one of them mastered his fear and hit the creature on the head with all his strength. After this, the mermaid disappeared. After some time, the mermaid appeared again and approached two other boats, seriously frightening several people.
In 1679, fishermen caught a water man, who was observed for several days. The creature was red-haired and had pale skin. It had scales on its back and belly, and brown membranes clearly appeared between its toes. He was held by 12 people while the strange young man roared terribly, growled and resisted his captivity with all his might. He was taken to a Franciscan monastery, where an exorcism was performed on him without success. Three years later, in 1862, he disappeared into the water and disappeared forever. In the same 1862, a strange creature was caught in Italy, in the city of Sestri. People from all over the area came to see him. However, he did not live long; he cried for three days, made pitiful cries, did not take food or drink, and soon died.
In 1717, a siren-like creature was caught on the coast of Borneo. The publication that describes him says that the mermaid was one and a half meters tall, and the body was very similar to an eel. The creature was put in a barrel of water, where it lived for 4 days and 7 hours, periodically emitting a squeak, very similar to a mouse.
In 1737, Gentleman's magazine wrote that fishermen near the English town of Exter caught a mermaid. When they pulled the net out of the water, they discovered that a monster was entangled in it, which resembled both a man and a fish. It was 4 feet tall, had human eyes, nose and mouth, and had a fish tail instead of legs. The fishermen, frightened, beat him to death with sticks. Witnesses said that the mermaid, dying, moaned, just like a person. Later, the captured body was exhibited in the city of Exter and was seen a large number of of people.
Scot's magazine wrote in 1739 that several mermaids were caught by members of the crew of the ship Halifax. The mermaids were caught near the island of Mauritius, after which they were killed, fried and eaten. Apparently the sailors were very hungry, since they dared to try the meat of unprecedented creatures. However, the sailors themselves claimed that the meat of the water inhabitants was very similar to veal.
In 1797, schoolteacher William Munro witnessed the mermaid. On one of the rocks, which is located not far from the beach in the town of Surso (Scotland), he saw a mermaid exactly in the form in which we are accustomed to imagine them. Swimming near this rock was considered a deadly dangerous activity, but the creature felt great and, being half-immersed in the water, combed its hair. She had light brown hair, a round forehead, a plump face, rosy cheeks, a normal mouth and lips, and a body type just like a standard person. She sat like that for 3-4 minutes, then, apparently combing her hair, dived into the water and disappeared. The school teacher claimed that he had previously heard about the phenomena of mermaids and other people, but was not inclined to trust it. However, after such direct evidence, I believed that the existence of mermaids is an irrefutable fact.
In the 19th century there was a whole series of evidence of the appearance of mermaids. This does not mean that there are more of them, it’s just that apparently the news press began to record such cases more willingly, since the 19th century was just the beginning of the active development of printed materials. So in 1819 in Ireland, people saw a mermaid. The mermaid was near the shore. One of the onlookers happened to have a pistol with him, and he shot at the creature. The mermaid, screaming shrilly, disappeared under the water. Evidence of mermaids was so widespread and came from such respected people, whose honesty and competence could not be doubted, that a royal commission was created in Denmark in 1823 to study this phenomenon.
A certain Alexander Carmichael, who wrote the treatise Carmina Gadelica, mentioned in his stories that in 1830 in Great Britain, on the island of Benbecula in the Herbids, people were collecting seaweed and saw a strange creature. Eyewitnesses themselves described him as a miniature man. They tried to catch the mermaid, but she deftly evaded her pursuers. As a result, one of those present launched and hit her with a stone. Apparently his hit was fatal, since just a few days later this mermaid was found dead three kilometers from the scene. The creature was described as resembling a well-fed child, only with a large chest and a tail instead of a lower body, similar to the tail of a salmon, but without scales. The hair is long and dark, the skin is white and soft. Local sheriff Duncan Shaw, having examined the strange creature, ordered a funeral shroud to be sewn for the mermaid and a coffin to be put together. After that she was buried. Another dead creature resembling a mermaid was found on October 31, 1881. The body of the creature was washed ashore by the waves. One of the Boston newspaper reporters went to the scene and described the corpse. According to his testimony, it was a creature with a female torso and head, and a fish tail resembling that of a mullet. The face was completely indistinguishable from a human one, but the hands ended not with fingers, but with real claws, like those of an eagle.
No less evidence of the existence of sea inhabitants, about whom a huge number of legends have been formed, dates back to the 20th century. Alexander Gunn was one of the first to see the creature in the north of Scotland in the last century. This happened in 1900. The creature leaned on the reef and behaved calmly for some time, which allowed the witness to examine it in detail. The mermaid was located about 6-7 feet away from Alexander, looked very much like a woman, had golden-red hair, green eyes and arched eyebrows. No less interesting is the testimony of our compatriot Maya Bykova, who in 1900 wrote the book Legend for adults. Here is what Maya wrote about her meeting with the mermaid: “In 1952, I, M. Sergeeva, worked at the Balabanovsk logging site in Western Siberia... There are many lakes here. One of them, Porasye, is about twelve kilometers from the site. It was on July 4 that we set off: me, the old watchman with my nephew Alexei and Tanya Shumilova... We reached the place already at eleven o’clock in the evening... When we woke up in the morning... I noticed that not far behind the trees there seemed to be another lake... Tanya and I and Alexey decided to visit that lake, since it’s only about two hundred meters away... My companions decided to swim, and I took off my scarf, put it on a snag and sat down on the shore. Alexey was already in the water and was calling Tanya, when she suddenly screamed, grabbed her clothes and rushed into the forest. Alexey stood motionless and looked in front of him with rounded eyes. And then I saw someone’s hand reaching for his feet. A girl was swimming under the water towards Alexey. She emerged silently, raised her head with long black hair, which immediately removed it from her face. Her big blue eyes looked at me, the girl stretched out her hands to Alexei with a smile. I screamed, jumped up, and pulled him out of the water by the hair. I noticed how the water girl’s gaze flashed angrily at this. She grabbed my handkerchief and, laughing, went under the water."
Surprisingly, evidence of mermaids is found in almost every corner of the world. In 1977, such a message came from Africa. A correspondent for the local newspaper Pretoria news wrote that in the suburbs of Lusaka, Zambia, a mermaid who looked like a white woman, but had all the signs of a water-dweller from myths and legends, fell into a water collector. This happened after a heavy flood of the river, which apparently the mermaid could not cope with. The mermaid was also seen in America. So in 1992, in Florida, in Key Beach, a kilometer from the coastline, mermaids were seen, which were described as half-human, half-seal. They had large heads that were very similar to humans, large eyes, long arms and webbed fingers. The fishermen who observed the strange creatures saw that their net was cut in several places.
However, recent reports about mermaids are often questioned. In the 20th-21st centuries, manipulation and distortion of facts and reality have become a very common phenomenon in the media. In an attempt to drum up reader interest, mermaid accounts can range from just outright lies to gross exaggerations. However, old evidence suggests that people indeed witnessed something very strange. Here are just a few reports from eyewitnesses, of which there are actually many more.
Based on this evidence, Karl Banze wrote an abstract, which he published in the journal Science and Life in 1991. The abstract was called “Fundamentals of mermaid biology.” Here he tried not only to describe mermaids from the point of view of numerous witnesses, legends and myths of the past, but also to classify them by type: Common Mermaid, Indian Mermaid and Eritrean Mermaid. Of course, no one has ever proven that mermaids exist, nor that they are just fiction. However big number people who claim to have seen these creatures with their own eyes give us hope that we live side by side with the most beautiful creatures we have yet to meet.
Denis Blintsov
Crimean mermaids
The “Masters of the Waters” are in no hurry to renew contacts that they maintained with our ancestors in the distant past. Therefore, today the only irrefutable evidence of the existence of sea people is a bronze mermaid off the coast of Miskhor in Crimea. Having lowered her flexible dolphin tail into the water, she holds a baby in her arms - another evidence of human contacts with sea humanoids, although these contacts are a legend.
However, they say that “dates” between people and mermaids on the Crimean peninsula still occur. More than a dozen evidence of this was collected in his latest book by Anatoly Tavrichesky, an experienced diver and the author of a unique map of the underwater treasures of Crimea. Eyewitnesses report that Crimean mermaids have large eyes, matted hair and an unfriendly attitude towards humans. The first feeling that people have when meeting them is panic. Perhaps such creatures are able, like dolphins, to make sounds at frequencies inaccessible to human perception. These sounds can affect the human psyche, causing him inexplicable fear.
You will laugh at me, but I want to tell you about a mermaid that happened in the summer. Although it may not have been a mythical creature, my friend and I have no other explanation.
It all happened on the night of the third to fourth of August, for some reason I remember this very clearly. My friend and I decided to go swimming in his car after a hot day, but we were late and arrived at our lake already at dusk. The lake is called Imandra, our Monchegorsk stands right, one might say, on it. These days, oddly enough, the weather was good, rain was soon promised, so we decided not to delay the moment.
We arrived at “our” place, only we know about it, and there have never been people there. We undressed, went into the lake, and by evening the water was already warm (although warm water here and, for example, in Sochi, are two different phenomena). We swam, climbed out onto the shore, sat and smoked. Calm, quiet, good. I don't even feel like talking.
And then they heard a quiet splash and something like laughter. I say something because it was very illegible, barely audible. We looked closer, along the shore, in the distance, about sixty meters away, two girls were swimming, having fun, splashing around. My friend immediately perked up, climbed into the water, and began noisily swimming butterfly to attract attention. And he succeeded. The girls turned around and waved at him, saying, swim to us.
Ilya says, let’s swim, maybe we’ll walk along the shore. But I resisted. I didn't like all this. In a deserted place, at night, girls are alone, swimming, flirting with men. It’s not that I’m always so suspicious, but here I just unconsciously tensed up. And a friend waves his hand at them, saying, come to us. This is where the worst thing happened.
She really swam, but not like ordinary people. In terms of speed, it was more like the movement of a motor boat, only smooth, without splashes. Ilyukha already realized that everything was going wrong somehow and managed to jump ashore, fortunately he was not far away, and these “girls” were near us in a matter of seconds. Here we were able to take a closer look at them.
The skin is strange, pale, with a whitish tint, the eyes are large, truly “fishy”, there is no other way to say it. But the worst thing is the jaw. She stuck out somehow strangely, at first we didn’t even understand why, but when one of them opened her mouth and we saw a small row of sharp teeth, our souls sank into our heels. Without saying a word, they rushed into the car and locked themselves from the inside. I keep thinking that now two creatures will crawl out onto the shore and who knows what will happen.
“These” two swam for about five minutes, not taking their eyes off us, but then the first one said something to her friend - although we didn’t hear a sound, we could only see an open mouth, after which they simply swam away from the shore and soon disappeared from view. We crawled out, not without trembling, quickly packed our things and left from there.
That's my whole scary story about mermaids. We can say that it was not them at all, I will even be happy to listen to your opinion regarding this issue. I didn’t really believe in it myself mythical creatures, especially, it would seem, where do they come from in our Murmansk region. The conditions are not the most favorable for the place to live. On the other hand, what do we know about mermaids? Never mind. Therefore, anything is possible.