One night a number of fishermen quartered themselves in a hut by a
fishing village on the northwest shores of an island. After they had
gone to bed, and while they were yet awake, they saw a white,
dew-besprinkled woman’s hand reaching in through the door. They well
understood that their visitor was a sea nymph, who sought their
destruction, and feigned unconsciousness of her presence.
The following day their number was added to by the coming of a young,
courageous and newly married man from Kinnar, in Lummelund. When they
related to him their adventure of the night before, he made fun of
their being afraid to take a beautiful woman by the hand, and boasted
that if he had been present he would not have neglected to grasp the
proffered hand.
That evening when they laid themselves down in the same room, the late
arrival with them, the door opened again, and a plump, white woman’s
arm, with a most beautiful hand, reached in over the sleepers.
The young man arose from his bed, approached the door and seized the
outstretched hand, impelled, perhaps, more by the fear of his comrades
scoffing at his boasted bravery, than by any desire for a closer
acquaintance with the strange visitor. Immediately his comrades
witnessed him drawn noiselessly out through the door, which closed
softly after him. They thought he would return soon, but when morning
approached and he did not appear, they set out in search of him. Far
and near the search was pursued, but without success. His disappearance
was complete.
Three years passed and nothing had been heard of the missing man. His
young wife, who had mourned him all this time as dead, was finally
persuaded to marry another. On the evening of the wedding day, while
the mirth was at its highest, a stranger entered the cottage. Upon
closer observation some of the guests thought they recognized the
bride’s former husband.
The utmost surprise and commotion followed.
In answer to the inquiries of those present as to where he came from
and where he had been, he related that it was a sea nymph whose hand he
had taken that night when he left the fisherman’s hut; and that he was
dragged by her down into the sea. In her pearly halls he forgot his
wife, parents, and all that was loved by him until the morning of that
day, when the sea nymph exclaimed: “There will be a dusting out in
Kinnar this evening.” Then his senses immediately returned, and, with
anxiety, he asked: “Then it is my wife who is to be the bride?” The sea
nymph replied in the affirmative. At his urgent request, she allowed
him to come up to see his wife as a bride, stipulating that when he
arrived at the house he should not enter. When he came and saw her
adorned with garland and crown he could, nevertheless, not resist the
desire to enter. Then came a tempest and took away half the roof of the
house, whereupon the man fell sick and three days later died.