by Khoa Le
She jumped over fallen tree trunks, ducked under branches that grabbed at her hair, swerved away from a racing stag, and hid from a prowling bear. And then she ran and ran.
As the moon rose high, she arrived at the palace to find the doors were locked! Desperate, she ran around the side of the palace to the window. Inside, she saw Siegfried embracing another maiden who looked just like her! Next to Siegfried, she saw a man and, despite his magical disguise, she knew that it was Rothbart.
Odette hammered on the window, calling for Siegfried. She hit it again and again until the glass broke. She stumbled into the ballroom as everyone turned to stare. “Siegfried, it’s me, Odette! That girl is a fake,” Odette gasped. “I love you!”
Siegfried looked uncertain. “She is?”
“Was she not here before the sunset?” Odette asked.
Siegfried dropped the other Odette’s hands, with a gasp. Instantly, her face transformed—to reveal that she was Odile, Rothbart’s daughter! Rothbart dropped his magical disguise. “You stay away from my swan!”
Siegfried and Odette ran to one another. “I promise that I will love you forever and ever, Odette,” said Siegfried.
“And you have never loved before,” said Odette, with a smile. Together, they left the ball, climbed onto Siegfried’s horse, and rode away into the dark forest.
As they rode, the sun rose and Odette was thrilled that she didn’t transform back into a swan. They arrived at the lake to find the other swans waiting for their friend. They squawked and flapped with excitement when they saw that Odette was in her human form. As Odette and Siegfried kissed, all the other swan maidens transformed back into themselves.
Odette and Siegfried lived happily ever after. Odette had learned her lesson about venturing too far, but she and Siegfried never stopped having adventures.
Lykke, the Little Mermaid
Adapted from The Little Mermaid, by Hans Christian Andersen
There once was a kingdom of merpeople, living deep in the sea. The king of the merpeople had six daughters. He tried his best to keep them away from the surface waters and the human world, but his youngest daughter, Lykke, was very curious about it. She wanted to see humans walking with their strange stick legs and their dry, fluffy hair. She wanted to see the giant ships they used to travel the oceans and the smaller boats they used for fun. She wanted to see what dry land looked like!
One day, she sneaked off to the surface by herself and spotted a big ship. She swam closer to take a look and saw a man on the ship, wearing a golden crown—the human prince. He was the most perfect thing Lykke had ever seen in her entire life.
She was so enchanted that she barely noticed when the waves started to become stronger and the wind whipped up. Before Lykke knew it, a storm had blown in and the ship was being tossed about on the waves, as if it were a scrap of seaweed. It was thrown onto some nearby rocks, smashing a hole in the bottom. The sea rushed in and Lykke gasped as she saw the prince, thrashing among the waves.
Lykke didn’t even think about what she was doing. She shot through the sea, like a dolphin through a school of fish. Her prince was sinking through the water, lifeless, his eyes closed. Lykke threw her arms around him.
She swam desperately toward the shore. She broke from beneath the waves, onto a sandy beach, and hauled the prince out of the water. With his eyes closed, he looked as if he was sleeping. She retreated back into the sea and watched, hoping a human would come and find him. Soon enough, three human women rushed down to the shore. They clapped the prince on the back and fussed over him until his eyes opened and he coughed up lots of water.
Lykke listened as the prince told the women about his voyage. He was an explorer. Lykke felt a rush of joy at having discovered this kindred spirit.
As she swam back home, she said to herself, I must find a way to see him again. She felt that she had seen her future and she was sure that it was exploring the human world with the prince by her side. She wondered what strange creatures lived on the land with the humans—she’d heard lots and lots of stories but she really wanted to see for herself.
Back in her home kingdom, Lykke wondered what to do. Finally, after many days of thinking and pining, she remembered that there was a Sea Witch who was said to have once walked on land, with humans.
The Sea Witch lived in a quiet cave at the very, very bottom of the ocean, right on the edge of the merpeople kingdom. Lykke didn’t know how to get there, but she knew it was in the east, so she set off in the direction in which the sun rose each morning. She swam for days, and she was resting on a rock, exhausted, when she saw a pod of dolphins.
The dolphins were great friends of the merpeople, and liked to sing songs and tell tales of the places they had visited and the sailors they had met. Lykke enjoyed learning more about the humans she was so desperate to meet and the world she was so excited to see! They shared their food with Lykke, and tried to persuade her that being a mermaid was more fun than being a human, but, eventually, the dolphins showed her the way to the entrance of the Sea Witch’s seabed cave.
The Sea Witch was curious to have a visit from one of the princesses, and astonished when Lykke told her what she wanted.
“I can indeed give you legs, if that’s what you wish,” said the Sea Witch, softly. “But Lykke, you must understand that all magic demands a sacrifice. In order to have legs, you must give up something else—your voice.”
Lykke was taken aback. “Forever?”
“Perhaps,” said the Sea Witch, seriously. “You tell me you do this for the love of a human. If this human kisses you, your can have your voice back. But there is something else. You cannot reverse this magic and have your tail again, unless the two of your marry. If you marry, you will have the choice to both live on the land or in the sea. But if you do not marry, you will be stranded on land forever.”
“To live on land forever would be worth it, for him,” Lykke smiled.
“Very well,” said the Sea Witch. “Drink this potion and you will transform.”
As soon as Lykke swallowed the glowing potion down, a great tingle went through her tail and her throat.
She was surrounded by a magical glow, and when it faded, her tail had been replaced by two human legs. She found that she could no longer breathe and kicked up to the air.
The Sea Witch surfaced beside her. The old mermaid pointed toward the shore. “Go quickly. Soon you will find it hard to swim.”
Lykke tried to say thank you, but no words would come, so she smiled her thanks at the witch.
A short while later, Lykke arrived at the beach where she had left the prince days before. It felt strange to plant her brand-new feet upon the sand and stand up. She walked, with a few wobbles, up the beach. To her delight, she saw the prince himself walking toward her.
He cried out when he saw her. “Have you just come from the sea?”
Lykke nodded, with a smile.
“Having a swim?” the prince said. “I’m scared of it myself. I nearly drowned a few days ago. Strangely, I feel that I should thank you—although I don’t believe we have ever met before!”
Lykke shook her head.
“I’m Prince Emil. What’s your name?”
Lykke just smiled again and shrugged.
Prince Emil laughed. “Would you like to walk with me? It’s nice to have company, even if it’s quiet.”
And so, they walked together. Lykke felt the warm sun on her skin. She saw grass, trees, and buildings. She heard birds singing, Emil introduced her to his dog, and she met the royal horses playing in the paddock. All the while, Emil chatted away to her. Lykke had never had a better afternoon and she didn’t want it to end.
Neither, it seemed, did Emil. As the sun started to set, he invited her to dinner. When dinner was over, he asked if she would like a room of her own in the palace. Lykke stayed that night and for every day after. Even though s
he could not speak, she and Emil grew close. Lykke sometimes missed her family, but she found she didn’t miss life in the sea at all.
One day, Lykke found Emil looking nervous. “My parents say it is time to put my travels behind me,” he told her, “and marry the princess of another kingdom.”
Lykke felt her heart would sink right down into her beloved new feet. She shook her head at Emil, as tears began to roll down her face.
Emil wiped one away. “I hoped you might think that,” he whispered. “For I told them that I could not marry her, when I have already found my soulmate.”
He leaned in and kissed her. When they broke apart, it was as if someone had poured a cool drink down Lykke’s throat, and she felt that she might try using her voice. She took a deep breath, and said “Emil, my name is Lykke.”
Emil gasped with joy. “You can speak!” he cried.
Lykke nodded out of habit, then laughed. “Yes, I can!”
She told him the whole story of how she had come to be there.
By the end, Emil was gawping at her. “And you did that all for me?”
Lykke shrugged as she nodded. “I suppose.”
“And if we get married, then we could choose to be merpeople or we could choose to be humans?” Emil asked.
“That’s what the magic says,” said Lykke.
They kissed again. But this time, as they did, Lykke felt … odd. As she drew back, she could see that Emil had a strange look too.
“Lykke, I don’t want to—I mean, we can get married if you—it’s just … kissing you is like kissing my sister,” said Emil.
“It is!” cried Lykke. “I believed I loved you but—”
“You’re my best friend,” said Emil. “And, of course, you are beautiful, and brave, and you could not be dearer to me—”
“But we are not meant to be married,” Lykke finished, firmly.
Emil looked worried. “But Lykke, if we do not marry, you have given up everything—forever—for nothing.”
Lykke thought back over the weeks she had spent with Emil and all the amazing experiences she had had. “That’s fine with me,” she grinned. “I thought it was you I loved—but I think it’s actually life on land! This has been the most wonderful adventure—and there’s so much more to see!”
So, Lykke began her new life. Emil made her the head of his sailing fleet. “Nobody knows the oceans better than you,” he said. “You can guide our ships through even the most dangerous of seas and at the end of every voyage will be a new land to explore.”
Lykke soon became known as the best admiral any fleet had ever had. She knew the sea so well that the other sailors nicknamed her “The Mermaid.” Whenever she heard this, she would catch Emil’s eye and smile.
And if she ever did miss her family, she would wait until after the sun had set and tiptoe down to the beach. Silent as a seal, she would slip into the water and swim to meet them, but she would always return to the land and the life that she loved.
Guimara, the Giant Princess
Adapted from Tales of Giants from Brazil, by Elsie Spicer Eells
Once, there was a princess giant, named Guimara. She lived with her father and mother, the king and queen of the giants, in their enormous palace in the realm of the giants. They were so tall that the king’s head almost reached the clouds and Guimara wasn’t much smaller.
The giant realm was very remote from all the human kingdoms of the world and separated from them by a huge wall. Guimara longed for fresh company and to hear new stories, for nobody had arrived at the palace in many long years and she had heard all of her parents’ stories a thousand times.
One day, an adventurous human prince, called João, got lost when he was out hunting and stumbled into the Giant Realm. Guimara’s father found him and was impressed by the prince’s bravery, for João did not quiver before him. He invited João to live in his palace as a servant. Prince João thought living in the Realm of the Giants sounded like an excellent adventure, so he accepted the king’s offer and moved into the enormous palace.
Princess Guimara was delighted to have a new companion. To begin with, she just enjoyed hearing all of Prince João’s tales, but before too long, she fell in love with the little man and he fell in love with her too. They knew that they were from very different realms, but they swore to each other that their love would overcome everything.
When they told Guimara’s parents, however, the king was displeased. Although he thought Prince João was a fine human, he thought he ought to have a giant for a son-in-law. So, he began to think of a plot to get João out of their hair.
The next day, he sent for the prince. “João, my little man,” he boomed. “My other servants have told me you have been boasting that you could tear my palace down in a single night and then build it up again before the dawn.”
João was confused. “I’ve never said any such thing, Your Majesty,” he said, politely.
The king sniffed. “Pity,” he said. “If you could do something like that, I would respect you much more. I might even welcome you as a son-in-law.”
João went and told Guimara what her father had said.
Guimara giggled. “So that’s the game my father wants to play, is it?” she said. “Well, João, don’t worry. I have magical powers. I can help you do exactly that and surprise my father.”
João was doubtful; he had never seen his beloved’s magical powers. But that night, Guimara took his hand and led him outside. Using her magic, she tore down the whole palace.
Soon, it was just a pile of rubble, surrounding the king, queen, and all of their servants, who had all been asleep in bed. As they rubbed their eyes and sat up sleepily, Guimara ducked behind a clump of trees and directed her magic through João, so that it looked like he was putting the palace back together all by himself.
As dawn broke, João slid the last roof tile into place and turned to find himself face to face with the king. João bowed carefully, so as not to fall off the roof. “Exactly as it was before, Your Majesty,” he said.
“Hmmm,” replied the King, for he had seen João do it, but he was certain his daughter had been involved somehow. “But while you have been doing this, my other servants have been talking about you again. They say that you also boasted that it would take you only a single night to turn the Isle of Wild Beasts into a beautiful flower garden.”
“I didn’t say any such thing, Your Majesty,” João insisted.
The Giant King raised an eyebrow and walked away.
Guimara crept out of her hiding place. “It will be great fun to turn the Isle of Wild Beasts into a lovely garden!” she cried.
That night, João and Guimara crept out and sailed over to the island. It was a land of gnarled trees, poisonous flowers, and many monsters, but Guimara had soon turned it into the most beautiful paradise. Guimara and João danced in the flower meadow until they noticed the sun starting to rise.
The king arrived as dawn broke, to see Prince João standing alone by an exquisite silver fountain in the middle of a perfect garden. Though she was hidden, the king was even more certain that his daughter had been involved and he was furious. “How dare you make a fool of me?!” he roared. “You will be sorry for this, João!”
All day, the giant king raged, destroying forests and mountains in his anger. Princess Guimara watched him from her bedroom window and worried for the safety of her little human prince. “João, I believe the time has come for us to leave,” she said.
That night, Guimara crept out of her room. She ran to the stables, where João had saddled the best horse, which could travel one hundred leagues with every step. They mounted the horse together and rode away.
The next morning, the king awoke to find Guimara and João were gone, along with the best horse from his stables. “That human wretch!” he exclaimed. “What shall I do?”
“Calm yourself,
my dear,” said the queen. “Take the other horse that can go a hundred leagues in a step. If you go soon, you will catch up with them quite quickly.”
“You are right, my dear,” said the king. He did as she said.
Meanwhile, Guimara and João had grown tired and stopped for a rest. When Guimara heard fast hoofbeats approaching, she stood up and squinted. “It’s my father!” she cried. “I must hide us, quickly!”
She used her magic to turn Prince João into an old man. She turned the horse into a tree, the saddle into a bed of onions, and the musket that they carried into a butterfly. Finally, she turned herself into a little river.
When the king arrived at the river, he was confused. He could have sworn he had seen his daughter and João sitting there moments before. He turned to the old man sitting by the river. “Old man, have you seen a small human man and a beautiful giant woman?”
The old man shook his head. “No, I have not. But I planted these onions. Aren’t they magnificent?”
The giant looked at the bed of onions and wrinkled his nose. The smell was so strong that he didn’t like to stay near them. As he edged away, a butterfly flew straight at his eyes. The Giant dodged away, flapping his hands. He looked all around him. There was no sign of Guimara and João. With a sigh, he went home.
This time, when he talked to the queen, she rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “You silly giant! Surely you know our daughter’s magic when you see it? She had changed herself into the river. I’m sure the tree was actually the horse, the onions were the saddle, and the butterfly was actually a musket. And I would bet my crown that the old man you spoke to was Prince João himself, disguised by Guimara’s magic.”
