Natalia Kozlova - Mermaid Silena’s adventures. Fairy tales

Translator Natasha Dol

© Natasha Dol, 2022

© Galina Dol, 2022

© Natalia Kozlova, 2022

© Natasha Dol, translation, 2022

ISBN 978-5-0056-3082-7

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

In the very blue-blue deep sea, somewhere in the ocean, at the very bottom, where the human footprint did not penetrate, among the small uninhabited islands, at an immeasurable depth, there lived the princess mermaid Silena with her dad and mom in their underwater kingdom. And there were palaces of pearls of indescribable beauty, coral parks and gardens, between which they scurried, flocks of the most beautiful fish, sea creatures walked, colliding with other marine exotic animals, where mermaid children rode with laughter on carousels of sea horses. Starfish were dazzling and shimmering with bright colors. And all this beauty was completed by majestic thousand-year-old algae, swaying on the waves and letting in diffused sunlight. Pranksters swimming beetles occasionally disturbed the calm tranquility of the underwater kingdom, and at night, mirror fish illuminated the streets with their polished sides.

Not far from the palace stood a three-story coral school, where the little mermaid studied. The first floor was pink, the second was red, and the top floor was made of dead white coral, where high school students studied. In this school, noble pikes and salmon were taught and they were ruled by a big blue shark, a mischievous but fair aunt. One-eyed flounder was in charge of the locker room and constantly watched from under the quiet, as if someone didn’t steal someone else’s coat. The mermaids giggled over her that she did not have time with her one side to keep track of all the pranks of the little pranksters.

The most respected and intelligent teacher, almost the only one who was respected by all the students, was the elderly singer Mary, who taught them to sing opera serinade. And her favorite student was Princess Silena, whose voice was simply mesmerizing with its subtlety and penetration into the soul, which is why many classmates envied her and plotted against her. In addition, she was more beautiful than all of them, even her sisters and girlfriends.

Our little mermaid was a very affectionate and talented girl, with a kind heart, unquestioningly obeying her parents. Her father, the water king, loved her very much, spoiled her and even adored her, but her beautiful mother was cold to her daughter. She didn’t treat her badly, but she wasn’t particularly fond of her either. And from early childhood, the little mermaid did not see attention and care from her.

The princess was already in high school, but she did not like to swim to school, because her peers envied her beauty and intelligence, and how they could over bullied her, showered her with ridicule and did not want to be friends with her, after all, they were also princesses and marquises. And there was a reason to envy her: silk long golden curls that fell to her heels, languid emerald eyes with a hypnotizing look, which her girlfriends feared and envied at the same time, and her eyes simply put the boys into a stupor. Her smooth graceful movements and her gentle iridescent voice sent goosebumps through the body.

Envy sometimes reached the point that the little mermaid was punished and put in a corner for pampering and for things that she did not do: in a lesson at a teacher, behind her back, secretly, the students threw small shells and pebbles, and when a strict madam turned gloomily, at the poor the little mermaid was pointed by the finger.

But our little mermaid silently endured everything patiently and did not even complain to her parents. And now the princess was tired of sitting at school and enduring injustice, which she often began to skip classes. And she did not tell anyone in the water kingdom what was happening to her. She swims all day long with fish, and in the evening she sails home. She lived in her inner world. Wherever she has not been and has seen a lot of outlandish things. But even here her pursuers did not let up. Not only at lessons and breaks, but also after lessons, they tried to catch up with her and pull her braids, but Silena swam faster everyone and no one could catch up with her. Only during the lessons she was vulnerable, and outside of school their attempts almost always culminated in failure. It irritated them even more.

And then one day, fleeing another persecution, she swam so far away that she did not notice how she found herself too far from familiar places and penetrated into the territory of the black-black pool of a distant enchanted black kingdom, where the evil witch lived, whom everyone was so afraid of, that did not even dare and close approach her domain.

The little mermaid is so entangled in sticky nets placed instead of a fence. And the more she tried to get out of them, the more entangled she became. Thick cobwebs tightly entangled her body and, like a fish in nets, she wept in despair and began to call for help. And what did she see? A terrible witch swam up to her, all black, and huge fangs stuck out behind thick lips, and tangled hair developed angrily in dark waves. The little mermaid heard the most terrible things about her from grandmothers and nannies, what a Baba Yaga she is, an evil and strong sorceress. She spares no one. If someone falls into her clutches, she will not let anyone go and will not spare. But strangely, the mermaid was not afraid of her and stopped crying: the old woman is like an old woman, well, a little ugly, but not everyone can be beautiful.

– No, – thought Silena, – she is not the same as she was described to me.

And the witch, grabbing her by the hand, dragged the mermaid into the very depths of her gloomy palace. And even the strange light of the burning torches was black, as if smoking the air. But oddly enough, the little mermaid could see in this mist. And black the gleams on the wall seemed to be telling her something.

The witch was already preparing to lay down and tear the girl to pieces on her glossy black round table with her sharp claws, as sharp as sharpened knives. She was already preparing to release her claws in order to snatch the girl from the nets and scratch her, but suddenly looked into her

emerald eyes and the hand itself trembled and hovered over her. Something is wrong.

The witch was furious and screamed:

– Who are you?! Why did you come here?! – even greater indignation seized the witch, that she was simply shaking with anger at herself: – I don’t spare anyone, why can’t I kill you?! I do not understand!

And she threw it away from her, swept her off the table with her hard, dirty scales, tail.

The Little Mermaid lay on the floor, rubbing her bruised spots. The witch gritted her teeth, looking sideways at her, and barked:

– Okay, live… stay with me for now. I’ll think until morning and decide what to do with you.

She slammed the heavy door and locked the little mermaid alone. All night she had a strange mermaid smell under her nose. Having calmed down a little and thought, she began to understand that it was this strange-familiar smell that stopped her hand raised above the victim.

It seemed as if her heart softened. And she recalled how, a few minutes ago, she carefully released the mermaid from the nets and kept moving her nose, saying:

– I smell a familiar scent.