THE ORIGIN OF MERMAIDS

Once upon a time, there lived a husband and wife with their three small children. One morning, they had rice for breakfast with fish as a side dish. Each of them got their share. However, the husband did not finish his fish and told his wife, "Wife, save this fish for us to eat this afternoon."

The wife replied softly, "Okay, husband. I will save this fish for this afternoon."

When it was time for lunch, the youngest suddenly cried loudly. With a face full of tears, he whined, "Mom, I want fish! I want to eat fish now!"

The mother tried to calm him down, "My dear child, this fish is for your father this afternoon. You just eat rice with vegetables, okay?"

However, the youngest's crying became even louder, "No! I want fish now!"

Finally, with a heavy heart, the mother gave the rest of the fish to the youngest so that his crying would stop. "Okay, honey. Here is the fish, but don't cry anymore, okay?"

After working all day in the garden, the husband came home hungry and tired. In his mind, he imagined having an afternoon meal with the fish that had been stored. Quickly, his wife prepared the food for him.

The husband looked at his plate in surprise, "My wife, where is the fish from this morning?" he asked in a sharp tone.

The wife lowered her head, feeling guilty, "I'm sorry, my husband. During lunch earlier, our youngest child cried and whined for fish to eat, so I gave him some."

Hearing that, the husband was furious. "Why couldn't you restrain our child? You know how hungry I am after working all day!"

"He's still small and very hungry, my husband. I can't stand seeing him cry like that," the wife replied in a trembling voice.

In a cold and merciless tone, the husband said, "From now on, you go to the sea and don't come back before bringing back a lot of fish to replace the fish that were eaten earlier!"

With a broken heart, the wife said, "But, my husband, what about our children? They are still small, especially the youngest who is still breastfeeding."

The husband refused to listen, "That's none of my business. You still have to go!"

Finally, the wife left her house, even though she was very reluctant to leave her three children. Day after day passed, but the mother did not come home. Her three children missed their mother and finally they went to the sea to look for her. However, they found no one there.

Suddenly, the mother appeared from behind the waves and breastfed the youngest. "Mother! Mother has come home!" exclaimed the eldest.

The mother smiled softly, "Mother can't come home yet, my children. But don't worry, Mother will be back soon. Now, go home."

Although reluctant, the three children returned home with the promise that their mother would return. However, time continued to pass, and the mother did not return. Finally, they went back to the sea to look for her. There, they met a woman whose half body was covered in scales who was about to breastfeed the youngest.

The eldest who saw her immediately said, "You are not my mother! Our mother is not like this!"

The scaly woman answered in a soft voice, "I am your mother, my children. Look, this is mother."

However, they still refused to believe her, "No, you are not our mother! Our mother does not have scales like this!"

They called out to their mother again and again, but all that appeared was the same woman, with half her body covered in scales. "My children, believe me, this is mother..." However, the mother's voice began to fade, and the children still did not recognize the figure as their mother.

With sad and confused hearts, the three children finally left the sea, feeling that they would never find their mother again.