Fairy Tale Fix - 65: Mad Girl Mermaid

Episode Date: May 30, 2023

Move over Sad Girl Mermaid, you’ve gotten enough attention. We’re in our Mad Girl Mermaid era now, with Kelsey telling the origin story of the Mermaid of Warsaw. Or we’re possibly in our Fancy Girl Mermaid era, as Kelsey follows that story up with a tale about Nigerian water goddess/benevolent fish giver Mami Wata. Finally, Abbie gives us all a Greedy Girl Mermaid with The Nixie in the Pond, but we never learn enough about her to know if we want her to be a whole era.

He loves socks. Dogs. Dogs are disgusting. Dogs, man. They eat everything. They really do. Like, the stinkier, the better. Ew.

Seasoned just right. Hello there, gentle Fairytale Fix listeners. Hello. Hello. I'm Abbyby i'm kelsey and this is uh as i just said fairy tale fix the podcast where we read each other classic fairy and folk tales and then fix them for a modern audience sometimes sometimes they're perfect many times they're perfect sometimes i just forget to fix the story. What's our podcast called again? It's also Fairytale Fix where you can get your fix. Yeah, exactly.

Exactly. Yeah, I don't know. That's kind of how I feel about my story today where I'm just getting a fairytale fix. It hits. Oh, gosh, it really hit the spot. The one that I'm telling today. I'm really excited about it. No, I preemptively, spoiler alert, I don't have any fixes for it.

I think it's wonderful. Amazing. I don't know. Sometimes we fix each other. So we'll see. We'll see. You may see a glaring issue that I just didn't when I was reading through it. It's exciting because it's the end of Mermaid.

And we still haven't seen the new Little Mermaid yet, but I'm increasingly getting excited for it. I feel like there's a lot more hype around this live action than any others. Yeah, people seem genuinely really happy with it. Yeah, they had the premiere. So I've been seeing like some reviews on TikTok from people who were invited to the premiere, which we obviously should have been. I cannot believe we were snubbed this way. As fairy tale queens.

Yeah, the premier fairy tale podcast on the internet. We should have. We should have been invited. So get it together disney yep oh there was a really sweet uh video i saw of hallie bailey and jody the original voice of the little mermaid oh okay what was her name i have no idea jody b Benson. Jodi Benson. And Halle Bailey, like just hugging on the red carpet. Like just kind of having a moment. Like it was so exciting and so cute. And the red carpet premiere looked fun. I guess they like blew bubbles everywhere. I think you sent me a video

and then I went down a rabbit hole of like, why wasn't I invited? That looks fun. One of the pop culture critic influencers that I follow did get invited. Uh, Nikki Marina. She's so funny. Uh, great takes. And yeah,

she did get invited to the premiere and just, uh, she also posted a video, a photo of her just freaking out when they did start blowing the bubbles. Yeah. So very cute. Yes. And she loved it and i usually i usually find that her critiques

are spot on for me i agree with everything she says uh whether she liked or disliked something about a film so i'm i don't know i'm feeling good about it i'm feeling encouraged yeah it kind of it hyped me up i'm thinking i'm gonna buy my ticket today and go see the premiere and then we can talk about it on our next episode. Absolutely. Yeah, I'm going to try to see it sometime the week after it comes out and then we can have a chat. We're just going to be carrying

Mermaid into June, which since the Little Mermaid is such an inherently, you know, queer metaphor, carrying it on into Pride Month works perfectly for me. Hell yes. Yeah. Also, we're really excited.

We're going to be guests on Not My Fantasy Podcast. It's a fantasy fairy tale podcast where they watch like movies that are fairy tale fantasy based. Colin and Hannah are super funny and we are really excited to join them. So definitely go listen to that later this month. Yay! I'm so excited. Yeah, we're going to be talking about The Little Mermaid, the 1989

version. So that'll be really fun. Yeah, and if we I guess we won't be able to sneak in actually going to see The Little Mermaid before then. The live action one. No, it won't be out. It won't be out yet because we didn't get invited to the premiere. Rude.

But, but yeah, I'm always, always excited to talk at length about the, the 1990s animated one. Oh, hell yeah. So definitely make sure to go check that out. Not my fantasy.

Ooh, yeah. Pride month fairy tales. I might, I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not going to plan it out. I feel like I've been trying to plan out what, like what tales I'm going to read too far in advance.

And then I get really stressed out about it. Yeah, it's a, that's why I've almost always operated on the, I pick them the day I'm going to read them. Yeah. So I don't have time to overthink it because I will. Yeah, this is not, we, we were talking about how this is not a history podcast. If you want to actually learn something, go over to the fairy tellers or read the Wikipedia page or I don't know, this is not the place. Exactly. We were we were

commiserating with each other over how in our heads and anxious we get about introducing certain fairy tales, especially if they're fairy tales that don't come from one of our heritage cultures. Yeah. And we feel like there's a lot of pressure to get it right and present something in the full context of where the story comes from. But that's really difficult when we're not academics, we're not historians, we're not folklorists. We both have full time jobs and a lot of hobbies and other things that we're doing. So we don't we don't do all the research. But we do think these stories are super fun and super interesting and want to tell them to each other and thus to

you. So we also you know, as always, we highly encourage you whenever we read you a fairy tale from anywhere on the globe, if it catches your interest, you've got access to all the same free internet resources we do. Go read the Wikipedia page. And honestly, if there's something really cool that you want us to know,

send it to us and we'll get it on our next recording because I love getting like more information, especially if you are from that culture. Like that's so cool. I actually, we had Beatriz on our Instagram sent me a video or sent us a video. I say me because I'm the one that checks the messages on Instagram. It's when you send people, when you send us Instagram stuff, you're talking to Kelsey. To me. And I'm the one responding probably

unless I ask Abby to respond because like, you know, if it's like specific, usually it's like a book related thing. I'm like, Abby probably read this. I'm on it, babes. Abby, go respond. But Beatrice,

I think from Brazil. I'm not totally sure. I don't think she actually said she was from Brazil, but she sent me like a video about how all these different cultures say once upon a time. And it was really fun, a really cool video. I'll repost it on her Instagram after this episode comes out. My favorite one was in a time when tigers smoked tobacco. Oh, I think I saw this video. Yeah, it was so cool. And she said that one was from Korea, which of course it was because Korean folktales are my favorite.

I need to buy the Korean folktale pantheon book. I just need it. I just need to order it online. I keep going to my bookstores, my local bookstores, hoping that they have it because I have seen it and I didn't buy it. And then I regretted it ever since. So you just order it online. Yep.

It's just, it's time. It's time to give up on your local mom. Everyone. It's time to give up on your local bookstore. Just go buy from Amazon. No, don't go to Amazon.

Go to bookshop.org. Yes. They donate to local bookstores, which is really fucking cool. Yeah. Okay. So you can still support indie bookstores that way. Yeah. And if you go to our show notes, we post all of the books that we read from. You can buy them from bookshop.org if you click on that link. And it actually gives us a little kickback, which is fun. Heck yeah. So we can use those. I think we get like, you know, 10 cents per book that you buy probably. So it goes toward our book buying fund.

Get on it. Support the podcast. Anyway, Beatrice also said in Brazil, we say something in the lines of there once was, which is similar to once upon a time. And anyway, I just thought that was so cool. So, well, I like I like their once was a lot. It really it's simple, but conveys the same meaning. Yeah. But it's also like it's nice and vague. You don't have to put an explicit time period on it. Mm hmm.

I love all the different fairy tale openings. And I just think it's cool that like all these cultures kind of have their own and yeah i i especially loved in that video though because now i'm definitely sure we saw the same one uh where they included the opening to star wars i think at the very end that was it yeah a long time ago in a galaxy far far away totally counts totally counts that uh star wars is fairy tale that's that's folklore that's that's folklore baby oh my gosh um i also wanted to i wanted to tell you about this game that one of our listeners, Frankie Brown, who's also an amazing artist. Go look at all of her work. Her Instagram is at Frankie underscore Brown underscore illustration.

And her stuff is so good. She does a ton of fairy tale art. It's like a lino cut, if I'm saying that right. And it's gorgeous. And I wish I could buy all of her artwork. Anyway, she sent a game that she recommended called Bramble the Mountain King. And it's a fairy tale game. Did you watch the trailer?

I did watch the trailer. And I actually have seen that game around because Stephen was considering buying it a while ago. He should. Because, okay okay it is little nightmares but make it fairy tale it is like i was i was texting abby and i was like this game is dark as hell it's so scary it's so dark it starts off really like magical and fairytale-esque. And then it gets like horror movie dark. Like it's fucked up. Trigger warning times a thousand.

Like it was really gory, really bloody. And there was a point where witches were sacrificing babies. Oh, my God. It's fucked. It was so dark. Oh, so it's very traditional. I was just like, holy shit. this is not what i was expecting and what i was really excited about to tell you this so he's like a little blonde boy it's very swedish it's all it's like trolls steal his sister right okay and you're

this little blonde boy and i was like oh this is very swedish and i was like i'm gonna name this kid ollie after ollie from uh the big troll of old mountain or the old troll of big mountain something like that yeah yeah like sweet ollie that uh sweet sweet brave dumb ollie dumb ollie who like leaves with a troll and like holds his hand and uh-huh so i was gonna name him that and i said that to adam because adam's like sitting next to me while i'm playing and i kid you not there's like i was right in the very beginning of the game i had just said that and i'm like exploring these different things and then it has um it has like where little kids draw on the wall to mark their height as they grow up oh sure yeah yeah and it said his name is ollie oh my god o-l-l-e or ule ule and i screamed and i was just like i called it that

was his name i fucking knew it you didn't have to name him anything i know it was already ollie or ule i mean you know with a, with a print, with a accent. But I was just like, this is amazing. I'm so proud of myself. Adam's like, you know way too much about fairy tales. Or you know exactly the right amount. Yeah, his sisters. I wonder if Ollie is just kind of like a general boy's name in Sweden.

Swedish folklore. Just kind of common. Or maybe that was a nod to that story yeah maybe oh my gosh that'd be so cute if that was true i was kind of like what if his name was ivan this wasn't russian it was very swedish and his sister's name was lilamore which i thought was really cute because that means little mother. Isn't that from that poem that Frony used to Yeah, yeah. Nay, Lillimore. Nay, Lillimore. No little mother. No little mother.

So yeah, and I've been learning Danish through Duolingo. I think we talked about that in one episode, but we had to cut it out because we were like really long. I think I cut it out for time. It was that episode that was already like an hour and 40 minutes.

That was me cutting stuff out. Yeah. But I got to see a couple Danish and Swedish and Norwegian are all really, really similar. So I could read a few things, which I thought was really exciting for me. Anyway, it was a fun game.

I had a lot of fun. You said you don't recommend it for me, though. It was spooky. I think Steven would enjoy it. And then you can watch the magical parts. And then when it gets too gory, because he's literally like waiting through like there's a butcher troll. And there's a part where he's waiting through like blood and gore oh it was so it's fucked it's scary too and and so i killed ule like a million times i died so many times in that game it was hard i also got attacked by a merman yay that's so exciting it was really scary because

you're like really tiny you become this like really tiny you're like a tomta sized little person and this giant mermaid merman who's really creepy looking and playing the violin and also trying to kill you which i need to look that up i haven't done that yet but it was really scary i don't know if that's it has to be from like real folklore because everything else was yeah and anyway crawling through the mud like trying to get me and it's a lot of like you're just running away as things are chasing you it's really scary it was really scary that's what it seemed like because i think my first steven sent me a tiktok of someone playing this game and it's you know you're like ollie's crying ollie's crawling along a branch and you see like this troll like in the distance he's crawling over

a branch like over a stream or something yeah and then suddenly the troll like looks your way and then just like slips underneath the water. And you don't know where it's going or even if it saw you or. It's really there's a lot of really scary parts that came. Yeah. It was. I actually had really bad dreams after I finished it. Really? Boss like the very last part was really hard and I died literally a million times.

I actually, the music was making me so mad because it was that music where it goes. Oh, no. It started getting faster and faster. I had to turn the music off because I was so distracted by it. I just kept dying. I was like screaming at Adam like, this is so hard. This is impossible. I just kept dying. I was like screaming at Adam like, this is so hard. This is impossible.

I hate this game. And then I had bad dreams that night about three monsters chasing me and a friend based on those like three things that I'm like trying to run away from. I don't know. It was a crazy game. If you like fairy tales,

I just like definitely recommend it. But just know that it is so dark. I don't know. It was a crazy game. If you like fairy tales, I just definitely recommend it, but just know that it is so dark. That sounds really cool. I'm never going to play it, but that does sound amazing. Yeah, I will watch Steven play it over his shoulder. Yeah. I think you'd like it the best that way, you know? Yeah, because I like a good spooky story, but I totally feel you on having to turn the music off. Because especially music that like starts scaling up in franticness. Yeah, yeah. As you're doing the end. Yeah.

As you're doing something complicated, like I could like that absolutely also just pushes my anxiety button and kicks it into overdrive yeah and i mean they do that on purpose and it's just uh-huh it was fun it was very memorable i'm sure they're gonna make a second one and have a good story but like jesus only only needs therapy all fairy tale characters need therapy i feel like i feel like a lot of that game was the part in the fairy tale where it just says that like oh and they all got slaughtered to death and it's so quick but this is like the reality of it like oh they all got slaughtered like and then you see it it's horrifying they take you scene by scene yeah exactly any who's all any who's all that does sound creepy and cool and

i like i i love seeing an increase in games that are based on folklore that's making me happy are you ready to hear some fairy tales oh please please tell me more crazy mermaid shit. I must know. Okay. So I found two short folk tales this week. One is from Poland and the other is from Nigeria. I mean, it's all over Africa, but the main country is Nigeria. Mm-hmm. So the first tale I'm going to tell you is the Mermaid of Warsaw. Warsaw is a city in poland is it the capital it is it is the capital so it's very important she's a very important city in poland

she's a very important mermaid she is so um i am going to tell you a little bit of backstory but i'm going to make you make your well yeah i'm gonna make your predictions first because i feel like the history gives the folk tales away okay in this case so tell me give me it's pretty short so i'm gonna give you two predictions for each story so give me two predictions for the mermaid of warsaw okay first of all this mermaid is from warsaw so i am predicting that she is fancy she's fancy okay she's the capital mermaid she's a capital mermaid she's one of those capital city chicks she's hoped she's couture amazing yes okay she's fancy somehow i don't know i feel like that's gonna be up for debate um i and this is based purely off of having played the witcher three pretty obsessively

yeah and that's based on's based on a series of books that are based on Polish folklore. Oh, yeah. But I am going to, once again, predict that this mermaid is, she is going to eat a person. Eat a person. Or going to try to, or something.

She eats people. She eats people, as she should. She's fancy and she only eats the fanciest people in town. That's what she deserves. Okay. As she deserves. And my third prediction. No,

I only get two. I only get two. Okay. So she's fancy and she eats people. Those are my predictions. Did you want to switch out any of those? Hell no. I'm really satisfied with both of two. Okay. So she's fancy and she eats people. Those are my predictions. Did you want to switch out any of those? Hell no. I'm really satisfied with both of those.

Okay. All right. So the Mermaid of Warsaw is based on a Polish foe tale. She's a symbol of Warsaw. And she's usually seen holding a sword and a shield. So she's badass. Oh, man. I guess so. a sword and a shield. So she's badass. Oh, oh man,

I guess so. I was gonna, I was gonna predict that the mermaid's a warrior somehow. And I, I mean, Warsaw sounds like a badass city, doesn't it? It does. It does sound terrifying.

The Warsaw. So Polish mermaids are also known as syrenka which is like a siren and they are freshwater mermaids fun okay the creature was found on warsaw's coat of arms in 1390 and this one showed an animal with bird legs and a torso covered in dragon scales what and then later in 1459 the seal had more feminine feminine characteristics it had a bird torso human hands a fishtail and bird legs and claws i'm gonna send you a picture on our chat i please do because I'm having a hard time picturing. That's so fun. Also, yay, freshwater mermaid. Interesting. Yeah.

She's like a river mermaid. So check that picture out. That is like kind of creepy, right? She's so beautiful. Oh, wow. That is so strange. But yeah. I like the the feet and it has like little dragon wings too yeah yeah like it's so it's honestly it kind of reminds me of like so she's

um it's it's still like an it's like a naked human like person with breasts on top uh-huh um but the lower half is not a beautiful fishtail. It's like, it looks like a chicken? Yeah, she's got like weird duck feet. Yeah, like it's, yeah, duck feet with like this long dinosaur

tail and and teeny tiny little like silly dragon wings that are coming off of like her hips. She's amazing. I love it. And the shield is badass.

The shield has like a pokey thing coming out of it. Yeah, it's got a little spike on it. Yeah. Well, that's kind of the original look for, well, I don't know about the original look. That's one of the looks for sirens is they have like those chicken feet. Yeah. It would be like bird women.

Yeah. And not necessarily like fish women the way we think of mermaids and stuff today. That is so fun. I love her. I would be so frightened if I saw her anywhere. Yeah. Here, I'm going to send you – this is like a more updated one where it's like a naked lady with a fish tail. And that's much more like current mermaid.

Much more of like, yes, what we now think of as mermaids. But I like the original so much more. I know. That one is from 1652. And I'll post all of these on our Instagram page so you can see them. But you can also go to the Wikipedia page. Which is what I love. Yeah, so good. So I love there are several legends about the city's mermaids. And I'm, you know, I'm just gonna I think I'm gonna wait to get into the story to tell you that part okay so I found

this from um a lem I can't even say that lemoostworski.wordpress.com I'll post it in the show notes um and that says this is the most popular uh the most common legend of the mermaid of Warsaw. I'm just going to get into it. Okay, do it. Oh my gosh. Please do. Oh, and so some of them have different beginnings. So I'm going to kind of read two beginnings. Oh, yes.

I love this one is a long time ago. There were two twin mermaid sisters swimming along the Baltic Sea until they reached Gdansk. Okay. And they decided to split, and one went to Copenhagen, and the other one decided to go down the Vistula River. So in some of these legends, one of the mermaids is the mermaid of Copenhagen, like is Hans Christian Andersen's little mermaid. Oh, that's so cute interesting yeah like so the mermaid of copenhagen i guess that makes sense that the yeah copenhagen right i feel like that has to be a more modern take yeah but i think that's really interesting a lot

of the stories started out that way that's really cute or maybe that's like where Hans got some inspiration for like yeah like he read this story first or something I don't know I don't know I don't know either but I thought that was really fun that they're like oh it's the little mermaid from Denmark was her twin sister and this one came you know swam up the river i don't know cute i like it so once upon this is this is how the other legend starts once upon a time there was a seaman there was a sea mermaid who got lost and swam up the vistula river after a long journey she decided to take rest on the riverbank and it happened to be in the area where modern-day warsaw is located she looked around fell in love with the harmonious surroundings, and decided to stay.

Oh, okay. Local fishermen started noticing that something unusual was disturbing the river's calm waters and releasing fish from their nets. Sorry. I love it. And releasing fish from their nets. So she's making waves. She is making waves.

Justice for fishes. Not deliberating much, they decided to catch the damage doer. To their surprise, they saw an unusual woman whose legs were covered in scales looking just like a fishtail captured in the trap that they prepared.

She asked them to release her, and the mermaid's melodious voice made them fall in love with her. They apologized and let her swim freely. Yes, as they should. Siren shenanigans. Oh, I'm sorry. Or pretty privilege.

Pretty privilege. Pretty voice privilege. From that day on, they were often gathering up on the riverbank after a hard day of work listening together to the mermaid's soothing songs one day a rich traveling merchant found out about the mysterious creature and sneaked to the riverside in the evening after listening to the mermaid his greedy heart and soul desired to own her because of Because of course. Of course. I knew this was going to involve rich fuckers somehow.

Always. Goddamn them. Never enough. Eat him. Merchant's mercenaries put up a trap and captured the mermaid, then locked her in a nearby hut and were waiting for further orders. The mermaid started crying, and her cry was like the saddest song of all nature. People's hearts were bleeding with sadness. The brave fisherman's son couldn't stand the torment brought upon the mermaid and gathered the locals.

They banded together and they defeated the guards and set the mermaid free. Fuck yeah! I will never forget your deeds, said the mermaid. I can't be coming to sing for you any longer, but whenever your people would meet overwhelming troubles, I will be ready with my shield and sword to protect you, just like you protected

my freedom. The end. I love that story! Isn't that super sweet? That's super sweet! Oh, I love, like, local peasant mob rescues mermaid instead of like kills mermaid uh-huh yeah they all band together and decide to save her yeah and so she's loyal to the people of warsaw forever after that yeah yeah and you can go i guess you can see a bunch

of statues like around poland of her oh wow i'm disappointed she doesn't eat anyone, but I'm also really excited. Like that was lovely. There's the fix. She eats the merchant. She eats the merchant. Okay. Yes. That's the one fix.

She eats the merchant. I just sent you her. Oh, that's cool. The statue by the Vistula River. Isn't that cool? That's really cool. And it is like an old school siren. She's got kind of like

two fins yeah like there's still the suggestion of of of like the upper part of like legs there so like she has two thighs and then her like it's just it's just that like from the knee from the knee down it's like flippers. Yeah. That's really cool. Yeah. She's so neat. And I love that she just has a sword and shield. Yeah.

She's protecting them, I guess. It's just standard equipment for all mermaids is they just come equipped with their own swords and shields. That's just what mermaids do. They're just just badass yeah yeah what happened to the mermaid from copenhagen that she ditched her sword and shield somewhere i know geez so she's a sad girl mermaid that's true this is a mad girl mermaid this is a mad girl mermaid so yeah it was a very short uh i don't think you got oh but is she fancy she's not fancy the way i meant okay then you didn't get any points for that one i don't think so if i think i would have claimed she's fancy if this had been a little more like the little mermaid and they were like she had a certain number of oysters that were allowed to clip themselves

onto her tail or something. Oh yeah, for sure. That would have been, that would have been mermaid fanciness to me, but definitely. Yeah. That is a fancy mermaid.

No, she was more just like a badass. I don't even know. She was that badass. I don't know why she has a sword and shield. That wasn't anywhere in the story. And I looked, I looked for longer versions,

but I couldn't find anything. So if you know looked for longer versions, but I couldn't find anything. So if you know of any longer stories or other stories about the mermaid of Warsaw, please send them to us. Please let us know. The other mermaid I wanted to cover

is the Mami Wata. And there's a lot of information about the Mami Wata. I'm's a lot of information about the Mami Wata. I'm only going to cover a little bit of it because I just didn't have the time to do all this research and there was a lot, so. Fair. I'm just going to give like a quick overview.

And again, I'm going to make you make your predictions before. Oh, before you do it? Yeah. And this one is called The Story of Mami Wata and the Fisherman. So give me, it's also pretty short.

Give me two predictions. Ah, hmm. I think Nigeria has a lot of rivers in it. So I'm going to guess that this is another freshwater. Okay. Mermaid or water spirit or whatever.

I'm thinking Mami Wata is a water goddess. Water goddess. You only get two. I only get two. Freshwater water goddess. Okay. Perfect. I love it mommy wata is a pigeon english word for mother water um she's also known as le serine or siren it's like kind of like french you know

yeah yeah of course she is a water spirit from west central and southern africa Central and Southern Africa. Ha ha. Okay. Uh-huh. So you already got a point. Point for Abby. Mami Wata spirits are usually female, but they are sometimes male. And I think then they're called Mami, um, Poppy Wata. Poppy Wata.

Okay. So she is a mermaid-like figure with a woman's upper body and the lower half of a fish or, or, or a serpent oh yes oh very cool and i was also actually reading a few um indigenous folk tales they also had serpent lower halves which i think is really fucking cool that That's really fucking cool. Yeah, I love that. Okay. So many different kinds of mermaids. It's fucking awesome. People love ladies, ladies with different lower halves.

Yeah. Big fans. They really do. We should find some like centaur stories. Ooh, let's do that next. That sounds really fun okay the existence and spiritual importance of mamiwara is deeply rooted in the ancient tradition and mythology of coastal and southeastern nigerians she often carries expensive baubles such as combs mirrors and watches oh so she's fancy she is fancy she's super. You should have rolled that

prediction over. Oh, man. I wanted to hint at that, but I didn't want you to guess. Maha. A large snake symbol usually accompanies her wrapping itself around her. Oh, she sounds amazing. I have a hella cool picture to send

to you that I'll also post on our Instagram. Isn't she beautiful? I love her. Yeah, she's fancy. She's very fancy. I want her to have a- Oh, I love her jewelry. I know.

I want her to have a serpent tail. I think it's so cool. Yeah. I love that. She's part snake. Oh my gosh. She's commonly seen with a mirror in her hand. Mami Wata is able to embody ritual performances and worship ceremonies for Africans through

this instrument. It represents a movement through the present and the future, and her devotees are able to create their own reality through imaging of themselves and their own recreation of mommy water's world. So the mirror is like really important and really common in her mythology. Oh, I love that. I love that too.

Oh, here's a cool sculpture of the, so she was considered a water deity. Um, and here's a really cool sculpture from the 50s. It's also, it's all on the Wikipedia page. Oh, hell yeah. I know.

Isn't that like, she's just gorgeous. I'm obsessed. Yeah, that's really cool. I love how like she's got both the snake. Well, it seems like they do that. They did that in the illustration too, where she's got both the snake wrapped around her shoulders and then another one that's sort of like winding around her hips. Yeah. And she's also got legs. So I feel like she maybe she's like a shapeshifter.

Yeah, that makes sense. I think a lot of like a lot of the water spirit stories that I was reading to prepare for this month. water spirit stories that i was reading to prepare for this month most most of them seem to have like shape-shifting abilities yeah at least between like they can switch out like whether or not they wanted like a tail or more legs which is super magical very yeah i love it um so now i'm going to tell you the story of Mami Wata and the fishermen. Okay. Once upon a time, there was a fisherman named Kofi who lived in a small village by the sea. Kofi was a skilled fisherman, but he was also very poor and struggled to make ends meet. One day while fishing in his small canoe, Kofi saw a beautiful woman with long, flowing hair sitting on a rock

by the shore. She was surrounded by a group of sea creatures and Kofi realized that she must be Mami Wata. He knows her when he sees her.

Uh-huh. Mami Wata looked at Kofi and smiled and he was immediately struck by her beauty. She invited him to come closer

and Kofi paddled his canoe toward her. As he got closer, Mami Wata told them that she had a gift for him. She reached into the water and pulled out a golden fish, telling Kofi that it would bring him great fortune. Kofi was overjoyed and thanked Mami Wada for her generosity. He brought the golden fish back to his village and sold it for a large sum of money. With the money, he was able to buy a new boat and better equipment, and he

soon became one of the wealthiest and most successful fishermen in the village. Nice. Hell yeah. A+. Thank you. From that day on, Kofi would often see Mami Wata while out fishing

and she would always give him gifts of fish or pearls he knew that he had been blessed by the powerful water spirit and he always respected and honored her

and this is just one example of a oh yeah until she ate him another fix well I'm just kind of waiting for the turn right like what's he gonna do to piss her off no yeah i think maybe if it were a longer fairy tale but these are just kind of like

basic overviews of the oh gotcha okay yeah and this is just one example of a folk tale about mamiwanta and there are many others that feature her as a powerful and benevolent figure who brings wealth and good fortune to those who honor her. The end. I love that. Yeah. So it's just kind of an overview of the legend of Mami Wata. But I thought it was so cool. And she's just so beautiful.

And there's a lot of history behind this. So go look it up. She's just so beautiful. And there's a lot of history behind this. So go look it up. And actually, I like I like her as like a benevolent, just a generally benevolent spirit. Yes, there is like as like situations where she can bring on bad luck and it can mean death. But from all the actual folk tales that I could find, it was mostly like she's bringing them gold. Like, you're gonna be rich now.

You're gonna be rich now.'re gonna be rich now i've decided i like you i've taken a shine to you you seem like a nice guy have a golden fish hell yeah i love that yeah me too that's really sweet so freaking cool yeah no um no eating of people. I feel like those are going to be more in folktale legends and not so much in the written down or oral fairy tales, you know? Yeah, yeah. I think you're probably right there. I just always want it.

I know, me too. I just always want like a sharp-toothed, like, I'm going to drag you down to my lair and eat you now. I know, I do too. If anyone knows of a story like that i mean you were kind of on to something with the the irish mermaids the marrows yeah they were kind of spooky all the males anyway were like spooky looking we're a little scarier because of homophobia because of the homophobia the women are pretty and the men are really scary fish looking that are so scary and gross that not even their women want them yeah we'll get one today i'm sure of it that's so cool okay i loved i did love both of those stories

yeah i thought they were really cool i love that there's just all these like i love that mermaids kind of transcend cultures it's just really cool yep gorgeous gorgeous people who live in the water yeah gorgeous women yep in particular water and a lot of scary men in the water i will never be able to get in the jaws of the merman out of my man that was a fun one i'm so glad you read it you did such a good job okay um are you ready for my story i'm so ready please tell me okay so this one is a german fairy tale and it's called the nixie in the pond the nixie in the pond oh i love it i am going to go ahead and give you the background, the background first. Oh, okay, cool. I'll take it.

So this is one of the stories that does appear in Grimm's fairy tales. I just happened to find it reading through my penguin book of mermaids. Nice. So this one should be in the Grimm's in one of the editions of Grimm's fairy tales somewhere. And Nixieies in general are, uh, freshwater,

um, freshwater mermaids or freshwater water sprites. Yeah. Freshwater sprites. So I feel like I've heard that name before. Nixies. Mm hmm. I think Aloring probably did an episode on them.

On Nixies. Yeah. That's probably true. I bet they did. I think that... Yeah, Alluring did an episode on the Nixies. It's their episode number nine. Okay, cool.

So if you want to know more about Nixies, go check their episode out. Yeah, go listen to Alluring. So that's literally... That's all of the background I had. It's usually German in origin and Nixies are freshwater sprites. Okay. So this is the Nixie in the pond. And you can have three.

Ooh, I get three. Mm-hmm. I'm going to predict that this mermaid eats someone. Amazing. Because we really want that. We do. She's going to eat, or maybe, yeah, okay. Well, I guess Nixie eats someone.

Okay. I love Nixie as like a name. It's because it makes me think of like Trixie. Yeah, like, and also Pixie. Yeah. Okay. Nixie eats someone. This, I'm going to guess one of the characters are royalty.

All right. And my third prediction is, it's german it is german it's grim fairy tale you know i actually haven't read a lot of like mermaid stories in grim fairy tales i don't think germany has had a lot of mermaid stories there aren't a lot of them okay nixie eats someone there's a royalty character and my third prediction is that there are some helpful fish oh i love a helpful fish i love a helpful fish and they are very helpful and fish are kind of like mice a lot in fairy tales where they're just they'll help you out yeah like the golden fish in my last

story i mean kind of inadvertently helpful but still helpful in the sense that like it helped him get rich yeah because he sold it yeah you're right okay tell me okay i also love that we both um did freshwater freshwater mermaids today yeah Totally. I think, well, the African one, Mami Wata is technically, she's more of a coastal mermaid. More coastal, yeah. But the mermaid of Warsaw

is a freshwater mermaid. I feel like mermaids can do whatever they want. They can. They can live wherever they want. Live in ponds. They live in the ocean.

They live in rivers, lakes. They can get dropped off into a lake by an angry whale that was so funny once upon a time there was a miller who led a pleasant life with his wife they had money and property and their prosperity increased from year to year. Calamity, however, can strike overnight. Just as their wealth had increased rapidly, it also began to decrease each year until the miller could hardly call the mill that he inhabited his own.

I know. His problems weighed heavily on him, and when he laid down in bed after working all day, he couldn't rest. Instead, he tossed and turned and worried himself sick. One morning, he got up before daybreak, went outside into the open air, and hoped that this would ease his heart. As he

walked over the dam of the mill, the first rays of the sun burst forth, and he heard a rushing sound in the pond. Oh, ew. When he turned around, he caught sight of a beautiful woman who was rising slowly out of the water it sounds really creepy though it yes slowly slowly like like that's always like a

little girl from the ring where she slowly comes up yes absolutely when he turned around he caught sight of a beautiful woman rising slowly out of the water her long hair which she clasped by her tender hands over her shoulders flowed down both sides and covered her white body he realized that this must be the nixie of the mill pond and became so frightened that he didn't know whether to go or stay oh so he's smart yeah he's smart he's not dumb well he's like oh shit she's gonna eat me that's definitely where he's thinking that's definitely where he's going for it but the nixie raised her soft voice called him by his name also fucking creepy and asked him why he was so sad at first the miller was distrustful but when he heard her speak in such a friendly way he

summoned his courage and told her that he had formerly lived in happiness and wealth but was now so poor he didn't know what to do i mean when you meet a fairy tale creature they are scary but i feel like you got to be at least kind and maybe at least yeah maybe it's worth risking your life because maybe they'll give you a golden fish or help you or exactly the at the very least uh have a be polite when you're talking to them and see what happens and that's exactly uh the miller strategy here. So he tells the Nixie about his life. And the Nixie says, calm yourself. I shall make you richer and happier than you ever were before. But you must promise to give me what has just been born in your house.

Oh, no. Oh, no, indeed. Oh, no. Oh, no. Indeed. This is where the Miller is actually being kind of dumb Oh no That can be nothing but a puppy or a kitten

Thought the Miller And he agreed to give her what she desired Does he not know his wife is pregnant? He must not Somehow Come on, buddy Come on, buddy That's women's affairs and therefore no concern of mine.

I don't really look at her, to be honest. I don't know. She's complaining a lot lately. She's eating more than her fair share of the food. That's for sure. God damn it so thinking that that could be nothing but a puppy or a kitten he agreed to give her what she desired the nixie descended into the water again and he rushed back to his mill feeling consoled and in good spirits and just as he was about to enter the mill, the maid, which he can apparently still afford to keep around

despite being so poor. You're so poor and you're freaking out, but you have a maid? Yeah. I mean, I wonder if that was just translated kindly from slave, you know? Maybe, maybe, okay. Maybe it's just a polite a polite translation a euphemism could be could be but regardless uh the maid stepped out of his house and shouted that he

should rejoice for his wife had just given birth to a little boy yay nixie's gonna eat your baby yeah the miller stood still as if struck by lightning he realized that the sly nixie's gonna eat your baby yeah the miller stood still as if struck by lightning he realized that the sly nixie had known this had deceived him that's your own damn fault you didn't come on like you didn't realize that your wife was like close to her due date or what like maybe this maybe the baby is like super premature and so he didn't think that like she was close to giving birth maybe i mean i know there are some people that have like given birth and they didn't know they were pregnant so yeah that's true that's like so honestly my one of my biggest fears that's so scary like not knowing you're pregnant oh absolutely not well that sucks so he goes to his wife's

bedside and she when she asked him why aren't you happy about our fine little boy he told her what had happened to him and what he had promised the nixie what good are happiness and wealth he added if i must lose my child but what else can i do i guess he at least he cares at least he's like remorseful he's remorseful but there's a lot of i in here what good are happiness and wealth if i must lose my child he's like sitting next to his wife who just gave birth to said child even the relatives who would come to visit and wish them happiness did not know what advice to give him. In the meantime, prosperity returned to the house of the miller.

Whatever he undertook turned into a success. It was as if the coffers and chests filled themselves of their own accord, and the money kept multiplying overnight in the closet. It did not take long before his wealth was greater than it had ever been before, but he couldn't rejoice about this with an easy conscience. The consent he had given to the Nixie tortured his heart. Whenever he walked by the mill pond, he feared that she might surface and remind him of his debt. And he never let his son go near the water. She's going to be careful.

Oh, is she? She's going to get him. Be careful. He said to his son, if you just touch the water, she will grab your hand and drag you under. Can you imagine being told that as a kid? As a child?

Like move. Right? She's still in a pond. She can't leave her fucking pond, apparently. He's making this harder than it has to be. Truly. You've got so much than it has to be. Truly. You've got so much money now, you could just move. Yeah, just move.

However, as the years passed and the Nixie did not reappear, the miller began to relax. Mistake. Mistake. When his boy became a young man, he was given to a huntsman as an apprentice. And once he had learned everything and become an able huntsman, the lord of the village took him into his service. In the village, there was a beautiful and true-hearted maiden who had won the hunter's affection. And when the lord became aware of this, he gave the young man a small house. So the maiden and the huntsman were married, lived peacefully and happily, and loved each other with all their hearts. Aww.

At least he's a man now. Now I don't care so much what happens to him. Exactly. He's an adult now, and anything that happens to him is his own damn fault. Yeah, I figured, like, the Nixie wanted the baby specifically. Nope, she's biding her time. She's like, I live forever. I'm immortal, so, you know.

I'm immortal. Time isn time isn't i'm actually looking for a husband yeah right don't worry i've got time to wait once when the huntsman was pursuing a deer the animal turned out of the forest and into an open field the huntsman followed it and finally killed it with one shot he did not realize that he was close to the dangerous mill pond. And after he had skinned and gutted the animal, he went to the water to wash his hands that were covered with blood. No sooner did he dip his hands into the water that the Nixie rose up and embraced him laughingly with her sopping wet arms.

Then she dragged him down into the water so quickly that only the clapping of the waves above him could be heard. Ooh, I love it. I know. She's just been biding her time. She's like, I've got 20 years, whatever. Yeah, I'm patient. I'm not doing anything.

I'm in this pond. I'm in this pond. With these helpful fish. With perhaps some helpful fish. When evening fell and the huntsman did not return home, his wife became anxious. Ooh, is she going to go save him? Maybe. Oh my God.

Please, now I want that. She went outside to search for him, and since he had often told her that he had to beware of the Nixie's snares and that he was never to venture close to the mill pond she already suspected what had happened because she's fucking smart she knows she's like okay well there's one thing he's not supposed to do so he must have done that so he must have fucking done that and that's why he's not home oh man i love her she rushed to the water and when she found his hunting bag laying on the bank of the pond, she could no longer have any doubts

about her husband's misfortune. She wrung her hands and uttered a loud groan. Oh. Fuck. I'm assuming it's more grief-stricken than that, but I also love that she's just, like, exasperated with this man. I choose to interpret it as an exasperated groan of, like, oh my god.

The one thing you're not supposed to do. She called her beloved by name, but it was all in vain. Then she rushed to the other side of the mill pond and called him again she scolded the nixie with harsh words but she received no response so i also love the image of she's running around the pond going on like you bitch give me back you I'm trying to remember like they said something oh that's right watery tart watery tart

you watery tart giving back right now that's from a Monty Python on the Holy Grail oh amazing of like we're just supposed to like call you king because some watery tart threw a sword at you. Fantastic. But she received no response.

The water's surface remained as calm as a mirror. Only the face of the half moon returned her gaze. The poor woman did not leave the pond. Time and time again, she paced around it with quick steps never resting for a moment sometimes she was quiet other times she cried softly finally she lost her strength sank to the ground and fell into a deep sleep and then she was seized by a dream so much is happening in this story. I know this is magical. Yeah. She was anxiously climbing up a mountain between two huge cliffs,

thorns and briars picked at her feet. Rain slapped her face and the wind whipped through her long hair. When she reached the peak, there was an entirely different view. The sky was blue. The air mild, the ground sloped gently downward and a neat little hut stood on a green meadow covered by flowers. She went towards the hut and opened the door, and there sat an old woman with white hair who beckoned to her in a friendly way. Witch. Witch.

She's a witch. Do we get witches and mermaids in the same story? That is amazing. Yes yes this is a good one i know i was so excited when i read this one at that very moment the poor young woman woke up the day had already dawned and she decided to let herself be guided by the dream so she struggled up the mountain and everything was exactly as she had seen in the night. The old woman received her in a friendly way and showed her a chair where she was to sit.

You must have had a terrible experience, the woman said, for you to have searched out my lonely hut. The young woman cried as she told her what had happened. Then the old woman said, cried as she told her what had happened then the old woman said console yourself for i shall help you here is a golden comb wait till the full moon has risen then go to the mill pond sit down on the bank and comb your long hair with this comb when you're finished set it down on the bank and you'll see what happens she becomes a mermaid amazing no she's gonna become a mermaid. Amazing. She's going to become a mermaid. The woman returned home, but she felt the full moon was very slow in coming. But finally, it appeared in the sky. So she went out to the mill pond, sat down, and combed her long black hair with a golden comb.

And when she was finished, she set it down on the edge of the water. Soon after, a bubbling from the depths could be heard, and a wave rose up, rolled to the shore, and took the comb away from it. The comb sank to the bottom in no time. Then the surface of the water parted, and the head of the huntsman emerged into the air. He did not speak, but with a sad look, he glanced at his wife. At that very moment, a second wave rushed toward the man and covered his head everything disappeared the mill pond was as peaceful as before indeed i should have predicted magic comb magic comb there's there's a lot of classics in this one i mean i almost predicted some sort of like out amulet like a magic amulet or talisman or

something that would have been a good one for this. So I love, I love this. Yeah, it's really, it's really cool. And I love, uh,

that she's getting help from an old witch. Absolutely. So the young woman, uh, goes home disheartened, but she has a dream of the witch again, inviting her back to the hut. And she goes back.

And this time the wise woman gives her a golden flute and says wait till the full moon comes again then take this flute sit down on the bank play a beautiful tune and after you're done lay it on the sand and you'll see what happens so she does exactly that and kind of the same thing happens. A wave rises up, scoops the flute into the water and the water parts. And this time, both the head and half the body of her husband become visible in the water. And he stretches towards her with outstretched arms

and she stretches back for him. But just as he does this, a huge wave rolls by, covers him and drags him back down into the water. Oh, what's the use? exclaimed the unfortunate woman. I've given glimpses of my dearest only to lose him again. Yeah, and she has to wait. Grief fills her heart anew. And she has to wait a whole month for, like, the chance to try to rescue him.

Yep. She has to wait for a month in between, like, her opportunities. Like, which must be really kind of torturous. Mm-hmm. And he's down he's been down there for two months now yeah at least you can see him he's he's there and he knows that she's working on it which i think makes it better when you're captured of like knowing that someone is trying to save you yeah i mean it's lucky she found this witch yeah it's truly a dream uh-huh it's very cool

it's a fairy godmother yeah i don't know like very fairy godmother ish very just kind of like you poor thing i've i'll help you out you poor unfortunate soul you poor unfortunate soul except this old woman's actually doing nice things for her because she's nice. Who says Ursula can't do nice things for other people? She's just a chaotic neutral. She's chaotic neutral. Not the Disney one, but the sea witch and the OG Little Mermaid was very just, yeah, sure, I'll help you. Yeah.

Here's how you can pay me. Yeah. Do with what you want. I'll help you. Yeah. Here's how you can pay me. Yeah. I don't do with what you want. I don't care. I know. So she goes back to the wise woman and is just really full of despair. And the woman comforts her and gives her a golden spinning wheel and says, not everything has been completed yet. and says, not everything has been completed yet. Wait until the full moon comes, then take the spinning wheel, sit down at the bank, and spin until the spool is full. When you're finished, place the spinning wheel near the water, and you'll see what happens. And the young woman does

exactly that at the next full moon. She spins diligently by the mill pond until there's no more flax left and the spool is completely full of thread but no sooner was the spinning wheel standing on the bank than the water bubbled in the depths more violently than ever before a powerful wave rushed to the shore and carried the spinning wheel away with it soon after the head and entire body of her husband rose up high like a water geyser quickly he jumped to the shore took his wife by the hand and they fled yeah run away run away like go to a different town or something seriously don't live here anymore but they had gone barely a short distance when the entire mill pond rose up with a horrible bubbling and flowed over the wide fields with such force that it tore everything along with it.

The two escapees could already picture their death. Then in her fear, the wife called to the old woman to help them. And at that very moment, they were transformed. She into a toad, he into a frog. Cute.

I know. Amazing. Now they're toads and frogs. It's neat that they're not just both toads or both frogs. Nope. They just, she turns them into different creatures, different species of like similarly amphibious.

Yeah. Critters. Roughly the same size, maybe. Yeah. Toads are huge, I think, and frogs are little.

Yeah, you're right. I'm imagining a little chorus frog. You can sit on top of her and she can hop. There you go. There's definitely like a little animated film in here somewhere. For sure. When the flood swept over them, it could not kill them, but it did tear them apart from each other and carry them far away. After the flood had run its course

and both had touched down on dry land, they regained their human shape, but neither one knew where the other was. They found themselves among strange people who did not know where their homeland was. High mountains and deep valleys lay between them. In order to earn a living, both had to tend sheep and for many years they drove their flocks through fields and forests and were full of sadness and longing no i mean at least i don't know what i don't know sad it is sad it's very sad they they got flung very far away from each other i want to i also want to know what happened to the father the miller he you're never gonna find out yeah he's just out of the story he's not in the

story anymore he's fine he lived happily ever after he he kind of shrugged his way through uh a deal with a nixie that he made him made it as made it his son's and his son's problem and his daughter-in-law's problem. Oh, well, okay. One day, when spring had made its appearance on earth again, they both set out with their flocks, and as chance would have it, they began moving toward each other. That's cute.

They're both doing the same thing. Yeah. They're both just shepherding now. When the huntsman caught sight of another flock on a distant mountain slope, he drove his sheep in that direction. They came together in a valley, but they did not recognize each other.

Why not? It says many years have passed. Oh, I was imagining them running toward each other in the field and all the sheep are running around them too. Oh my god, that would be so fucking cute. But no, apparently it's been long enough that they don't recognize each other

anymore. Oh, and like, you know, it's the middle ages. You don't have pictures, right. That you carry around.

So I don't know. I could see how you could kind of forget how, forget what someone looks like. Really? Yeah, definitely. However, they were glad to have each other's company in such a lonely place.

From then on, they drove their flock side by side every day it's cute i know they're falling in love again how dumb are you how are they gonna feel and they figured out they did not speak much but they felt comforted one evening when the full moon appeared in the sky and the sheep had already retired for the night, the shepherd took a flute from his pocket and played a beautiful but sad tune. When he was finished, he noticed that the shepherdess was weeping bitterly. Why are you crying? He asked. Oh, she answered, the full moon was shining just like this when I last played that tune on a flute and the head of my beloved rose out of the water.

That's a weird story. Weird way to say it. And his head rose up out of the water, like as they do. He looked at her and it was as of, as they do. My brain just caught up. He looked at her and it was as if a veil had fallen from his eyes for he

recognized his dearest wife. And when she looked at him and the light of the moon fell on his face, she recognized him as well. They embraced and kissed each other and nobody needed ask whether they lived in bliss thereafter. The end. Oh, that was a sweet ending.

I know. I don't know. I know. It's, it's a little, it's a little dumb that they don't recognize each other oh that's funny and the miller was a little dumb for not realizing that like oh i guess my wife could have given birth while i was out today yeah maybe just don't make deals don't make deals with nixies just say no to nixies just say no to nixies no thank you like say it politely but you know well or maybe don't make life-changing deals

unless you're gonna go you know maybe talk to your wife, what he should have said was, can I have a day to think about it and go talk to my wife? Let me go consult my life partner. Let me go make sure that what's been born in my house just now is something I'm willing to part with. What if it was, oh my gosh, what if it was one of his maids like kids? That's such a good point. didn't even consider that that would have been so fucked up like honestly he probably would have been more okay with that deal uh-huh i like that he was really worried like that that plagued his life for so long and then he just like disappears out of the story completely yeah it just it doesn't

matter anymore like he might be he might have died like a very happy very wealthy man before the like main events of the story even take place. And that's what I'm gonna say in my head because that makes the most sense to me. So just once again people making deals with supernatural

creatures that other people are going to have to deal with. Not my problem. Kicking that can down the road. Sounds like a problem for my son. Yeah. Right. Oh my gosh.

I don't know. Just don't go near the mill ponds. I mean, that does seem like the easiest solution is just move. Yeah. You have all this money. go far away yeah don't live in that village anymore yeah well that was a really fun story i loved it i'm glad you did do you have any fixes for it i think the ending i mean i love the ending but them not recognizing

each other is really silly to me. But I guess that makes it that's a good point. Like if you don't have pictures of someone and it's years later, you might not recognize them. Yeah. Yeah. Because like the memory you have in your head is of them when you knew them and maybe times were harder and people changed more. Yeah. In appearance.

Last time you saw them, they were a toad. Yeah. last time you saw them they were a toad yeah you know the last the last time you saw your beloved they were a an amphibious creature well i guess i don't have a fix for it that was really cute i like that a lot yeah i don't know i i generally don't either i think it's just really precious just in general very romantic i guess my only fix was that there should have been some helpful fish yep if only there were some helpful fish i oh you know what i guess then i'm gonna i'm gonna fall back in an old faithful fix of i want to know a little bit about what was happening to him with the nixie because he was trapped with her for three months

and i want to know what that was like yeah i kind of want to just know more about the Nixie in general. She wasn't in the story very much. No, she was barely in it. Yeah. That's usually how these, how these go. Yeah.

It's, it's called, it's, you know, it's the white snake, which is in the first paragraph and never mentioned again. But I did think, I don't know.

I just thought the story was really sweet really romantic yeah it is and i like that they both became shepherds yeah they both became shepherds they both like found each other again by accident i of course love a story where you know the woman is really like smart and resourceful and resilient and and is able to rescue him with the help of an old witch, which I think is also wonderful. I know. I don't know. I was kind of expecting her to like dive down and just start throwing hands

at the next. Oh, that would have been so good too. She just like decides like, fuck it. She dives in just underwater. Stop giving me all this other shit and give me like a way to breathe underwater so that i can dive in there and beat the shit out

of her yeah i thought the cone was gonna turn her into a mermaid and she was gonna be able to swim down and save him which also would have been super cool but the rest of it was good too all right well i think that is gonna do it for us and that's gonna do it for mermaid we hope you enjoyed these mermaid stories i definitely did yeah me too i'm gonna be thinking about uh the mermaid of warsaw for a long time yeah she's hella cool hella cool all right well that's gonna do it for us today thank you so much for listening to Fairytale Fix. If you enjoyed the show, please subscribe and leave us a review on Apple, or you can leave us a review on Spotify.

Oh, yeah, we have a new Apple review, actually. Yay! Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much, Tammy319. Tammy. Tammy wrote, love these fairy tales. The stories are amazing. So many I've never heard before I

love retelling them to friends and families the chatter and giggles are great thank you so much thank you so much Tammy we really appreciate it and that helps other people find the show so if you do have time to leave us a review we would super appreciate it very much tammy is our new favorite listener our favorite listener thank you so much if you love the show and want to support us uh you can also get extra episodes and other cool bonus content at our patreon by signing up at fairytalefix.cash you can find find us on Twitter and Instagram and TikTok and Facebook. We're all at fairytalefixpod. And please email us your favorite fairy tales, folklore, nursery rhymes,

and other such fantastical things at info at fairytalefixpod.com. And the mermaid of Warsaw, And the mermaid of Warsaw, after she was set free by the very helpful fishermen, went and got her sword and shield and impaled the rich merchant and then dragged him down to the bottom of the river and ate him. Just an excellent fix. and while his brave wife was off consorting with witches and figuring out different ways to free him, we just get a little more of the Huntsman story while he's trapped with the water Nixie. What did she want him for? We'll never,

now we get to know. Yeah. And they all lived happily ever after the end, the end.