Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Le sirena infelice


(Languages of this post: Interlingua, English)


Ille anno, le superpopulation attingeva le habitantes del profunditates tanto como illos del terra. Omne le fluvios e lacos esseva plen de sirenas, e le tritones debeva mitter le juvenes que illes guardava a in le piscinas del parcos pro assecurar que lor pelle non se siccarea.

Ex iste circumstantia un sirena juvene e gratiose veniva a occupar un oval piscina blanc post le fin de su construction.

Le piscina se trovava in le jardin de un parve e attractive casa. In le aqua crystallin se reflecteva le folios de palmas, e durante le vesperes lasse le inebriante fragrantia de flores de orangiero saturava le aer. Ben que le sirena juvene habeva omne ration pro esser felice in su focar nove, illa extendeva su labio inferior como un signal de rancor e se submergeva in le parte le plus profunde del bassino.

"Que vole tu de me," demandava illa al triton. "Tu ha un piscina splendide pro te. Omne le altere sirenas vive in aquarios con solmente assatis spatio pro extender lor alettas."

"Ma illas pote jocar con le pisces," diceva le sirena iratemente. "Illes pote competir in cursas con illos, montar los, celar se de illos inter le plantas, o glissar a in scalias vacue durante que io mesme non pote facer plus que natar in circulos. Io es enoiate usque le puncto de morir!" illa se lamentava, lanceante al triton un reguardo de reproche.

Le surprisa del triton deveniva cholera.

"Tu carga es vigilar de maniera que nemo ha un accidente in le aqua. E de que pensa tu? Solmente de tu placer. Le juvenes non ha ulle senso de responsabilitate in iste dies," clamava ille iratemente. "Le sol cosa que vos interessa es vostre proprie distraction e amusamento. Nos le majores debe facer omne le travalio, durante que vos joca perdite in vostre distractiones, e vos non es bon pro ullo."

Ille esseva tan irritate que ille sasiva e agitava le sirena juvene tan fortemente que diverse squamas sue cadeva al fundo del piscina. Postea ille la liberava e disappareva.

Sol de novo, le sirena lassava que su gracile e gratiose corpore glissava trans le aqua, con un sol unda quasi imperceptibile revelante su presentia.

Nemo la videva. Le homine qui veniva con un rete de manico longe pro remover folios ex le piscina non la notava. Le femina qui arrivava pro prender le sol sur un flotator de cauchu jalne e qui critava quando un unda sur le aqua subito molliava su costume de banio non la notava. Non la notava le infante del femina, qui repeva sur su brachios e gambas in le jardin e cuje critos acute enoiava le sirena usque veniva su governante e le portava via.

Solmente le can, un vetule setter con capillos rubie, veniva curriente e comenciava a latrar durante que le sirena natava in le piscina. Agitante le cauda, illo bassava su capite e quasi cadeva a in le aqua durante que ille essayava a toccar la con su pata anterior.

"Que passa con ille can?" le femina diceva a se in voce alte. Illa tunc quitava le piscina sur le puncto de su pedes e vadeva al casa.

Al principio il pareva amusante al sirena jocar con le can. Ma con le tempore illa se enoiava e comenciava a cercar un nove diversion. Illa tunc trovava le roba de banio longe e nigre que le femina habeva lassate sur un del sedes. Esque illa retornarea pro illo? Le sirena observava e sperava. Le roba placeva a illa, e la incantava le idea de portar vestimentos human.

Passava unes momentos, ma le femina non retornava. Esque illa osarea vestir se in le roba? Continuante su observation, le sirena attendeva. Finalmente illa partiva del aqua silentiosemente, moveva como un pisce verso le sede e sasiva le roba. Un certe periodo de tempore esseva necesse ante que illa apprendeva como vestir se in le roba. Finalmente illa succedeva.

Illa tunc posava pomposemente ante le grande porta de vitrio del jardin, incantate con su apparentia. Con un mano sur su coxa, illa comenciava a oscillar sensualmente de un latere al altere. Tunc illa pensava que in iste roba illa poterea mesmo vader inter le gente.

Le sirena reguardava ardentemente le porta del jardin. Illa esserea incantate de cognoscer le mundo exterior. Illa se tornava e dirigeva le reguardo verso le casa, essayante ascoltar ulle sono que indicarea ulle movimento que veniva de illo, ma omne esseva silentiose.

Finalmente, le sirena extendeva le roba longe sur su cauda. Postea illa se glissava verso le porta del jardin e lo aperiva cautemente, reguardante de latere a latere. Illa videva, al margine del strata, un rango de casas parve e belle, circumferite per jardines que floresceva brillantemente.

Omne le scena esseva tan pacibile e tranquille que illa trovava assatis corage pro facer unes parve passos sur le trottoir, e postea unes altere passos. Subito illa se sentiva tan libere e jubilose que illa quasi plorava de gaudio.

Al fin del strata illa videva un parve gruppo de gente. Illa appeteva junger se con illes e mesmo conversar con illes. Illa absolutemente non voleva esser solitari e enoiate in le fundo del piscina. Illa voleva esser libere, e illa nunc sapeva que isto esseva vermente possibile.

Impulsate per iste pensamento, le sirena se poneva in marcha lentemente sur le trottoir verso iste gente. Le pavimento dur grattava su alettas, ma saper que illos esseva coperite per le roba la confortava.

E si alicuno demandava proque illa vadeva trainante su alettas, illa sapeva que illa sempre poterea inventar qualque explication credibile. Incoragiate per iste circumstantia, illa vadeva al fin del strata; nemo demandava ullo a illa o dirigeva verso illa un surriso. Le gente illac remaneva de pede, silentiose, reguardante vagemente in le spatio.

"Que passa a illes?" se demandava le sirena. "Esque illes non es felice de haber se cognoscite, de haber tante gente con qui parlar?"

Illa comenciava a agitar su capite con consternation quando subito la succuteva le strepito de un grande autobus que advantiava usque un halto situate in le bordo ante illa e aperiva su portas con un ruito grande. Durante que illa observava inquietemente, le gente qui la circumfereva comenciava imbarcar se in le bus. Illa esseva le ultime qui montava le scalas.

Le conductor extendeva le mano verso illa. Le sirena le reguardava confundite.

"Vos debe pagar le precio del viage," ille diceva a illa.

"Ma io non ha moneta," illa respondeva. "E me dole le pedes. Io non pote ambular multe distantia."

Le guidator agitava su capite. "Sin moneta tu non pote viagiar," diceva ille, addente, "ma le ampullas tu pote obtener gratis." Dicente isto, ille la pulsava via, claudeva le porta in su facie, e rapidemente guidava via le autobus.

Ben que isto non esseva lo que le sirena sperava, illa non se lassava discoragiar facilemente. Illa tunc camminava penosemente e tosto se trovava circumferite de dense traffico. Le automobilistas sonava lor klaxones e critava a illa, e illa comenciava a sentir se inquiete. Nonobstante, illa se hastava, movente se de plus in plus rapidemente in despecto del dolor de su cauda.

Finalmente, illa arrivava a un placia grande. Le gente, conversante e ridente, esseva sedite circum tabulas in le umbra de arbores. Sub un immense parasol, garsones de café detra un banco distribueva bibitas in grande bicarios gelate. In ille momento le sirena comenciava a comprender le severitate de su fame e sete. Illa sapeva que un bibita de aqua la facerea revivir. Ma quando illa vadeva al banco e peteva aqua, un garson extendeva verso illa le mano.

"Io non ha moneta," diceva illa. "Io vole solmente un bicario de aqua."

Le garson agitava firmemente su capite. "Solmente nos ha aqua mineral in bottilias," ille diceva. "E nos lo vende. Illo non es gratis. Hic tu non pote occupar un tabula sin ordinar alique." Le tono disagradabile de su voce la faceva retornar al strata.

Isto, naturalmente, esseva un grande disillusion pro le sirena, qui tanto habeva volite immiscer se con le humanos. In vice de illo, illa vagava per le citate. Illa reguardava le vitrinas e videva un mar de etiquettas de precio. Vestimentos, scarpas, joieles, libros, jocos--omnes habeva su precios. Le humanos habeva besonio de moneta pro esser felice, comprendeva le sirena. E como illes compra lor placeres, illa pensava, quando illes non ha moneta, illes es multo plus solitari que io.

Durante que le sirena se dirigeva trans le placia congestionate, subito illa audiva un sono familiar. Illa se tornava. In un del tabulas alicuno habeva versate un bicario de aqua. Un femina ben vestite essayava nettar le aqua de su gonna con un servietta. Le sirena la recognosceva instantemente. Illa esseva le femina qui habeva essite in le piscina prendente le sol sur le flotator de cauchu.

Immediatemente post vider la, le sirena tornava le facie, timente que le femina iva a recognoscer la. Tunc illa diceva a se, "Como pote illa recognoscer me si illa nunquam me ha vidite?" In ille instante illa comprendeva un altere cosa. Su pensamentos se dirigeva verso le parve infante qui repeva completemente sol in le jardin, e illa comenciava a inquietar se.

Le critos choleric del triton subito resonava in su aures. "Nulle sentito de responsibilitate! Bon pro nullo!" Istos habeva essite su parolas quando ille la habeva lassate injuriate e plen de resentimento in le piscina. Forsan non habeva ration ille? Illa solmente habeva pensate de se mesme e de su solitude, oblidante su carga completemente.

Le sirena reguardava con anxietate circum se ma non trovava ulle persona a qui illa poteva precar auxilio. Finalmente illa trovava le grande sculptura de petra eregite in le fonte in medio del placia. Duo dracones lanceava jectos de aqua sur le deo del mar durante que un sirena extendeva a ille un bassino de petra pro bibere.

Le sirena se hastava verso le fonte. Impacientemente, illa tirava le buttones del roba e lo jectava a in le fonte. Con ambe brachios, illa imbraciava le sculptura del deo e le implorava, su lachrimas cadente sur su facie: "O grande spirito del aqua, per favor adjuva me. Invia me al piscina e permitte me complir le carga que on me ha date. Io accepta le punition que io merece, ma adjuva me a incontrar le cammino de retorno a mi sito.

Durante que illa precava ferventemente, appareva un vento forte, tornante parasoles, drappas de tabula, e jornales. Le gente in le stratas se dispersava in omne directiones.

"Veni un tempestate de tonitro," critava alicuno. "Prende refugio!"

Le garsones se precipitava a nettar le tabulas con le maxime rapiditate. Le venditor de gelatos curreva via con su carretta, e on coperiva le kiosk de jornales con un coperatura de canevas. Quasi immediatemente le placia restava vacue.

Le sirena non notava ullo de isto proque illa ancora esseva fixate fortemente contra le statua de petra. Solmente comenciava illa a recuperar se quando le prime grande guttas de pluvia batteva su spatulas. Tosto torrentes de pluvia descendeva circum omne illa, e illa se trovava in su proprie elemento. Que placer sentiva illa post discoperir que illa poteva mover se liberemente ancora un vice.

Flotante in parte, repente in parte, illa retornava verso le strata calme e familiar de ubi illa habeva venite. Ma, illa se demandava, como poterea illa recognoscer le jardin?

Quasi omne le casas que illa videva habeva piscinas, e quasi omne le jardines habeva palmeras cuje folios se reflecteva in le aqua. Ma solmente in un de ille jardines habeva il un vetule setter con capillos rubie, completemente molliate, guttas de aqua cadente de su aures durante que illo aspirava con le nares le bordo del piscina, como si illo cercava alique perdite.

"Io arriva. Attende me," critava le sirena. Illa tunc montava un cascada de aqua; e tunc, como si illa usava un paracadita, illa comenciava a glissar a basso usque attinger le piscina. Illa atterreva con un battimento de aqua tremende, molliante le can desde le naso usque le cauda. Illo comenciava a latrar phreneticamente e, plen de gaudio, comenciava a dansar sur su patas posterior.

Exactemente a ille momento le pluvia cessava. Le nubes obscur comenciava a dispersar se. Un parve cavo de celo blau se aperiva e un radio del sol jalne se extendeva sur le jardin.

Como un responsa a un signal, le infante quitava le casa repente como un parve tortuca e contemplava le meravilias del mundo que le circumfereva. Le pedunculos de herba esseva humide a causa del pluvia, como le flores e le petras. Ille repeva trans le jardin, molliante su manos e su genas. Plen de curiositate, le infante vadeva in avante, extendente le mano pro toccar le superficie vitriose del aqua. In ille momento ille perdeva le equilibrio e cadeva per le capite a in le piscina, a in le brachios del sirena.

Illa trovava le infante pesante, surprendentemente pesante pro alicuno tan parve, ma etiam surprendentemente adorabile. Le sirena nunquam antea habeva vidite tan proxime a se un esser human con su supercilios finemente designate, e su oculos grande e ronde que la videva con surprisa incomprehensibile. Rapidemente illa levava le infante sur le superficie del aqua de maniera que ille facilemente poteva respirar le aer. Illa le teneva firmemente e con securitate.

In ille momento le governante sortiva con urgentia ex le casa. Vidente le infante flotante sur le aqua, illa se hastava verso ille, le tirava ex le piscina e critava tan fortemente que le vicinos veniva currente de omne lateres. Illes agitava le infante, dante a ille colpos in le dorso usque ille comenciava a plorar. Le governante singultava, le infante continuava su critos, le can latrava, e le vicinos, con difficultate, critava pro facer se audir. Illos esseva le mesme ruitos que le sirena habeva detestate tanto, ma nunc illos esseva quasi como musica a su aures.

Ben que illa poteva mover solmente con difficultate--su cauda esseva inflammate a causa de su longe excursion ille die e su brachios doleva a illa a causa de tante effortio--le sirena se sentiva plus felice que in ulle altere momento que illa poteva memorar.

"Gratias," murmurava illa al fortias del natura. "Io es multissimo grate a vos pro lo que hodie vos me ha inseniate. Io nunc comprende que solmente facente lo que on expecta de me pote io incontrar significantia e finalitate in le vita.

Contente al fin, illa natava al fundo del piscina, cruciava le brachios serenemente, e comenciava a soniar de un triton.

---

The Unhappy Mermaid

That year overpopulaton hit the creatures of the deep the way it had hit the ones living on the land. All rivers and lakes were filled with mermaids, and the tritons had to put the young ones they cared for into the swimming pools in the parks to make sure their skin would not dry up.

Because of these circumstances, a young and graceful mermaid came to occupy an oval-shaped white swimming pool after it was built.

The swimming pool was in the back yard of a small, attractive house. Its crystalline waters reflected the branches of palm trees, and during the weary evenings the intoxicating fragrance of orange-tree flowers saturated the air. Though the young mermaid had every reason to be happy in her new home, she stuck out her lower lip in a signal of anger and swam down to the deepest part of the pool.

"What do you want of me," the triton asked angrily. "You have a splendid pool for yourself. All the other mermaids live in aquariums with only enough space to stretch out their fins.

"But they can play with the fish," replied the mermaid angrily. "They can have races with them, climb up on them, hide from them in the plants or slip into some empty shells while I myself can only swim around in circles. It bores me to death!" she complained as she glared at the triton.

The triton's surprise turned to rage.

"Your duty is to watch out and make sure that no one has an accident in the water. And what are you thining of? Only your own pleasure. Young people have no sense of responsibility these days," he cried out. "The only thing you are interested in is your own amusement and entertainment. All of us who are older have to do all the work while you play around lost in your pleasures, and you are not good for anything at all."

He was so irritated that he grabbed and shook up the young mermaid so strongly that some of her scales fell to the bottom of the swimming pool. He then let go of her and disappeared.

Alone once again, the mermaid moved her thin, graceful body through the water, with only a single, almost imperceptible wave revealing her presence.

No one saw her. The man who came with a long-handled net to remove leaves from the pool didn't notice her. The woman who came to take in the sun on a yellow rubber float and screamed when a wave got her bathing suit wet didn't notice her. She was also not noticed by the woman's child as he crawled through the garden, annoying the mermaid with his crying until his nanny came and took him away.

Only the dog, an old, red-haired setter came up running and started to bark as the mermaid was swimming around in the pool. Wagging his tail, he lowered his head and almost fell in the water as he tried to touch her with one of his forepaws.

"What's the matter with that dog?" the woman said aloud to herself. She then tiptoed out of the pool and went home.

At first the mermaid thought it was fun to play with the dog. But in time she got bored and started looking for some other way to have fun. She then found the long, black bathrobe that the woman had left on one of the chairs. Would she come back for it? The mermaid watched and waited. She liked the bathrobe and loved the idea of wearing human clothing.

A few moments went by, but the woman didn't come back. Continuing her observations, the mermaid waited. Finally, she silently got out of the water, moved like a fish toward the chair, and grabbed hold of the robe. She needed a certain amount of time before she learned how to put it on. Finally, she was able to do so.

She then pompously posed before the large glass door leading to the garden, enchanted with the way she looked. With a hand on her hip, she started to bump and grind from side to side. Then she thought that with this robe on she would even be inconspicuous among people.

The mermaid eagerly looked at the garden gate. She longed to see what the outside world was like. She turned around and looked toward the house as she tried to listen to any sound indicating some movement inside, but everything was quiet.

Finally, the mermaid extended the long robe over her tail. Afterwards, she slid toward the garden gate and opened it cautiously as she looked from side to side. She saw at the side of the road a row of small and beautiful houses surrounded by gardens filled with beautiful flowers.

The entire scene was so pleasant and serene that she successfully summoned the courage to take a couple of steps down the sidewalk, and then a few more steps. Finally, she felt so happy and free that she cried out with joy.

At the end of the street she saw a small group of people. She longed to join them and engage them in conversation. She absolutely did not want to be alone and bored at the bottom of the pool. She wanted to be free, and she now knew that this was really possible.

Driven by this thought, the mermaid started to slowly walk along the sidewalk toward these people. The hard pavement scratched her fins, but knowing that they were covered by the robe comforted her.

And if anyone asked her why she was dragging her fins, she knew that she could dream up some credible story. Thus encouraged, she went to the end of the street; no one asked her anything or smiled at her. The people there remained standing on their feet, silent and staring straight ahead as if spaced out.

"What's the matter with them," the mermaid asked herself. "Aren't they happy to know one another, to have so many people to talk with?"

She started to shake her head in dismay when suddenly she was shaken by the noise of a big bus coming up to a stop on a curb in front of her and opening its doors with a bang. As she looked around anxiously, the people around her started to get on the bus. She was the last one who went up the steps.

The driver extended his head toward her. The mermaid looked at him in confusion.

"You've got to pay your fare," he said to her.

"But I don't have any money," she answred. "And my feet hurt. I can't walk very far."

The driver shook his head. "Without money you can't get on," he said, adding, "but blisters you can get for nothing." After saying this, he pushed her away, closed the door in her face, and rapidly drove away."

Though this was not what the mermaid hoped for, she didn't let herself get discouraged easily. She then trudged down the street and soon was surrounded by heavy traffic. The automobile drivers honked their horns and shouted at her, and she soon felt very uneasy. Still, she hurried up, moving more and more rapidly despite her aching tail.

Finally, she arrived at a large town square. The people, laughing and talking to one another, were seated at tables under shade trees. Under an immense umbrella, waiters behind a counter distributed drinks in large chilled glasses. At that moment the mermaid began to understand how hungry and thirsty she was. She knew that a glass of water would revive her. But when she went to the counter, a waiter reached out his hand.

"I don't have any money," she said. "I want only a glass of water."

The waiter nodded his head firmly. "We only have water in bottles," he said, "and we sell it. It isn't free. You can't sit down at a table here without ordering something." The disagreeable tone of his voice made her return to the street.

This, naturally, was a great disappointment for the mermaid, who so greatly wanted to mingle with the people. Instead of that, she wondered through the city. She looked through the display windows and saw a sea of price tags. Dresses, shoes, jewelry, books, games--all had their prices. Humans had need of money to be happy, the mermaid understood. And since they buy their pleasures, she thought, when they don't have money they are even more lonely than I am.

While the mermaid made her way through the crowded town square, she suddenly heard a familiar sound. She turned around. On one of the tables someone had spilled a glass of water. A well-dressed woman tried to mop up the water from her skirt with a napkin. The mermaid recognized her immediately. She was the woman who had been sunbathing on the rubber float in the swimming pool.

Immediately after seeing her, the mermaid turned away her face out of fear that the woman would recognize her. Then she said to herself, "How can she recognize me if she has never seen me?" At that moment she understood one thing. Her thoughts turned to the little child crawling in the garden by himself, and she began to feel uneasy.

The angry cries of the triton suddenly rang in her ears. "No sense of responsibility! Good for nothing!" These had been his words when he left her in the swimming pool full of resentment with her feelings hurt. But wasn't he right perhaps? She had only thought of herself and of her loneliness, completely forgetting her duty.

The mermaid looked around herself anxiously but found no one she could ask for help. Finally she found the big stone fountain in the middle of the town square. Two dragons were spraying jets of water on the god of the sea while a mermaid extended to him a bowl he could drink from.

The mermaid hurried toward the fountain. Impatiently, she unbuttoned the robe and threw it into the fountain. With both arms, she embraced the figure of the god and, with tears flowing down her cheeks, she begged him, "O great spirit, please help me. Send me to the swimming pool and let me carry on with the duty I have been assigned. I accept the punishment I deserve, but help me find a way to return to my site.”

As she fervently prayed, a strong wind started to blow, whirling around umbrellas, table cloths, and newspapers. People in the streets scattered in every direction.

"A thunderstorm is coming," someone cried out. "Take cover!"

The waiters hastened to clean up the tables as quickly as possible. The ice-cream vendor ran away with his cart, and someone covered up the newspaper stand with canvas. Almost immediately the place was vacated.

The mermaid did not notice any of this because her gaze was still strongly centered on the stone statue. She only began to recover when the first drops of rain fell onto her shoulder. Soon torrents of rain fell all around her, and she found herself in her own element. What great pleasure she felt on finding out that she could freely move once again.

She half floated, half crawled as she made her way back to the calm, familiar street that she had come from. But how, she asked herself, could she recognize the garden and the swimming pool?

Almost all the houses she soon saw had swimming pools, and almost all the gardens had palm trees with branches that were reflected in the water. But only one of those gardens had an old red-haired setter that was completely soaked from the rain as he sniffed around the edge of the swimming pool as if searching for something he had lost.

"I'm coming. Wait for me," the mermaid cried out. She then mounted a cascade of water and then, as if using a parachute, she started to slide down until she reached the pool. She landed with an enormous splash, getting the dog wet from his nose to his tail. He started to bark frantically and, filled with joy, he started to dance on his hind legs.

Right at that moment the rain died down. The dark clouds started to scatter. A small patch of blue sky opened up and a ray of yellow sunshine moved across the garden.

As if on cue, the baby came out of the house crawling like a small turtle and contemplated the marvels of the world all around him. The tufts of grass were wet from the rain, like flowers and stones. He crawled through the garden, getting his hands and knees wet. Filled with curiosity, the baby bent over the swimming pool and extended his hand to touch the glassy surface of the water. At that point he lost his balance and fell headlong into the water and into the arms of the mermaid.

She found the baby heavy, surprisingly heavy for someone so small, but also surprisingly adorable. The mermaid had never before seen a human being as close to her as this with his finely drawn eyebrows and his big, round eyes that looked on her in uncomprehending surprise. She rapidly lifted the baby over the surface of the water so that he could easily breathe. She held him tight and kept him safe.

At that moment his nanny urgently came out of the house. Seeing the baby float on the water, she hurried toward him, took him out of the pool, and cried out so loud that her neighbors ran up to her from everywhere. They shook the baby, hitting him on the back until he started to cry. The nanny sobbed, the baby kept on crying, the dog continued to bark, and the neighbors cried out to make themselves heard. It was the same kind of noise that the mermaid had detested so greatly, but now it was almost like music to her ears.

Though she could move only with difficulty--her tail was swollen because of her long excursion that day and her arms ached because of so much exertion--the mermaid felt happier than at any other moment that she could remember.

"Thanks," she said to the forces of nature. "I am very grateful to you for what you have taught me today. I now understand that only by doing what I am expected to do can I find meaning and purpose in life.

Happy at last, she swam to the bottom of the pool, crossed her arms serenely, and started to dream of a triton.

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