The Seal Woman (1)

The Seal Woman (1) 

  There was an unmarried farmer from Wastness.

  Friends teased him when he said he had no interest in women, but he took no notice.
  His only interest  was his farm, and the good farmer grew rich.

  One day teh farmer was walking by the shore at the ebb tide, and noticed a group of seal folk sunning themselves on a rock and swimming in the sea.

  The seals did not notice the farmer, so he crept closer and saw that they had all taken off their sealskins and their bdies were as pale as his own.

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The Seal Woman (2)

The Seal Woman (2)

  The fsrmer thought it would be fun to catch one of the naked seals, so he edged closer and then made a dash for the seals.

  They grabbed their skins in alarm and jumped into the water, but the farmer managed to hold on to one of the skins.

  He watched the seals swim out to sea and then turned to walk home. He heard sobbing behind him, and turned to see a seal-woman, weeping for her lost skin.

  " I cannot join my family in the sea without it, " she said.

  The farmer felt pity, but he was also smitten by the beauty of the seal woman. He talked to her, and told her his feelings.

  Soon he persuaded her to come ashore and live with him as his wife.

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The Seal Woman (3)

The Seal Woman (3)

  She lived long with the farmer and was a good farmer's wife.

  She bore him seven children, four boys and three girls.

  She sang and seemed happy, but she  sometimes looked with longing at the sea.

  One day the farmer took his three eldest sons out in his boat to go fishing.

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The Seal Woman (4)

The Seal Woman(4)

  The seal-woman three children to gather limpets and whelks.

  The youngest daughter stayed at home, because the girl's foot was sore and she could not walk far.

  Once they had all gone out the seal-woman to search the house. Her daughter realized that she was looking for something, and asked her mother what it was.

  " Tell no one, " said the seal woman.

  " I am looking for a fine skin to make a dressing for your foot."

  The youngest girl replied, " I might know where you can find one. When you were out on day and father thought we were asleep, I saw him take a skin and look at 

it. "

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The Seal Woman (5)

The Seal Woman (5)

   " Then he folded it carefully and hid it away up in the eaves above thebed. " 

  The Seal woman rushed to the eaves.

  " Farewell my little one," she said, as she ran with the skin in the direction of the shore.

  She put on her skin, dived into the seam and swam away.

  A male seal saw her coming and greeted her with excitement, for he recognized the seal he had loved long ago.

  As the farmer was returning to shore, he saw his wife diving into the sea.

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The Seal Woman (6 完)

The Seal Woman (6)

  " Farewell, dear husband, " she called to him.
  " I like you well and you treated me kindly. But it is time that I returned to my true love of sea. "

  That was the last the farmer saw of the seal woman.

  He missed his seal-wife greatly, and it took him many years to recover from his sadness.

 And he often went for walks along the shore with his sons and daughters, hoping to catch sight of her again.

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