Konkurs realioznawczy - The Selkie Bride

Polacy mają swoją warszawską syrenkę, zaś Szkoci i Irlandczycy opisują mityczne istoty znane jako selkies, obdarzone zdolnością przeobrażania się w foki i ludzi. W dzisiejszym konkursowym wpisie przedstawiamy popularną szkocką opowieść o rybaku i pięknej selkie.

Selkies or Seal Folk, whose name comes from the Scottish word for ‘seal’ are mythical creatures that have the power to change from seal to human by shedding their skin. They are present in many tales and he most popular one involves a man who steals a female selkie’s skin and forces her to become his wife. 

According to legend, there was a young Scottish fisherman who had spent all day at sea but had only caught a few very small fish. As he was walking across the beach toward his cottage, he heard beautiful voices. He turned toward the sound and saw a dozen selkie folk who were singing and took on human forms to play onshore. When the creatures noticed him, they quickly dived into the sea and disappeared. 

The fisherman could not believe his eyes and thought that he was dreaming. However, a moment later he noticed a shiny seal skin lying on a rock. He picked it up and decided that he could sell it and make some money. Then, he heard footsteps close behind him and when he turned, he saw a beautiful young woman who was crying.

She begged the fisherman to give the seal skin back and explained that she could not live under the sea without her skin. The young man could not take his eyes off the beautiful woman. He fell in love with her and decided he must keep her with him. 

He asked the selkie woman to marry him and live with him on land. He also promised her he would make her happy. She cried she would never be happy without her folk, but the fisherman was stubborn. The young woman could not return to her home in the sea without her skin, so she followed the fisherman to his cottage, hoping that somehow she would get the seal skin back.

The fisherman hid the skin inside a crevice in the chimney and the selkie could not find it. After a few weeks she agreed to marry him. The man truly loved his wife, and he always worked hard to make her happy. Over time she also grew to love her husband. As the years passed, the couple had seven children, and she loved them with all her heart. However, she missed her folk and the sea. 

One day the fisherman and the eldest children went out in their boat to catch fish, and the mother stayed at home with her youngest son. When she looked out of the window, she noticed a band of seals playing and barking. Her eyes filled with tears, and the boy asked her what made her so sad. She told him she had been born in the sea and her heart was filled with sorrow because she could not return home as her husband had hidden her seal skin.

The boy had heard tales of the selkie folk, he also knew his father had hidden something in the fireplace, so he pulled the seal skin from its hiding place and gave it to his mother. The woman embraced the boy and kissed him. Then she ran outside to the sea. She put on her seal skin and dived into the water. 

When the fisherman arrived home, the boy told him what had happened. The fisherman was heartbroken, but he was not angry with his son. He understood that the boy was braver and more generous than he himself had ever been. 

The fisherman and the children missed the selkie woman very much, but they knew that she was happy in the world where she belonged. They also often saw a seal swimming close to the shore and they never went hungry because the fisherman’s net was always full of large, shiny fish.