ermaids

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

The Baron just received the news that the new glass bottom boat had arrived and was ready for its trial run on Castle Lake. The trial run on the lake was very enjoyable and the Baron did not realize how many different kinds of fish could be seen.

As time went by the glass bottom boat ride became very popular among the citizens and tourists. But then some unusual reports about strange and different sightings were being heard in Lilliland. The wildest sighting was that someone saw a live mermaid following the boat and looking at the people from the glass bottom view.

These mermaid reports were discounted as being part of a joke or prank. But the reports continued and from people who were responsible and respected in the community.

Finally the Baron asked his chief advisor, Professor Hamblin, to investigate the mermaid sightings. The Professor took numerous trips on the boat but saw nothing and there were no claims of sightings while he was on the boat.

The only thing the Professor would say was that it was a figment of someone’s wild imagination. For the next few months the reports stopped and everything went back to normal.

Then on a Sunday afternoon Lady Angela suggested a picnic and boat ride in the afternoon. It was a quiet lazy summer day and a boat ride seemed like a nice idea.

First, Lady Angela had a picnic basket packed. Then she and the Baron chose their favorite quiet location near her castle to have the picnic. They later went over to the boat for a ride. The swans on Castle Lake were accustomed to boats and they ignored the boat as it went around the lake.

While Lady Angela was looking through the glass at the fish below, she was surprised. She thought that she saw a mermaid looking back at her and waving. Lady Angela started to turn to the Baron to report what she saw but quickly decided against it. She would keep the sighting to herself for the moment. Then she decided to say nothing for fear the Baron would think that she had too much wine at the picnic.

A few days later Lady Angela took Professor Hamblin aside and asked him if there was anything in history that claimed to be an actual sighting of a mermaid anywhere in the world. The Professor assured her that there was no documented sighting of a mermaid although mermaids are found in folklore in many countries that border on the area.

That answer perplexed Lady Angela very much.