But they
were not obliged to stay in it. They found better places on the ship.
Nobody could see them, so they went where they liked. They went out on
the bow, where the lookout stood, and watched with him for sails and
for tiny puffs of smoke by day and for little glimmers of light by
night. They ran about the bridge and swarmed up the rigging. They even
danced on the deck, as if they were in a field at home; and the deck
was dewy at night, just like the field. They fluttered and whirled in
circles around the red light on the one side of the ship and the green
light on the other side, and they reminded them of the rubies and the
emeralds that had helped to light their own rath.
One day they saw swimming in the water beside the ship an ugly
creature, like a man, with a red nose, tangled green hair, green
teeth, and fingers with webs between them, like a duck's foot. There
was another creature, like a woman, very beautiful, but with green
hair, like the man. These were merrows--sea fairies.
"Where are you bound in that ship?" the merrows called to them.
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