The unwilling mermaid had changed into an unwilling deer, or a doe to be precise. She had little stubby horns on her head.
"Ooh!" she exclaimed, "They tricked me! How dishonest of them! Now, I'll have to keep my promise if I want to walk on two legs again!"
She swiftly ran off the beach towards the tall mountain that lay ahead. The lower slopes were covered in woods. Here, a young prince was following his hunting dogs. All at once, they started to run, barking. The prince looked up, saw the delicate deer dashing through the trees, and let fly with an arrow. It skimmed over her back, grazing her skin with its sharp tip.
"Hey, watch where you are shooting!" called out the deer in the voice of a girl. "You might have killed me!"
"Come back! Don't be afraid! I won't shoot you again!" replied the prince, who, if the truth is told, was the target of one of Cupid's arrows.
"Can't stop now! I'm in a rush. I have important things to do, and I'm running late!" called back the deer with the voice of a girl.
The prince stood and marvelled.
Onwards and upwards ran the deer. Soon, she was picking her way over hard rocks. The mountain became steeper and steeper. She stumbled quite often but fortunately did not injure any of her four legs. Eventually, when she was almost exhausted, she came over a crest and saw a huge castle hewn out of the rocks. It was almost like part of the mountain itself. The sight renewed her energy. She trotted over the stone bridge and through the strong, unguarded gates of the castle.
"Well that part was easy," she said to herself.
Inside the castle, she found a courtyard. It was empty but not silent because the sound of loud snoring echoed all around it. The unwilling deer looked up and saw that the snoring was coming from an open window high in the main tower. So she went inside and began to climb the winding staircase. Soon she came to a landing and a half-open door. She used her soft nose to nudge it open. Inside, the unwilling deer found an enormous and rough-looking man, fast asleep on a huge bed. His boots and shirt were strewn on the floor. A foul stench polluted the room. She hastily looked around for a crown, but could not see one. So softly, she backed out of the room and climbed the stairs to the next floor. Here she found a chamber occupied by a girl, not so unlike her former self, only three times as big. The young giantess was filing her nails that were like great talons. And yes! There was the queen's crown sitting on the dressing table. The giantess looked up and gaped at the unwilling deer as she entered her room.
"Oy, get out, you filthy beast."
"Not until you give me the crown that your brutish father stole from its rightful owner, who is now Queen of the Fishes."
The giantess threw a huge hairbrush at the intruder. The deer sprang over to the dressing table, momentarily admiring herself in the mirror, and then scooped up the crown on one of the little horns that sprouted out of her head. Then she danced about and sprang out of the room thinking, "I knew I could do it! I'm so clever!"
The giantess yelled:
"Stop Thief!"
The reluctant deer was about to dive downstairs when she heard the sound of heavy footsteps and realised that the giant had awoken and was on his way up. She had no choice. The only way was up, so up she went. On the next landing, she rushed through a door and out onto the battlements. She started to run along them. The giant and giantess were not far behind, and it seemed that there was no easy escape. As she ran, she heard a loud cry behind her:
OUCH!
And then another cry, only deeper.
"OWWWWWWW!"
She glanced around, and she saw the giantess pulling an arrow out of her huge behind. The giant was hopping up and down with an arrow in his foot. Who had come to her rescue? She soon saw the answer to her question. Down in the courtyard stood the Prince. He must have followed her to the castle. Soon another arrow flew from his bow, and this one caught the giant in his rear end. The cry was so loud that the whole castle trembled. Now the unwilling deer had to find a way to escape. She darted into the doorway of a tower and found her way down the stairs and into the courtyard. Soon she was charging through the gates, across the bridge, and to freedom. This time, when the prince called her, she did not run from him. They made their way down the mountain together, and she had plenty of time to tell him all about her adventures.
When they reached the beach, the sun was setting over the horizon. They walked together through the surf, bathing their weary feet. The unwilling deer wore the crown on her head. She did not want to disrespect the queen, but it was the easiest way to carry it since she did not have hands.
The prince held her face, looked into her big doey eyes and said:
"You are the most extraordinary girl I have ever met. Will you marry me?"
The unwilling deer almost replied, "Are you stupid or what? You can't marry a deer?" But then she remembered how she vowed not to be a know-all and said:
"Of course, but first, I must return this crown to the Queen of the Fishes and hopefully, she will turn me back into a girl."
She looked out to see and called out:
"Oh, Queen! Oh, Queen! Where are you? I kept my promise to fetch your crown!"
They waited while listening to the waves. At last, the sun sunk below the horizon, and the full moon glimmered on the water. Only then did the Queen arrive floating on a boat made from a giant shell and paddled by mermen and mermaids.
"Oh, my stars!" exclaimed the prince. "The queen of the Fishes of whom you have told me so much is my very own mother! We thought she had drowned in a shipwreck!"
The queen waded ashore, took the crown in her hands and placed it upon her head. Then, with tears in her eyes, she embraced her son.
"Hey, haven't you forgotten something," said the unwilling deer. "What about your promise to me?'
"All in good time," said the Queen. "The Old man of the Sea will turn you back into a girl as soon as he wakes up."
So the unwilling deer had to wait until morning to turn back into a girl. The prince stayed the whole time with her while they walked up and down the beach. The following month they were married, and from that time on, the girl's happy mother and father liked to boast that they had the cleverest daughter in the whole wide world. The girl herself, who was now a princess, lived a long and happy life with her prince and was noticeably more modest than she had been when she was young, poor, and did not know anything about anything.
THE END