‘Peter and the mer-people’ is a story told in verse about a boy who tavels with his father into a magical underwater world.
By the rolling sea of Argon,
Lies the lands of Tremethlion,
At the sea’s ragged edges,
Thrown against the tall cliffs,
Like sparkling flotsam,
Is the town of Tarrin.
There lives Peter, twelve years tall,
His father Otto, keen of eye,
The great clockwork maker to the king
Grenda his mother, maker of royal lace,
And gentle Mary, his younger sister,
Eight years and following her mother’s trade.
In the morning Peter goes to school,
Makes his way through busy streets,
To spend his time in lessons,
Learning of language and mathematics,
And the history of Tremethlion,
Before returning back home.
The afternoons are spent in wonder,
Helping Otto in his workshop,
There surrounded by the tools,
Where Otto makes and repairs,
Clockwork engines, clocks and devices,
For the royal household of Tremethlion.
Each morning the light through casement window,
Wakes Peter from his restful slumber,
And descending the stairs from his bedroom,
He passes Ranor the family dog,
Who has spent the night sleeping there,
With watchful dreams on his mind.
“Morning Peter”, say Ranor,
As talking dog he greets the young master
“Morning Ranor” says Peter,
“It looks a good and glorious day”,
“A day full of expectations,
I dare say”, says Ranor.
As each member of the family,
Rises, stirs and comes down stairs,
A breakfast of oatmeal porridge is made,
And then around the family table,
They greet each other and say,
”It looks like a glorious day”.
And so each day within the household,
Moves to its gentle rhythm,
As Otto works within his workshop,
And Grenda works at her lace making,
While Mary sits by her mother’s side,
And learns the skills she offers.
Late morning then Peter returns,
With stories from his morning school,
Of the games played with other children,
The lessons and the things he learnt,
Of writing, reading and mathematics,
And the history of Tremethlion.
And in the afternoon, young Peter,
Helps his father in his workshop,
Designing, making things of wonder,
For the king and for his household,
Clockwork lights and clockwork engines,
The best in all Tremethlion.
And when the rhythm of the day,
Draws near to its evening end,
Peter says goodnight to all,
And up the stairs past sleeping Ranor,
He goes into his bedroom,
And sits there by the casement window.
He spends many hours,
Sitting there with intent hearing,
Listening to the sounds of the sea,
As it plays along the shore,
That wide and rocky shoreline,
Of the sea of Argon.
In among the common sounds,
Of the sea and waves and tides,
Peter listens to the music,
Of the mer-people far below,
That live in the blue depths,
And in the evening always sing.
For Peter the sweet music,
Is a splendid nectar,
A wave of sonorous harmony,
And melodic splendour,
That fills his heart with strange wonderings,
Of the life down in the sea below.
And so the days pass by,
And nothing seems to change,
But then one day when idly walking
Along the shore up from the harbour,
Peter came to a cave set aside,
Within the low cliff face.
Here there was a still sea pool,
All covered overhead with rock,
The entrance, it was subtly hid,
So no-one who would wander by,
Could find that cunning doorway,
But there did Peter find his way.
And there he sat beside the pool,
Gazed into the blue, blue water,
His mind to wonderings of the deep did return,
When a loud splash he then heard,
And looking up to scan the surface,
He saw a head up from the water rising.
It was the head of a young mer-boy,
With gill-like slits upon his neck,
And skin with scales of purest blue,
The eyes of deepest turquoise
The mer-boy looked at Peter and simply said,
“My name is Aqain, and what is yours”?
Peter’s speech was slow to come,
Transfixed by this unbidden sight,
But when his shock had overcome,
Returned his gaze upon the scaly face,
And said “my name is Peter
And I live here by the shore”.
From that time on a great friendship,
Developed between the boys,
Each night young Peter from the house,
Would creep when all was still and quiet,
And meet his new found friend beside the pool,
The secret pool inside the shore’s cave.
Aquain would tell friend Peter,
Of his life below the waves,
The life lived by the mer-people,
Whose kingdom ruled within the depths,
And of the mighty mer-king,
Full of wisdom, care and grace.
But their secret did not last forever,
For Otto became suspicious,
And following Peter one dark night,
Discovered their secret meeting,
That the boys each night did keep,
And Peter’s friendship with the mer boy.
But Otto’s heart with anger did not fill,
But rather with a curious delight,
For he had never seen a mer-boy,
And was keen to hear of the hidden life,
Lived there in the watery depths,
Far in the sea below.
So Peter found a friend in his father,
And together they talked with young Aqauin,
And Otto’s mind like young Peter’s
Was filled with wondrous imaginings,
Of life within the blue sea,
And the kindom of the mer-people.
And so was hatched the thought,
Within Otto’s mind mechanical,
Of creating an underwater vessel,
A marvel of imagined design,
To explore below the water,
And visit the kingdom of the mer-people.
Many a night when all was quiet,
Otto with young Peter at his hand,
Would work within the workshop,
To make the craft so bold and new,
That would carry both father and son,
Into the mysterious sea.
Made from the largest barrel,
With crystal rock at one end,
And wooden door at the other,
For light a large clockwork torch,
And clockwork motor for the power,
To travel far below.
Special apparatus then Otto made,
To make the air within that vessel,
Clean and pure to breath for long,
And remove all that was bad and stale,
So both father and son,
Could live within for many an hour.
Buoyancy from two side tanks,
That filled with air upon command,
Or vented when a lever pulled,
Enabled that craft to sink,
Or raise with its watery dominion,
And so control its depth.
At last the day for launching came,
And to the shore the craft was taken,
Whilst crowds of people gathered round,
And there did Otto declare,
That the name of his great invention,
Should be known as the Aquanaut.
Into the water slid the craft,
And at the surfaced bobbed and swayed,
But then upon the levers command,
Dropped into the mysterious blue,
While those on shore shook their heads,
With wonder and with disbelief.
Down into the deep blue water,
Went the Aquanaut at once,
And with the clockwork light,
Illuminating the unknown world,
Otto and Peter looked in wonderment,
At all they saw.
Fishes and strange creatures of the sea,
Living within their native habitat,
And plants and coral with colours bright,
Strewn across the sandy seabed,
Like a strange and wonderful forest,
Hidden from human view.
But deeper, deeper went the craft,
And light grew dim outside,
As they left the abundant life,
And came to a desolate area,
All tumbled with ships of man,
That had succumbed to those depths.
How sad the ships that once,
Had ridden the water with majesty ,
Now lolled all heaped at jaunty angles,
There upon the open seabed,
And Otto and Peter thought then long,
Of all the sailors that had lost their lives.
But soon in the dim distance,
A strange and surreal light was seen,
That showed the far horizon,
And the way to find at last,
The kingdom of the mer-people,
And the land where they lived.
With fear and trepidation,
In their small and fragile craft,
Otto and his son young Peter,
Finally approached the kingdom,
They had worked so hard to find,
The kingdom of the mer-people.
Coming over a mountain top,
A sight that took their breath away,
Revealed to them a wide and rolling valley,
A valley there far under the sea,
Where that gentle and strange light
Lit the scene before them.
Everywhere the blue light shone,
Otto and Peter could clearly see,
Strange and marvellous buildings,
That littered the valley floor,
Seemingly made of rock,
Or some strange coral growth.
At the centre of the valley,
Rising high above the plains,
Was a mound of rock and coral,
And on the summit a castle stood,
Made of corals and contorted rock,
With turrets and walls all around.
From the top of that building,
Shone the steady cold blue light,
Casting out its radiant beams,
Over all that subterranean valley,
And giving illumination,
To all that lived there.
And by that light could clearly be seen,
The mer-people swimming there,
All was activity and motion,
Though Otto could not make out,
The meaning of their business,
Or what work they undertook.
They came ever nearer and closer,
To that castle in the deep,
And found themselves at last,
Before the castle walls from which,
Came a group of stern faced mer-men,
And pulled the Aquanaut inside.
They settled in a courtyard,
Enclosed about with coral walls,
And there were countless mer-men staring,
In wonder at the Aquanaut,
And the visitors from above,
And in that crowd stood dear Aqauin.
Otto and Peter inside their craft,
Could see that at one side,
Of that grand and regal space,
Was a throne of pearly splendour
And on the throne sat the mer-king,
The king of the kingdom there below.
His hair was white and long,
And floating around about his head,
His face was strong with sharp features,
But his eyes shone with deep wisdom,
Within one hand he held a trident ,
The other resting on the throne.
Then came a sound so strange yet calming,
As the mer-men sang a tune,
And Peter knew that very instant,
That the melody with rising vigour,
Was a song of welcome,
For new found friends.
Trapped within the splendid vessel,
They could only watch and stare,
As the mer-people paraded,
And danced in magical display,
To that haunting ethereal sound,
The sound of the mer-people singing.
Suddenly the dancing stopped,
And stillness fell upon that scene,
As rising from his coral throne,
The mer-king swam with graceful motion,
Across to where the Aquanaut lay,
To view the occupants there.
And although they were of different race,
One born of air and one of water,
Within that countenance so strange,
Otto could see within the mer-king’s face,
That wisdom, peace and grace,
Ruled in that blessed kingdom.
With a regal wave of his arm,
A further burst of song came forth,
And mer-people crowded round to see,
The wonder of the Aquanaut,
Before she departed from that region,
Back to the kingdom of the air.
Otto with reluctant heart,
Pulled the lever to start the engine,
And the Aquanaut began,
Its return journey to the air,
To where it had was created,
To the world above of man above.
They crossed the broad underwater valley,
The kingdom of the mer-people,
And came once more to the graveyard,
All strewn with ships of man,
And travelling ever upwards,
To the shallows by the shore.
But then in sudden horror,
The Aquanaut began to leak,
And filling with cold sea water,
She began to sink once more,
Back into the depths,
With Otto and Peter still inside.
Otto then with quickness of mind.
Opened the vessel’s door,
And as the water flooded in,
Peter and Otto escaped and swam up,
Up into the bright air,
Whilst the Aquanaut sunk deep below.
Back to the graveyard she went,
To rest in that sad company,
Whilst Peter and young Otto,
Broke the water’s surface,
And breathed the clear fresh air,
Of man’s world once more.
They were not far from shore,
And soon were spotted by a boat,
That took them back to Tarrin,
And the welcome that waited there,
From Grenda and dear Mary,
Who feared the worst for them both.
Long there after they would tell,
The tale of their journey deep below,
Of how they travelled to the mer-kingdom,
Through depths before unknown,
To meet with the king of the deep,
And greet him by his throne.
But none they told would believe,
The tale of their adventure,
For so fantastic seemed their story,
That it defied their weak imagination,
And Otto and young Peter,
Held their memories to themselves.
But father and son would often talk together,
Of their adventure under the sea,
And at night when the stars came out,
They would sit by the open window,
And listen to the song of the mer-people,
A song for friends once known of old.
