Aon oche amhin, tann fear darb ainm Mac Aoidh amach ag sil cois cladaigh. Tchonn s scaifte de mhaighdeana mara ag snmh sa chuan agus bratacha sacu caite le taobh carraige ar an tr. Sciobann s leis ceann de na bratacha agus cuireann faoi cheilt ach gan a brat fin a bheith ag achan maighdean mhara n thig li pilleadh ar an Domhan Faoi Thonn. Nuair a thugann na maighdeana mara faoi deara go bhfuil Mac Aoidh ann, tann siad ar mire ar fad. Beireann achan bhean acu geirm ar a brat fin agus ar shil leo amach ar dhroim na mara. Ach fgtar maighdean mhara amhin acu ar an tr fholamh gan bhrat, gan a craiceann rin. Sos le Mac Aoidh fhad li agus iarrann uirthi dul chun an bhaile leis agus a phsadh. Tchtear don maighdean mhara nach bhfuil an dara rogha aici agus leanann s an gada gan fhios di gurbh eisean a bh taobh thiar den ghnomh bhradach. Anois, t s sinnithe ar dhromchla an domhain, ina hiasc ar talamh go dt go dtig an l a bheidh faill aici al.

One Spring night under a sickle moon, a man called Mac Aoidh walks along the shore. He comes upon a group of mermaidsswimming in the bay, their shawls strewn on the rocks. Mac Aoidh snatches one shawl and deliberately conceals it, knowing that a mermaid can never return to her own world deep in the ocean without it. When the mermaids realise that Mac Aoidh is among them they become alarmed. Each one clutches her own shawl and swims frantically out on to the waves. But one mermaid is left stranded, abandoned and vulnerable without her shawl, her sealskin. Mac Aoidh sidles down to her and invites her to go with him. The mermaid, believing she has no other option, follows Mac Aoidh, unaware that it was he who perpetrated this cruel deed. She is now imprisoned, a fish on dry land under his coercive control, until the day comes when she is presented with an oppertunity to escape.

Leabhar dtheangach (Gaeilge agus Barla)