The Wizard of Fairy Tale World

Chapter 45: The Immortal Soul

The silver-haired boy, Rhine, who had been silent, suddenly lifted his chin and repeated the answer word for word:

"An eternal, immortal soul."

Ariel's mouth fell open. She first stared at Rhine in disbelief, her eyes wide, but soon a smile appeared on her face, and she let out a sigh of relief for her two new friends. She knew this human friend had answered correctly.

"Huh? What does that even mean?" Aurora blurted out, confused.

Was this answer really in line with the riddle?

Under the incredulous gaze of the Sea Hag, Rhine was certain he had given the correct answer.

Although the answer had come to him the moment the riddle was read, he had taken the time to carefully consider it, ensuring there was no better option before speaking.

Rhine began to explain slowly:

"No one can see the soul, yet countless poems and writings celebrate it.

"No one can touch the soul, yet it can be tainted or cleansed—we often say vile teachings pollute the soul, while sacred scenes purify it.

"The soul has no weight, making it lighter than the wind, yet it is priceless, more valuable than gold.

"The soul is softer than mist, but because it is eternal and immortal, it never fades away, no matter how much time passes.

"Most importantly, the immortal soul is, of course, far more significant to the dead than to the living.

"Yet humanity, still bound by their physical forms, remains unaware of the immortal soul’s presence. It is precisely because the body is mortal that the soul's immortality holds meaning."

Aurora listened to Rhine's explanation but felt that something was slightly off. Was her teacher deliberately ignoring one of the riddle’s lines? If that part were considered, the answer wouldn’t align with the riddle at all!

"But didn’t the riddle say..." Aurora started to question him, but Rhine seemed to know exactly what she was going to ask.

Rhine calmly replied, "Yes, Aurora. As the riddle states, humans possess immortal souls, but merfolk and other non-human intelligent beings do not."

The mermaid princess, Ariel, lowered her head and remained silent.

"Your answer is correct," the Sea Hag said, breaking into laughter. "Human, I never expected you to know this. Even in this vast ocean kingdom, only a handful of the wisest elders are aware of this secret."

Aurora was stunned.

So, that’s how it was?

If you didn’t know this secret beforehand, it would be impossible to come up with this answer!

"Can this even be called a riddle? If you don’t have that prior knowledge, there’s no way to solve it," Aurora muttered, feeling a little disheartened. "Aren’t riddles in stories supposed to use universally known things as their answers?" 𐍂ÁꞐȰΒƐṤ

But soon, the ten-year-old girl regained a bit of her confidence: at least she hadn’t failed because she was stupid.

"The fact that this human could answer the first question is impressive, but the next two questions aren’t long-winded riddles like this one," the Sea Hag thought.

The elderly sea witch then added:

"Human lives are far shorter than those of merfolk and other intelligent sea creatures.

"But what you humans possess, and we do not, is that brilliant, immortal soul."

"Some say that when the body perishes, the immortal soul ascends into a clear sky, flies toward the shining stars, and rises to a heavenly kingdom. Or, in particularly dire cases, it endlessly falls, descending lower than the ocean floor, into the deepest depths of the earth.

"In any case, it departs to another world—a world we can never see.

"Others say the immortal soul returns to the human world, once again entering life in the form of a newborn.

"When an elder passes away and their family sheds their first tears, somewhere else in the world, another baby lets out its first loud cry. Death and rebirth are a pair of inseparable twins, forever entwined, never to part.

"Since the dawn of history, no one has ever truly died."

As she finished speaking, the Sea Hag let out a cackling laugh, her tone verging on madness:

"All of these poetic notions are unique to you humans.

"We, the wise beings who are not human, upon death, simply dissolve into foam or a pool of slime, vanishing without a trace.

"Because, unlike you, we do not possess an immortal soul."

So, it really is true… Rhine sighed softly to himself.

Even though he had known this answer long before, experiencing it firsthand in this moment gave him a profoundly different feeling.

In simplified and adapted versions of The Little Mermaid, or as it is sometimes called, The Mermaid Princess, the story is often reduced to a love tale designed to be easily understood by children.

In these versions, the mermaid princess yearns to become human because she loves the prince. She sacrifices herself, turning into foam at dawn, and her end is viewed as a tragic act of devotion. The story concludes with the heartbreaking image of her body dissolving into sea foam.

Born for love, and perishing for love.

But in Hans Christian Andersen's original tale, the story carries deeper theological and religious undertones.

The little mermaid’s desire to marry the prince is driven by a crucial reason: her pursuit of an eternal soul. She hopes that through love and marriage with a human, she too might gain an immortal soul.

This religious significance extends to the ending: after becoming foam, the mermaid seemingly hears the voices of angels and transforms into a daughter of the air.

The light of God is subtly woven into the narrative.

God… Rhine’s thoughts swirled.

He also noticed a significant difference between the Sea Hag’s explanation of the immortal soul and the one presented in the original story!

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