In the late 19th century, a real mermaid was caught in Sea of Japan. Later, the creature was sold and was exposed in a market in Benares, a city ubicated in the State of Uttar Pradesh, northern India.
A journalist working for Delhi Gazette reported:
“Some Mohammedans [Muslims, archaic] of Bengal have recently brought here a mermaid preserved in a case. It exactly resembles a fish covered with scales in the lower half, and a monkey having a head and two arms, with fingers and nails, in the upper. Of course, it is a curious thing to look at. I was quite astonished to learn from some of my friends that a real mermaid, exposed in the chouk of this city, could be seen on paying a single piece. So, as this filled my mind with great curiosity, I went there, yesterday, and saw that it was all true, and that a man, sitting at the door, with a bell in his hand was inviting the passers-by to that spectacle. I, with two friends, went in, saw the animal, and felt it with my own hands. I couldn’t make out anything fictitious in it. On inquiring of the man who was present there, I was informed that it was a real mermaid, found in the sea near Japan, and that a man bought it for five hundred rupees at a public auction in Calcutta. He further told me that another of the same sort, but as big as a man, was sold there for fourteen hundred rupees. The length of the one I saw here was about a foot and a half.”
Image by DarkmoonArt_de via Pixabay
0 comments: