Dino Kids
The Mermaid of Zennor
The best singer in a Cornish village follows a mysterious lady down to the sea, and his songs can still be heard beneath the waves.
Long ago, in the little village of Zennor in Cornwall, there was a gray stone church on a hill above the sea. Every Sunday, the people of Zennor went to the church to sing. The finest singer of all was a young man named Matthew Trewella. His voice was so clear and sweet that the birds outside stopped to listen.
One Sunday, a lady nobody knew came into the church and sat quietly at the back. She wore a long, shimmering dress that rustled like the sea. When the singing was over, she slipped out of the door before anyone could speak to her.
The lady came again the next Sunday, and the one after that. Year after year she came, and the strange thing was that she never seemed to grow any older. Nobody knew where she lived, and nobody knew her name.
One evening, Matthew sang more beautifully than ever before. The lady listened with shining eyes, and when the song was over, she smiled at him. Matthew smiled back, and when she slipped out of the church, he followed her. She walked down the hill, along the path to the cliffs, and onto the sand of the little cove below. There she turned, took Matthew’s hand, and the two of them slipped happily into the waves together. The lady was a mermaid, and she had come all that way to hear him sing.
The people of Zennor looked everywhere for Matthew, but they could not find him. For many years, they wondered where he had gone.
Then one day, a ship dropped its anchor in the little cove. Soon a mermaid popped her head out of the water, beside the ship. “Excuse me, sir,” she called up politely to the captain. “Your anchor is sitting right on my front door, and my husband Matthew and our children cannot get out!” The captain was so surprised that he pulled up his anchor at once and sailed away.
When the people of Zennor heard the story, they smiled at last. Now they knew that Matthew was living happily under the sea with the mermaid and their children. To remember them, they carved a mermaid on a wooden seat in the church, and you can still see it there today. And on quiet summer nights, if you stand by the cove at Zennor, you may hear Matthew singing softly under the waves.
A traditional tale, retold for young children by Dino Kids (CC0).
Hear this story read aloud
In the Dino Kids app, “The Mermaid of Zennor” is read aloud, the sentence being read lights up, and there are three reading speeds for little ears. Parents can also record it in their own voice. Free, no ads, no in-app purchases.
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