Chapter 8
THE MERMAIDS' LAGOONIf you shut your eyes and are a lucky one, you may see at times
a shapeless pool of lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness;
then if you squeeze your eyes tighter, the pool begins to take
shape, and the colours become so vivid that with another squeeze
they must go on fire. But just before they go on fire you see the
lagoon. This is the nearest you ever get to it on the mainland,
just one heavenly moment; if there could be two moments you might
see the surf and hear the mermaids singing.
The children often spent long summer days on this lagoon,
swimming or floating most of the time, playing the mermaid games in
the water, and so forth. You must not think from this that the
mermaids were on friendly terms with them: on the contrary, it was
am
