Sea Flower

One night many years ago, my wife couldn´t sleep, so she asked me for a story to fall asleep, the story popped up in my mind magically, and we both liked a lot, later i did the painting and we liked more.

I tried to translated it to english, I apologize for my bad english, but I hope you understand and like the story.

Näutia was a beautiful young woman who lived in the isle of Taathra by the times of the 1,000 year peace, before the cataclysm that sunk it in to the sea. 

The great skill for fishing and the knowledge of the sea of the people that lived there were famous in all the lands, some people used to say that the Lord of the seas had them between he´s favorites.

 Näutia and her family had the profession of fishing net weaving, the maiden was specially skilled in the weaving and the fishermen of the isle use to pay well for her nets, they had the believe that Näutia’s nets had the special gift of bringing abundant fishing because of her joy and beauty.

Every day at dawn Näutia used to walk on the beach and she sang to the winds to give the farewell to the fishermen that embarked for the fishing day, her voice was so beautiful and tuned that the joy in the fishermen’s hearts dissipated all their fears and worries.

It happened that in the summer a great storm threw a shipwrecked on the beach, unconscious and nearly dead he was aided by the isle’s people they cured his wounds and gave him water the man raved for many days until one day he woke  up

Once healed, the man presented as Múbilus an animal trader. His crew had amotinated and he was threw to the sea two weeks earlier by the coast of Debraham. 

Múbilus was a singular man to the people of Taathra, he had dark ocher colored skin never seen by the fishermen, his hair fall to his back and he was twice the size of the isle’s people, he was calm tempered, may be too melancholic for the merry fishermen, but he got alone pretty well with all the people.

Totally healed, Múbilus offered his help to the fishing in return for the aid given by the fishermen, so the next morning he was on the deck ready to go out fishing.

When the boat sailed on Naütia’s voice sounded on the beach firing the men. When Móbilus heard that voice he ran to the back of the boat and tried to see what was that, his face turned pale and he asked the sailors what kind of witch craft was that and they explained who was singing and the custom of the girl to say good bye to the men, Múbilus was impressed with Naütia’s voice. 

When they reached the open sea Múbilus ask them to drop their nets at the same time, all the sailors looked at each other with strangeness but they did it just to please the foreigner, Múbilus laid on deck with halve of his body over the waters.

At the beginning it looked like he was caressing the waves, but then he started to speak in an incomprehensible tongue, suddenly the waters started to shake filled with the splash of thousands of fish that flocked to the nets, the fishermen hardly could draw out the heavy nets full with all kinds of fish, when they finished and all the fish were on deck  tree nymphs peered between the waves they had nacre eyes, they happily greet Múbilus and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

Múbilus explained that during his unnumbered voyages at sea he became friends with a lot of magical creatures and that they owed some favors for that reason they had came from the bottom of the sea to help them in the fishing. 

The fishermen couldn´t believe their eyes, it is known that the Nymphs are elusive creatures and really hard to find, never the less they Heard and aid this strange man.

Back on the isle the story spread fast ant the hole town amazed about what had happened.

The next morning  Múbilus got up early and hurried to be on the beach before anyone, he wanted to see the girl of the beautiful voice, he sat and waited while the waves broke on the coast and their it was! Just before dawn Naütia appeared wearing a White dress, the very sun worried to rise upon the horizon to hear the young girl, just as her dress, the tunes were waving on the wind.

Mübilus stood frozen with that image and when she was beside him they looked to each other for hours while she continued with her song. Näutia and Múbilus fell in love in that very moment only the great sea knew that they would remain together for all eternity.

The next day, the town ask Múbilus to lead them once again to the sea and once again he called the Nymphs and once again they came to help in the fishing.

The days passed on, Näutia and Múbilus married and they build a hut on the beach, every day, Näutia sang, now for Múbilus while he took the men in to the sea looking for the Nymphs blessings. But the sea´s spirits are whimsical and you never know when they can change their mind and collect the favors that they grant.

With the Nymphs being so near to the beach they happened to hear Näutia singing, they watched over her for many days envying her beautiful voice. One morning while she was singing to her husband on the ship that was almost touching the horizon, the Nymphs sneaked to the beach and with a sigh they stole Näutia’s voice to take it with them to the bottom of the sea.

Far from there, the fishermen waited for the Nymphs to come and help them, but this time there was no answer to Múbilus call, he spoke in the Nymphs tongue louder but the only response was the light whisper of the sea. 

When they came back to the isle empty handed they found all the people shocked before Näutia’s mute words who cried a hollow and piercing sob. When Näutia managed to explain with signs what had happened, Múbilus yelled a deafening shout and threw himself to the sea without looking back in search of those who had stollen his wife´s voice.

Many days passed and Múbilus searched in to the dark depths of the sea without finding any trace of the Nymphs or Näutias voice.

Back in the isle Näutia couldn't wait any longer and decided to look for her husband, the people warned her of the Nymphs, if she fail in her peril, she couldn’t never come back, so she hatched a plan, she would weave the greatest net ever weaved and with it she would look for the Nymphs, in the right time she would throw the net over them and catch them, then she would find Múbilus, claim her voice and return home. Convinced with her plan she took her net and plunged in to the immense sea.

No one saw her again, not Näutia neither Múbilus, but the legend says that Naütia reached the bottom of the sea and in those dark waters, she found the Nymphs, they had catch Múbilus and made him prisoner while they played with Näutia´s voice bouncing it in the unfathomable Wells of the sea´s flor. The girl tried to sneak near to the Nymphs without been seen but when she threw her net to catch the creatures, the Nymphs were faster! They dodged it, the net fell over Múbilus and Näutia´s voice that was bouncing by the Nymphs caught Näutia with her own net beside her beloved husband and her voice and they imprisoned them entangled in a sea whirl spinning for hounders of years.

So when time passed, the sea´s salt solidified the net and the lovers in it, condemned to spin and spin for the eternity.

Some people say that the Lord of the Sea pity on them and, in an act of mercy he released them from their water prison, after so many years spinning they have been transformed in a beautiful sea Shell where the Múbilus ocher skin barely looms beneath Näutia´s White dress, this seashell could at last be free all over the seas as one of the most beautiful sea flower.

Centuries passed, and the Taathra isle sunk in the sea, and the earth is no longer as it was, then the wars came, and the men’s reign too.

But still in this days, the sea men admire and honor that same sea flower, and they named it Nautilus, joining the two lover’s names and that´s how Näutia and Múbilus are one for eternity, weaved in their love’s net and believe me when I tell you… if you hear carefully inside a Nautilus you will hear Näutia’s beautiful voice filling the abyss and dark depths There.