
A curious little girl named Trot spends her days perched on a sturdy bench beneath a towering acacia, watching the Pacific’s rolling waves with her trusted companion, the one‑legged sailor Cap’n Bill. He fills her imagination with tales of mermaids—half‑woman, half‑fish creatures whose dazzling songs and shimmering scales lure daring souls into the deep. As Trot questions the old sailor’s grim lore, her bright curiosity ignites a yearning to discover whether any mortal has truly glimpsed these sea‑fairies and survived.
Guided by Cap’n Bill’s seasoned knowledge and her own adventurous spirit, Trot embarks on a series of whimsical explorations that lead her beneath the surface to hidden kingdoms, enchanted castles, and mysterious sea monsters. Along the way she meets talking codfish, bashful octopi, and other marvels that hint at a hidden world teeming with wonder—and perhaps the secret to the mermaids’ elusive legend.
Language
en
Duration
~4 hours (231K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by David Edwards, Jane Robins and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Release date
2015-04-24
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1856–1919
Best known for creating the magical world of Oz, this American writer mixed fairy-tale wonder with humor, adventure, and a very modern sense of imagination. His stories have delighted children for generations and helped shape fantasy as we know it.
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