Aon oíche amháin, téann fear darb ainm Mac Aoidh amach ag siúl cois cladaigh. Tchíonn sé scaifte de mhaighdeana mara ag snámh sa chuan agus bratacha s’acu caite le taobh carraige ar an trá. Sciobann sé leis ceann de na bratacha agus cuireann faoi cheilt é ach gan a brat féin a bheith ag achan maighdean mhara ní thig léi pilleadh ar an Domhan Faoi Thonn. Nuair a thugann na maighdeana mara faoi deara go bhfuil Mac Aoidh ann, téann siad ar mire ar fad. Beireann achan bhean acu geirm ar a brat féin agus ar shiúl leo amach ar dhroim na mara. Ach fágtar maighdean mhara amháin acu ar an trá fholamh gan bhrat, gan a craiceann róin. Síos le Mac Aoidh fhad léi agus iarrann uirthi dul chun an bhaile leis agus é a phósadh. Tchítear don maighdean mhara nach bhfuil an dara rogha aici agus leanann sí an gadaí gan fhios di gurbh eisean a bhí taobh thiar den ghníomh bhradach. Anois, tá sí sáinnithe ar dhromchla an domhain, í ina hiasc ar talamh go dtí go dtig an lá a bheidh faill aici éalú.

One Spring night under a sickle moon, a man called Mac Aoidh walks along the shore. He comes upon a group of mermaidsswimming in the bay, their shawls strewn on the rocks. Mac Aoidh snatches one shawl and deliberately conceals it, knowing that a mermaid can never return to her own world deep in the ocean without it. When the mermaids realise that Mac Aoidh is among them they become alarmed. Each one clutches her own shawl and swims frantically out on to the waves. But one mermaid is left stranded, abandoned and vulnerable without her shawl, her sealskin. Mac Aoidh sidles down to her and invites her to go with him. The mermaid, believing she has no other option, follows Mac Aoidh, unaware that it was he who perpetrated this cruel deed. She is now imprisoned, a fish on dry land under his coercive control, until the day comes when she is presented with an oppertunity to escape.

Leabhar dátheangach (Gaeilge agus Béarla)