0:00:00.000,0:00:04.087
He spent all his time at the shore[br]as his mother had before him

0:00:04.087,0:00:07.175
and the seal maiden would look out [br]at him from the cottage

0:00:07.175,0:00:13.375
and be afraid that something beyond her [br]power was going to take him from her.

0:00:13.375,0:00:15.642
And something did.

0:00:36.494,0:00:40.336
It was on a hot afternoon [br]and the seal maiden lay asleep.

0:00:40.336,0:00:43.505
The boy played on the floor [br]beside her for a while

0:00:43.505,0:00:47.883
and then, growing bored, began to search [br]under the seal maiden's bed

0:00:47.883,0:00:50.852
for some new thing to entertain him.

0:00:50.852,0:00:54.884
First, he only found seashells [br]and an old fishing net.

0:00:54.884,0:00:56.464
He played with these for a while,

0:00:56.464,0:01:02.205
pretending he was some beautiful fish [br]trapped in a web at the bottom of the sea.

0:01:02.205,0:01:06.327
He wriggled and rolled in the net [br]right under his mother's bed

0:01:06.327,0:01:10.528
until a sack fell out [br]from the boards of the bed.

0:01:10.528,0:01:12.261
Of course he opened it

0:01:12.261,0:01:16.409
and found a white skin [br]of the softest thread and skin.

0:01:16.409,0:01:19.987
He wasn't surprised at finding it. [br]It seemed familiar.

0:01:19.987,0:01:24.193
And when he put it on, it fitted perfectly.

0:01:24.193,0:01:27.436
And when he looked at himself [br]in his mother's looking glass,

0:01:27.436,0:01:30.681
for the first time he recognised himself.

0:01:30.681,0:01:33.447
"So this is who I really am!" the boy said,

0:01:33.447,0:01:37.648
smiling at the white seal [br]who smiled back at him.

0:01:37.648,0:01:41.481
And as every creature will [br]sooner or later obey its nature,

0:01:41.481,0:01:47.688
the seal boy obeyed his [br]and ran for the waves.

0:01:47.688,0:01:51.960
The seal maiden woke with a cry on her lips, [br]saw the empty sack on the bed beside her,

0:01:51.960,0:01:53.682
and raced to the shore

0:01:53.682,0:01:57.227
just in time to see the [br]sleek, white neck of her son

0:01:57.227,0:02:01.248
dive beneath a high, grey wave.

0:02:33.864,0:02:36.608
When Red Brian came in [br]from the sea that evening,

0:02:36.608,0:02:40.519
and the seal maiden told him the boy [br]had disappeared into the waves,

0:02:40.519,0:02:43.297
Red Brian keeled over in a faint.

0:02:43.297,0:02:47.143
He woke sobbing three hours later.

0:02:47.143,0:02:49.352
The seal maiden tried to comfort him,

0:02:49.352,0:02:53.640
told him the boy wasn't lost, [br]had only discovered his sealskin,

0:02:53.640,0:02:58.307
and made away with it [br]into the wide, cold sea.

0:02:58.307,0:03:02.775
Red Brian told her to stop raving. [br]The boy was lost, drowned.

0:03:02.775,0:03:08.430
A seven year old child could [br]not fight those Atlantic breakers.

0:03:08.430,0:03:13.554
They both walked out to the shore,[br]Red Brian looking for the body of his son,

0:03:13.554,0:03:18.811
the seal maiden straining [br]for a glimpse of wet, white fur.

0:03:18.811,0:03:23.722
Neither saw any sign of him.

0:03:23.722,0:03:30.233
Things were quiet in [br]that house for a long time.

0:03:30.233,0:03:33.210
Then, something marvelous happened.

0:03:33.210,0:03:37.178
It was one of those nights [br]where the moon has the sky to herself

0:03:37.178,0:03:41.847
and she highsteps across it[br]to some inaudible moon music.