Then they went home, and Shawneen and his wife lived happy ever after, and they had children by the basketful, and threw them out by the shovelful. I was passing one time myself, and they called me in and gave me a cup of tea. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE MAN THAT SERVED THE SEA I will tell you a story about a man that served the sea. It came to him first in a dream to do that, and he was for seven years serving it, going down by the sea every day. And at the last he saw a mermaid in the water, and she combing her head, and he made a grab at her and brought her to the house. And he took the cover off of her, that was the same as a tail, and she was the most beautiful young lady that ever was seen, and he married her. But he hid the cover up in the roof of the house, the way she would not see it, and think of the sea. She was with him for seven years, and by the will of God they had three sons, and through all that time she never spoke a word, but she laughed three times. The first time she laughed was one day the dinner was on the fire in the pot, and a man that came in was sitting by the hearth, and they asked him would he eat a share of the victuals, and he gave a curse and he said: ‘Sorra bit will I eat.’ She gave a laugh when she heard that. The second time she laughed was one day the pot was on the fire and the dinner was boiling, and the husband’s mother that was minding it did not take the top off. For it is the custom with our people to take the top off what is in the pot, and to throw it in behind the fire. And the third time she laughed was one day the husband’s mother was going into the parlour, and was knocked going in at the door. Well, at the end of the seven years the cover fell down from the top of the house, and she got a little sketch of it, and she took it and tried it on. And with that she went out of the house into the sea, and brought the three sons along with her, and came back to the house no more.