The Fisherman and his Soul by Oscar Wilde. Short summary

5 seconds

A fisherman fell in love with a mermaid and cut off his soul to live underwater. The soul wanted her heart as well, but it didn’t work out. She tricked the fisherman onto the shore and reunited with him. The mermaid died, and so did the fisherman.

1 minute

The fisherman and the mermaid fell in love. The man began to seek the means to live under water. The witch taught him how to cut off his soul with a snake skin knife by dancing with her. So the fisherman did.

The soul, left without a body, began to ask for a heart. But the fisherman did not give it — then he would have nothing to love. He began to live happily in the pool with the mermaid.

Every year, the soul came to the water and seduced the fisherman with various curiosities: the Mirror of Wisdom, the Ring of Wealth. But the fisherman was happy as it was. On the third year, the soul told him that there was a woman dancing barefoot in a neighboring town. The fisherman had not seen a woman’s feet for so long that he decided to go take a look. The soul immediately jumped into his body.

In various towns, the soul made the fisherman commit crimes: stealing, beating a child, killing the man who sheltered him. The fisherman wanted to get rid of the heartless soul, but could no longer.

The mermaid died of grief. The fisherman embraced her body and drowned himself. The priest cursed them. He wanted to preach a sermon on God’s wrath, but he read a sermon on Love.