Every day, Yasmin would sing her song. From the start her mother relegated her song just to their home, with claims of her not wanting to share her enchanting voice. As she grew in her reef, her mother continued to contain her voice. But Yasmin longed for the whole ocean to hear her.
One day when she was swimming about with her mother they came across a pedlar, who was selling necklaces. There was one that caught her eye. It had a silver chain, which was holding up a large gray gemstone. She asked her mother for it, but was refused. Later that day, she managed to sneak back to the peddler. Since she had nothing to barter with, she decided to sing for him. When she did his expression changed completely. The peddler immediately gave her the necklace and swam away with the rest of his goods.
She came to the understanding that her voice had put him in a trance. As a mermaid, she was told stories of the sirens who could control people on a whim with their beautiful voices. After she discovered this ability, she became more brazen. She would sing her songs to trade for what she wanted from all of the creatures around the reef. Word eventually came to the King and Queen of the reef about the mermaid who was using her voice in such a way. She was taken into custody and gagged so she wouldn’t be able to sing. When she was given an audience with their majesties, she had planned to enchant them into letting her go free. Yasmin was ungagged, then gagged again only three seconds later. But the amount she sang during that time proved her guilt. And so she was banished from the reef.
As she was leaving the reef her mother told her the reason for her banishment was that her voice was too special that people wouldn’t be able to function with her around. She warns her to use her voice as safety from harm of other creatures. After swimming for days and nights she came across a ship, filled with humans. Being so excited to have a new audience, Yasmin started singing her song. The men started jumping overboard and collapsing on deck. All of the men swam away to a nearby island as the ship sank to the bottom of the sea. Yasmin took the ship as her home and settled down. The island all the men swam back to was bustling.
From then on when she saw a supply ship, she would sing to get goods and the men aboard kindly left the ship for her as they swam away. As a thank you, Yasmin would swim up to the shore of the island and sing throughout the night to soothe the townspeople.
The island became less bustling, and fewer ships were being sent out. She feared that something was happening to the people on the island and started singing all day and night in an effort to increase their morale. One day a man not much older than her came near on a rowboat.
“Please, stop!” the man yelled.
Why ever would she, thought Yasmin as the man went on.
“Your voice is terrible! You make a man want to jump into the water and drown. You make the children cry. You make mothers lose love for their children. You have driven the whole island to the brink of insanity. Our island was the finest in all of the lands, with many visitors and people longing to live here. Now we have been abandoned by outsiders and the ones who have been here their whole lives are running away. I beg you, ma'am, for the sake of all beings on this earth and under it, never sing again.”
As the man stared at Yasmin she dived down into the sea, cursing her mother to die of embarrassment.