Soren Kierkegaard

demonic qualities. This is accomplished b ymeans of an entire series of varia-
tions, of which one, several, or perhaps all, explain wh ythings went—or,
rather, wh ythe ydidn’t go—as the ydid between the two characters. First
Johannes de silentio provides a sketch of the traditional treatment of the
legend: “The Merman is a seducer who emerges from the concealment of
the deep. In his ferocious desire he grasps and shatters the innocent flower
that had stood b ythe shore in all its loveliness, thoughtfull ybowing its head
toward the sighing of the sea. This has been the view of poets in the past.
Let us transform it. The Merman was a seducer. He has called out to Agnete.
With his smooth talk he has coaxed forth what had been concealed within
her. In the Merman she has found what she had sought, what she had looked
for down on the bottom of the sea. Agnete is willing to go with him. The
Merman seats her upon his arm. Agnete twines herself about his neck. She
gives herself trustingl yand wholeheartedl yto the stronger one. He is alread y
standing on the shore. He crouches to dive down into the sea with his
prey.—Then Agnete looks at him yet again, not fearfully, not doubtfully,
not gloating over her happiness, not intoxicated with desire, but in absolute
trust, in absolute humility, like the humble flower she believed herself to
be. With this gaze [Danish:Blik] she entrusts the whole of her fate to him
in absolute confidence.—And look! The sea no longer surges; its wild voice
falls silent. The passion of the natural world, which constitutes the Mer-
man’s strength, abandons him; it becomes as still as glass [Danish:Blik-
stille].—And Agnete continues to look at him in this manner. Then the
Merman collapses. He cannot resist the power of innocence; his element
has failed him. He cannot seduce Agnete. He takes her home again; he
explains to her that he had onl ywanted to show her how beautiful the sea
is when it is calm. And Agnete believes him.—Then he returns alone, and
the ocean rages. But the despair within the Merman rages even more
fiercely. He can seduce Agnete, he can seduce a hundred Agnetes; he can
charm ever ygirl.—But Agnete has won, and the Merman has lost her. Onl y
as pre ycan she belong to him.”
As Abraham’s deception was revealed b ythe shuddering of his bod y, here
nature votes against the Merman’s plan. He cannot resist loving devotion;
he cannot bear it when Agnete greets his shad yintentions with unreserved
confidence. The descriptive terms—“absolute trust,” “absolute humility,”
and “absolute confidence”—are extraordinar y, and the ycan scarcel yhave
occurred to Johannes de silentio b ymere coincidence: Agnete has the trust,
the humility, and the confidence that Abraham lacked, and this was some-
thing his son—to his terror and to his damnation—was able to see. And
Johannes de silentio not onl ychooses his descriptions carefull y, he also un-
derstands how to emplo ytaste and discretion in the placement of the dash—