Francisco, with his fair skin, blue eyes and thatch of curly golden hair, was the handsomest boy in the whole parish, and by the time he was sixteen years old there was many a rich man's daughter who had smiled upon him. However, the lad thought only of his fishing boat and his mother and did not notice the smiles.
One night the moon was so bright that Francisco could not sleep. He awakened his mother who was dozing comfortably in her bed.
"I'm going fishing, mother dear," he said as he kissed her. "The moonlight is calling me."
His mother started up from her bed in terror and amazement.
"Why, my boy, do you do such a thing as this?" she asked. "You have never been fishing in the night before. Some evil will surely befall you."
"Don't worry about me, dear mother," replied Francisco, laughing at her fears. "I know how to take care of myself. It is as light as day. Think how many fish I'll bring back for you to sell in the market to-morrow."
His mother shook her head anxiously, but, with another loving kiss, the lad ran out into the bright moonlight. He quickly launched his little fishing boat and soon was floating smoothly along on the peaceful waters of the bay which gleamed like a silver pathway in the moonlight. The soft air, the gentle rocking of the little boat, and the face of the moon upon which his blue eyes were fixed combined to send sleep to his eyelids. Soon he was nodding in the little boat. A few moments later and he was fast asleep. The moon's rays upon his curls made them shine as if they were indeed made of gold.
Now the village maidens were not the only ones who had noticed Francisco's blue eyes and handsome face. A water-nymph who dwelt in the depths of the sea had often observed him. In the daytime she was invisible to the eye of humans and so the lad had never seen her though she often spent long hours near him, never taking her eyes from his face.
"Here comes the beautiful youth in his little fishing boat!" cried the nymph as she saw the moonlight gleaming upon his bright curls. "At last my wish has come true. Now at night he'll be able to see me."
She hastily arranged her own beautiful hair before a little mirror she carried. Some of the strands of priceless pearls which decked her lovely head were a trifle awry. These and the necklaces of rare pearls which hung about her fair throat surrounded her with a gleam of soft light almost like the light of the moon. As she approached nearer to the little boat she saw that Francisco was fast asleep. She swam in the direction of the lad with all possible speed, a wild terror in her eyes.