June 29, 2000 08:35am
Bare-Breasted Mermaid Lures in Fjord
Source: Reuters
(OSLO) -- A bare-breasted blonde mermaid perched atop a rock is making tourists gape in disbelief along a Norwegian fjord.
``One man once jumped off a boat and swam over to me,'' Line Oexnevad, 37 and mother of two children, told Reuters Tuesday of her unorthodox job as a professional siren. ``Most people just look and cheer.''
Oexnevad, naked except for a long blonde wig and a costume fish-tail, said she has sat five times on a rock along the Lyse fjord in West Norway in the past three summers, hired as a surprise attraction for tourist boat trips and parties.
``The last time it was a bit cold,'' she said.
``The mermaid in Copenhagen and me are the only mermaids I know of,'' she said. The ``Little Mermaid'' in Copenhagen is a statue inspired by a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.
Oexnevad, who also works at a hospital in nearby Stavanger, said she was no good at singing -- in legend, sirens sang to lure sailors. ``Maybe next time I'll take along a cassette player,'' she said.
|
