Chapter 39: Talking Physics with Mermaids

Rhine chatted fluently with the surrounding mermaids.

This "strange creature without a tail" briefly explains where they came from.

After asking a few simple questions and confirming that the overview of the underwater kingdom was not much different from that in the book, he began to praise the power of Aquaman and the beauty of his palace and garden. He also praised the wisdom of Aquaman's mother "Grandmother" and the beauty and nobility of the mermaid princesses.

He was familiar with the place and did not look like a visitor who had just set foot in the Undersea Country. Instead, he looked like a guide who frequently traveled to the Undersea Country.

After a while, the mermaids became quite familiar with Rhine.

They chatted about everything under the sun, and Rhine acted like a learned magician in a story, answering all the mermaids' strange questions about the world above.

For example, a mermaid asked:

"Why can't the fish in your upper world swim even without water?"

Aurora was just confused by this.

There are no fish in the human world that can swim without being in water!

Rhine immediately told the little mermaid:

"In the human world, we don't call those creatures fish - even though they do fly overhead like the fish here. Instead, we call them 'birds.' Birds can fly because they have a pair of wings. Wings are to the air what fish tails and fins are to the water."

Aurora was stunned and looked at Rhine suspiciously.

No, how do you know she is talking about birds? Another little mermaid asked: "I heard from my friends who have been to the sea that in your world, the moon and stars are smaller but brighter than in our world. Why is that?

"Will the moon and stars condense when they see you humans?"

What? The stars and moons in the undersea world are bigger than those in the human world? Wait, are there stars and moons in the undersea world? Aren't they all in the sky? Aurora was completely confused.

Rhine smiled and patiently explained to the mermaid: "This is an optical illusion caused by the refraction of light. In other words, your eyes are deceiving you."

When you look at the stars and the moon in the shallow sea, the light they emit will be much fainter, but through a layer of water, the moon in the mermaid's eyes is much larger than in human eyes! (Note 1)

He even took out a pen and paper and drew the path of light, the angle of incidence, and the angle of refraction. He explained the changes caused by the light passing into the water, in order to illustrate the difference between the world in the eyes of mermaids and humans, as well as the many problems caused by this difference in perspective.

Aurora barely understood the physics knowledge that Rhine explained. She was amazed at the teacher's rich knowledge, and felt that the world actually hid such deep secrets - what you see is not necessarily the truth.

But the mermaids who had never been to school were extremely confused after hearing what they heard.

They just kept praising it, thinking that although they couldn't understand it, it was very impressive and must be a profound knowledge.

The human boy who was talking to them must be a profound scholar from the upper world! "It turns out that although we who live in the sea don't understand the humans in the upper world, humans know us so well!"

"I thought we had little contact with humans. Humans know nothing about us, His Majesty the Sea King, the kingdom in this sea, and the world in our eyes!"

"Human knowledge is so profound and extensive. Even though I can't understand it, it seems really amazing."

After the mermaids finished chatting with Rhine, they all sighed.

Aurora saw this and loudly protested in her heart: "No, that's not right! Teachers cannot be used as examples for humans!

"Most humans know nothing about the kingdom of mermen, and will not study such wonderful knowledge to explore the differences between the perspectives of mermen and humans."

Turning to look at Rhine who was chatting happily with the mermaids, Aurora was extremely confused.

Teacher, is this really your first time in the Sea Country? Rhine seemed to understand Aurora's confusion and explained while recalling:

“I once read a novel in which the protagonists were a race living in the ocean. The novel provided marine creatures with a perspective and way of looking at the world, which was different from our human perspective.

“I put myself in the perspective of the mermaids and understood their problems from their perspective.

“In the novel, the author compares schools of fish to birds – in fact, this is similar, just as humans can look up and see flocks of birds of different colors flying by, mermaids can also look up and see flying birds.

“The novel also says that the moon seen by sea creatures in shallow waters is much bigger than the one seen by humans!

"Many years ago, when I first read this passage, I was very surprised. I used my knowledge to draw the path of light and studied it for a long time before I was sure that the author had made no mistake."

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The boy couldn't help but smile when he said this, his eyes were filled with memories and reluctance. This reminded him of the time before he came to this continent.

After the mermaids got their questions answered, they curiously asked this "new friend without a tail": "Humans on earth, why did you come to this sea?"

Rhine took the opportunity to state his purpose:

"We are here to see a sea hag, a sea witch who practices the dark arts. We would like to ask her for a small favor. I'm sure you know where she is?"

When the little mermaids heard the intentions of the two humans, their faces suddenly changed, and they were extremely suspicious: "No way?"

"You're here to look for that sea witch!"

"Does anyone really dare to go find her?"

"We mermaids in the sea don't even dare to look for her! How could the humans on earth be so bold?"

"Don't go. She's a scary girl who's proficient in dark magic. Nothing good will come of it if you ask her for help."

“…”

Note 1: The celestial bodies seen by mermaids in water are larger. At least that's what Andersen said. I spent 10 seconds to simply make up the refraction diagram in my mind, and it seems to be like this. If there is any mistake, it is Andersen's fault.

(End of this chapter)