In an Armenian variant, The Maiden of the Sea (La fille de la mer), a poor widow, on her deathbed, instructs her only son to throw a loaf of bread into the sea, just as she did in life. One day, the youth arrives home and sees the place all clean and tidy. Suspecting something is amiss, the boy stays in waiting and sees a fish coming out of the sea and taking their fishskin off, revealing itself to be a beautiful maiden. The youth seizes her and she screams for help, to which a voice claims from the sea that the human is its son-in-law. The fish maiden and the youth marry and, one day, the Prince, passing by their cottage, sights the maiden and becomes enamored with her. He then orders her husband to meet his outlandish demands.Macler, Frédéric. Contes arméniens. Paris: Ernest Leroux Editeurs. 1905. pp. 45-49.Seklemian, A. G. The Golden Maiden and Other Folk Tales and Fairy Stories Told in Armenia. Cleveland and New York: The Helman-Taylor Company. 1898. pp. 155-157.
