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Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Georgina.

Do you believe in ghosts, Georgina?

Well, I've never actually seen one, not even at Halloween.

How about dragons, then, or fairies and elves?

Have you been reading fantasy books, Neil? Lord of the Rings?

I have been reading a book, Georgina, but not Lord of the Rings.

My book is about an amphibious creature,

a creature that lives both on land and in water.

Some kind of frog, man?

Mmm, you've almost got the idea, Georgina, but think.

Woman, not man, and fish, not frog.

Half woman, half fish. Mmm, I've got it, a mermaid.

That's right. Mermaids are magical creatures,

half woman, half fish,

that feature in the myths and legends of many cultures around the world.

Like the sirens whose seductive singing,

shipwrecked Odysseus and his sailors

in ancient Greek mythology.

The sirens are perhaps the most famous,

...