Melusine – mythical humanoid serpent transformed into a dragon
Melusine is a water spirit from French folklore and an example of human–animal marriage as well as princess Toyotama (See) in the East. She is a humanoid hybrid whose upper body is that of a beautiful woman in medieval costume, but whose lower body is that of a snake, and is also said to be a dragon nymph, as she has dragon wings on her back. She is also sometimes thought to be associated with mermaid lore. The Starbucks logo is also inspired by her.
Mélusine was the daughter of Pressine, the Fountain Fay, and Elinas, King of Albany, Scotland. Her mother placed a curse on Mélusine and her sisters that for one day a week they would assume the form of a snake from the waist down. Furthermore, if anyone saw them in their true form, they would be permanently remain forever the lower body of a snake and with wings.
Raymondin, Count of Poitou, who had left his family after accidentally killing his uncle, while hunting in the forest, met Melusine one day, fell in love and married her after making a covenant that he would never look at her on Saturdays. She brought her husband wealth and they had ten children.
However, when her husband heard a malicious rumour, he broke his promise and saw Melusine's true identity while she was bathing. Locked alone in her room, her upper body was human, but her lower body was that of a giant snake (or fish). She then assumes the form of a dragon, provides him with two magic rings, and flies off, never to be seen again. She returns only at night to nurse her two youngest children, who are still infants. Although many of Melusine's children had the nature of monsters, it is said that the future French monarch stood from the lineage of two children born normal.
Melusine's sons:
Julian (said to have later become King of Cyprus)
Eudes (whose appearance and face appear to be on fire)
Guy (said to have later become king of Armenia)
Antoine (with a lion's foot growing out of one cheek)
Renault (with one eye)
Geoffroy (with one large tusk)
Fromont (with a hair-covered birthmark on his nose)
[Sate kono kubi no dedokoro ni tsuite hanashi ga aru. Onaji ryōyō no jōnai ni go nanigashi to iu gyoshi ga ite, kotoshi jūku ni naru musume ga aru. Hyōban no bijin da. Maitoshi ichigatsu tooka niwa nippon to onaji yō ni dare mo kare mo oenmasama no sankei ni jūōden ni yuku node, sono musume mo asobi gatera sankei shita ga, furyō seinen ga ichibetsu shite musume no ato wo tsuke, yoru ni natte kara yashiki ni sinobikomi, musume no makuramoto ni tatte, "Shizuka ni nasai. Boku wa anata wo rabu shite iru, ii deshō. Iu toori ni nari tamae. Koe wo tateru to otagai no rieki ni narimasen yo" to sekkyō gōtō modoki ni, kudokitateta ga, kowagatte sukunde iru. Bōkō ni oyobō to suru to "Arē dareka kite" to kanakirigoe wo dashi, chikara ippai kobanda node, otoko wa muzan nimo musume wo koroshite nigeta. Toki naranu sakebigoe ni hahaoya wa isoide teshoku wo motte kite miruto kono shimatsu. Chishio ni sonda shitai wa yuka ni yokotawari, ichirin no otometsubaki no yō ni utsukushii kubi ga ochite iru. Hahaoya wa koshi wo nukashite shimatta.]
Now, here is a story about the source of this head. Within the area surrounded by castle walls of Yangling, there is a government spy named a certain Go, and he has a daughter who will turn nineteen this year. She is a renowned beauty. Every year on January 15, just like in Japan, everyone visits the Jūō-den(the hall dedicated to the ten deities) to pay homage to Yama(the king of hell), and when the girl also visits there partly for pleasure, a delinquent young man followed her at first sight, after nightfall, he crept into the house and stood by her bedside, "Be quiet. I love you, all right? Do as I say. It's not good for either of us if you speak up," tried to win her affections as if he were a preaching robber, but she is scared and shrugged. When he tried to assault her, she screamed, "Ah! Someone come!" and refused as best she could, so, cruelly, the man killed the girl and fled. Hearing the unexpected shriek, when she rushed with a portable candlestick, found it just like this. The blood stained corpse lies on the floor, and the beautiful head like a single otometsubaki is falling off. The mother was paralyzed with it.
From 神技首のすげ替[Shingi kubi no sugekae](The superhuman skill: the replacement of the heads) by 野口 米次郎[Noguchi Yonejirō](The father of Noguchi Isamu)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yone_Noguchi Source: https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/1279712/1/66 (ja)