The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid Anamated Brunette Mermaid

The Little Mermaid, written by Hans Christian Andersen, is a beautiful story about Ariel. A lovely young mermaid who falls in love with a human prince. Her father (Who is the God of the Sea) forbids this. Deeply in love, Ariel strikes a deal with Ursula (An evil octopus), Ursula will change Ariel's tail to human legs so she can follow the prince on to the land, but if the prince doesn't kiss her within two days, she will have to give her haunting singing voice to the octopus. Ariel is a female character who, instead of waiting for the fates decide her destiny. Ariel thinks and acts independently and rebelliously, she's smart and thinks for herself.

The original story is in the scroll box below

The Little Mermaid 
                   by 
         Hans Christian Andersen
                 (1836)

Far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest 
cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, 
indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many church steeples, piled 
one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the 
surface of the water above. There dwell the Sea King and his 
subjects.

We must not imagine that there is nothing at the bottom of the sea 
but bare yellow sand. No, indeed; the most singular flowers and 
plants grow there; the leaves and stems of which are so pliant, that 
the slightest agitation of the water causes them to stir as if they 
had life. Fishes, both large and small, glide between the branches, 
as birds fly among the trees here upon land.

In the deepest spot of all, stands the castle of the Sea King. Its 
walls are built of coral, and the long, gothic windows are of the 
clearest amber. The roof is formed of shells, that open and close as 
the water flows over them. Their appearance is very beautiful, for 
in each lies a glittering pearl, which would be fit for the diadem 
of a queen. princesses, her grand-daughters.

They were six beautiful children; but the youngest was the prettiest 
of them all; her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and 
her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all the others, she 
had no feet, and her body ended in a fish's tail. All day long they 
played in the great halls of the castle, or among the living flowers 
that grew out of the walls.

The large amber windows were open, and the fish swam in, just as the 
swallows fly into our houses when we open the windows, excepting 
that the fishes swam up to the princesses, ate out of their hands, 
and allowed themselves to be stroked.

Outside the castle there was a beautiful garden, in which grew 
bright red and dark blue flowers, and blossoms like flames of fire; 
the fruit glittered like gold, and the leaves and stems waved to and 
fro continually. The earth itself was the finest sand, but blue as 
the flame of burning sulfur. Over everything lay a peculiar blue 
radiance, as if it were surrounded by the air from above, through 
which the blue sky shone, instead of the dark depths of the sea. In 
calm weather the sun could be seen, looking like a purple flower, 
with the light streaming from the calyx.

Each of the young princesses had a little plot of ground in the 
garden, where she might dig and plant as she pleased. One arranged 
her flower-bed into the form of a whale; another thought it better 
to make hers like the figure of a little mermaid; but that of the 
youngest was round like the sun, and contained flowers as red as his 
rays at sunset.

She was a strange child, quiet and thoughtful; and while her sisters 
would be delighted with the wonderful things which they obtained 
from the wrecks of vessels, she cared for nothing but her pretty red 
flowers, like the sun, excepting a beautiful marble statue. It was 
the representation of a handsome boy, carved out of pure white 
stone, which had fallen to the bottom of the sea from a wreck.

She planted by the statue a rose-colored weeping willow. It grew 
splendidly, and very soon hung its fresh branches over the statue, 
almost down to the blue sands. The shadow had a violet tint, and 
waved to and fro like the branches; it seemed as if the crown of the 
tree and the root were at play, and trying to kiss each other.

Nothing gave her so much pleasure as to hear about the world above 
the sea. She made her old grandmother tell her all she knew of the 
ships and of the towns, the people and the animals. To her it seemed 
most wonderful and beautiful to hear that the flowers of the land 
should have fragrance, and not those below the sea; that the trees 
of the forest should be green; and that the fishes among the trees 
could sing so sweetly, that it was quite a pleasure to hear them. 
Her grandmother called the little birds fishes, or she would not 
have understood her; for she had never seen birds.

"When you have reached your fifteenth year," said the grand-mother, 
"you will have permission to rise up out of the sea, to sit on the 
rocks in the moonlight, while the great ships are sailing by; and 
then you will see both forests and towns."

In the following year, one of the sisters would be fifteen: but as 
each was a year younger than the other, the youngest would have to 
wait five years before her turn came to rise up from the bottom of 
the ocean, and see the earth as we do.

However, each promised to tell the others what she saw on her first 
visit, and what she thought the most beautiful; for their 
grandmother could not tell them enough; there were so many things on 
which they wanted information. None of them longed so much for her 
turn to come as the youngest, she who had the longest time to wait, 
and who was so quiet and thoughtful.

Many nights she stood by the open window, looking up through the 
dark blue water, and watching the fish as they splashed about with 
their fins and tails. She could see the moon and stars shining 
faintly; but through the water they looked larger than they do to 
our eyes.

When something like a black cloud passed between her and them, she 
knew that it was either a whale swimming over her head, or a ship 
full of human beings, who never imagined that a pretty little 
mermaid was standing beneath them, holding out her white hands 
towards the keel of their ship.

As soon as the eldest was fifteen, she was allowed to rise to the 
surface of the ocean. When she came back, she had hundreds of things 
to talk about; but the most beautiful, she said, was to lie in the 
moonlight, on a sandbank, in the quiet sea, near the coast, and to 
gaze on a large town nearby, where the lights were twinkling like 
hundreds of stars; to listen to the sounds of the music, the noise 
of carriages, and the voices of human beings, and then to hear the 
merry bells peal out from the church steeples; and because she could 
not go near to all those wonderful things, she longed for them more 
than ever.

Oh, did not the youngest sister listen eagerly to all these 
descriptions? and afterwards, when she stood at the open window 
looking up through the dark blue water, she thought of the great 
city, with all its bustle and noise, and even fancied she could hear 
the sound of the church bells, down in the depths of the sea.

In another year the second sister received permission to rise to the 
surface of the water, and to swim about where she pleased. She rose 
just as the sun was setting, and this, she said, was the most 
beautiful sight of all.

The whole sky looked like gold, while violet and rose-colored 
clouds, which she could not describe, floated over her; and, still 
more rapidly than the clouds, flew a large flock of wild swans 
towards the setting sun, looking like a long white veil across the 
sea. She also swam towards the sun; but it sunk into the waves, and 
the rosy tints faded from the clouds and from the sea.

The third sister's turn followed; she was the boldest of them all, 
and she swam up a broad river that emptied itself into the sea. On 
the banks she saw green hills covered with beautiful vines; palaces 
and castles peeped out from amid the proud trees of the forest; she 
heard the birds singing, and the rays of the sun were so powerful 
that she was obliged often to dive down under the water to cool her 
burning face.

In a narrow creek she found a whole troop of little human children, 
quite naked, and sporting about in the water; she wanted to play 
with them, but they fled in a great fright; and then a little black 
animal came to the water; it was a dog, but she did not know that, 
for she had never before seen one. This animal barked at her so 
terribly that she became frightened, and rushed back to the open 
sea.

But she said she should never forget the beautiful forest, the green 
hills, and the pretty little children who could swim in the water, 
although they had not fish's tails.

The fourth sister was more timid; she remained in the midst of the 
sea, but she said it was quite as beautiful there as nearer the 
land. She could see for so many miles around her, and the sky above 
looked like a bell of glass. She had seen the ships, but at such a 
great distance that they looked like sea-gulls. The dolphins sported 
in the waves, and the great whales spouted water from their nostrils 
till it seemed as if a hundred fountains were playing in every 
direction.

The fifth sister's birthday occurred in the winter; so when her turn 
came, she saw what the others had not seen the first time they went 
up. The sea looked quite green, and large icebergs were floating 
about, each like a pearl, she said, but larger and loftier than the 
churches built by men. They were of the most singular shapes, and 
glittered like diamonds. She had seated herself upon one of the 
largest, and let the wind play with her long hair, and she remarked 
that all the ships sailed by rapidly, and steered as far away as 
they could from the iceberg, as if they were afraid of it.

Towards evening, as the sun went down, dark clouds covered the sky, 
the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed, and the red light 
glowed on the icebergs as they rocked and tossed on the heaving sea. 
On all the ships the sails were reefed with fear and trembling, 
while she sat calmly on the floating iceberg, watching the blue 
lightning, as it darted its forked flashes into the sea.

When first the sisters had permission to rise to the surface, they 
were each delighted with the new and beautiful sights they saw; but 
now, as grown-up girls, they could go when they pleased, and they 
had become indifferent about it. They wished themselves back again 
in the water, and after a month had passed they said it was much 
more beautiful down below, and pleasanter to be at home.

Yet often, in the evening hours, the five sisters would twine their 
arms round each other, and rise to the surface, in a row. They had 
more beautiful voices than any human being could have; and before 
the approach of a storm, and when they expected a ship would be 
lost, they swam before the vessel, and sang sweetly of the delights 
to be found in the depths of the sea, and begging the sailors not to 
fear if they sank to the bottom.

But the sailors could not understand the song, they took it for the 
howling of the storm. And these things were never to be beautiful 
for them; for if the ship sank, the men were drowned, and their dead 
bodies alone reached the palace of the Sea King.

When the sisters rose, arm-in-arm, through the water in this way, 
their youngest sister would stand quite alone, looking after them, 
ready to cry, only that the mermaids have no tears, and therefore 
they suffer more. "Oh, were I but fifteen years old," said she: "I 
know that I shall love the world up there, and all the people who 
live in it."

At last she reached her fifteenth year. "Well, now, you are grown 
up," said the old dowager, her grandmother; "so you must let me 
adorn you like your other sisters;" and she placed a wreath of white 
lilies in her hair, and every flower leaf was half a pearl. Then the 
old lady ordered eight great oysters to attach themselves to the 
tail of the princess to show her high rank.

"But they hurt me so," said the little mermaid.

"Pride must suffer pain," replied the old lady. Oh, how gladly she 
would have shaken off all this grandeur, and laid aside the heavy 
wreath! The red flowers in her own garden would have suited her much 
better, but she could not help herself: so she said, "Farewell," and 
rose as lightly as a bubble to the surface of the water.

The sun had just set as she raised her head above the waves; but the 
clouds were tinted with crimson and gold, and through the glimmering 
twilight beamed the evening star in all its beauty. The sea was 
calm, and the air mild and fresh. A large ship, with three masts, 
lay becalmed on the water, with only one sail set; for not a breeze 
stiffed, and the sailors sat idle on deck or amongst the rigging.

There was music and song on board; and, as darkness came on, a 
hundred colored lanterns were lighted, as if the flags of all 
nations waved in the air. The little mermaid swam close to the cabin 
windows; and now and then, as the waves lifted her up, she could 
look in through clear glass window-panes, and see a number of 
well-dressed people within. Among them was a young prince, the most 
beautiful of all, with large black eyes; he was sixteen years of 
age, and his birthday was being kept with much rejoicing.

The sailors were dancing on deck, but when the prince came out of 
the cabin, more than a hundred rockets rose in the air, making it as 
bright as day. The little mermaid was so startled that she dived 
under water; and when she again stretched out her head, it appeared 
as if all the stars of heaven were falling around her, she had never 
seen such fireworks before. Great suns spurted fire about, splendid 
fireflies flew into the blue air, and everything was reflected in 
the clear, calm sea beneath.

The ship itself was so brightly illuminated that all the people, and 
even the smallest rope, could be distinctly and plainly seen. And 
how handsome the young prince looked, as he pressed the hands of all 
present and smiled at them, while the music resounded through the 
clear night air.

It was very late; yet the little mermaid could not take her eyes 
from the ship, or from the beautiful prince.

The colored lanterns had been extinguished, no more rockets rose in 
the air, and the cannon had ceased firing; but the sea became 
restless, and a moaning, grumbling sound could be heard beneath the 
waves: still the little mermaid remained by the cabin window, 
rocking up and down on the water, which enabled her to look in.

After a while, the sails were quickly unfurled, and the noble ship 
continued her passage; but soon the waves rose higher, heavy clouds 
darkened the sky, and lightning appeared in the distance.

A dreadful storm was approaching; once more the sails were reefed, 
and the great ship pursued her flying course over the raging sea. 
The waves rose mountains high, as if they would have overtopped the 
mast; but the ship dived like a swan between them, and then rose 
again on their lofty, foaming crests.

To the little mermaid this appeared pleasant sport; not so to the 
sailors. At length the ship groaned and creaked; the thick planks 
gave way under the lashing of the sea as it broke over the deck; the 
mainmast snapped asunder like a reed; the ship lay over on her side; 
and the water rushed in.

The little mermaid now perceived that the crew were in danger; even 
she herself was obliged to be careful to avoid the beams and planks 
of the wreck which lay scattered on the water.

At one moment it was so pitch dark that she could not see a single 
object, but a flash of lightning revealed the whole scene; she could 
see every one who had been on board excepting the prince; when the 
ship parted, she had seen him sink into the deep waves, and she was 
glad, for she thought he would now be with her; and then she 
remembered that human beings could not live in the water, so that 
when he got down to her father's palace he would be quite dead.

But he must not die. So she swam about among the beams and planks 
which strewed the surface of the sea, forgetting that they could 
crush her to pieces. Then she dived deeply under the dark waters, 
rising and falling with the waves, till at length she managed to 
reach the young prince, who was fast losing the power of swimming in 
that stormy sea.

His limbs were failing him, his beautiful eyes were closed, and he 
would have died had not the little mermaid come to his assistance. 
She held his head above the water, and let the waves drift them 
where they would.

In the morning the storm had ceased; but of the ship not a single 
fragment could be seen. The sun rose up red and glowing from the 
water, and its beams brought back the hue of health to the prince's 
cheeks; but his eyes remained closed.

The mermaid kissed his high, smooth forehead, and stroked back his 
wet hair; he seemed to her like the marble statue in her little 
garden, and she kissed him again, and wished that he might live.

Presently they came in sight of land; she saw lofty blue mountains, 
on which the white snow rested as if a flock of swans were lying 
upon them. Near the coast were beautiful green forests, and close by 
stood a large building, whether a church or a convent she could not 
tell.

Orange and citron trees grew in the garden, and before the door 
stood lofty palms. The sea here formed a little bay, in which the 
water was quite still, but very deep; so she swam with the handsome 
prince to the beach, which was covered with fine, white sand, and 
there she laid him in the warm sunshine, taking care to raise his 
head higher than his body.

Then bells sounded in the large white building, and a number of 
young girls came into the garden. The little mermaid swam out 
farther from the shore and placed herself between some high rocks 
that rose out of the water; then she covered her head and neck with 
the foam of the sea so that her little face might not be seen, and 
watched to see what would become of the poor prince.

She did not wait long before she saw a young girl approach the spot 
where he lay. She seemed frightened at first, but only for a moment; 
then she fetched a number of people, and the mermaid saw that the 
prince came to life again, and smiled upon those who stood round 
him.

But to her he sent no smile; he knew not that she had saved him. 
This made her very unhappy, and when he was led away into the great 
building, she dived down sorrowfully into the water, and returned to 
her father's castle.

She had always been silent and thoughtful, and now she was more so 
than ever. Her sisters asked her what she had seen during her first 
visit to the surface of the water; but she would tell them nothing.

Many an evening and morning did she rise to the place where she had 
left the prince. She saw the fruits in the garden ripen till they 
were gathered, the snow on the tops of the mountains melt away; but 
she never saw the prince, and therefore she returned home, always 
more sorrowful than before.

It was her only comfort to sit in her own little garden, and fling 
her arm round the beautiful marble statue which was like the prince; 
but she gave up tending her flowers, and they grew in wild confusion 
over the paths, twining their long leaves and stems round the 
branches of the trees, so that the whole place became dark and 
gloomy.

At length she could bear it no longer, and told one of her sisters 
all about it. Then the others heard the secret, and very soon it 
became known to two mermaids whose intimate friend happened to know 
who the prince was. She had also seen the festival on board ship, 
and she told them where the prince came from, and where his palace 
stood.

"Come, little sister," said the other princesses; then they entwined 
their arms and rose up in a long row to the surface of the water, 
close by the spot where they knew the prince's palace stood. It was 
built of bright yellow shining stone, with long flights of marble 
steps, one of which reached quite down to the sea.

Splendid gilded cupolas rose over the roof, and between the pillars 
that surrounded the whole building stood life-like statues of 
marble. Through the clear crystal of the lofty windows could be seen 
noble rooms, with costly silk curtains and hangings of tapestry; 
while the walls were covered with beautiful paintings which were a 
pleasure to look at.

In the center of the largest saloon a fountain threw its sparkling 
jets high up into the glass cupola of the ceiling, through which the 
sun shone down upon the water and upon the beautiful plants growing 
round the basin of the fountain.

Now that she knew where he lived, she spent many an evening and many 
a night on the water near the palace. She would swim much nearer the 
shore than any of the others ventured to do; indeed once she went 
quite up the narrow channel under the marble balcony, which threw a 
broad shadow on the water.

Here she would sit and watch the young prince, who thought himself 
quite alone in the bright moonlight. She saw him many times of an 
evening sailing in a pleasant boat, with music playing and flags 
waving.

She peeped out from among the green rushes, and if the wind caught 
her long silvery-white veil, those who saw it believed it to be a 
swan, spreading out its wings.

On many a night, too, when the fishermen, with their torches, were 
out at sea, she heard them relate so many good things about the 
doings of the young prince, that she was glad she had saved his life 
when he had been tossed about half-dead on the waves.

And she remembered that his head had rested on her bosom, and how 
heartily she had kissed him; but he knew nothing of all this, and 
could not even dream of her.

She grew more and more fond of human beings, and wished more and 
more to be able to wander about with those whose world seemed to be 
so much larger than her own. They could fly over the sea in ships, 
and mount the high hills which were far above the clouds; and the 
lands they possessed, their woods and their fields, stretched far 
away beyond the reach of her sight.

There was so much that she wished to know, and her sisters were 
unable to answer all her questions. Then she applied to her old 
grandmother, who knew all about the upper world, which she very 
rightly called the lands above the sea.

"If human beings are not drowned," asked the little mermaid, "can 
they live forever? do they never die as we do here in the sea?"

"Yes," replied the old lady, "they must also die, and their term of 
life is even shorter than ours. We sometimes live to three hundred 
years, but when we cease to exist here we only become the foam on 
the surface of the water, and we have not even a grave down here of 
those we love.

We have not immortal souls, we shall never live again; but, like the 
green sea-weed, when once it has been cut off, we can never flourish 
more.

Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, 
lives after the body has been turned to dust. It rises up through 
the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars. As we rise out of 
the water, and behold all the land of the earth, so do they rise to 
unknown and glorious regions which we shall never see."

"Why have not we an immortal soul?" asked the little mermaid 
mournfully; "I would give gladly all the hundreds of years that I 
have to live, to be a human being only for one day, and to have the 
hope of knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the 
stars."

"You must not think of that," said the old woman; "we feel ourselves 
to be much happier and much better off than human beings."

"So I shall die," said the little mermaid, "and as the foam of the 
sea I shall be driven about never again to hear the music of the 
waves, or to see the pretty flowers nor the red sun. Is there 
anything I can do to win an immortal soul?"

"No," said the old woman, "unless a man were to love you so much 
that you were more to him than his father or mother; and if all his 
thoughts and all his love were fixed upon you, and the priest placed 
his right hand in yours, and he promised to be true to you here and 
hereafter, then his soul would glide into your body and you would 
obtain a share in the future happiness of mankind.

He would give a soul to you and retain his own as well; but this can 
never happen. Your fish's tail, which amongst us is considered so 
beautiful, is thought on earth to be quite ugly; they do not know 
any better, and they think it necessary to have two stout props, 
which they call legs, in order to be handsome."

Then the little mermaid sighed, and looked sorrowfully at her fish's 
tail. "Let us be happy," said the old lady, "and dart and spring 
about during the three hundred years that we have to live, which is 
really quite long enough; after that we can rest ourselves all the 
better. This evening we are going to have a court ball."

It is one of those splendid sights which we can never see on earth. 
The walls and the ceiling of the large ball-room were of thick, but 
transparent crystal. May hundreds of colossal shells, some of a deep 
red, others of a grass green, stood on each side in rows, with blue 
fire in them, which lighted up the whole saloon, and shone through 
the walls, so that the sea was also illuminated.

Innumerable fishes, great and small, swam past the crystal walls; on 
some of them the scales glowed with a purple brilliancy, and on 
others they shone like silver and gold. Through the halls flowed a 
broad stream, and in it danced the mermen and the mermaids to the 
music of their own sweet singing.

No one on earth has such a lovely voice as theirs. The little 
mermaid sang more sweetly than them all. The whole court applauded 
her with hands and tails; and for a moment her heart felt quite gay, 
for she knew she had the loveliest voice of any on earth or in the 
sea.

But she soon thought again of the world above her, for she could not 
forget the charming prince, nor her sorrow that she had not an 
immortal soul like his; therefore she crept away silently out of her 
father's palace, and while everything within was gladness and song, 
she sat in her own little garden sorrowful and alone.

Then she heard the bugle sounding through the water, and 
thought--"He is certainly sailing above, he on whom my wishes 
depend, and in whose hands I should like to place the happiness of 
my life. I will venture all for him, and to win an immortal soul, 
while my sisters are dancing in my father's palace, I will go to the 
sea witch, of whom I have always been so much afraid, but she can 
give me counsel and help."

And then the little mermaid went out from her garden, and took the 
road to the foaming whirlpools, behind which the sorceress lived.

She had never been that way before: neither flowers nor grass grew 
there; nothing but bare, gray, sandy ground stretched out to the 
whirlpool, where the water, like foaming mill- wheels, whirled round 
everything that it seized, and cast it into the fatherless deep.

Through the midst of these crushing whirlpools the little mermaid 
was obliged to pass, to reach the dominions of the sea witch; and 
also for a long distance the only road lay right across a quantity 
of warm, bubbling mire, called by the witch her turfmoor. Beyond 
this stood her house, in the center of a strange forest, in which 
all the trees and flowers were polypi, half animals and half plants; 
they looked like serpents with a hundred heads growing out of the 
ground.

The branches were long slimy arms, with fingers like flexible worms, 
moving limb after limb from the root to the top. All that could be 
reached in the sea they seized upon, and held fast, so that it never 
escaped from their clutches.

The little mermaid was so alarmed at what she saw, that she stood 
still, and her heart beat with fear, and she was very nearly turning 
back; but she thought of the prince, and of the human soul for which 
she longed, and her courage returned.

She fastened her long flowing hair round her head, so that the 
polypi might not seize hold of it. She laid her hands together 
across her bosom, and then she darted forward as a fish shoots 
through the water, between the supple arms and fingers of the ugly 
polypi, which were stretched out on each side of her.

She saw that each held in its grasp something it had seized with its 
numerous little arms, as if they were iron bands.

The white skeletons of human beings who had perished at sea, and had 
sunk down into the deep waters, skeletons of land animals, oars, 
rudders, and chests of ships were lying tightly grasped by their 
clinging arms; even a little mermaid, whom they had caught and 
strangled; and this seemed the most shocking of all to the little 
princess.

She now came to a space of marshy ground in the wood, where large, 
fat water-snakes were rolling in the mire, and showing their ugly, 
drab-colored bodies. In the midst of this spot stood a house, built 
with the bones of shipwrecked human beings. There sat the sea witch, 
allowing a toad to eat from her mouth, just as people sometimes feed 
a canary with a piece of sugar. She called the ugly water-snakes her 
little chickens, and allowed them to crawl all over her bosom.

"I know what you want," said the sea witch; "it is very stupid of 
you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you to sorrow, 
my pretty princess. You want to get rid of your fish's tail, and to 
have two supports instead of it, like human beings on earth, so that 
the young prince may fall in love with you, and that you may have an 
immortal soul." And then the witch laughed so loud and disgustingly, 
that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground, and lay there 
wriggling about.

"You are but just in time," said the witch; "for after sunrise 
to-morrow I should not be able to help you till the end of another 
year. I will prepare a draught for you, with which you must swim to 
land tomorrow before sunrise, and sit down on the shore and drink 
it. Your tail will then disappear, and shrink up into what mankind 
calls legs, and you will feel great pain, as if a sword were passing 
through you.

But all who see you will say that you are the prettiest little human 
being they ever saw. You will still have the same floating 
gracefulness of movement, and no dancer will ever tread so lightly; 
but at every step you take it will feel as if you were treading upon 
sharp knives, and that the blood must flow. If you will bear all 
this, I will help you."

"Yes, I will," said the little princess in a trembling voice, as she 
thought of the prince and the immortal soul.

"But think again," said the witch; "for when once your shape has 
become like a human being, you can no more be a mermaid. You will 
never return through the water to your sisters, or to your father's 
palace again; and if you do not win the love of the prince, so that 
he is willing to forget his father and mother for your sake, and to 
love you with his whole soul, and allow the priest to join your 
hands that you may be man and wife, then you will never have an 
immortal soul. The first morning after he marries another your heart 
will break, and you will become foam on the crest of the waves."

"I will do it," said the little mermaid, and she became pale as 
death.

"But I must be paid also," said the witch, "and it is not a trifle 
that I ask. You have the sweetest voice of any who dwell here in the 
depths of the sea, and you believe that you will be able to charm 
the prince with it also, but this voice you must give to me; the 
best thing you possess will I have for the price of my draught. My 
own blood must be mixed with it, that it may be as sharp as a 
two-edged sword."

"But if you take away my voice," said the little mermaid, "what is 
left for me?"

"Your beautiful form, your graceful walk, and your expressive eyes; 
surely with these you can enchain a man's heart. Well, have you lost 
your courage? Put out your little tongue that I may cut it off as my 
payment; then you shall have the powerful draught."

"It shall be," said the little mermaid.

Then the witch placed her cauldron on the fire, to prepare the magic 
draught.

"Cleanliness is a good thing," said she, scouring the vessel with 
snakes, which she had tied together in a large knot; then she 
pricked herself in the breast, and let the black blood drop into it.

The steam that rose formed itself into such horrible shapes that no 
one could look at them without fear. Every moment the witch threw 
something else into the vessel, and when it began to boil, the sound 
was like the weeping of a crocodile.

When at last the magic draught was ready, it looked like the 
clearest water. "There it is for you," said the witch.

Then she cut off the mermaid's tongue, so that she became dumb, and 
would never again speak or sing. "If the polypi should seize hold of 
you as you return through the wood," said the witch, "throw over 
them a few drops of the potion, and their fingers will be torn into 
a thousand pieces."

But the little mermaid had no occasion to do this, for the polypi 
sprang back in terror when they caught sight of the glittering 
draught, which shone in her hand like a twinkling star.

So she passed quickly through the wood and the marsh, and between 
the rushing whirlpools. She saw that in her father's palace the 
torches in the ballroom were extinguished, and all within asleep; 
but she did not venture to go in to them, for now she was dumb and 
going to leave them forever, she felt as if her heart would break.

She stole into the garden, took a flower from the flower-beds of 
each of her sisters, kissed her hand a thousand times towards the 
palace, and then rose up through the dark blue waters.

The sun had not risen when she came in sight of the prince's palace, 
and approached the beautiful marble steps, but the moon shone clear 
and bright.

Then the little mermaid drank the magic draught, and it seemed as if 
a two-edged sword went through her delicate body: she fell into a 
swoon, and lay like one dead.

When the sun arose and shone over the sea, she recovered, and felt a 
sharp pain; but just before her stood the handsome young prince. He 
fixed his coal- black eyes upon her so earnestly that she cast down 
her own, and then became aware that her fish's tail was gone, and 
that she had as pretty a pair of white legs and tiny feet as any 
little maiden could have; but she had no clothes, so she wrapped 
herself in her long, thick hair.

The prince asked her who she was, and where she came from, and she 
looked at him mildly and sorrowfully with her deep blue eyes; but 
she could not speak.

Every step she took was as the witch had said it would be, she felt 
as if treading upon the points of needles or sharp knives; but she 
bore it willingly, and stepped as lightly by the prince's side as a 
soap-bubble, so that he and all who saw her wondered at her 
graceful-swaying movements.

She was very soon arrayed in costly robes of silk and muslin, and 
was the most beautiful creature in the palace; but she was dumb, and 
could neither speak nor sing.

Beautiful female slaves, dressed in silk and gold, stepped forward 
and sang before the prince and his royal parents: one sang better 
than all the others, and the prince clapped his hands and smiled at 
her.

This was great sorrow to the little mermaid; she knew how much more 
sweetly she herself could sing once, and she thought, "Oh if he 
could only know that! I have given away my voice forever, to be with 
him."

The slaves next performed some pretty fairy-like dances, to the 
sound of beautiful music. Then the little mermaid raised her lovely 
white arms, stood on the tips of her toes, and glided over the 
floor, and danced as no one yet had been able to dance.

At each moment her beauty became more revealed, and her expressive 
eyes appealed more directly to the heart than the songs of the 
slaves. Every one was enchanted, especially the prince, who called 
her his little foundling; and she danced again quite readily, to 
please him, though each time her foot touched the floor it seemed as 
if she trod on sharp knives.

The prince said she should remain with him always, and she received 
permission to sleep at his door, on a velvet cushion.

He had a page's dress made for her, that she might accompany him on 
horseback. They rode together through the sweet-scented woods, where 
the green boughs touched their shoulders, and the little birds sang 
among the fresh leaves. She climbed with the prince to the tops of 
high mountains; and although her tender feet bled so that even her 
steps were marked, she only laughed, and followed him till they 
could see the clouds beneath them looking like a flock of birds 
traveling to distant lands.

While at the prince's palace, and when all the household were 
asleep, she would go and sit on the broad marble steps; for it eased 
her burning feet to bathe them in the cold sea-water; and then she 
thought of all those below in the deep.

Once during the night her sisters came up arm-in- arm, singing 
sorrowfully, as they floated on the water. She beckoned to them, and 
then they recognized her, and told her how she had grieved them. 
After that, they came to the same place every night; and once she 
saw in the distance her old grandmother, who had not been to the 
surface of the sea for many years, and the old Sea King, her father, 
with his crown on his head. They stretched out their hands towards 
her, but they did not venture so near the land as her sisters did.

As the days passed, she loved the prince more fondly, and he loved 
her as he would love a little child, but it never came into his head 
to make her his wife; yet, unless he married her, she could not 
receive an immortal soul; and, on the morning after his marriage 
with another, she would dissolve into the foam of the sea.

"Do you not love me the best of them all?" the eyes of the little 
mermaid seemed to say, when he took her in his arms, and kissed her 
fair forehead.

"Yes, you are dear to me," said the prince; "for you have the best 
heart, and you are the most devoted to me; you are like a young 
maiden whom I once saw, but whom I shall never meet again.

I was in a ship that was wrecked, and the waves cast me ashore near 
a holy temple, where several young maidens performed the service. 
The youngest of them found me on the shore, and saved my life.

I saw her but twice, and she is the only one in the world whom I 
could love; but you are like her, and you have almost driven her 
image out of my mind. She belongs to the holy temple, and my good 
fortune has sent you to me instead of her; and we will never part."

"Ah, he knows not that it was I who saved his life," thought the 
little mermaid. "I carried him over the sea to the wood where the 
temple stands: I sat beneath the foam, and watched till the human 
beings came to help him.

I saw the pretty maiden that he loves better than he loves me;" and 
the mermaid sighed deeply, but she could not shed tears. "He says 
the maiden belongs to the holy temple, therefore she will never 
return to the world. They will meet no more: while I am by his side, 
and see him every day. I will take care of him, and love him, and 
give up my life for his sake."

Very soon it was said that the prince must marry, and that the 
beautiful daughter of a neighboring king would be his wife, for a 
fine ship was being fitted out. Although the prince gave out that he 
merely intended to pay a visit to the king, it was generally 
supposed that he really went to see his daughter. A great company 
were to go with him. The little mermaid smiled, and shook her head. 
She knew the prince's thoughts better than any of the others.

"I must travel," he had said to her; "I must see this beautiful 
princess; my parents desire it; but they will not oblige me to bring 
her home as my bride. I cannot love her; she is not like the 
beautiful maiden in the temple, whom you resemble.

If I were forced to choose a bride, I would rather choose you, my 
dumb foundling, with those expressive eyes." And then he kissed her 
rosy mouth, played with her long waving hair, and laid his head on 
her heart, while she dreamed of human happiness and an immortal 
soul.

"You are not afraid of the sea, my dumb child," said he, as they 
stood on the deck of the noble ship which was to carry them to the 
country of the neighboring king. And then he told her of storm and 
of calm, of strange fishes in the deep beneath them, and of what the 
divers had seen there; and she smiled at his descriptions, for she 
knew better than any one what wonders were at the bottom of the sea.

In the moonlight, when all on board were asleep, excepting the man 
at the helm, who was steering, she sat on the deck, gazing down 
through the clear water. She thought she could distinguish her 
father's castle, and upon it her aged grandmother, with the silver 
crown on her head, looking through the rushing tide at the keel of 
the vessel.

Then her sisters came up on the waves, and gazed at her mournfully, 
wringing their white hands. She beckoned to them, and smiled, and 
wanted to tell them how happy and well off she was; but the 
cabin-boy approached, and when her sisters dived down he thought it 
was only the foam of the sea which he saw.

The next morning the ship sailed into the harbor of a beautiful town 
belonging to the king whom the prince was going to visit. The church 
bells were ringing, and from the high towers sounded a flourish of 
trumpets; and soldiers, with flying colors and glittering bayonets, 
lined the rocks through which they passed. Every day was a festival; 
balls and entertainments followed one another.

But the princess had not yet appeared. People said that she was 
being brought up and educated in a religious house, where she was 
learning every royal virtue. At last she came. Then the little 
mermaid, who was very anxious to see whether she was really 
beautiful, was obliged to acknowledge that she had never seen a more 
perfect vision of beauty. Her skin was delicately fair, and beneath 
her long dark eye- lashes her laughing blue eyes shone with truth 
and purity.

"It was you," said the prince, "who saved my life when I lay dead on 
the beach," and he folded his blushing bride in his arms. "Oh, I am 
too happy," said he to the little mermaid; "my fondest hopes are all 
fulfilled. You will rejoice at my happiness; for your devotion to me 
is great and sincere."

The little mermaid kissed his hand, and felt as if her heart were 
already broken. His wedding morning would bring death to her, and 
she would change into the foam of the sea.

All the church bells rung, and the heralds rode about the town 
proclaiming the betrothal. Perfumed oil was burning in costly silver 
lamps on every altar. The priests waved the censers, while the bride 
and bridegroom joined their hands and received the blessing of the 
bishop.

The little mermaid, dressed in silk and gold, held up the bride's 
train; but her ears heard nothing of the festive music, and her eyes 
saw not the holy ceremony; she thought of the night of death which 
was coming to her, and of all she had lost in the world.

On the same evening the bride and bridegroom went on board ship; 
cannons were roaring, flags waving, and in the center of the ship a 
costly tent of purple and gold had been erected. It contained 
elegant couches, for the reception of the bridal pair during the 
night.

The ship, with swelling sails and a favorable wind, glided away 
smoothly and lightly over the calm sea. When it grew dark a number 
of colored lamps were lit, and the sailors danced merrily on the 
deck. The little mermaid could not help thinking of her first rising 
out of the sea, when she had seen similar festivities and joys; and 
she joined in the dance, poised herself in the air as a swallow when 
he pursues his prey, and all present cheered her with wonder. She 
had never danced so elegantly before.

Her tender feet felt as if cut with sharp knives, but she cared not 
for it; a sharper pang had pierced through her heart. She knew this 
was the last evening she should ever see the prince, for whom she 
had forsaken her kindred and her home; she had given up her 
beautiful voice, and suffered unheard-of pain daily for him, while 
he knew nothing of it.

This was the last evening that she would breathe the same air with 
him, or gaze on the starry sky and the deep sea; an eternal night, 
without a thought or a dream, awaited her: she had no soul and now 
she could never win one.

All was joy and gayety on board ship till long after midnight; she 
laughed and danced with the rest, while the thoughts of death were 
in her heart.

The prince kissed his beautiful bride, while she played with his 
raven hair, till they went arm-in-arm to rest in the splendid tent.

Then all became still on board the ship; the helmsman, alone awake, 
stood at the helm. The little mermaid leaned her white arms on the 
edge of the vessel, and looked towards the east for the first blush 
of morning, for that first ray of dawn that would bring her death.

She saw her sisters rising out of the flood: they were as pale as 
herself; but their long beautiful hair waved no more in the wind, 
and had been cut off.

"We have given our hair to the witch," said they, "to obtain help 
for you, that you may not die to-night.

She has given us a knife: here it is, see it is very sharp. Before 
the sun rises you must plunge it into the heart of the prince; when 
the warm blood falls upon your feet they will grow together again, 
and form into a fish's tail, and you will be once more a mermaid, 
and return to us to live out your three hundred years before you die 
and change into the salt sea foam. Haste, then; he or you must die 
before sunrise.

Our old grandmother moans so for you, that her white hair is falling 
off from sorrow, as ours fell under the witch's scissors. Kill the 
prince and come back; hasten: do you not see the first red streaks 
in the sky? In a few minutes the sun will rise, and you must die." 
And then they sighed deeply and mournfully, and sank down beneath 
the waves.

The little mermaid drew back the crimson curtain of the tent, and 
beheld the fair bride with her head resting on the prince's breast. 
She bent down and kissed his fair brow, then looked at the sky on 
which the rosy dawn grew brighter and brighter; then she glanced at 
the sharp knife, and again fixed her eyes on the prince, who 
whispered the name of his bride in his dreams.

She was in his thoughts, and the knife trembled in the hand of the 
little mermaid: then she flung it far away from her into the waves; 
the water turned red where it fell, and the drops that spurted up 
looked like blood.

She cast one more lingering, half- fainting glance at the prince, 
and then threw herself from the ship into the sea, and thought her 
body was dissolving into foam.

The sun rose above the waves, and his warm rays fell on the cold 
foam of the little mermaid, who did not feel as if she were dying.

She saw the bright sun, and all around her floated hundreds of 
transparent beautiful beings; she could see through them the white 
sails of the ship, and the red clouds in the sky; their speech was 
melodious, but too ethereal to be heard by mortal ears, as they were 
also unseen by mortal eyes.

The little mermaid perceived that she had a body like theirs, and 
that she continued to rise higher and higher out of the foam.

"Where am I?" asked she, and her voice sounded ethereal, as the 
voice of those who were with her; no earthly music could imitate it.

"Among the daughters of the air," answered one of them. "A mermaid 
has not an immortal soul, nor can she obtain one unless she wins the 
love of a human being.

On the power of another hangs her eternal destiny. But the daughters 
of the air, although they do not possess an immortal soul, can, by 
their good deeds, procure one for themselves.

We fly to warm countries, and cool the sultry air that destroys 
mankind with the pestilence. We carry the perfume of the flowers to 
spread health and restoration. After we have striven for three 
hundred years to all the good in our power, we receive an immortal 
soul and take part in the happiness of mankind.

You, poor little mermaid, have tried with your whole heart to do as 
we are doing; you have suffered and endured and raised yourself to 
the spirit-world by your good deeds; and now, by striving for three 
hundred years in the same way, you may obtain an immortal soul."

The little mermaid lifted her glorified eyes towards the sun, and 
felt them, for the first time, filling with tears.

On the ship, in which she had left the prince, there were life and 
noise; she saw him and his beautiful bride searching for her; 
sorrowfully they gazed at the pearly foam, as if they knew she had 
thrown herself into the waves. Unseen she kissed the forehead of her 
bride, and fanned the prince, and then mounted with the other 
children of the air to a rosy cloud that floated through the aether.

"After three hundred years, thus shall we float into the kingdom of 
heaven," said she. "And we may even get there sooner," whispered one 
of her companions. "Unseen we can enter the houses of men, where 
there are children, and for every day on which we find a good child, 
who is the joy of his parents and deserves their love, our time of 
probation is shortened.

The child does not know, when we fly through the room, that we smile 
with joy at his good conduct, for we can count one year less of our 
three hundred years. But when we see a naughty or a wicked child, we 
shed tears of sorrow, and for every tear a day is added to our time 
of trial!"

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