The Little Mermaid

Once upon a time, far out in the deepest part of the ocean, a sea king lived in a magnificent underwater castle with walls of coral, windows of amber, and a roof made of iridescent shells.

The sea king had been a widower for many years, and his old mother kept house for him. She was a very wise woman and very good to the little sea princesses who were her granddaughters. They were six beautiful children, but the youngest was the prettiest of them all, with eyes as blue as the sea. Like all the others, she had no feet — her body ended in a fish's tail. She was a strange child, quiet and thoughtful. While her sisters were delighted with the wonderful things that they obtained from shipwrecks, she cared for nothing but the pretty red flowers she grew in the sea garden outside the castle.

She loved 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.

“When you turn fifteen,” the grandmother would tell her, “you will have permission to rise up out of the sea. Then you will see both forests and towns.”

In the following year, the oldest 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. However, each sister promised to tell the others what she saw on her first visit.

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 and to gaze on a large town nearby, where the lights were twinkling like hundreds of stars.

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

The third sister's turn followed. She swam up a broad river that emptied into the sea. On the banks she saw green hills covered with beautiful vines, and palaces and castles scattered throughout the forest.

The fourth sister was more timid. She remained in the middle of the sea, but she said it was as beautiful there as near the land.

The fifth sister's birthday came 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.

When the sisters had permission to rise to the surface for the first time, they were each delighted with the new sights. But now, as grownups, they could go when they pleased, and they had become indifferent to it. They wished themselves back again in the water. After a month had passed, they said it was much more beautiful down below and better to be at home.

Their youngest sister, though, thought, “Oh, I wish I were fifteen years old. I know that I shall love the world up there.”

At last she reached her fifteenth year. So she said, “Farewell,” and rose to the surface as lightly as a bubble. The sea was calm. A large ship lay on the water. There was music and song on board; and, as darkness came on, a hundred colored lanterns were lighted. The little mermaid swam close to the cabin window and saw the people inside. Among them was a young prince, the most handsome of all; he was sixteen years old.

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

A dreadful storm was approaching. The waves rose as high as mountains. Eventually, the ship's thick planks gave way, and the ship turned over on her side. Water rushed into the ship.

The little mermaid knew that the crew was in danger. At one moment it was so dark that she could not see a single object, but a flash of lightning revealed the whole scene. She could see everyone who had been on board except 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. Then she remembered that human beings could not live underwater.

She dove into the water to search for him. When she managed to reach the young prince, his eyes were closed and he would have died without the little mermaid's help. She held his head above the water.

In the morning, the prince's eyes remained closed. The mermaid kissed his forehead and wished that he would live. Presently they came in sight of land. She swam with the handsome prince to the beach and there she laid him in the warm sunshine. Then, the little mermaid swam out from the shore and placed herself between some high rocks that rose out of the water. She covered her head and neck with seafoam, so that her little face wasn't visible and watched to see what would become of the poor prince. She did not wait long before she saw a young girl approach him. Then, the mermaid saw that the prince came to life. She dove sorrowfully into the water, happy that the prince had been saved but sad to be away from him. She returned to her father's castle.

Her sisters asked her what she had seen during her first visit to the surface of the water, but she would tell them nothing.

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 close friend happened to know who the prince was.

“Come, little sister,” said the other princesses. 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. The little mermaid loved to swim near the shore and watch the prince take his daily walks and make jaunts in his little boat.

The little mermaid was able to think of nothing except the handsome prince. Her grandmother told her that humans found mermaid's tails unattractive and, therefore, the prince would have no interest in her. Desperate for advice, the little mermaid decided to consult an underwater sorceress.

When she arrived at the sorceress's home, the sea witch said, “I know what you want. It is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way and you will be sorry. You want to get rid of your fish's tail and have two legs, so that the young prince may fall in love with you. I will prepare a potion for you. You must swim to land tomorrow before sunrise and drink it. Your tail will then disappear and shrink up into legs. Every step you take will feel as if you were treading upon sharp knives. If you can bear this, I'll help you.”

“Yes, I can,” said the little mermaid.

“But think again,” said the witch, “for once your shape has become like a human, you can no longer be a mermaid.”

“I will do it,” said the little mermaid.

“But I must be paid also,” said the witch, “you must give me your beautiful voice.”

“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.”

“All right, then,” said the little mermaid.

Then the witch began to prepare the magic potion. When it was finished, the mermaid took it and swam to the prince's palace. Then the little mermaid drank the magic potion, and it seemed as if a two-edged sword went through her delicate body. Soon she recovered and felt a sharp pain, but before her stood the handsome young prince. She then became aware that her fish's tail was gone and that she had legs but no clothes. She used her long hair to cover herself.

The prince asked her who she was and where she came from, but she could not speak. Every step she took was, as the witch had said, like treading on the points of needles or sharp knives. She followed the prince to the palace and soon was dressed in robes of silk and was the most beautiful creature in the palace. But, because of her deal with the witch, she could not speak.

The prince said she should remain with him. He had a page's dress made for her, so she could ride with him on horseback. 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 seawater.

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 much they missed her.

As the days passed, she loved the prince more and more, and he loved her as he would love a little child, but it never crossed his mind to marry her. Yet, according the laws of the underwater world, unless he married her, 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 to the prince.

“Yes, you are dear to me,” said the prince, “for you have the best heart. You are like a young maiden whom I once saw. I was in a ship that was wrecked and a young maiden found me on the shore and saved my life. She is the only one in the world whom I could love.

“Oh, he doesn't know that I saved his life,” thought the little mermaid.

Very soon it was said that the prince must marry, and that the beautiful daughter of a neighboring king would be his wife.

The prince and the little mermaid set sail to meet the woman who was to be his wife. When the princess appeared in front of the palace, her perfect beauty astonished the little mermaid.

“It was you,” said the prince, “who saved my life when I was thought to be dead on the beach,” and he took his soon-to-be bride into his arms.

The little mermaid kissed his hand and felt as if her heart were already broken. The prince's wedding day would bring death to her, and she would change into sea foam.

The little mermaid, dressed in silk and gold for the wedding ceremony, held up the bride's train, but her ears heard nothing of the festive music. She thought of the night of death that was coming to her, and of all she had lost in the world.

On the same evening the bride and bridegroom went on board the ship. The ship, with swelling sails and a favorable wind, glided away smoothly and lightly over the calm sea. The little mermaid could not help thinking of her first rising out of the sea, when she had seen similar festivities. She knew this was the last evening she would ever see the prince, for whom she had given up everything.

When the party had ended and night fell, 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 because it had been cut off.

“We have given our hair to the witch,” they said, “so you won't die tonight. She has given us a knife. Before the sun rises you must plunge it into the heart of the prince. When his blood falls upon your feet, they will grow together again and form into a fish's tail, and you will once more be a mermaid.”

That night, the little mermaid drew back the curtain of the tent where the prince and his bride were sleeping. She bent down and kissed him. Then she glanced at the sharp knife, and again looked at the prince. 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. She then threw herself into the sea, and thought her body was dissolving into foam. The sun rose above the waves and the little mermaid did not feel as if she were dying. She saw the bright sun, and all around her floated hundreds of transparent beautiful beings. The little mermaid felt as if she had a body like theirs. She continued to rise higher and higher out of the foam. When the mermaid called out “Where am I going?” she heard this answer: “Among the daughters of the air. You, poor little mermaid, have tried with your whole heart to do the right thing. You have suffered and endured and raised yourself to the spirit world by your good deeds and kind and happy heart.”