The waves rose higher, there was lightning. Oh, there will be a terrible storm. The ship dived down like a swan between the tall billows, and rose again over the waters. To the little mermaid it seemed just a pleasant jaunt, but not so to the sailors. The ship creaked and cracked, the stout planks bent. The mast snapped in the midst, and the water rushed into the ship’s hull. Now the little mermaid saw they were in peril. The broken pieces of the ship were driven about in the sea. At one instant it was so dark that she could see nothing. When it lightened, it was so bright that she could see everyone on board. Everyone was leaping off.
She saw the young Prince, he was sinking down into the deep. For a moment she was full of joy that now he was coming down to her; but then she remembered that men could not live in the water. He will never come alive to her father’s palace. No, he must not die! So she swam to the young Prince. His arms and legs were beginning to tire, his beautiful eyes were closing. The little mermaid came to him. She held his head above the water.
At dawn the tempest was over. The Prince’s eyes were closed. The mermaid kissed his fair high forehead and stroked back his wet hair. He resembled the marble statue in her little garden. She kissed him again.
And now she saw in front of her the dry land. Lemon and apple trees grew in the garden, and before the gate were tall palms. At this spot the sea made a little bay; it was calm. Hither she swam with the fair Prince and laid him on the sand.
The bells rang out from the great white building, and a number of young maidens came out through the gardens. The little mermaid swam away, behind some high boulders. Suddenly young girl came that way, and was quite terrified, but only for a moment. Then she fetched more people, and the Prince revived. But he, of course, did not know that she rescued him. She felt very sad and dived sorrowfully down into the water. She swam home to her father’s palace.
The sisters were asking her about the outer world, but she did not tell them anything about it.
Every evening and morning she went up to that place. She saw how the fruits in the garden grew ripe and were picked. She saw how the snow melted on the high mountains. But she never saw the Prince. So she always turned homeward sadder than before.
At home, she was sitting in her little garden and looking at the fair marble statue which was like the Prince. At last she told one of her sisters. One of her sister’s friend knew who the Prince was. She knew where he came from and where his kingdom lay.
“Come, little sister,” said the other Princesses, and they rose in a long line out of the sea in front of the spot where they knew the Prince’s palace was.
It was a palace of pale yellow shining stone, with great marble steps. Stately gilded domes rose above the roof, and between the pillars stood statues of marble. Through the clear glass of the tall windows you could see into the noble halls. In the middle of the largest hall a great fountain.
Now the little mermaid knew where the Prince lived. She swam close to the land. She even went right up the narrow canal beneath the balcony of marble. Here she was sitting and gazing at the young Prince.
Many times she saw him in his splendid boat, where the flags waved. She thought of how close his head lay on her bosom, and how lovingly she kissed him then. He knew nothing about it, and could not dream about her.
She became fonder and fonder of human people. Their world, she thought, was far larger than hers. They could fly over the sea in ships, climb the mountains; and the lands they owned stretched over forests and fields. She wanted to know a lot, but her sisters could not answer all her questions. So she asked the old grandmother: she knew well the upper world, as she called the countries above the sea.
“If the human people aren’t drowned,” the little mermaid inquired, “do they for ever? Don’t they die as we do down here in the sea?”
“Yes,” said the old lady, “they die, too, and besides, their lifetime is shorter than ours. We can live for three hundred years, but then we only turn to foam on the water. We have no immortal souls, we never live again. Humans, on the other hand, have a soul that lives always. It rises up through the clear air, up to all the shining stars; just as we rise out of the sea. And then they live in the heavenly world “.
“Why did we have no immortal souls?” said the little mermaid, very sadly. “I can give all my hundreds of years for only one human day. I want to live in the heavenly world.”
“Don’t think about that,” said the old lady, “we are much happier and better!”
“So when I die and float like foam on the sea, I won’t get an everlasting soul?”
“No,” said the old lady, “only if a human being loves you, then his soul will flow over into your body. He will give you a soul. But that can never happen. Your beautiful fish’s tail, which is very beautiful here, people treat like a horrid one. Up there people must have two clumsy props which they call legs”.
The little mermaid sighed and looked sadly at her fish’s tail.
“Let’s be cheerful,” said the old lady. “We’ll jump and dance about for the three hundred years. After that we can sleep in peace”.
But the little mermaid began to think again about the world above her. She could not forget the handsome Prince. So she left her father’s palace, and sat sadly in her little garden. There she heard nice music. Sure, the Prince is sailing up there, she thought. I love him more than father or mother. I will risk everything to win him and an immortal soul. So I will go to the old Sea Witch. She can advise me and help me.
So the little mermaid went off out of her garden, towards the maelstrom behind which the witch lived. No flowers grew there, and no sea grass: only the gray sandy bottom round the maelstrom, where the water whirled round like a millwheel. Behind it lay the Witch’s house, in the middle of a hideous wood. All the trees and bushes of it were polypi, half animal and half plant, which looked like hundred-headed snakes. All their branches were long slimy arms with fingers like pliant worms. The little mermaid was in terrible fear as she stopped outside the wood. Her heart beat with terror, and she almost turned back. Then she thought of the Prince and of the human soul, and she took courage. She joined her two hands together on her breast, and darted along through the water.
Now she came to a great slimy clearing in the wood, where large fat water-snakes wallowed. In the centre of the clearing was a house built of the white bones of men. There the Sea Witch sat.
“I know well enough what you want,” said the Sea Witch, “and it’s a silly thing. But all the same, you will get what you want. It’ll bring you to a bad end, my pretty Princess. You want to be rid of[14] your fish tail and have two props to walk on instead, like humans. You think the young Prince may fall in love with you, and you may get him and an immortal soul. Ha!”
With that the Witch laughed loud and hideously.
“So”, said the Witch; “I shall make a drink for you, and with it you must swim to the land before the sun rises. Put yourself on the beach there, and drink it up. Then your tail will part and transform into what men call ‘pretty legs’. But it’ll hurt, it’ll be like a sharp sword. Everybody that sees you will say you are the prettiest human child they ever saw. You’ll keep your gait, and no dancer will be able to dance like you. But every your step will be as if you were treading on a sharp knife. If you can bear all that, I will do what you wish.”
“Yes,” said the little mermaid; and she thought of the Prince and an immortal soul.
“But remember,” said the Witch, “when you take a human shape, you can never become a
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