1、The Tales of Hans Christian AndersenThe Little Mermaid - Den lille Havfrue1837Far, far from land, where the waters are as blue as the petals of the cornflower and as clear as glass,there, where no anchor can reach the bottom, live the mer-people. So deep is this part of the sea that youwould have to
2、 pile many church towers on top of each other before one of them emerged above thesurface.Now you must not think that at the bottom of the sea there is only white sand. No, here grow thestrangest plants and trees; their stems and leaves are so subtle that the slightest current in the watermakes them
3、 move, as if they were alive. Big and small fishes flit in and out among their branches, justas the birds do up on earth. At the very deepest place, the mer-king has built his castle. Its walls aremade of coral and its long pointed windows of amber. The roof is oyster shells that are continuallyopen
4、ing and closing. It looks very beautiful, for in each shell lies a pearl, so lustrous that it would be fitfor a queens crown.The mer-king had been a widower for many years; his mother kept house for him. She was a veryintelligent woman but a little too proud of her rank: she wore twelve oysters on h
5、er tail; the nobilitywere only allowed six. Otherwise, she was a most praiseworthy woman, and she took excellent care ofher grandchildren, the little princesses. They were six lovely mermaids; the youngest was the mostbeautiful. Her complexion was as fine as the petal of a rose and her eyes as blue
6、as the deepest lake but,just like everyone else down there, she had no feet; her body ended in a fishtail.The mermaids were allowed to play all day in the great hall of the castle, where flowers grew on thewalls. The big amber windows were kept open and the fishes swam in and out, just as the swallo
7、ws upon earth fly in through our windows if they are open. But unlike the birds of the air, the fishes were notfrightened, they swam right up to the little princesses and ate out of their hands and let themselves bepetted.Around the castle was a great park where there grew fiery-red and deep-blue tr
8、ees. Their fruits shone asthough they were the purest gold, their flowers were like flames, and their branches and leaves wereever in motion. The earth was the finest sand, not white but blue, the color of burning sulphur. Therewas a blue tinge to everything, down on the bottom of the sea. You could
9、 almost believe that you weresuspended in mid-air and had the blue sky both above and below you. When the sea was calm, the sunappeared like a crimson flower, from which all light flowed.Each little princess had her own garden, where she could plant the flowers she liked. One of them hadshaped her f
10、lower bed so it resembled a whale; and another, as a mermaid. The youngest had planted redflowers in hers: she wanted it to look like the sun; it was round and the crimson flowers did glow asthough they were so many little suns. She was a strange little child: quiet and thoughtful. Her sistersgarden
11、s were filled with all sorts of things that they had collected from shipwrecks, but she had only amarble statue of a boy in hers. It had been cut out of stone that was almost transparently clear and hadsunk to the bottom of the sea when the ship that had carried it was lost. Close to the statue she
12、hadplanted a pink tree; it looked like a weeping willow. The tree was taller than the sculpture. Its long softbranches bent toward the sand; it looked as if the top of the tree and its root wanted to kiss each other.The princesses liked nothing better than to listen to their old grandmother tell abo
13、ut the world above.She had to recount countless times all she knew about ships, towns, human beings, and the animals thatlived up on land. The youngest of the mermaids thought it particularly wonderful that the flowers upthere had fragrance, for that they did not have on the bottom of the sea. She a
14、lso liked to hear about thegreen forest, where the fishes that swam among the branches could sing most beautifully. Grandmothercalled the birds “fishes“; otherwise, her little grandchildren would not have understood her, since theyhad never seen a bird.“But when you are fifteen, then you will be all
15、owed to swim to the surface,“ she promised. “Then youcan climb up on a rock and sit and watch the big ships sail by. If you dare, you can swim close enoughto the shore to see the towns and the forest.“ The following year, the oldest of the princesses would befifteen. From one sister to the next, the
16、re was a difference in age of about a year, which meant that theyoungest would have to wait more than five whole years before she would be allowed to swim up fromthe bottom of the sea and take a look at us. But each promised the others that she would return after herfirst day above, and tell about t
17、he things she had seen and describe what she thought was loveliest all.For the old grandmother could not satisfy their curiosity.None of the sisters longed so much to see the world above as the youngest, the one who had to wait thelongest before she could leave her home. Many a night this quiet, tho
18、ughtful little mermaid would standby the open window, looking up through the dark blue waters where the fishes swam. She could see themoon and the stars; they looked paler but larger down here under the sea. Sometimes a great shadowpassed by like a cloud and then she knew that it was either a whale
19、or a ship, with its crew andpassengers, that was sailing high above her. None on board could have imagined that a little beautifulmermaid stood in the depths below them and stretched her little white hands up toward the keel of theirship.The oldest of the sisters had her fifteenth birthday and swam
20、up to the surface of the sea.When she returned she had hundreds of things to tell. But of everything that had happened to her, theloveliest experience by far, she claimed, had been to lie on a sandbank, when the sea was calm and themoon was out, and look at a great city. The lights from the windows
21、and streets had shone like hundredsof stars; and she had been able to hear the rumbling of the carriages and the voices of human beings and,best of all, the sound of music. She had seen all the church towers and steeples and heard their bellsring. And just because she would never be able to enter th
22、e city, she longed to be able to do that morethan anything else.How carefully her youngest sister listened to every word and remembered everything that she had beentold. When, late in the evening, the little mermaid would stand dreaming by the window and look upthrough the blue water, then she imagi
23、ned that she could see the city and hear the bells of the churchesringing.The next year the second of the sisters was allowed to swim away from home. Her little head hademerged above the water just at the moment when the sun was setting. This sight had been so beautifulthat she could hardly describe
24、 it. The whole heaven had been covered in gold and the clouds that hadsailed above her had been purple and crimson. A flight of wild swans, like a white veil just above thewater, had flown by. She had swum toward the sun, but it had set, taking the colors of the clouds, sea,and sky with it.The third
25、 of the sisters, who came of age the following year, was the most daring among them. She hadswum way up a broad river! There she had seen green hills covered with vineyards, castles, and farmsthat peeped out through the great forests. She had heard the birds sing and the sun had been so hot thatshe
26、had had to swim under the water some of the time, just to cool off. In a little bay, she had come uponsome naked children who were playing and splashing in the water. She had wanted to join them, butwhen they saw her they got frightened and ran away. A little black animal had come: it was a dog. But
27、she had never seen one before. It had barked so loudly and fiercely that she became terrified and swamright back to the sea. What she never would forget as long as she lived were the beautiful forest, thegreen hills, and the sweet little children who had been able to swim even though they had no fis
28、htails asshe had.The fourth of the sisters was timid. She stayed far away from shore, out in the middle of the ocean. Butthat was the most beautiful place of all, she asserted. You could see ever so far and the sky above waslike a clear glass bell. The ships she had seen had been so far away that th
29、ey had looked no bigger thangulls. But the little dolphins had turned somersaults for her and the great whales had sprayed water highup into the air, so that it looked as though there were more than a hundred fountains.The fifth sisters birthday was in the winter and, therefore, she saw something no
30、ne of her sisters hadseen. The ocean had been green, and huge icebergs had been floating on it. Each of them had been aslovely as a pearl and yet larger than the church towers that human beings built. They had the mostfantastic shapes and their surface glittered like diamonds. She had climbed up on
31、the largest one of themall; the wind had played with her long hair, and all the ships had fearfully kept away. Toward evening astorm had begun to blow; dark clouds had gathered and bolts of lightning had flashed while the thunderrolled. The waves had lifted the iceberg high up on their shoulders, an
32、d the lightning had colored the icered. The ships had taken down their sails; and on board, fear and terror had reigned. But the mermaidhad just sat on her iceberg and watched the bolts of lightning zigzag across the sky.The first time that any of the sisters had been allowed to swim to the surface,
33、 each had been delightedwith her freedom and all she had seen. But now that they were grownups and could swim anywhere theywished, they lost interest in wandering far away; after a month or two the world above lost its attraction.When they were away, they longed for their fathers castle, declaring i
34、t the most beautiful place of alland the only spot where one really felt at home.Still, many evenings the five sisters would take each others hands and rise up through the waters. Theyhad voices far lovelier than any human being. When a storm began to rage and a ship was in danger ofbeing wrecked, t
35、hen the five sisters would swim in front of it and sing about how beautiful it was downat the bottom of the sea. They begged the sailors not to be frightened but to come down to them. Themen could not understand the mermaids songs; they thought it was the wind that was singing. Besides,they would ne
36、ver see the beauty of the world below them, for if a ship sinks the seamen drown, andwhen they arrive at the mer-kings castle they are dead.On such evenings, while her sisters swam, hand in hand, up through the water, the youngest princesshad to stay below. She would look sadly up after them and fee
37、l like crying; but mermaids cant weep andthat makes their suffering even deeper and greater.“Oh, if only I were fifteen,“ she would sigh. “I know that I shall love the world above, and the humanbeings who live up there!“At last she, too, was fifteen!“Now you are off our hands,“ said the old dowager
38、queen. “Let me dress you, just as I dressed yoursisters.“ She put a wreath of white lilies around her hair; each of the petals of every flower was half apearl. She let eight oysters clip themselves onto the little mermaids tail, so that everyone could see thatshe was a princess.“It hurts,“ said the
39、little mermaid.“One has to suffer for position,“ said her old grandmother.The little mermaid would gladly have exchanged her heavy pearl wreath for one of the red flowers fromher garden (she thought they suited her much better) but she didnt dare. “Farewell,“ she said and rose,light as a bubble, up
40、through the water.The sun had just set when she lifted her head above the surface. The clouds still had the color of rosesand in the horizon was a fine line of gold; in the pale pink sky the first star of evening sparkled, clearlyand beautifully. The air was warm and the sea was calm. She saw a thre
41、e-masted ship; only one of itssails was unfurled, and it hung motionless in the still air. Up on the yards the sailors sat, looking downupon the deck from which music could be heard. As the evening grew darker, hundreds of little coloredlamps were hung from the rigging; they looked like the flags of
42、 all the nations of the world. The littlemermaid swam close to a porthole and the swells lifted her gently so that she could look in through it.The great cabin was filled with gaily dressed people; the handsomest among them was a young princewith large, dark eyes. He looked no older than sixteen, an
43、d that was, in truth, his age; that very day washis birthday. All the festivities were for him. The sailors danced on the deck, and as the young princecame up to watch them, a hundred rockets flew into the sky. The night became as bright as day and thelittle mermaid got so frightened that she ducked
44、 down under the water. But she soon stuck her head upagain; and then it looked as if all the stars of the heavens were falling down on top of her. She had neverseen fireworks before. Pinwheels turned; rockets shot into the air, and their lights reflected in the darkmirror of the sea. The deck of the
45、 ship was so illuminated that every rope could clearly be seen. Oh, howhandsome the young prince was! He laughed and smiled and shook hands with everyone, while musicwas played in the still night.It grew late, but the little mermaid could not turn her eyes away from the ship and the handsome prince.
46、The colored lamps were put out. No more rockets shot into the air and no more cannons were fired.From the depth of the ocean came a rumbling noise. The little mermaid let the waves be her rockinghorse, and they lifted her so that she could look in through the porthole. The ship started to sail faste
47、rand faster, as one sail after another was unfurled. Now the waves grew in size and black clouds could beseen on the horizon and far away lightning flashed. A storm was brewing. The sailors took down thesails. The great ship tossed and rolled in the huge waves that rose as though they were mountains
48、 thatwanted to bury the ship and break its proud mast. But the ship, like a swan, rode on top of the waves andlet them lift her high into the sky. The little mermaid thought it was very amusing to watch the shipsailing so fast, but the sailors didnt. The ship creaked and groaned; the great planks se
49、emed to bulge asthe waves hit them. Suddenly the mast snapped as if it were a reed. It tumbled into the water. The shipheeled over, and the sea broke over it. Only now did the little mermaid understand that the ship was indanger. She had to be careful herself and keep away from the spars and broken pieces of timber thatwere being flung by the waves. For a moment it grew so dark that she could see nothing, then a bolt oflightning illuminated the sinking ship. She looked for the young prince among the terrified men onboard who were trying to save themselves, but not until that very mo
