And then the little mermaid went out from her garden, and took the road to the witches’ house. She had never been that way before[60]. The house stood in the centre of a strange forest. The little mermaid was scared and wanted to go back. But then she thought of the prince and her courage returned.
The house was built with the bones of shipwrecked human beings. And inside it sat the sea witch. “I know what you want,” said the sea witch; “it is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way[61]. You want to get rid of your fish’s tail, and to have legs instead of it, so that the young prince may fall in love with you. I will prepare a potion for you. You must swim with it to land tomorrow before sunrise, and sit down on the shore and drink it. Your tail will disappear, and you will get legs. You will feel great pain; your every step will feel as if you were walking on sharp knives. If you will bear all this, I will help you.”
“Yes, I will,” said the little princess in a trembling voice.
“But think again,” said the witch; “for when you become human, you can no more be a mermaid[62]. You will never return to your sisters, or to your father’s palace again. And if you do not win the love of the prince, and he marries another, your heart will break, and you will become sea foam.”
“I will do it,” said the little mermaid.
“And as payment for my help, I’ll take your voice.”
“But if you take away my voice,” said the little mermaid, “what is left for me?”
“You are beautiful; surely you can enchain a man’s heart. Well, have you lost your courage?”
“Alright,” said the little mermaid.
Then the witch placed her cauldron on the fire, and prepared the magic potion. When at last it 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 would never again speak or sing.
The mermaid left and quickly went back to the palace. She went into the garden, took one last look at her home and then swam to the surface. When she got to the prince’s palace, it was night. She swam to the marble steps and drank the potion. She felt pain and fainted. When the sun arose, she recovered, and saw the prince near her. She looked down and saw that her fish’s tail was gone, and that she had a pair of legs. The prince asked her who she was, and where she came from, but she could not speak. He took her to the palace. Every step she took hurt and she felt like she was walking on needles. But she stepped lightly and the prince wondered at her graceful movements[63]. She was very soon given a few beautiful dresses and she became the most beautiful creature in the palace.
Once, there were dancers performing for the prince. Their dance was very beautiful. The little mermaid raised her arms, stood on the tips of her toes, and danced like no one else. Everyone was enchanted, especially the prince.
As the days passed, the mermaid loved the prince more. He loved her as he would love a little child, but it never came into his head[64] to make her his wife.
“You are dear to me,” said the prince; “for you have the best heart, and you are the most devoted to me. You remind me of a young maiden whom I once saw. I was in a ship wreck, and the waves cast me ashore near a holy temple. She found me on the shore, and saved my life. 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[65]. 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 doesn’t know that I saved him,” thought the little mermaid. “I carried him to the shore; I saw the pretty maiden that he loves.” And the mermaid sighed deeply. “He says the maiden belongs to the holy temple, so she will never return to the world. They will never meet.”
Very soon it was said that the prince must marry, and that the beautiful daughter of a neighboring king would be his wife.
“I must travel,” he said to the mermaid; “I must see this beautiful princess; my parents want it. I cannot love her. If I were forced to choose a bride, I would rather choose you.”
And so they got on a ship and sailed to meet the princess. The next day they got to the harbor of a beautiful town. The church bells were ringing, and from the high towers sounded a flourish of trumpets[66].
But the princess had not yet appeared. People said that she was being brought up and educated in a religious house. At last she came. She was beautiful: her skin was delicately fair, and her blue eyes shone with truth and purity.
“It was you,” said the prince, “who saved my life when I lay dead on the beach! Oh, I am too happy!”
The little mermaid kissed his hand, and felt as if her heart was already broken. His wedding morning would bring death to her, and she would turn into the foam of the sea.
The wedding happened at once. 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 only of what was going to happen in the morning.
Once everyone on the ship went to sleep, the little mermaid came up to the edge of the ship and looked towards the east. She saw her sisters rise out of the water. They were as pale as herself; but their long beautiful hair had been cut off.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.