The year after, the second sister rose up through the water and swam where she liked. She saw how the sun was going down, and the sight of that was the most beautiful of all. The whole heaven, she said, looked like gold, and the clouds sailed past above her.
Next year the third sister went up. She was the boldest of them all. She swam up a broad river that ran into the sea. She saw beautiful green hills, with rows of vines upon them. Palaces and mansions peeped out from the woods. She heard the songs of the birds, and the sun shone very brightly.
In a little inlet she saw a crowd of young human children. They were naked, and ran about and splashed in the water. She wanted to play with them, but they ran away in a fright. Then came a little black creature (it was a dog) and it barked at her so dreadfully that she was terrified and swam away. She could not forget the splendid woods and the green hills and the pretty children who swam in the water, though they had no fish-tails.
The fourth sister stayed out in the lonely sea, and told them that that was the most beautiful of all. You could see many miles all round, and the sky was like a great bell of glass. She saw the merry dolphins and the big whales. It looked like hundreds of fountains all around her.
Now came the turn of the fifth sister. Her birthday was in winter. The sea was green, and round about there floated large icebergs. Every iceberg was like a pearl, she said, and yet they were bigger than the church towers that men built. They were like diamonds. She was sitting on one of the largest, and all the ships made a wide circle in fear. In the evening the sky was covered with clouds, it lightened and thundered.
Many times the five sisters linked arms together and rose in a row above the water. They had lovely voices, more beautiful than any human being’s. When a storm was coming on, they were swimming before the ships and singing beautifully. But the people could not understand their words; they thought it was the storm. And the people did not see any beautiful things either. When the ship sank they were drowned, and only dead corpses reached the sea King’s palace.
When the sisters rose up through the sea, arm in arm, their little sister stayed quite alone.
“Oh! When I am fifteen,” she said, “I shall become really fond of that world up there and of the people who have their homes there!”
At last she was fifteen years old.
“There now!” said the grandmother, the old widow Queen. “Come here, and let me dress you”.
She put a wreath of white lilies on her hair, only every petal in the flower was a half-pearl. And eight large oysters held tight the Princess’s tail, to indicate her high rank.
“But it hurts so,” said the little mermaid.
“Yes, you must suffer a little for smartness’ sake[12],” said the old lady.
Oh dear! The little mermaid wanted to shake off all this finery and put away the heavy wreath. But she dare not change it.
“Good-bye”, she said, and rose as a bubble, up through the water.
She lifted her head above the sea, but all the clouds were still glowing like gold and roses. In the midst of the pale red heaven the evening star shone clear and beautiful. The air was soft and cool, and the sea calm. There lay a great ship with three masts. Only a single sail was set. On the rigging and on the yard[13], sailors were sitting. She heard music and songs.
The little mermaid swam straight up to the cabin window. She saw through the windows many gaily dressed people. The handsomest of them all was the young Prince with the big black eyes. He was certainly not much over sixteen, and this was his birthday. The sailors danced on the deck, and when the young Prince came out there, more than a hundred rockets shot up into the sky. The little mermaid was frightened and dived down beneath the water. But soon she put up her head again.
Great suns whizzed round, splendid fire-fish darted into the blue heaven. On the ship itself there was so much light that you could see every rope. Oh! How handsome the young Prince was! He shook hands with the crew and smiled and laughed.
It was already late, but the little mermaid could not take her eyes off the ship and the beautiful Prince. No more rockets flew up into the sky, but deep down in the sea there was a murmur and a rumbling.
Meanwhile she sat on the water and swung up and down, so that she could see into the cabin. 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