The Little Mermaid (Original Version)

THE LITTLE MERMAID 2

year, one 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, and

see the earth as we do.

However, each promised to tell the others what she saw on her first

visit, and what she thought the most beautiful; for their

grandmother could not tell them enough; there were so many

things on which they wanted information. None of them longed so

much for her turn to come as the youngest, she who had the

longest time to wait, and who was so quiet and thoughtful. Many

nights she stood by the open window, looking up through the dark

blue water, and watching the fish as they splashed about with their

fins and tails. She could see the moon and stars shining faintly; but

through the water they looked larger than they do to our eyes.

When something like a black cloud passed between her and them,

she knew that it was either a whale swimming over her head, or a

ship full of human beings, who never imagined that a pretty little

mermaid was standing beneath them, holding out her white hands

towards the keel of their ship.

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, on a sandbank, in the quiet sea, near the coast, and

to gaze on a large town nearby, where the lights were twinkling

like hundreds of stars; to listen to the sounds of the music, the

noise of carriages, and the voices of human beings, and then to

hear the merry bells peal out from the church steeples; and because

she could not go near to all those wonderful things, she longed for

them more than ever. Oh, did not the youngest sister listen eagerly

to all these descriptions? and afterwards, when she stood at the

open window looking up through the dark blue water, she thought

of the great city, with all its bustle and noise, and even fancied she

could hear the sound of the church bells, down in the depths of the

sea. In another year the second sister received permission to rise to

the surface of the water, and to swim about where she pleased. She

rose just as the sun was setting, and this, she said, was the most

beautiful sight of all. The whole sky looked like gold, while violet

and rose-colored clouds, which she could not describe, floated over

her; and, still more rapidly than the clouds, flew a large flock of

wild swans towards the setting sun, looking like a long white veil

across the sea. She also swam towards the sun; but it sunk into the

waves, and the rosy tints faded from the clouds and from the sea. The third sister's turn followed; she was the boldest of them all,

and she swam up a broad river that emptied itself into the sea. On

the banks she saw green hills covered with beautiful vines; palaces

and castles peeped out from amid the proud trees of the forest; she

heard the birds singing, and the rays of the sun were so powerful

that she was obliged often to dive down under the water to cool

her burning face. In a narrow creek she found a whole troop of

little human children, quite naked, and sporting about in the water;

she wanted to play with them, but they fled in a great fright; and

then a little black animal came to the water; it was a dog, but she

did not know that, for she had never before seen one. This animal

barked at her so terribly that she became frightened, and rushed

back to the open sea. But she said she should never forget the

beautiful forest, the green hills, and the pretty little children who

could swim in the water, although they had not fish's tails.

The fourth sister was more timid; she remained in the midst of the

sea, but she said it was quite as beautiful there as nearer the land.

She could see for so many miles around her, and the sky above

looked like a bell of glass. She had seen the ships, but at such a

great distance that they looked like sea-gulls. The dolphins sported

in the waves, and the great whales spouted water from their

nostrils till it seemed as if a hundred fountains were playing in

every direction.

The fifth sister's birthday occurred 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, each like a pearl, she said, but larger and loftier than the

churches built by men. They were of the most singular shapes, and

glittered like diamonds. She had seated herself upon one of the

largest, and let the wind play with her long hair, and she remarked

that all the ships sailed by rapidly, and steered as far away as they

could from the iceberg, as if they were afraid of it. Towards

evening, as the sun went down, dark clouds covered the sky, the

thunder rolled and the lightning flashed, and the red light glowed

on the icebergs as they rocked and tossed on the heaving sea. On

all the ships the sails were reefed with fear and trembling, while

she sat calmly on the floating iceberg, watching the blue lightning,

as it darted its forked flashes into the sea.

When first the sisters had permission to rise to the surface, they

were each delighted with the new and beautiful sights they saw;

but now, as grown-up girls, they could go when they pleased, and

they had become indifferent about it. They wished themselves back

again in the water, and after a month had passed they said it was