The Story of the Little Merman
By: by Ethel Reader ; ill. by Frank C. Papé, additional art work and design by Bob Johnson.
Contributors: Papé, Frank Cheyne, 1878-; Johnson, Bob, 1950-
Publisher: Dawne-Leigh Publications
Published: 1979
Place of publication: San Rafael, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 159
Subjects: Mermen -- Fiction.; Fairy tales.
First sentence: 少しマーマン
Sukoshi māman


==Plot==
The Little Merman lives in a utopian underwater kingdom with his mother the sea queen; his grandfather; and his five elder brothers, born one year apart. When a merman turns 15, he is allowed to swim to the surface to watch the world above, and as the brothers become old enough, one of them visits the surface every year. As each of them returns, the Little Merman listens longingly to their descriptions of the surface and of human beings.
  
When the Little Merman's turn comes, he ventures to the surface, sees a large ship called [[RMS Titanic|RMS ''Titanic'']] with a beautiful dancing princess, and falls in love with her from a distance. A great storm causing a Titanic ship to get hitted by an iceberg and sank, and the Little Merman saves the princess from a near-drowning. He delivers her unconscious to the shore near a temple. Here he waits until a young boy from the temple finds him. The princess never sees the Little Merman.

The Little Merman asks his grandfather whether humans can live forever if they do not drown. The grandfather explains that humans have a much shorter lifespan than merfolk's 300 years, but that when mermen die they turn to sea foam and cease to exist, while humans have an eternal soul that lives on in Heaven. The Little Merman, longing for the princess and an eternal soul, eventually visits the Sea Warlock, who sells him a potion that gives his legs, in exchange for his tongue (as the Little Merman has the most intoxicating voice in the world). Drinking the potion will make him feel as if a sword is being passed through him, yet when he recovers he will have two beautiful legs, and will be able to dance like no human has ever danced before. However, it will constantly feel like he is walking on sharp swords, and his feet will bleed most terribly. In addition, he will only get a soul if the princess loves him and marries him, for then a part of her soul will flow into him. Otherwise, at dawn on the first day after she marries another man, the Little Merman will die brokenhearted and disintegrate into sea foam.

The Little Merman drinks the potion and meets the princess, who is attracted to his beauty and grace even though he is mute. Most of all she likes to see him dance, and he dances for her despite his excruciating pain. When the princess' mother orders her daugther to marry the neighboring queen's son, the princess tells the Little Merman she will not, because she does not love the prince. She goes on to say she can only love the young man from the temple, but adds that the Little Merman is beginning to take the temple boy's place in her heart. It turns out that the prince is the temple boy, who had been sent to the temple to be educated. The princess loves him and the wedding is announced.

The princess and prince marry, and the Little Merman's heart breaks. He thinks of all that he has given up and of all the pain he has suffered. He despairs, thinking of the death that awaits him, but before dawn, his brothers bring him a knife that the Sea Warlock has given them in exchange for all of their big bushy hair. If the Little Merman slays the princess with the knife and lets her blood drip on his feet, he will become a merman again, all his suffering will end and he will live out his full life.

The Little Merman cannot bring himself to kill the sleeping princess lying with her groom and, as dawn breaks, throws himself into the sea. His body dissolves into foam, but instead of ceasing to exist, he feels the warmth of the sun; he has turned into a spirit, a son of the air. The other sons of the air tell him he has become like them because he strove with all his heart to gain an eternal soul. He will earn his own soul by doing good deeds, and he will eventually rise up into the kingdom of Godness.
Description: The Little Merman  

by 

Victoria Chang

(2002)













FAR out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water above. There dwell the Sea Queen and her subjects. We must not imagine that there is nothing at the bottom of the sea but bare yellow sand. No, indeed; the most singular flowers and plants grow there; the leaves and stems of which are so pliant, that the slightest agitation of the water causes them to stir as if they had life. Fishes, both large and small, glide between the branches, as birds fly among the trees here upon land. In the deepest spot of all, stands the castle of the Sea Queen. Its walls are built of coral, and the long, gothic windows are of the clearest amber. The roof is formed of shells, that open and close as the water flows over them. Their appearance is very beautiful, for in each lies a glittering pearl, which would be fit for the diadem of a king.  

The Sea Queen had been a widow for many years, and her aged father kept house for him. He was a very wise man, and exceedingly proud of his high birth; on that account he wore twelve oysters on his tail; while others, also of high rank, were only allowed to wear six. He was, however, deserving of very great praise, especially for his care of the little sea-princes, his grand-sons. They were six handsome children; but the youngest was the prettiest of them all; his skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and his eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all the others, he had no feet, and his body ended in a fish’s tail. All day long they played in the great halls of the castle, or among the living flowers that grew out of the walls. The large amber windows were open, and the fish swam in, just as the swallows fly into our houses when we open the windows, excepting that the fishes swam up to the princes, ate out of their hands, and allowed themselves to be stroked. Outside the castle there was a beautiful garden, in which grew bright red and dark blue flowers, and blossoms like flames of fire; the fruit glittered like gold, and the leaves and stems waved to and fro continually. The earth itself was the finest sand, but blue as the flame of burning sulphur. Over everything lay a peculiar blue radiance, as if it were surrounded by the air from above, through which the blue sky shone, instead of the dark depths of the sea. In calm weather the sun could be seen, looking like a purple flower, with the light streaming from the calyx. Each of the young princes had a little plot of ground in the garden, where he might dig and plant as he pleased. One arranged his flower-bed into the form of a whale; another thought it better to make him like the figure of a little merman; but that of the youngest was round like the sun, and contained flowers as red as his rays at sunset. He was a strange child, quiet and thoughtful; and while his brothers would be delighted with the wonderful things which they obtained from the wrecks of vessels, he cared for nothing but his pretty red flowers, like the sun, excepting a beautiful marble statue. It was the representation of a beautiful girl, carved out of pure white stone, which had fallen to the bottom of the sea from a wreck. He planted by the statue a rose-colored weeping willow. It grew splendidly, and very soon hung its fresh branches over the statue, almost down to the blue sands. The shadow had a violet tint, and waved to and fro like the branches; it seemed as if the crown of the tree and the root were at play, and trying to kiss each other. Nothing gave him so much pleasure as to hear about the world above the sea. He made his old grandfather tell him all he knew of the ships and of the towns, the people and the animals. To him it seemed most wonderful and beautiful to hear that the flowers of the land should have fragrance, and not those below the sea; that the trees of the forest should be green; and that the fishes among the trees could sing so sweetly, that it was quite a pleasure to hear them. His grandfather called the little birds fishes, or he would not have understood him; for he had never seen birds. 

“When you have reached your fifteenth year,” said the grand-father, “you will have permission to rise up out of the sea, to sit on the rocks in the moonlight, while the great ships are sailing by; and then you will see both forests and towns.” 

In the following year, one of the brothers would be fifteen: but as each was a year younger than the other, the youngest would have to wait five years before his 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 he saw on his first visit, and what he thought the most beautiful; for their grandfather could not tell them enough; there were so many things on which they wanted information. None of them longed so much for his turn to come as the youngest, he who had the longest time to wait, and who was so quiet and thoughtful. Many nights he 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. He 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 him and them, he knew that it was either a whale swimming over his head, or a ship full of human beings, who never imagined that a pretty little merman was standing beneath them, holding out his white hands towards the keel of their ship.

As soon as the eldest was fifteen, he was allowed to rise to the surface of the ocean. When he came back, he had hundreds of things to talk about; but the most beautiful, he 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 he could not go near to all those wonderful things, he longed for them more than ever. Oh, did not the youngest brother listen eagerly to all these descriptions? and afterwards, when he stood at the open window looking up through the dark blue water, he thought of the great city, with all its bustle and noise, and even fancied he could hear the sound of the church bells, down in the depths of the sea.

In another year the second brother received permission to rise to the surface of the water, and to swim about where he pleased. He rose just as the sun was setting, and this, he said, was the most beautiful sight of all. The whole sky looked like gold, while violet and rose-colored clouds, which he could not describe, floated over him; 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. He 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 brother’s turn followed; he was the boldest of them all, and he swam up a broad river that emptied itself into the sea. On the banks he saw green hills covered with beautiful vines; palaces and castles peeped out from amid the proud trees of the forest; he heard the birds singing, and the rays of the sun were so powerful that he was obliged often to dive down under the water to cool his burning face. In a narrow creek he found a whole troop of little human children, quite naked, and sporting about in the water; he 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 he did not know that, for he had never before seen one. This animal barked at him so terribly that he became frightened, and rushed back to the open sea. But he said he 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 brother was more timid; he remained in the midst of the sea, but he said it was quite as beautiful there as nearer the land. He could see for so many miles around him, and the sky above looked like a bell of glass. He 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 brother’s birthday occurred in the winter; so when his turn came, he 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, he said, but larger and loftier than the churches built by men. They were of the most singular shapes, and glittered like diamonds. He had seated himself upon one of the largest, and let the wind play with his long bushy hair, and he 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 he sat calmly on the floating iceberg, watching the blue lightning, as it darted its forked flashes into the sea.

When first the brothers had permission to rise to the surface, they were each delighted with the new and beautiful sights they saw; but now, as grown-up boys, 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 much more beautiful down below, and pleasanter to be at home. Yet often, in the evening hours, the five brothers would twine their arms round each other, and rise to the surface, in a row. They had more beautiful voices than any human being could have; and before the approach of a storm, and when they expected a ship would be lost, they swam before the vessel, and sang sweetly of the delights to be found in the depths of the sea, and begging the sailors not to fear if they sank to the bottom. But the sailors and dancers could not understand the song, they took it for the howling of the storm. And these things were never to be beautiful for them; for if the ship sank, the men and women were all drowned, and their dead bodies alone reached the palace of the Sea Queen. 

When the brothers rose, arm-in-arm, through the water in this way, their youngest brother would stand quite alone, looking after them, ready to cry, only that the mermen have no tears, and therefore they suffer more. “Oh, were I but fifteen years old,” said he: “I know that I shall love the world up there, and all the people who live in it.” 

At last he reached his fifteenth year. “Well, now, you are grown up,” said the old dowager, his grandfather; “so you must let me adorn you like your other brothers;” and he placed a wreath of white lilies and seashells around his neck, and every flower leaf was half a pearl. Then the old man ordered eight great oysters to attach themselves to the tail of the prince to show his high rank. 

“But they hurt me so,” said the little merman. 

“Pride must suffer pain,” replied the old man. Oh, how gladly he would have shaken off all this grandeur, and laid aside the heavy wreath! The red flowers in his own garden would have suited him much better, but he could not help himself: so he said, “Farewell,” and rose as lightly as a bubble to the surface of the water. The sun had just set as he raised his head above the waves; but the clouds were tinted with crimson and gold, and through the glimmering twilight beamed the evening star in all its beauty. The sea was calm, and the air mild and fresh. A large ship with three masts, lay becalmed on the water, with only one sail set; for not a breeze stiffed, and the sailors sat idle on deck or amongst the rigging. There was music and song on board; and, as darkness came on, a hundred colored lanterns were lighted, as if the flags of all nations waved in the air. The little merman swam close to the cabin windows; and now and then, as the waves lifted him up, he could look in through clear glass window-panes, and see a number of well-dressed people within as they watched a group of beautiful dancers which divides into two of each beautiful summer long silk kimonos adorned with the symbols of the the four seasons are generally recognized in these regions: spring, summer, fall and winter, such as the cherry blossom holding most unique and artistic parasols and only a few ornamental hair combs and a few hairpins on their hair: One large, one small and one comb at the stage. Among them was a young princess, the one of these dancers and the most beautiful of all, with white makeup, red lips, large black eyes and long dark eye-lashes, wearing a most beautiful silky kimono and worn a ornamental hair comb and a flower hair-pin on her hair; she was sixteen years of age, and her birthday was being kept with much rejoicing. The sailors were dancing on deck, the dancers, but when the princess came down of the stage, more than a hundred rockets rose in the air, making it as bright as day. The little merman was so startled that he dived under water; and when he again stretched out his head, it appeared as if all the stars of heaven were falling around him, he had never seen such fireworks before. Great suns spurted fire about, splendid fireflies flew into the blue air, and everything was reflected in the clear, calm sea beneath. The ship itself was so brightly illuminated that all the people, and even the smallest rope, could be distinctly and plainly seen. And how beautiful the young princess looked, as she pressed the hands of all present and smiled at them, while the music resounded through the clear night air. 

It was very late; yet the little merman could not take his eyes from the ship, or from the handsome princess. The colored lanterns had been extinguished, no more rockets rose in the air, and the cannon had ceased firing; but the sea became restless, and a moaning, grumbling sound could be heard beneath the waves: still the little merman remained by the cabin window, rocking up and down on the water, which enabled him to look in. After a while, the sails were quickly unfurled, and the noble ship continued his passage; but soon the waves rose higher, heavy clouds darkened the sky, and lightning appeared in the distance. A dreadful storm was approaching; once more the sails were reefed, and the great ship pursued him flying course over the raging sea. The waves rose mountains high, as if they would have over topped the mast; but the ship dived like a swan between them, and then rose again on their lofty, foaming crests. To the little merman this appeared pleasant sport; not so to the sailors and dancers. At length the ship groaned and creaked; the thick planks gave way under the lashing of the sea as it broke over the deck; the mainmast snapped asunder like a reed; the ship lay over on his side; and the water rushed in. The little merman now perceived that the crew and the performers were all in danger; even he himself was obliged to be careful to avoid the beams and planks of the wreck which lay scattered on the water. At one moment it was so pitch dark that he could not see a single object, but a flash of lightning revealed the whole scene; he could see every one who had been on board excepting the princess; when the ship parted, he had seen her sink into the deep waves, and he was glad, for he thought he would now be with her; and then he remembered that human beings could not live in the water, so that when she got down to his mother’s palace she would be quite dead. But she must not die. So he swam about among the beams and planks which strewed the surface of the sea, forgetting that they could crush him to pieces. Then he dived deeply under the dark waters, rising and falling with the waves, till at length he managed to reach the young princess, who was fast losing the power of swimming in that stormy sea. Her limbs were failing her, her beautiful eyes were closed, and she would have died had not the little merman come to her assistance. He held her head above the water, and let the waves drift them where they would. 

In the morning the storm had ceased; but of the ship not a single fragment could be seen. The sun rose up red and glowing from the water, and its beams brought back the hue of health to the princess's cheeks; but her eyes remained closed. The merman kissed her high, smooth forehead, and stroked back her wet long hair, even her ornamental hair comb and hair-pin are falling down and her make-up was washed away; she seemed to him like the marble statue in his little garden, and he kissed her again, and wished that she might live. Presently they came in sight of land; he saw lofty blue mountains, on which the white snow rested as if a flock of swans were lying upon them. Near the coast were beautiful green forests, and close by stood a large building, whether a church or a convent he could not tell. Orange and citron trees grew in the garden, and before the door stood lofty palms. The sea here formed a little bay, in which the water was quite still, but very deep; so he swam with the beautiful princess to the beach, which was covered with fine, white sand, and there he laid her in the warm sunshine, taking care to raise her head higher than her body. Then bells sounded in the large white building, and a number of young boys came into the garden. The little merman swam out farther from the shore and placed himself between some high rocks that rose out of the water; then he covered his head and neck with the foam of the sea so that his little face might not be seen, and watched to see what would become of the poor princess. He did not wait long before he saw a young boy approach the spot where she lay. He seemed frightened at first, but only for a moment; then he fetched a number of people, and the merman saw that the princess came to life again, and smiled upon those who stood round her. But to him she sent no smile; she knew not that he had saved her. This made him very unhappy, and when she was led away into the great building, he dived down sorrowfully into the water, and returned to his mother’s castle. He had always been silent and thoughtful, and now he was more so than ever. His brothers asked him what he had seen during his first visit to the surface of the water; but he would tell them nothing. Many an evening and morning did he rise to the place where he had left the princess. He saw the fruits in the garden ripen till they were gathered, the snow on the tops of the mountains melt away; but he never saw the princess, and therefore he returned home, always more sorrowful than before. It was his only comfort to sit in his own little garden, and fling his arm round the beautiful marble statue which was like the princess; but he gave up tending his flowers, and they grew in wild confusion over the paths, twining their long leaves and stems round the branches of the trees, so that the whole place became dark and gloomy. At length he could bear it no longer, and told one of his brothers all about it. Then the others heard the secret, and very soon it became known to two mermen whose intimate friend happened to know who the princess was. He had also seen the festival on board ship, and he told them where the princess came from, and where her palace stood. 

“Come, little brother,” said the other princes; then they entwined their arms and rose up in a long row to the surface of the water, close by the spot where they knew the princess's palace stood. It was built of bright white shining stone with lots of rare beautiful vines, with long flights of marble steps with the hundreds of light green trees and bushes with lots of the most beautiful cherry blossoms and beautiful rare red shining roses with dark green leaves on it, one of which reached quite down to the sea. Splendid gilded cupolas rose over the roof, and between the pillars that surrounded the whole building stood life-like statues of marble. Through the clear crystal of the lofty windows could be seen noble rooms, with costly silk curtains and hangings of tapestry; while the walls were covered with beautiful paintings which were a pleasure to look at. In the centre of the largest saloon a fountain threw its sparkling jets high up into the glass cupola of the ceiling, through which the sun shone down upon the water and upon the beautiful plants growing round the basin of the fountain. Now that he knew where she lived, he spent many an evening and many a night on the water near the palace. He would swim much nearer the shore than any of the others ventured to do; indeed once he went quite up the narrow channel under the marble balcony, which threw a broad shadow on the water. Here he would sit and watch the young princess, who thought herself quite alone, dancing in the bright moonlight outside of her palace. He saw her many times of an evening sailing in a pleasant boat, with music playing and flags waving. He peeped out from among the green rushes, and if the wind caught his long silvery-white veil, those who saw it believed it to be a swan, spreading out its wings. On many a night, too, when the fishermen, with their torches, were out at sea, he heard them relate so many good things about the doings of the young princess, that he was glad he had saved her life when she had been tossed about half-dead on the waves. And he remembered that her head had rested on his bosom, and how heartily he had kissed her; but she knew nothing of all this, and could not even dream of him. He grew more and more fond of human beings, and wished more and more to be able to wander about with those whose world seemed to be so much larger than his own. They could fly over the sea in ships, and mount the high hills which were far above the clouds; and the lands they possessed, their woods and their fields, stretched far away beyond the reach of his sight. There was so much that he wished to know, and his brothers were unable to answer all his questions. Then he applied to his old grandfather, who knew all about the upper world, which he very rightly called the lands above the sea. 

“If human beings are not drowned,” asked the little merman, “can they live forever? do they never die as we do here in the sea?” 

“Yes,” replied the old man, “they must also die, and their term of life is even shorter than ours. We sometimes live to three hundred years, but when we cease to exist here we only become the foam on the surface of the water, and we have not even a grave down here of those we love. We have not immortal souls, we shall never live again; but, like the green sea-weed, when once it has been cut off, we can never flourish more. Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, lives after the body has been turned to dust. It rises up through the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars. As we rise out of the water, and behold all the land of the earth, so do they rise to unknown and glorious regions which we shall never see.” 

“Why have not we an immortal soul?” asked the little merman mournfully; “I would give gladly all the hundreds of years that I have to live, to be a human being only for one day, and to have the hope of knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the stars.”

“You must not think of that,” said the old man; “we feel ourselves to be much happier and much better off than human beings.” 

“So I shall die,” said the little merman, “and as the foam of the sea I shall be driven about never again to hear the music of the waves, or to see the pretty flowers nor the red sun. Is there anything I can do to win an immortal soul?” 

“No,” said the old man, “unless a young woman were to love you so much that you were more to her than her mother or father; and if all her thoughts and all her love were fixed upon you, and the priest placed her right hand in yours, and she promised to be true to you here and hereafter, then her soul would glide into your body and you would obtain a share in the future happiness of mankind. She would give a soul to you and retain her own as well; but this can never happen. Your fish’s tail, which amongst us is considered so beautiful, is thought on earth to be quite ugly; they do not know any better, and they think it necessary to have two stout props, which they call legs, in order to be beautiful.” 

Then the little merman sighed, and looked sorrowfully at his fish’s tail. “Let us be happy,” said the old man, “and dart and spring about during the three hundred years that we have to live, which is really quite long enough; after that we can rest ourselves all the better. This evening we are going to have a court ball.” 

It is one of those splendid sights which we can never see on earth. The walls and the ceiling of the large ball-room were of thick, but transparent crystal. May hundreds of colossal shells, some of a deep red, others of a grass green, stood on each side in rows, with blue fire in them, which lighted up the whole saloon, and shone through the walls, so that the sea was also illuminated. Innumerable fishes, great and small, swam past the crystal walls; on some of them the scales glowed with a purple brilliancy, and on others they shone like silver and gold. Through the halls flowed a broad stream, and in it danced the mermaids and the mermen to the music of their own sweet singing. No one on earth has such a lovely voice as theirs. The little merman sang more sweetly than them all. The whole court applauded him with hands and tails; and for a moment his heart felt quite gay, for he knew he had the loveliest voice of any on earth or in the sea. But he soon thought again of the world above him, for he could not forget the charming most beautiful princess, nor his sorrow that he had not an immortal soul like her; therefore he crept away silently out of his mother’s palace, and while everything within was gladness and song, he sat in his own little garden sorrowful and alone. Then he heard the bugle sounding through the water, and thought—“She is certainly sailing above, she on whom my wishes depend, and in whose hands I should like to place the happiness of my life. I will venture all for her, and to win an immortal soul, while my brothers are dancing in my mother’s palace, I will go to the sea warlock, of whom I have always been so much afraid, but he can give me counsel and help.”

And then the little merman went out from his garden, and took the road to the foaming whirlpools, behind which the sorcerer lived. He had never been that way before: neither flowers nor grass grew there; nothing but bare, gray, sandy ground stretched out to the whirlpool, where the water, like foaming mill-wheels, whirled round everything that it seized, and cast it into the fathomless deep. Through the midst of these crushing whirlpools the little merman was obliged to pass, to reach the dominions of the sea warlock; and also for a long distance the only road lay right across a quantity of warm, bubbling mire, called by the warlock his turfmoor. Beyond this stood his house, in the centre of a strange forest, in which all the trees and flowers were polypi, half animals and half plants; they looked like serpents with a hundred heads growing out of the ground. The branches were long slimy arms, with fingers like flexible worms, moving limb after limb from the root to the top. All that could be reached in the sea they seized upon, and held fast, so that it never escaped from their clutches. The little merman was so alarmed at what he saw, that he stood still, and his heart beat with fear, and he was very nearly turning back; but he thought of the princess, and of the human soul for which he longed, and his courage returned. He fastened his long bushy flowing hair round his head, so that the polypi might not seize hold of it. He laid his hands together across his bosom, and then he darted forward as a fish shoots through the water, between the supple arms and fingers of the ugly polypi, which were stretched out on each side of him. He saw that each held in its grasp something it had seized with its numerous little arms, as if they were iron bands. The white skeletons of human beings who had perished at sea, and had sunk down into the deep waters, skeletons of land animals, oars, rudders, and chests of ships were lying tightly grasped by their clinging arms; even a little merman, whom they had caught and strangled; and this seemed the most shocking of all to the little prince.

He now came to a space of marshy ground in the wood, where large, fat water-snakes were rolling in the mire, and showing their ugly, drab-colored bodies. In the midst of this spot stood a house, built with the bones of shipwrecked human beings. There sat the sea warlock, allowing a toad to eat from his mouth, just as people sometimes feed a canary with a piece of sugar. He called the ugly water-snakes his little chickens, and allowed them to crawl all over his bosom.

“I know what you want,” said the sea warlock; “it is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you to sorrow, my pretty prince. You want to get rid of your fish’s tail, and to have two supports instead of it, like human beings on earth, so that the young princess may fall in love with you, and that you may have an immortal soul.” And then the warlock laughed so loud and disgustingly, that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground, and lay there wriggling about. “You are but just in time,” said the warlock; “for after sunrise to-morrow I should not be able to help you till the end of another year. I will prepare a draught for you, with which you must swim to land tomorrow before sunrise, and sit down on the shore and drink it. Your tail will then disappear, and shrink up into what mankind calls legs, and you will feel great pain, as if a sword were passing through you. But all who see you will say that you are the prettiest little human being they ever saw. You will still have the same floating gracefulness of movement, and no dancer will ever tread so lightly; but at every step you take it will feel as if you were treading upon sharp knives, and that the blood must flow. If you will bear all this, I will help you.” 

“Yes, I will,” said the little prince in a trembling voice, as he thought of the princess and the immortal soul. 

“But think again,” said the warlock; “for when once your shape has become like a human being, you can no more be a merman. You will never return through the water to your brothers, or to your mother’s palace again; and if you do not win the love of the princess, so that she is willing to forget her mother and father for your sake, and to love you with her whole soul, and allow the priest to join your hands that you may be man and wife, then you will never have an immortal soul. The first morning after she marries another your heart will break, and you will become foam on the crest of the waves.” 

“I will do it,” said the little merman, and he became pale as death. 

“But I must be paid also,” said the warlock, “and it is not a trifle that I ask. You have the sweetest voice of any who dwell here in the depths of the sea, and you believe that you will be able to charm the princess with it also, but this voice you must give to me; the best thing you possess will I have for the price of my draught. My own blood must be mixed with it, that it may be as sharp as a two-edged sword.” 

“But if you take away my voice,” said the little merman, “what is left for me?” 

“Your handsome form, your graceful walk, and your expressive eyes; surely with these you can enchain a young woman’s heart. well, have you lost your courage? put out your little tongue that I may cut it off as my payment; then you shall have the powerful draught.” 

“It shall be,” said the little merman. 

Then the warlock placed his cauldron on the fire, to prepare the magic draught. 

“Cleanliness is a good thing,” said he, scouring the vessel with snakes, which he had tied together in a large knot; then he pricked himself in the breast, and let the black blood drop into it. The steam that rose formed itself into such horrible shapes that no one could look at them without fear. Every moment the warlock threw something else into the vessel, and when it began to boil, the sound was like the weeping of a crocodile. When at last the magic draught was ready, it looked like the clearest water. “There it is for you,” said the warlock. Then he cut off the merman’s tongue, so that he became dumb, and would never again speak or sing. “If the polypi should seize hold of you as you return through the wood,” said the warlock, “throw over them a few drops of the potion, and their fingers will be torn into a thousand pieces.” But the little merman had no occasion to do this, for the polypi sprang back in terror when they caught sight of the glittering draught, which shone in his hand like a twinkling star.  

So he passed quickly through the wood and the marsh, and between the rushing whirlpools. He saw that in his mother’s palace the torches in the ballroom were extinguished, and all within asleep; but he did not venture to go in to them, for now he was dumb and going to leave them forever, he felt as if his heart would break. He stole into the garden, took a flower from the flower-beds of each of his brothers, kissed his hand a thousand times towards the palace, and then rose up through the dark blue waters. The sun had not risen when he came in sight of the princess's palace, and approached the beautiful marble steps, but the moon shone clear and bright. Then the little merman drank the magic fraught, and it seemed as if a two-edged sword went through his delicate body: he fell into a swoon, and lay like one dead. When the sun arose and shone over the sea, he recovered, and felt a sharp pain; but just before him stood the beautiful young princess carrying a parasol closed in her left hand. She fixed her coal-black eyes upon him so earnestly that he cast down his own, and then became aware that his fish’s tail was gone, and that he had as pretty a pair of white legs and tiny feet as any little bachelor could have; but he had no clothes, so he wrapped himself in his long, thick bushy hair with some green seaweeds on it together. The princess asked him who he was, and where he came from, and he looked at her mildly and sorrowfully with his deep blue eyes; but he could not speak. Every step he took was as the warlock had said it would be, he felt as if treading upon the points of needles or sharp knives; but he bore it willingly, and stepped as lightly by the princess's side as a soap-bubble, so that she and all who saw him wondered at his graceful-swaying movements. He was very soon arrayed in costly robes of silk and muslin, and was the most handsome creature in the palace; but he was dumb, and could neither speak nor sing. 

Handsome male slaves, dressed in silk and gold, stepped forward and sang before the princess and her royal parents: one sang better than all the others, and the princess clapped her hands and smiled at him. This was great sorrow to the little merman; he knew how much more sweetly he himself could sing once, and he thought, “Oh if she could only know that! I have given away my voice forever, to be with her.” 

The slaves next performed some pretty fairy-like dances, to the sound of beautiful music. Then the little merman raised his lovely white arms, stood on the tips of his toes, and glided over the floor, and danced as no one yet had been able to dance. At each moment his beauty became more revealed, and his expressive eyes appealed more directly to the heart than the songs of the slaves. Every one was enchanted, especially the princess, who called him her little foundling; and he danced again quite readily, to please her, though each time his foot touched the floor it seemed as if he trod on sharp knives. 

The princess said he should remain with her always, and he received permission to sleep at her door, on a velvet cushion. She had a page’s kimono made for him, that he might accompany her on horseback. They rode together through the sweet-scented woods, where the green boughs touched their shoulders, and the little birds sang among the fresh leaves. He climbed with the princess to the tops of high mountains; and although his tender feet bled so that even his steps were marked, he only laughed, and followed her till they could see the clouds beneath them looking like a flock of birds traveling to distant lands. While at the princess's palace, and when all the household were asleep, he would go and sit on the broad marble steps; for it eased his burning feet to bathe them in the cold sea-water; and then he thought of all those below in the deep.

Once during the night his brothers came up arm-in-arm, singing sorrowfully, as they floated on the water. He beckoned to them, and then they recognized him, and told him how he had grieved them. After that, they came to the same place every night; and once he saw in the distance his old grandfather, who had not been to the surface of the sea for many years, and the old Sea Queen, his mother, with her crown on her head. They stretched out their hands towards him, but they did not venture so near the land as his brothers did.

As the days passed, he loved the princess more fondly, and she loved him as she would love a little child, but it never came into her head to make him her husband; yet, unless she married him, he could not receive an immortal soul; and, on the morning after her marriage with another, he would dissolve into the foam of the sea.

“Do you not love me the best of them all?” the eyes of the little merman seemed to say, when she took him in her arms, and kissed his fair forehead. 

“Yes, you are dear to me,” said the princess; “for you have the best heart, and you are the most devoted to me; you are like a young bachelor whom I once saw, but whom I shall never meet again. I was in a ship that was wrecked, and the waves cast me ashore near a holy temple, where several young bachelor s performed the service. The youngest of them found me on the shore, and saved my life. I saw him but twice, and he is the only one in the world whom I could love; but you are like him, and you have almost driven his image out of my mind. He belongs to the holy temple, and my good fortune has sent you to me instead of him; and we will never part.” 

“Ah, she knows not that it was I who saved her life,” thought the little merman. “I carried her over the sea to the wood where the temple stands: I sat beneath the foam, and watched till the human beings came to help her. I saw the pretty bachelor that she loves better than she loves me;” and the merman sighed deeply, but he could not hes tears. “She says the bachelor belongs to the holy temple, therefore he will never return to the world. They will meet no more: while I am by her side, and see her every day. I will take care of her, and love her, and give up my life for her sake.” 

Very soon it was said that the princess must marry, and that the handsome son of a neighboring queen would be her husband, for a fine ship was being fitted out. Although the princess gave out that she merely intended to pay a visit to the queen, it was generally supposed that she really went to see her son. A great company were to go with her. The little merman smiled, and shook his head. He knew the princess's thoughts better than any of the others. 

“I must travel,” she had said to him; “I must see this handsome prince; my parents desire it; but they will not oblige me to bring his home as my bridegroom. I cannot love him; he is not like the handsome bachelor in the temple, whom you resemble. If I were forced to choose a bridegroom, I would rather choose you, my dumb foundling, with those expressive eyes.” And then she kissed his rosy mouth, played with his big bushy waving hair, and laid her head on his heart, while he dreamed of human happiness and an immortal soul. “You are not afraid of the sea, my dumb child,” said she, as they stood on the deck of the noble ship which was to carry them to the country of the neighboring queen. And then she told him of storm and of calm, of strange fishes in the deep beneath them, and of what the divers had seen there; and he smiled at her descriptions, for he knew better than any one what wonders were at the bottom of the sea. 

In the moonlight, when all on board were asleep, excepting the man at the helm, who was steering, he sat on the deck, gazing down through the clear water. He thought he could distinguish his mother’s castle, and upon it his aged grandfather, with the silver crown on his head, looking through the rushing tide at the keel of the vessel. Then his brothers came up on the waves, and gazed at him mournfully, wringing their white hands. He beckoned to them, and smiled, and wanted to tell them how happy and well off he was; but the cabin-boy approached, and when his brothers dived down he thought it was only the foam of the sea which he saw. 

The next morning the ship sailed into the harbor of a beautiful town belonging to the queen whom the princess was going to visit. The church bells were ringing, and from the high towers sounded a flourish of trumpets; and soldiers, with flying colors and glittering bayonets, lined the rocks through which they passed. Every day was a festival; balls and entertainments followed one another. 

But the prince had not yet appeared. People said that he was being brought up and educated in a religious house, where he was learning every royal virtue. At last he came. Then the little merman, who was very anxious to see whether he was really handsome, was obliged to acknowledge that he had never seen a more perfect vision of beauty. His skin was delicately fair, and beneath his long dark eye-lashes his laughing blue eyes shone with truth and purity. 

“It was you,” said the princess, “who saved my life when I lay dead on the beach,” And she folded her blushing bridegroom in her arms. “Oh, I am too happy,” said she to the little merman; “My fondest hopes are all fulfilled. You will rejoice at my happiness; for your devotion to me is great and sincere.” 

The little merman kissed her hand, and felt as if his heart were already broken. Her wedding morning would bring death to him, and he would change into the foam of the sea. All the church bells rung, and the heralds rode about the town proclaiming the betrothal. Perfumed oil was burning in costly gold lamps on every altar. The priests waved the censers, while the bridegroom and bride joined their hands and received the blessing of the bishop. The little merman, dressed in silk and gold held up the bridegroom’s cape; but his ears heard nothing of the festive music, and his eyes saw not the holy ceremony; he thought of the night of death which was coming to him, and of all he had lost in the world. On the same evening the bridegroom and bride went on board ship; cannons were roaring, flags waving, and in the center of the ship a costly tent of purple and gold had been erected. It contained elegant couches, for the reception of the bridal pair during the night. The ship, with swelling sails and a favorable wind, glided away smoothly and lightly over the calm sea. When it grew dark a number of colored lamps were lit, and the sailors danced merrily on the deck. The little merman could not help thinking of his first rising out of the sea, when he had seen similar festivities and joys; and he joined in the dance, poised himself in the air as a swallow when he pursues his prey, and all present cheered him with wonder. He had never danced so elegantly before. His tender feet felt as if cut with sharp knives, but he cared not for it; a sharper pang had pierced through his heart. He knew this was the last evening he should ever see the princess, for whom he had forsaken his kindred and his home; he had given up his beautiful voice, and suffered unheard-of pain daily for her, while she knew nothing of it. This was the last evening that he would breathe the same air with her, or gaze on the starry sky and the deep sea; an eternal night, without a thought or a dream, awaited him: he had no soul and now he could never win one. All was joy and gaiety on board ship till long after midnight; he laughed and danced with the rest, while the thoughts of death were in his heart. The princess kissed her handsome bridegroom, while he played with her long beautiful raven hair she undo, till they went arm-in-arm to rest in the splendid tent. Then all became still on board the ship; the helmsman, alone awake, stood at the helm. The little merman leaned his white arms on the edge of the vessel, and looked towards the east for the first blush of morning, for that first ray of dawn that would bring his death. He saw his brothers rising out of the flood: they were as pale as himself; but their long bushy beautiful hair waved no more in the wind, and had been cut off.

“We have given our hair to the warlock,” said they, “to obtain help for you, that you may not die to-night. He has given us a knife: here it is, see it is very sharp. Before the sun rises you must plunge it into the heart of the princess; when the warm blood falls upon your feet they will grow together again, and form into a fish’s tail, and you will be once more a merman, and return to us to live out your three hundred years before you die and change into the salt sea foam. Haste, then; she or you must die before sunrise. Our old grandfather moans so for you, that his white hair is falling off from sorrow, as ours fell under the warlock’s scissors. Kill the princess and come back; hasten: do you not see the first red streaks in the sky? In a few minutes the sun will rise, and you must die.” And then they sighed deeply and mournfully, and sank down beneath the waves. 

The little merman drew back the crimson curtain of the tent, and beheld the fair bridegroom with his head resting on the princess’s breast. He bent down and kissed her fair brow, then looked at the sky on which the rosy dawn grew brighter and brighter; then he glanced at the sharp knife, and again fixed his eyes on the princess, who whispered the name of her bridegroom in her dreams. He was in her thoughts, and the knife trembled in the hand of the little merman: then he flung it far away from him into the waves; the water turned red where it fell, and the drops that spurted up looked like blood. He cast one more lingering, half-fainting glance at the princess, and then threw himself from the ship into the sea, and thought his body was dissolving into foam. The sun rose above the waves, and her warm rays fell on the cold foam of the little merman, who did not feel as if he were dying. He saw the bright sun, and all around his floated hundreds of young transparent handsome beings; he could see through them the white sails of the ship, and the red clouds in the sky; their speech was melodious, but too ethereal to be heard by mortal ears, as they were also unseen by mortal eyes. The little merman perceived that he had a body like theirs, and that he continued to rise higher and higher out of the foam. “Where am I?” asked he, and his voice sounded ethereal, as the voice of those who were with him; no earthly music could imitate it.

“Among the sons of the air,” answered one of them. “A merman has not an immortal soul, nor can he obtain one unless he wins the love of a human being. On the power of another hangs his eternal destiny. But the sons of the air, although they do not possess an immortal soul, can, by their good deeds, procure one for themselves. We fly to warm countries, and cool the sultry air that destroys mankind with the pestilence. We carry the perfume of the flowers to spread health and restoration. After we have striven for three hundred years to all the good in our power, we receive an immortal soul and take part in the happiness of mankind. You, poor little merman, have tried with your whole heart to do as we are doing; you have suffered and endured and raised yourself to the spirit-world by your good deeds; and now, by striving for three hundred years in the same way, you may obtain an immortal soul.” 

The little merman lifted his glorified eyes towards the sun, and felt them, for the first time, filling with tears. On the ship, in which he had left the princess, there were life and noise; he saw her and her handsome bridegroom searching for him; sorrowfully they gazed at the pearly foam, as if they knew he had thrown himself into the waves. Unseen he kissed the forehead of her bridegroom, and fanned the princess, and then mounted with the other children of the air to a rosy cloud that floated through the aether. 

“After three hundred years, thus shall we float into the kingdom of heaven,” said he. “And we may even get there sooner,” whispered one of his companions. “Unseen we can enter the houses of young men, where there are children, and for every day on which we find a good child, who is the joy of her parents and deserves their love, our time of probation is shortened. The child does not know, when we fly through the room, that we smile with joy at her good conduct, for we can count one year less of our three hundred years. But when we see a naughty or a wicked child, we hes tears of sorrow, and for every tear a day is added to our time of trial!” 









VIC.Gilead.org.il
Copyright © Zvi Har’El
$Date: 2007/12/13 20:45:29 $
Notes: The Little Merman  

by 

Victoria

(2002)













FAR out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water above. There dwell the Sea Queen and her subjects. We must not imagine that there is nothing at the bottom of the sea but bare yellow sand. No, indeed; the most singular flowers and plants grow there; the leaves and stems of which are so pliant, that the slightest agitation of the water causes them to stir as if they had life. Fishes, both large and small, glide between the branches, as birds fly among the trees here upon land. In the deepest spot of all, stands the castle of the Sea Queen. Its walls are built of coral, and the long, gothic windows are of the clearest amber. The roof is formed of shells, that open and close as the water flows over them. Their appearance is very beautiful, for in each lies a glittering pearl, which would be fit for the diadem of a king.

The Sea Queen had been a widower for many years, and her aged father kept house for him. He was a very wise man, and exceedingly proud of his high birth; on that account he wore twelve oysters on his tail; while others, also of high rank, were only allowed to wear six. He was, however, deserving of very great praise, especially for his care of the little sea-princes, his grand-sons. They were six handsome children; but the youngest was the prettiest of them all; his skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, and his eyes as blue as the deepest sea, and even his face have a mole under his left eye; but, like all the others, he had no feet, and his body ended in a fish’s tail. All day long they played in the great halls of the castle, or among the living flowers that grew out of the walls. The large amber windows were open, and the fish swam in, just as the swallows fly into our houses when we open the windows, excepting that the fishes swam up to the princes, ate out of their hands, and allowed themselves to be stroked. Outside the castle there was a beautiful garden, in which grew bright red and dark blue flowers, and blossoms like flames of fire; the fruit glittered like gold, and the leaves and stems waved to and fro continually. The earth itself was the finest sand, but blue as the flame of burning sulphur. Over everything lay a peculiar blue radiance, as if it were surrounded by the air from above, through which the blue sky shone, instead of the dark depths of the sea. In calm weather the sun could be seen, looking like a purple flower, with the light streaming from the calyx. Each of the young princes had a little plot of ground in the garden, where he might dig and plant as he pleased. One arranged his flower-bed into the form of a whale; another thought it better to make him like the figure of a little merman; but that of the youngest was round like the sun, and contained flowers as red as his rays at sunset. He was a strange child, quiet and thoughtful; and while his brothers would be delighted with the wonderful things which they obtained from the wrecks of vessels, he cared for nothing but his pretty red flowers, like the sun, excepting a beautiful rare marble statue. It was the representation of a beautiful young dancing girl, carved out of pure pink stone, which had fallen to the bottom of the sea from a wreck. He planted by the statue a rose-colored weeping willow. It grew splendidly, and very soon hung its fresh branches over the statue, almost down to the blue sands. The shadow had a violet tint, and waved to and fro like the branches; it seemed as if the crown of the tree and the root were at play, and trying to kiss each other. Nothing gave him so much pleasure as to hear about the world above the sea. He made his old grandfather tell him all he knew of the ships and of the towns, the people and the animals. To him it seemed most wonderful and beautiful to hear that the flowers of the land should have fragrance, and not those below the sea; that the trees of the forest should be green; and that the fishes among the trees could sing so sweetly, that it was quite a pleasure to hear them. His grandfather called the little birds fishes, or he would not have understood him; for he had never seen birds. 

“When you have reached your fifteenth year,” said the grand-father, “you will have permission to rise up out of the sea, to sit on the rocks in the moonlight, while the great ships are sailing by; and then you will see both forests and towns.” 

In the following year, one of the brothers would be fifteen: but as each was a year younger than the other, the youngest would have to wait five years before his 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 he saw on his first visit, and what he thought the most handsome; for their grandfather could not tell them enough; there were so many things on which they wanted information. None of them longed so much for his turn to come as the youngest, he who had the longest time to wait, and who was so quiet and thoughtful. Many nights he 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. He 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 him and them, he knew that it was either a whale swimming over his head, or a ship full of human beings, who never imagined that a pretty little merman was standing beneath them, holding out his white hands towards the keel of their ship. 

As soon as the eldest was fifteen, he was allowed to rise to the surface of the ocean. When he came back, he had hundreds of things to talk about; but the most handsome, he 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 he could not go near to all those wonderful things, he longed for them more than ever. Oh, did not the youngest brother listen eagerly to all these descriptions? and afterwards, when he stood at the open window looking up through the dark blue water, he thought of the great city, with all its bustle and noise, and even fancied he could hear the sound of the church bells, down in the depths of the sea. 

In another year the second brother received permission to rise to the surface of the water, and to swim about where he pleased. He rose just as the sun was setting, and this, he said, was the most beautiful sight of all. The whole sky looked like gold, while violet and rose-colored clouds, which he could not describe, floated over him; 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. He 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 brother’s turn followed; he was the boldest of them all, and he swam up a broad river that emptied itself into the sea. On the banks he saw green hills covered with beautiful vines; palaces and castles peeped out from amid the proud trees of the forest; he heard the birds singing, and the rays of the sun were so powerful that he was obliged often to dive down under the water to cool his burning face. In a narrow creek he found a whole troop of little human children, quite naked, and sporting about in the water; he 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 he did not know that, for he had never before seen one. This animal barked at him so terribly that he became frightened, and rushed back to the open sea. But he said he 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 brother was more timid; he remained in the midst of the sea, but he said it was quite as beautiful there as nearer the land. He could see for so many miles around him, and the sky above looked like a bell of glass. He 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 brother’s birthday occurred in the winter; so when his turn came, he 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, he said, but larger and loftier than the churches built by men. They were of the most singular shapes, and glittered like diamonds. He had seated himself upon one of the largest, and let the wind play with his big bushy hair, and he 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 he sat calmly on the floating iceberg, watching the blue lightning, as it darted its forked flashes into the sea. 

When first the brothers had permission to rise to the surface, they were each delighted with the new and beautiful sights they saw; but now, as grown-up boys, 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 much more beautiful down below, and pleasanter to be at home. Yet often, in the evening hours, the five brothers would twine their arms round each other, and rise to the surface, in a row. They had more beautiful voices than any human being could have; and before the approach of a storm, and when they expected a gigantic ship called: "The Titanic” would be lost, they swam before the vessel, and sang sweetly of the delights to be found in the depths of the sea, and begging the sailors and the dancers not to fear if they sank to the bottom as they got hit by a iceberg. But the sailors and dancers could not understand the song, they took it for the howling of the storm. And these things were never to be beautiful for them; for if the Titanic sank, the men and women were all drowned, and their dead bodies alone reached the palace of the Sea Queen. 

When the brothers rose, arm-in-arm, through the water in this way, their youngest brother would stand quite alone, looking after them, ready to cry, only that the mermen have no tears, and therefore they suffer more. “Oh, were I but fifteen years old,” said he: “I know that I shall love the world up there, and all the people who live in it.” 

At last he reached his fifteenth year. “Well, now, you are grown up,” said the old dowager, his grandfather; “so you must let me adorn you like your other brothers;” and he placed a wreath of white lilies in his hair, and every flower leaf was half a pearl. Then the old man ordered eight great oysters to attach themselves to the tail of the prince to show her high rank. 

“But they hurt me so,” said the little merman.

“Pride must suffer pain,” replied the old man. Oh, how gladly he would have shaken off all this grandeur, and laid aside the heavy wreath! The red flowers in his own garden would have suited him much better, but he could not help himself: so he said, “Farewell,” and rose as lightly as a bubble to the surface of the water. The sun had just set as he raised his head above the waves; but the clouds were tinted with crimson and gold, and through the glimmering twilight beamed the evening star in all its beauty. The sea was calm, and the air mild and fresh. The Titanic with three masts, lay becalmed on the water, with only one sail set; for not a breeze stiffed, and the sailors sat idle on deck or amongst the rigging. There was music and song on board; and, as darkness came on, a hundred colored lanterns were lighted, as if the flags of all nations waved in the air. The little merman swam close to the cabin windows; and now and then, as the waves lifted him up, he could look in through clear glass window-panes, and see a number of well-dressed people within as they watched a group of beautiful dancers which divides into two of each beautiful summer long silk kimonos adorned with the symbols of the the four seasons are generally recognized in these regions: spring, summer, fall and winter, such as the cherry blossom holding most unique and artistic paper umbrellas and only a few ornamental hair combs and a few hairpins on their hair: One large, one small and one comb at the stage. Among them was a young princess, the one of these dancers and the most beautiful of all, with large black eyes and long dark eye-lashes and white-rosy powder on her face, wearing a most beautiful silky light green summer long kimono with floral and scroll design in red shining roses with dark green leaves holding paper umbrella scroll design in light blue and white clouds and even worn a ornamental hair comb and a flower hair-pin on her hair; she was sixteen years of age, and her birthday was being kept with much rejoicing. The sailors were dancing on deck, the dancers, but when the princess came down of the stage, more than a hundred rockets rose in the air, making it as bright as day. The little merman was so startled that he dived under water; and when he again stretched out his head, it appeared as if all the stars of heaven were falling around him, he had never seen such fireworks before. Great suns spurted fire about, splendid fireflies flew into the blue air, and everything was reflected in the clear, calm sea beneath. The Titanic itself was so brightly illuminated that all the people, and even the smallest rope, could be distinctly and plainly seen. And how beautiful the young princess looked, as she pressed the hands of all present and smiled at them, while the music resounded through the clear night air. 

It was very late; yet the little merman could not take his eyes from the Titanic, or from the beautiful princess. The colored lanterns had been extinguished, no more rockets rose in the air, and the cannon had ceased firing; but the sea became restless, and a moaning, grumbling sound could be heard beneath the waves: still the little merman remained by the cabin window, rocking up and down on the water, which enabled him to look in. After a while, the sails were quickly unfurled, and the noble Titanic continued his passage; but soon the waves rose higher, heavy clouds darkened the sky, and lightning appeared in the distance. A dreadful storm was approaching; once more the sails were reefed, and the great Titanic pursued her flying course over the raging sea. The waves rose mountains high, as if they would have over topped the mast; but the Titanic dived like a swan between them, and then rose again on their lofty, foaming crests. To the little merman this appeared pleasant sport; not so to the sailors and dancers. At length the Titanic groaned and creaked; the thick planks gave way under the lashing of the sea as it broke over the deck; the mainmast snapped asunder like a reed; the Titanic lay over on his side; and the water rushed in. The little merman now perceived that the crew and the performers were all in danger; even he himself was obliged to be careful to avoid the beams and planks of the wreck which lay scattered on the water. At one moment it was so pitch dark that she could not see a single object, but a flash of lightning revealed the whole scene; he could see every one who had been on board excepting the princess; when the Titanic parted, he had seen her sink into the deep waves, and he was glad, for he thought he would now be with her; and then he remembered that human beings could not live in the water, so that when she got down to his mother’s palace she would be quite dead. But she must not die. So he swam about among the beams and planks which strewed the surface of the sea, forgetting that they could crush him to pieces. Then he dived deeply under the dark waters, rising and falling with the waves, till at length he managed to reach the young princess, who was fast losing the power of swimming in that stormy sea. Her limbs were failing her, her beautiful eyes were closed, and she would have died had not the little merman come to her assistance. He held her head above the water, and let the waves drift them where they would.
In the morning the storm had ceased; but of the Titanic not a single fragment could be seen. The sun rose up red and glowing from the water, and its beams brought back the hue of health to the princess' cheeks; but her eyes remained closed. The merman kissed her high, smooth forehead, and stroked back her wet long hair, even her ornamental hair comb and hair-pin are falling down and her make-up was washed away; she seemed to him like the marble statue in his little garden, and he kissed her again, and wished that she might live. Presently they came in sight of land; he saw lofty blue mountains, on which the white snow rested as if a flock of swans were lying upon them. Near the coast were beautiful green forests, and close by stood a large building, whether a church or a convent he could not tell. Orange and citron trees grew in the garden, and before the door stood lofty palms. The sea here formed a little bay, in which the water was quite still, but very deep; so he swam with the beautiful princess to the beach, which was covered with fine, white sand, and there he laid her in the warm sunshine, taking care to raise her head higher than her body. Then bells sounded in the large white building, and a number of young boys came into the garden. The little merman swam out farther from the shore and placed himself between some high rocks that rose out of the water; then he covered his head and neck with the foam of the sea so that his little face might not be seen, and watched to see what would become of the poor princess. He did not wait long before he saw a young boy approach the spot where she lay. He seemed frightened at first, but only for a moment; then he fetched a number of people, and the merman saw that the princess came to life again, and smiled upon those who stood round her. But to him she sent no smile; she knew not that he had saved her. This made him very unhappy, and when he was led away into the great building, he dived down sorrowfully into the water, and returned to his mother’s castle. He had always been silent and thoughtful, and now he was more so than ever. His brothers asked him what he had seen during his first visit to the surface of the water; but he would tell them nothing. Many an evening and morning did he rise to the place where he had left the princess. He saw the fruits in the garden ripen till they were gathered, the snow on the tops of the mountains melt away; but he never saw the princess, and therefore he returned home, always more sorrowful than before. It was his only comfort to sit in his own little garden, and fling his arm round the beautiful rare marble statue which was like the princess; but he gave up tending his flowers, and they grew in wild confusion over the paths, twining their long leaves and stems round the branches of the trees, so that the whole place became dark and gloomy. At length he could bear it no longer, and told one of his brothers all about it. Then the others heard the secret, and very soon it became known to two mermen whose intimate friend happened to know who the princess was. He had also seen the festival on board ship, and he told them where the princess came from, and where her palace stood. 
“Come, little brother,” said the other princes; then they entwined their arms and rose up in a long row to the surface of the water, close by the spot where they knew the princess’ palace stood. It was built of bright white shining stone with lots of rare beautiful vines, with long flights of marble steps with the hundreds of light green trees and bushes with lots of the most beautiful rare red shining roses with dark green leaves on it that match up the colors of the princess' beautiful silk kimono since she was a dancer at the Titanic, one of which reached quite down to the sea. Splendid gilded cupolas rose over the roof, and between the pillars that surrounded the whole building stood life-like statues of marble. Through the clear crystal of the lofty windows could be seen noble rooms, with costly silk curtains and hangings of tapestry; while the walls were covered with beautiful paintings which were a pleasure to look at. In the centre of the largest saloon a fountain threw its sparkling jets high up into the glass cupola of the ceiling, through which the sun shone down upon the water and upon the beautiful plants growing round the basin of the fountain. Now that he knew where she lived, he spent many an evening and many a night on the water near the palace. He would swim much nearer the shore than any of the others ventured to do; indeed once he went quite up the narrow channel under the marble balcony, which threw a broad shadow on the water. Here he would sit and watch the young princess, who thought herself quite alone, dancing in the bright moonlight outside of her palace. He saw her many times of an evening sailing in a pleasant boat, with music playing and flags waving. He peeped out from among the green rushes, and if the wind caught his long silvery-white veil, those who saw it believed it to be a swan, spreading out its wings. On many a night, too, when the fishermen, with their torches, were out at sea, he heard them relate so many good things about the doings of the young princess, that he was glad he had saved her life when she had been tossed about half-dead on the waves. And he remembered that her head had rested on his bosom, and how heartily he had kissed her; but she knew nothing of all this, and could not even dream of him. He grew more and more fond of human beings, and wished more and more to be able to wander about with those whose world seemed to be so much larger than his own. They could fly over the sea in ships, and mount the high hills which were far above the clouds; and the lands they possessed, their woods and their fields, stretched far away beyond the reach of his sight. There was so much that he wished to know, and his brothers were unable to answer all his questions. Then he applied to his old grandfather, who knew all about the upper world, which he very rightly called the lands above the sea. 

“Yes,” replied the old man, “they must also die, and their term of life is even shorter than ours. We sometimes live to three hundred years, but when we cease to exist here we only become the foam on the surface of the water, and we have not even a grave down here of those we love. We have not immortal souls, we shall never live again; but, like the green sea-weed, when once it has been cut off, we can never flourish more. Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, lives after the body has been turned to dust. It rises up through the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars. As we rise out of the water, and behold all the land of the earth, so do they rise to unknown and glorious regions which we shall never see.” 
“Why have not we an immortal soul?” asked the little merman mournfully; “I would give gladly all the hundreds of years that I have to live, to be a human being only for one day, and to have the hope of knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the stars.” 
“You must not think of that,” said the old man; “we feel ourselves to be much happier and much better off than human beings.” 
“So I shall die,” said the little merman, “and as the foam of the sea I shall be driven about never again to hear the music of the waves, or to see the pretty flowers nor the red sun. Is there anything I can do to win an immortal soul?” 
“No,” said the old man, “unless a young woman were to love you so much that you were more to her than her mother or father; and if all his thoughts and all her love were fixed upon you, and the priest placed his right hand in yours, and she promised to be true to you here and hereafter, then his soul would glide into your body and you would obtain a share in the future happiness of mankind. She would give a soul to you and retain her own as well; but this can never happen. Your fish’s tail, which amongst us is considered so beautiful, is thought on earth to be quite ugly; they do not know any better, and they think it necessary to have two stout props, which they call legs, in order to be beautiful.” 

Then the little merman sighed, and looked sorrowfully at his fish’s tail. “Let us be happy,” said the old man, “and dart and spring about during the three hundred years that we have to live, which is really quite long enough; after that we can rest ourselves all the better. This evening we are going to have a court ball.” 

It is one of those splendid sights which we can never see on earth. The walls and the ceiling of the large ball-room were of thick, but transparent crystal. May hundreds of colossal shells, some of a deep red, others of a grass green, stood on each side in rows, with blue fire in them, which lighted up the whole saloon, and shone through the walls, so that the sea was also illuminated. Innumerable fishes, great and small, swam past the crystal walls; on some of them the scales glowed with a pink brilliancy, and on others they shone like silver and gold. Through the halls flowed a broad stream, and in it danced the mermaids and the mermen to the music of their own sweet singing. No one on earth has such a lovely voice as theirs. The little merman sang more sweetly than them all. The whole court applauded his with hands and tails; and for a moment his heart felt quite gay, for he knew he had the loveliest voice of any on earth or in the sea. But he soon thought again of the world above him, for he could not forget the charming most beautiful princess, nor his sorrow that he had not an immortal soul like his; therefore he crept away silently out of his mother’s palace, and while everything within was gladness and song, he sat in his own little garden sorrowful and alone. Then he heard the bugle sounding through the water, and thought—“She is certainly sailing above, she on whom my wishes depend, and in whose hands I should like to place the happiness of my life. I will venture all for her, and to win an immortal soul, while my brothers are dancing in my mother’s palace, I will go to the sea warlock, of whom I have always been so much afraid, but he can give me counsel and help.” 

And then the little merman went out from his garden, and took the road to the foaming whirlpools, behind which the sorcerer lived. He had never been that way before: neither flowers nor grass grew there; nothing but bare, gray, sandy ground stretched out to the whirlpool, where the water, like foaming mill-wheels, whirled round everything that it seized, and cast it into the fathomless deep. Through the midst of these crushing whirlpools the little merman was obliged to pass, to reach the dominions of the sea warlock; and also for a long distance the only road lay right across a quantity of warm, bubbling mire, called by the warlock his turfmoor. Beyond this stood his house, in the centre of a strange forest, in which all the trees and flowers were polypi, half animals and half plants; they looked like serpents with a hundred heads growing out of the ground. The branches were long slimy arms, with fingers like flexible worms, moving limb after limb from the root to the top. All that could be reached in the sea they seized upon, and held fast, so that it never escaped from their clutches. The little merman was so alarmed at what he saw, that he stood still, and his heart beat with fear, and he was very nearly turning back; but he thought of the princess, and of the human soul for which he longed, and his courage returned. He fastened his big bushy flowing hair round his head, so that the polypi might not seize hold of it. He laid his hands together across his bosom, and then he darted forward as a fish shoots through the water, between the supple arms and fingers of the ugly polypi, which were stretched out on each side of him. He saw that each held in its grasp something it had seized with its numerous little arms, as if they were iron bands. The white skeletons of human beings who had perished at sea, and had sunk down into the deep waters, skeletons of land animals, oars, rudders, and chests of ships were lying tightly grasped by their clinging arms; even a little merman, whom they had caught and strangled; and this seemed the most shocking of all to the little prince. 

He now came to a space of marshy ground in the wood, where large, fat water-snakes were rolling in the mire, and showing their ugly, drab-colored bodies. In the midst of this spot stood a house, built with the bones of shipwrecked human beings. There sat the sea warlock, allowing a toad to eat from his mouth, just as people sometimes feed a canary with a piece of sugar. He called the ugly water-snakes his little chickens, and allowed them to crawl all over his bosom.

“I know what you want,” said the sea warlock; “it is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you to sorrow, my pretty prince. You want to get rid of your fish’s tail, and to have two supports instead of it, like human beings on earth, so that the young princess may fall in love with you, and that you may have an immortal soul.” And then the warlock laughed so loud and disgustingly, that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground, and lay there wriggling about. “You are but just in time,” said the warlock; “for after sunrise to-morrow I should not be able to help you till the end of another year. I will prepare a draught for you, with which you must swim to land tomorrow before sunrise, and sit down on the shore and drink it. Your tail will then disappear, and shrink up into what mankind calls legs, and you will feel great pain, as if a sword were passing through you. But all who see you will say that you are the prettiest little human being they ever saw. You will still have the same floating gracefulness of movement, and no dancer will ever tread so lightly; but at every step you take it will feel as if you were treading upon sharp knives, and that the blood must flow. If you will bear all this, I will help you.” 

“Yes, I will,” said the little prince in a trembling voice, as he thought of the princess and the immortal soul. 

“But think again,” said the warlock; “for when once your shape has become like a human being, you can no more be a merman. You will never return through the water to your brothers, or to your mother’s palace again; and if you do not win the love of the princess, so that he is willing to forget his mother and father for your sake, and to love you with her whole soul, and allow the priest to join your hands that you may be man and wife, then you will never have an immortal soul. The first morning after she marries another your heart will break, and you will become foam on the crest of the waves.” 

“I will do it,” said the little merman, and he became pale as death. 

“But I must be paid also,” said the warlock, “and it is not a trifle that I ask. You have the sweetest voice of any who dwell here in the depths of the sea, and you believe that you will be able to charm the princess with it also, but this voice you must give to me; the best thing you possess will I have for the price of my draught. My own blood must be mixed with it, that it may be as sharp as a two-edged sword.” 

“But if you take away my voice,” said the little merman, “what is left for me?”

“Your handsome form, your graceful walk, and your expressive eyes; surely with these you can enchain a young woman’s heart. well, have you lost your courage? put out your little tongue that I may cut it off as my payment; then you shall have the powerful draught.” 

“It shall be,” said the little merman

Then the warlock placed his cauldron on the fire, to prepare the magic fraught. 

“Cleanliness is a good thing,” said he, scouring the vessel with snakes, which he had tied together in a large knot; then he pricked himself in the breast, and let the black blood drop into it. The steam that rose formed itself into such horrible shapes that no one could look at them without fear. Every moment the warlock threw something else into the vessel, and when it began to boil, the sound was like the weeping of a crocodile. When at last the magic draught was ready, it looked like the clearest water. “There it is for you,” said the warlock. Then he cut off the merman’s tongue, so that he became dumb, and would never again speak or sing. “If the polypi should seize hold of you as you return through the wood,” said the warlock, “throw over them a few drops of the potion, and their fingers will be torn into a thousand pieces.” But the little merman had no occasion to do this, for the polypi sprang back in terror when they caught sight of the glittering draught, which shone in his hand like a twinkling star.
So he passed quickly through the wood and the marsh, and between the rushing whirlpools. He saw that in his mother’s palace the torches in the ballroom were extinguished, and all within asleep; but he did not venture to go in to them, for now he was dumb and going to leave them forever, he felt as if his heart would break. He stole into the garden, took a flower from the flower-beds of each of his brothers, kissed his hand a thousand times towards the palace, and then rose up through the dark blue waters. The sun had not risen when he came in sight of the princess' palace, and approached the beautiful marble steps, but the moon shone clear and bright. Then the little merman drank the magic fraught, and it seemed as if a two-edged sword went through his delicate body: he fell into a swoon, and lay like one dead. When the sun arose and shone over the sea, he recovered, and felt a sharp pain; but just before him stood the beautiful young princess holding the yellow silk umbrella into her left hand. She fixed her coal-black eyes upon him so earnestly that he cast down his own, and then became aware that his fish’s tail was gone, and that he had as pretty a pair of white legs and tiny feet as any little valet could have; but he had no clothes, so he wrapped himself in his big, thick bushy hair with some green seaweeds on it together. The princess asked him who he was, and where he came from, and he looked at her mildly and sorrowfully with his deep blue eyes; but he could not speak. Every step he took was as the warlock had said it would be, he felt as if treading upon the points of needles or sharp knives; but he bore it willingly, and stepped as lightly by the princess' side as a soap-bubble, so that she and all who saw him wondered at his graceful-swaying movements. He was very soon arrayed in costly robes of silk and muslin, and was the most handsome creature in the palace; but he was dumb, and could neither speak nor sing. 

Handsome male slaves, dressed in silk kimono and gold and silver, stepped forward and sang before the princess and her royal parents: one sang better than all the others, and the princess clapped her hands and smiled at him. This was great sorrow to the little merman; he knew how much more sweetly he himself could sing once, and he thought, “Oh if she could only know that! I have given away my voice forever, to be with her.” 

The slaves next performed some pretty fairy-like dances, to the sound of beautiful music. Then the little merman raised his lovely white arms, stood on the tips of his toes, and glided over the floor, and danced as no one yet had been able to dance. At each moment his beauty became more revealed, and his expressive eyes appealed more directly to the heart than the songs of the slaves. Every one was enchanted, especially the princess, who called him her little foundling; and he danced again quite readily, to please her, though each time his foot touched the floor it seemed as if he trod on sharp knives. 

The princess said he should remain with her always, and he received permission to sleep at her door, on a velvet cushion. He had a page’s kimono made for him, that he might accompany her on horseback. They rode together through the sweet-scented woods, where the green boughs touched their shoulders, and the little birds sang among the fresh leaves. He climbed with the princess to the tops of high mountains; and although his tender feet bled so that even his steps were marked, he only laughed, and followed her till they could see the clouds beneath them looking like a flock of birds traveling to distant lands. While at the princess' palace, and when all the household were asleep, he would go and sit on the broad marble steps; for it eased his burning feet to bathe them in the cold sea-water; and then he thought of all those below in the deep. 

Once during the night his brothers came up arm-in-arm, singing sorrowfully, as they floated on the water. He beckoned to them, and then they recognized him, and told him how he had grieved them. After that, they came to the same place every night; and once he saw in the distance his old grandfather, who had not been to the surface of the sea for many years, and the old Sea Queen, his mother, with her crown on her head. They stretched out their hands towards him, but they did not venture so near the land as his brothers did. 

As the days passed, he loved the princess more fondly, and she loved him as she would love a little child, but it never came into her head to make him her husband; yet, unless she married him, he could not receive an immortal soul; and, on the morning after her marriage with another, he would dissolve into the foam of the sea. 

“Do you not love me the best of them all?” the eyes of the little merman seemed to say, when she took him in his arms, and kissed his fair forehead. 

“Yes, you are dear to me,” said the princess; “for you have the best heart, and you are the most devoted to me; you are like a young valet whom I once saw, but whom I shall never meet again. I was in the world's gigantic ship, called “The Titanic”, once called "The Unsinkable” by it's builders where I use to dance along with any of my schoolmates that was crashed to a iceberg and sunk, and the waves cast me ashore near a holy temple, where several young valets performed the service. The youngest of them found me on the shore, and saved my life. I saw him but twice, and he is the only one in the world whom I could love; but you are like him, and you have almost driven his image out of my mind. He belongs to the holy temple, and my good fortune has sent you to me instead of him; and we will never part.” 

“Ah, he knows not that it was I who saved her life,” thought the little merman. “I carried her over the sea to the wood where the temple stands: I sat beneath the foam, and watched till the human beings came to help him. I saw the pretty valet that she loves better than she loves me;” and the merman sighed deeply, but he could not hes tears. “She says the valet belongs to the holy temple, therefore he will never return to the world. They will meet no more: while I am by her side, and see her every day. I will take care of her, and love her, and give up my life for her sake.” 

Very soon it was said that the princess must marry, and that the handsome son of a neighboring queen would be her husband, for a fine ship was being fitted out. Although the princess gave out that she merely intended to pay a visit to the queen, it was generally supposed that she really went to see her son. A great company were to go with her. The little merman smiled, and shook his head. He knew the princess' thoughts better than any of the others. 

“I must travel,” she had said to him; “I must see this handsome prince; my parents desire it; but they will not oblige me to bring his home as my groom. I cannot love him; he is not like the handsome valet in the temple, whom you resemble. If I were forced to choose a groom, I would rather choose you, my dumb foundling, with those expressive eyes.” And then she kissed his rosy mouth, played with his big bushy waving hair, and laid her head on his heart, while he dreamed of human happiness and an immortal soul. “You are not afraid of the sea, my dumb child,” said she, as they stood on the deck of the noble ship which was to carry them to the country of the neighboring queen. And then she told him of storm and of calm, of strange fishes in the deep beneath them, and of what the divers had seen there; and he smiled at her descriptions, for he knew better than any one what wonders were at the bottom of the sea. 

In the moonlight, when all on board were asleep, excepting the man at the helm, who was steering, he sat on the deck, gazing down through the clear water. He thought he could distinguish his mother’s castle, and upon it his aged grandfather, with the golden crown on his head, looking through the rushing tide at the keel of the vessel. Then his brothers came up on the waves, and gazed at him mournfully, wringing their white hands. He beckoned to them, and smiled, and wanted to tell them how happy and well off he was; but the cabin-boy approached, and when his brothers dived down he thought it was only the foam of the sea which he saw. 

The next morning the ship sailed into the harbor of a beautiful town belonging to the queen whom the princess was going to visit. The church bells were ringing, and from the high towers sounded a flourish of trumpets; and soldiers, with flying colors and glittering bayonets, lined the rocks through which they passed. Every day was a festival; balls and entertainments followed one another. 

But the prince had not yet appeared. People said that he was being brought up and educated in a religious house, where he was learning every royal virtue. At last he came. Then the little merman, who was very anxious to see whether he was really handsome, was obliged to acknowledge that he had never seen a more perfect vision of beauty. His skin was delicately fair, and beneath his long dark eye-lashes his laughing blue eyes shone with truth and purity. 

“It was you,” said the princess, “who saved my life when I lay dead on the beach,” And she folded her blushing groom in her arms. “Oh, I am too happy,” said he to the little merman; “My fondest hopes are all fulfilled. You will rejoice at my happiness; for your devotion to me is great and sincere.” 

The little merman kissed his hand, and felt as if his heart were already broken. Her wedding morning would bring death to him, and he would change into the foam of the sea. All the church bells rung, and the heralds rode about the town proclaiming the betrothal. Perfumed oil was burning in costly silver lamps on every altar. The priests waved the censers, while the bridegroom and bride joined their hands and received the blessing of the bishop. The little merman, dressed in silk kimono and gold and silver, held up the bridegroom’s train; but his ears heard nothing of the festive music, and his eyes saw not the holy ceremony; he thought of the night of death which was coming to him, and of all he had lost in the world. On the same evening the bridegroom and bride went on board ship; cannons were roaring, flags waving, and in the center of the ship a costly tent of purple and gold had been erected. It contained elegant couches, for the reception of the bridal pair during the night. The ship, with swelling sails and a favorable wind, glided away smoothly and lightly over the calm sea. When it grew dark a number of colored lamps were lit, and the sailors danced merrily on the deck. The little merman could not help thinking of his first rising out of the sea, when he had seen similar festivities and joys; and he joined in the dance, poised himself in the air as a swallow when he pursues his prey, and all present cheered him with wonder. He had never danced so elegantly before. His tender feet felt as if cut with sharp knives, but he cared not for it; a sharper pang had pierced through his heart. He knew this was the last evening he should ever see the princess, for whom he had forsaken his kindred and his home; he had given up his beautiful voice, and suffered unheard-of pain daily for him, while he knew nothing of it. This was the last evening that he would breathe the same air with her, or gaze on the starry sky and the deep sea; an eternal night, without a thought or a dream, awaited him: he had no soul and now he could never win one. All was joy and gaiety on board ship till long after midnight; he laughed and danced with the rest, while the thoughts of death were in his heart. The princess kissed his handsome groom, while he played with her long raven hair she undo, till they went arm-in-arm to rest in the splendid tent. Then all became still on board the ship; the helmsman, alone awake, stood at the helm. The little merman leaned his white arms on the edge of the vessel, and looked towards the east for the first blush of morning, for that first ray of dawn that would bring his death. He saw his brothers rising out of the flood: they were as pale as himself; but all of their big beautiful bushy hair waved no more in the wind, and had been all shaved off. 

“We have given all of our hair to the warlock,” said they, “to obtain help for you, that you may not die to-night. He has given us a knife: here it is, see it is very sharp. Before the sun rises you must plunge it into the heart of the princess; when the warm blood falls upon your feet they will grow together again, and form into a fish’s tail, and you will be once more a merman, and return to us to live out your three hundred years before you die and change into the salt sea foam. Haste, then; she or you must die before sunrise. Our old grandfather moans so for you, that his gray hair is falling off from sorrow, as ours fell under the warlock’s scissors. Kill the princess and come back; hasten: do you not see the first red streaks in the sky? In a few minutes the sun will rise, and you must die.” And then they sighed deeply and mournfully, and sank down beneath the waves. 

The little merman drew back the crimson curtain of the tent, and beheld the fair groom with his head resting on the princess’ breast. He bent down and kissed her fair brow, then looked at the sky on which the rosy dawn grew brighter and brighter; then he glanced at the sharp knife, and again fixed his eyes on the princess, who whispered the name of her groom in her dreams. He was in her thoughts, and the knife trembled in the hand of the little merman: then he flung it far away from him into the waves; the water turned red where it fell, and the drops that spurted up looked like blood. He cast one more lingering, half-fainting glance at the princess, and then threw himself from the ship into the sea, and thought his body was dissolving into foam. The sun rose above the waves, and his warm rays fell on the cold foam of the little merman, who did not feel as if he were dying. He saw the bright sun, and all around his floated hundreds of young transparent handsome beings; he could see through them the white sails of the ship, and the red clouds in the sky; their speech was melodious, but too ethereal to be heard by mortal ears, as they were also unseen by mortal eyes. The little merman perceived that he had a body like theirs, and that he continued to rise higher and higher out of the foam. “Where am I?” asked he, and his voice sounded ethereal, as the voice of those who were with him; no earthly music could imitate it.

“Among the sons of the air,” answered one of them. “A merman has not an immortal soul, nor can he obtain one unless he wins the love of a human being. On the power of another hangs his eternal destiny. But the sons of the air, although they do not possess an immortal soul, can, by their good deeds, procure one for themselves. We fly to warm countries, and cool the sultry air that destroys mankind with the pestilence. We carry the perfume of the flowers to spread health and restoration. After we have striven for three hundred years to all the good in our power, we receive an immortal soul and take part in the happiness of mankind. You, poor little merman, have tried with your whole heart to do as we are doing; you have suffered and endured and raised yourself to the spirit-world by your good deeds; and now, by striving for three hundred years in the same way, you may obtain an immortal soul.” 

The little merman lifted his glorified eyes towards the sun, and felt them, for the first time, filling with tears. On the ship, in which he had left the princess, there were life and noise; he saw her and her handsome groom searching for him; sorrowfully they gazed at the pearly foam, as if they knew he had thrown himself into the waves. Unseen he kissed the forehead of her groom, and fanned the princess, and then mounted with the other children of the air to a rosy cloud that floated through the aether. 

“After three hundred years, thus shall we float into the kingdom of heaven,” said he. “And we may even get there sooner,” whispered one of his companions. “Unseen we can enter the houses of young men, where there are children, and for every day on which we find a good child, who is the joy of her parents and deserves their love, our time of probation is shortened. The child does not know, when we fly through the room, that we smile with joy at her good conduct, for we can count one year less of our three hundred years. But when we see a naughty or a wicked child, we hes tears of sorrow, and for every tear a day is added to our time of trial!” 




 



 









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$Date: 2007/12/13 20:45:29 $