常春藤赖世雄童话故事高级篇Little MermaidDeep below the sea was anotherworld. That was where the sea kinglived. It was a wonderful place.Many special plants grew there.Large and small fishes swam aroundthe plants. They looked like birds intrees. Blue light shone on everything there. In this special place mermen and mermaids were always happy.The sea king's castle was in thedeepest place. It was very large andfancy. Its walls were made of coral,and the roof was made of shells.There were many windows. Fishswam in and out of the windows. Thesea king had no wife. His mother took care of the house. She was wise and proud.The sea king had six daughters.Each princess was very pretty, butthe youngest was the prettiest.She had clear skin and blueeyes. She had no feet, though. Allsea people have fish tails, not feet.She didn't talk as much as her sisters. She was very polite, and everybody liked her.The six mermaids were happy. Allday, they played in the castle and itsgarden. They played with the fish likewe play with dogs. The garden wasvery pretty. It had many red and blueflowers. There was fruit on the plants.The fruit shone like gold. On clear days, you could see the sun. It looked like a purple flower far above the sea floor.Each princess had her own spotin the garden. They put flowers andother pretty things into their spots.Each one was different. The oldestsister made hers into a whale shape.The second sister made hers look likea mermaid. The little mermaid made hers into the shape of a sun. All of her flowers were red, like rays of the sun.One day, a statue fell to thebottom of the sea. It was the statueof a prince. The statue looked veryhandsome, and the little mermaidwas very curious about it. She putthe statue into her garden under apink plant. The plant could protect the statue from bad weather. Winter storms were very scary under the sea.What did the prince's world looklike? The little mermaid wanted toknow. Her grandmother told herabout it. She told her about townsand people and animals. She saidthe little mermaid could go up andlook around. First, she had to wait for her fifteenth birthday. The little mermaid wasn't happy because she didn't want to wait. Every night she looked up at the surface of the sea and dreamed.The next year, the oldest sisterturned fifteen. She swam to thesurface of the sea and was amazedby everything she saw. Later, she toldher other sisters about the people,who walked on two legs. She alsotold them about their music and their songs. The voices of people were strange to her. She said mermaids sang much better than people.A year passed. The second sisterhad her fifteenth birthday. She couldnow leave the water kingdom to lookaround. She was very curious aboutthe sun. She tried to touch it, but itwas behind some clouds. Each year,a different sister turned fifteen, butthe little mermaid still wasn't fifteen. She always listened carefully to her sisters' stories. The world above the sea seemed like a great place.Finally, the little mermaid'sfifteenth birthday came, and she wasvery excited. Now she could lookaround the world above the sea. Hergrandmother put a few white flowersinto her hair, and eight shells on hertail. She was ready to swim away. She waved to her family as she swam upwards.The little mermaid looked out ofthe water for the first time. It wasnight. She saw the black sky full ofstars. Nearby, there was a big boat. Itwas very bright and the people on itwere wearing nice clothes. Then shesaw a handsome prince. He looked like the statue in her little garden. She quickly fell in love with him.She followed the boat as it sailedaway. The wind began to blow harder.A storm was coming. The wavesgrew bigger and bigger. The boat wasin trouble! The waves turned it over,and everyone fell out! Quickly, thelittle mermaid dived under the water. She found the prince, and took him up to the surface. He couldn't swim very well, so she helped him.The storm was over in themorning. The little mermaid took theprince to shore. On the beach, sheheld his head and kissed him. Therewas a church near the beach. Thebells rang and some girls ran out toplay. The little mermaid swam to some rocks near the beach. When the girls saw the prince, they ran to him and helped him stand up. The prince thanked the girls. The little mermaid wasn't happy. "Why didn't the prince thank me?" she thought.Every day, the little mermaidreturned to the beach. She wanted tosee the handsome prince. He wasnever there, so she was unhappy.She went back to her home andcried. Her older sisters were worriedabout her. She told them about the prince. One of them knew where he lived. She could take the little mermaid there. Together, the six mermaids went to find the prince.The prince lived in a beautiful palace.It had beautiful paintings on its walls.There were silk curtains in its windowsand a big fountain in its garden. Eachnight, the little mermaid swam near thepalace. She swam to the shore and hid behind the rocks. There, she could watch the prince in his garden. She wanted to talk with him, but she couldn't. She was a mermaid, not a girl.The little mermaid asked her sistersand grandmother many questions. Shewanted to know more about people andthey told her what they knew. Hergrandmother knew the most aboutpeople. "Humans don't live as long assea people. We can live happily for three hundred years," she said. "When we die, we melt into the sea. There is no heaven for sea people. Good humans can go to heaven." The little mermaid wanted more than ever to be human. She wanted to marry the prince and go to heaven.The next night, the sea king hada big ball. Many mermen andmermaids went to the ball. The seaking, the grandmother and the sixsisters were all wearing beautifulclothes. Everyone danced, sang,and had fun. The little mermaid sang a song. Her voice sounded very pretty. Everyone loved to hear her sing.The little mermaid felt happy for ashort time. Then, she rememberedthe prince. Her heart wanted to bewith him. She left the ball and wentto see the sea witch. The sea witchlived in a scary place. No flowers orgrass would grow there. The path toher house was dark and chilling. Ugly plants were on either side. They had arms like snakes. They grabbed anything they could touch.The little mermaid was scared.She felt like turning around. Then,she saw the prince's face. "I must bebrave," she told herself. "If I amhuman, I can marry the prince." Sheclosed her eyes and swam quicklypast the ugly plants.The little mermaid came to ahouse. The sea witch was sitting infront of the house. The sea witchknew about the little mermaid'sdream, but she didn't understand whythe little mermaid loved the prince somuch. The sea witch could make a special drink. This was a magic potion. It would give the mermaid legs and make her human.The sea witch told the mermaid, "If the prince marries another woman, you will die the next morning. You will become foam on the sea."The little mermaid turned pale. Shedidn't want to die, but she wanted tobe with the prince. She told the seawitch that she wanted the magicpotion. Then, the sea witch told herthe drink was not free. The littlemermaid had to give the sea witch her lovely voice! She could never sing again!The witch began to make themagic potion. She put worms, snakesand other scary things into a pot. Shecooked the potion for ten minutes.There was a lot of smoke, and the potsounded like an alligator crying. Then,the sea witch put the magic potion into a bottle. The little mermaid took the bottle and swam through the dark forest of ugly plants. She felt bad to leave her family, but now she could live with her handsome prince.The little mermaid swam to theprince's palace. She lifted the bottleand drank the magic potion. Suddenly,her tail disappeared. Now, she hadfeet! They felt very strange, though.The prince was taking a walk in themoonlight. He saw her standing on the shore, and asked her who she was. She couldn't speak because she didn't have a voice.The prince took her into his castle.The little mermaid's feet hurt. It waspainful to walk to the palace. Therewere many servants in the palace.They gave her a nice new dress towear. Everyone in the castle wascurious about the new girl. The little mermaid couldn't talk or sing, but she danced very well. The prince liked his new friend, so he wanted her to stay with him always.The prince and the little mermaid hadfun together. They rode horses, climbedmountains and listened to the birds sing.The little mermaid loved the prince, buther feet hurt very much. Each night, shewent to the sea and cooled her feet in thewater. One night her sisters came. "We miss you, little sister," they said. After that, the little mermaid met her sisters every night. Far away, the little mermaid could see the sea king and her grandmother. They both looked very sad.One day, the prince put his armsaround the little mermaid. He said to her,"I like you very much, my quiet friend. Youlook like a girl who once saved my life. ButI can only love that girl." He didn't knowthe truth: the little mermaid WAS that girl.The little mermaid felt very sad. Then, the prince said that he had to marry a princess from another place. He would go there in a boat soon. He wanted the little mermaid to come to his wedding.The prince, his family, and thelittle mermaid sailed to the princess'scountry. They traveled on the sea forone day and one night. Theprincess's castle was very pretty. Thebells of the church rang. Soon, therewould be a wedding in the church. The prince looked for his bride. Then, everyone saw her. She was a beautiful girl. The prince looked very happy.That evening, they had a party onthe ship. The little mermaid dancedfor the new couple. Everyone likedher graceful dancing. Soon, theprince and his bride were tired. Theywent into their cabin, and everyoneon the boat went to sleep.The little mermaid didn't go tosleep. Sadly, she looked at the water.Suddenly, she saw her sisters. Theyhad short hair. "We gave our hair tothe sea witch, and she gave us thismagic knife," they said. "We don'twant you to die. If you put this knife into the prince's heart, you can live."It was almost morning. The sunwas coming up. Soon, the littlemermaid would die. She went intothe prince's cabin. The prince andhis bride were still sleeping. Shelooked at the prince, who lookedhappy. She couldn't kill him. She threw away the knife and jumped into the sea. Slowly, she melted into the water.She didn't feel dead. The sunshone on her face, and she feltwarm. Then, she could see beautifulfigures flying around her. The littlemermaid rose out of the sea. Herbody was just like the other beautifulfigures. "Am I dead?" she asked. She had a beautiful voice again. " No, dear. You are a daughter of the air now," replied one of the figures. "You will live with us now, and one day you will go to heaven."The little mermaid floated up to a cloud, and she and her new family flew away.。