In the distance of the sea, the water was so blue, like the most beautiful cornflower petals, and at the same time so clear, like the brightest glass. However, it is very deep, so deep that no anchor chain can reach the end. To reach the surface from the bottom of the sea, many churches must be connected one by one. The people at the bottom of the sea live under this.
There's music and there's singing. As dusk fades into darkness, all kinds of lanterns light up together. They look like flags of the nations of the world floating in the air. The little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom swam all the way to the boat window. Every time the waves lifted her up, she could see through the mirror-like window panes that there were many richly dressed men standing inside; but the most beautiful of them was Xi He, who had a pair of large black eyes: no doubt he was not yet sixteen years old. Today is his birthday, and it is for this reason that it is so lively today.
Sailors danced on deck. When Xihe guoxiao prince walked out, more than a hundred rockets shot into the sky at the same time.
The sky was illuminated as if it were daylight, so the little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom was very frightened and quickly sank to the bottom of the water. But after a while she stuck her head out—and now she felt as if the stars were falling on her, and she had never seen such fireworks before. Many huge suns booed around them, and dazzling big fish leaped into the blue sky. All this is reflected in this clear, calm sea. The whole body of the ship was so brightly illuminated that even every small rope could be seen, and the people on the boat could certainly see it more clearly. Ah, how beautiful this young Prince of Xihe Kingdom is! When the music faded away in this glorious night, he shook hands with the sailors, laughing, smiling...
It was late at night, but there was no way for the little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom to take her eyes off this ship and this beautiful Little Prince of Xihe Kingdom.
The little mermaid princess of the Kingdom of Fish thought it was a very interesting voyage, but the sailors did not think so. The ship now made a cracking sound; its thick walls were bent by the incoming waves. The mast was broken like a reed in the middle of the waist.
Then the boat began to tilt and the water rushed into the cabin. At this time, the little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom knew that they were in danger. She also had to beware of the beams and wreckage of the boats floating on the water.
The sky immediately became pitch black, and she couldn't see anything. But when the lightning bolted out, the sky was so bright that she could see everyone on board. Now everyone is trying to find a way out for themselves. She paid special attention to the prince of Xihe Andguo. When the ship cracked and sank deep into the sea, she saw him. She immediately became very happy, because he was going to fall to her now. But she remembered that a human being could not live in water, and that he could not enter her father's official palace unless he became a dead man.
No, he must not be allowed to die! So she swam among the floating beams and planks, not at all thinking that they might kill her. She sank deep into the water, and then floated high in the waves, and finally she reached the side of the prince of Naxi and the kingdom, and in this violent sea, he had no strength to float again. His arms and legs began to be overwhelmed. His beautiful eyes were already closed. If it weren't for the timely arrival of the little mermaid princess of the Fish Nation, he would definitely drown.
She lifted his head out of the water and let the waves carry her to drift with him wherever she went.
By dawn, the storm had passed. The boat didn't have even a fragment. The bright red sun rose and shone brightly on the water. It seemed to inject life into the face of this little prince of Xihe. But his eyes were still closed.
The little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom kissed his beautiful high forehead and straightened his long wet hair behind his head. She felt that he looked very much like the marble statue she had in the small garden under the sea. She kissed him again, hoping he would wake up.
The bell rang out from the majestic white building, and many young women came out through the garden. The little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom swam far into the sea, swimming behind several large stones that appeared on the surface of the sea. She covered her hair and breasts with a lot of seawater foam so that no one could see her little face. She stared here to see who would come to this poor Prince Xihe.
She had always been a quiet and thoughtful child, and now she had become even more so. Her sisters asked her what she had seen the first time she had ascended to the surface of the sea, but she couldn't say anything.
For many nights and mornings, she surfaced and swam to the place where she had once laid down the little prince of Xihe. She saw that the fruit in the garden was ripe and plucked; she saw that the snow on the top of the high mountain had melted; but she could not see the little prince of Xihe.
So every time she came home, she always felt more pain. Her only consolation was to sit in her little garden, holding with both hands a beautiful marble statue similar to that of the little prince of Xihe. But she didn't take care of her flowers anymore. The flowers seemed to grow in the wilderness, spread all over the ground: their long stalks and leaves intersected with the branches, making the place very dark.
Now she knew where Prince Xihe lived. Here on the water she spent several dusks and nights. She swam farther to land, farther than any other sister would dare to go. Indeed, she even swam into that narrow river, down to the magnificent marble balcony—its long shadow reflected in the water. She sat here, looking at the young Prince Xihe Guoxiao, and this Xihe Guoxiao Prince thought that he was the only one in the moonlight.
For several nights she saw him riding to the sound of music on the magnificent ship with many flags. She peeked up from the green cordyceps. When the wind blew up her long silver-white mask, if anyone saw it, they always thought it was a swan spreading its wings.
Gradually she began to love human beings, and gradually began to hope to live among them. She felt that their world was much bigger than hers. Indeed, they were able to sail on the sea by boat, to climb towering mountains, and at the same time their land, with its forests and fields, stretched out beyond her reach. There was a lot she wanted to know, but her sisters couldn't answer all her questions. So she had to ask her old grandmother. She did know quite well about the "upper world," the apt name she gave to maritime nations.
"If humans don't drown," asked the little mermaid princess of the Fish Nation, "will they live forever?" Will they die like the people we live in the sea? ”
"Not bad at all," said the old lady, "that they too will die, and that their lives will be even shorter than ours." We can live to be three hundred years old, but when our lives here are over, we become bubbles on the water. On the contrary, human beings have a soul; it lives forever, and even if the body turns to dust, it is still alive. It rises to the clear sky, all the way up to the shining stars! Just as we ascend to the surface of the water and see the world on earth, they ascend to mysterious, ornate places that we will never see. ”
"Why don't we get an immortal soul?" The little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom asked sadly. "As long as I can become a human being and enter the heavenly world, even if I live there for only one day, I am willing to give up the life I can live here for hundreds of years," "You must not think like this," said the old lady. "Compared to the humans above, our life here is much happier and better!"
"Then I'll just die and become a bubble floating on the water." Will I never again hear the music of the waves, the beautiful flowers and the bright red sun? Is there no way I can get an eternal soul? ”
"Nothing!" The old lady said. "Only when a man loves you and treats you as more gracious than his parents: only when he places all his thoughts and love in you; only when he asks the priest to put his right hand in your hand and promises to be faithful to you now and forever, will his soul be transferred to you, and you will receive a share of human happiness." 」
The little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom sighed and looked sadly at her own fish tail.
"Let's be happy!" The old lady said. "For the three hundred years that we can live, let us dance and dance. It was a long time. Let's have a ball in the palace tonight!" ”
Among these people, the little mermaid princess of the fish country sang the most beautifully. Everyone applauded her; for a moment she felt very happy in her heart, for she knew that only her voice was the most beautiful on land and in the sea. But she immediately remembered the world above.
She couldn't forget the beautiful Prince Xihe, nor could she forget the sorrow she had caused because she didn't have an immortal soul like his. So she sneaked out of her father's palace: while it was full of song and joy, she sat sadly in her little garden. Suddenly she heard a trumpet sound coming from the water. She thought, "He must have been sailing on it: he—I loved him more than my dad and mom; he—I missed him all the time; I put the happiness of my life in his hands." I will sacrifice everything for him and an immortal soul. ”
The little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom then walked out of the garden and toward a swirling whirlpool that had set off a bubble—behind which the witch lived. She had never walked this path before. There were no flowers, no seagrasses, only a slippery gray sand floor that stretched out toward the whirlpool. The water swirled here like a noisy water wheel, turning everything it touched to the bottom of the water.
The little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom stopped in front of this forest, very panicked. Her heart was pounding with fear, and she almost wanted to turn back. But when she thought of the little prince and the soul of the man, she had courage again. She wrapped her long fluttering hair firmly around her head so that the polyps could not catch her. She pressed her hands tightly to her chest, and like a fish jumping in the water, she jumped forward among these ugly polyps, which waved only their long soft arms and fingers behind her.
Now she had come to a slimy clearing in the forest. Here the big, fat water snakes were churning, revealing their pale yellow, strangely ugly bellies. In the middle of this land there is a house made of the white bones of dead people. The witch of the sea is sitting here, feeding a toad with her mouth, just as we feed a little canary with sugar. She called the ugly, fat water snakes her chicks and let them crawl around her fat, fluffy chest.
"I know you're here to ask for something," said the sea witch. "Tomorrow when the sun comes out, I won't be able to help you, I'll have to wait a year." I can fry a pill for you to drink. You take this medicine with you, and before the sun comes out, swim quickly to land. You sit on the beach and eat the medicine, so your tail can be split in half and shrunk into what humans call beautiful legs. But it hurts —it's like a sharp knife cutting into your body. Whoever sees you will surely say that you are the most beautiful child they have ever seen! ”
"I can bear it," said the little mermaid princess in a trembling voice. At this moment, she remembered the little prince of Xihe and her desire to obtain an immortal soul.
"But remember," said the witch, "once you have acquired the form of a man, you can no longer become a mermaid, and you can no longer go into the water and return to the official palace of your sister or your father." At the same time, if you don't get the love of the little prince of Xihe, if you can't make him forget his parents for you, love you wholeheartedly, and call the priest to put your hands together and form a couple, you won't get an immortal soul.
"But you still have to pay me!" The witch said, "And what I want is not a tiny thing." Among the people at the bottom of the sea, your voice is the most beautiful. No doubt you want to charm him with this voice, but you have to give it to me. ”
"But if you take my voice away," said the little mermaid princess of the Fish Nation, "then what do I have left?" ”
"You still have a beautiful figure," replied the witch, "and you still have light steps and expressive eyes." With these things, it's easy to captivate a man's heart. Well, have you lost your courage? Stick out your little tongue, I can cut it off in return, and you can get this powerful potion. ”
"Just do it." The little mermaid princess of the fish country said. So the witch prepared the medicine jar and fried the magic medicine.
"Cleanliness is a good thing," she said; so she tied a knot with several snakes and used it to wash the jar. Then she scratched her chest and let her black blood drip into the jar. The vapor of the medicine rose strangely into the air, looking strange and frightening. Every once in a while the witch would add something new to the medicine jar.
"Take it!" The witch said. So she cut off the tongue of the little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom. The little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom is now a mute, unable to sing or speak.
"When you go back through my forest, if the polyps catch you," said the witch, "you only have to sprinkle this potion on them, and their arms and fingers will split into pieces and scatter in all directions." ”
She could see her father's official palace. The torches in the wide dance hall had been extinguished, and there was no doubt that the people inside had fallen asleep. But she didn't dare to look at them again, because she was now a mute and was leaving them forever.
When she saw the palace of the Prince of Naxi and the Little Prince, the sun had not yet risen. She solemnly walked up the marble steps.
The moon shines transparently and is very beautiful. The little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom drank the powerful potion. She immediately felt as if a knife on both sides had split her slender body. She immediately fainted. Fall down as if dead. When the sun shone on the sea, she woke up, and she felt a sharp pain. At this time, a young and beautiful Prince Xihe was standing in front of her. His dark eyes were looking at her, causing her to bow her head in embarrassment. She looked at him tenderly and sadly with her dark blue eyes, for she could not speak now. He took her by the hand and led her into the palace.
As the witch had told her before, she felt as if she were walking on an awl and a sharp knife. But she was willing to endure this pain. She took Xi He's little prince's arm and walked as light as a blister. He and all the people looked at her gentle and light steps and were amazed.
Now she wore expensive clothes made of silk and fine yarn. She was one of the most beautiful people in the palace, yet she was a mute and could neither sing. Nor can it speak. The beautiful female slave, dressed in silk and wearing gold and silver ornaments, stepped forward and sang songs for the little prince of Xihe and his parents. There was a slave who sang the most charmingly, and the little prince of Xihe could not help but applaud and smile at her.
At this time, the little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom felt a pang of sadness. She knew that there was a time when her singing voice was much more beautiful than that one! She thought, "Ah! I only wish he knew that I would sacrifice my voice forever in order to be with him! ”
Now the slaves danced gracefully and lightly to the beautiful music. Then the little mermaid princess of the fish kingdom raised her beautiful, white hands, stood on tiptoe, and danced lightly on the floor—no one had ever danced like this before.
Her every movement sets off her beauty. Her eyes touched people's hearts more than the slaves' songs.
Everyone was fascinated, especially Wang Yu, who called her his "orphan." She kept dancing, though every time her feet touched the ground, it was as if she were walking on a fast knife. Prince Xihe said that she should be with him forever; so she was allowed to sleep on a velvet mat outside his door.
In the palace of prince Xihe, after everyone had slept at night, she walked toward the wide steps. In order to make her feverish feet feel a little cool, she stood in the cold waters. At this moment she could not help but think of the people who lived under the sea.
Prince Xihe loved her more and more day by day. He loved her as much as he loved a good and affectionate child, but he never had the idea of marrying her as empress. Yet she must be his wife, or she will not be able to attain an immortal soul and will turn into a bubble at sea on the morning of his first marriage.
"Of all the people, do you love me the most?" When he took her into his arms and kissed her forehead, the eyes of the little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom seemed to say this.
"Yes, you are my dearest!" Xi he said
"Ah, he didn't know I had saved his life!" The little mermaid princess of the Fish Nation thought. "I lifted him out of the sea and sent him to a grove where the temple was located. I sat behind the foam and peeked to see if anyone was coming. I saw the beautiful girl—he loved her more than he loved me. ”
Now everyone is rumored to be getting married to Prince Xihe, and her wife is a daughter of the king of a neighboring country. He had specially equipped a beautiful ship for this. On the surface, prince Xihe guoxiao said that he was going to visit the neighboring kingdoms, but in fact he was going to see the daughter of the monarch of the neighboring country. He will go with a large number of entourage. The little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom shook her head and smiled. She could guess xi and the little prince's heart more than anyone.
"I've got to travel!" He said to her, "I have to see a beautiful princess, it's my parents' orders, but they can't force me to bring her home as a fiancée!" I won't love her. You are very much like the beautiful girl in the temple, and she is not. If I were to choose the bride, then I would have to choose you first— my dear mute orphan girl with a pair of talking eyes. ”
So he kissed her bright red lips, stroked her long hair, and pressed his head to her heart, causing her heart to dream of human happiness and an immortal soul.
"It's you!" Prince Xihe said, "When I lie on the shore like a dead body, it is you who save me!" So he held the shy bride in his arms. Ah, I'm so happy! He said to the little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom, "The best thing I never dared to hope for is now finally a fact." You will rejoice in my happiness, because you are the one who likes me the most of all! ”
The little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom kissed his hand. She felt her heart shatter. The first morning after his wedding would bring her ruin, and it would turn her into a bubble on the sea.
The wind was blowing the sails. The ship sailed gently on this clear sea, without great fluctuations.
She knew it was the last night she'd seen him—for him, she had left her people and family, she had handed over her beautiful voice, she had endured endless pain every day, yet he knew nothing about it. It was the last night she could breathe the same air with him, the last night she could see the deep sea and the starry sky.
The boat is quiet now. Only the helmsman stood at the helmsman. The little mermaid princess of the kingdom of fish leaned her white arm against the porthole wall and stared to the east, waiting for the morning sun to appear—she knew that the first rays of the sun would bring her to death, and she saw her sisters emerge from the waves. They were as pale as she was herself. Their beautiful long hair was no longer fluttering in the wind—because it had been cut off.
"We have given our hair to the witch, and we hope that she will help you so that you will not perish in the future." She gave us a knife. Take it, you see, how fast it is! Before the sun comes out, you have to insert it into the heart of the little prince of Xihe. When his blood reaches your feet, your feet will be joined together again to become a fish's tail, and then you can return to the original form of a mermaid, and you can return to our waters; so that you can still live through your three hundred years before you become an inanimate brackish water bubble.
They let out a strange, deep sigh, and they sank into the waves.
The little mermaid princess of the fish kingdom lifted the purple curtain on the tent and saw the beautiful bride sleeping in the arms of the little prince of Xihe. She bent down and kissed the eyebrows of Prince Qingxiu of Xihe, and then she stared into the sky—the morning glow gradually became brighter. She glanced at the sharp knife, and then dropped her eyes to the little prince of Xihe, who was murmuring his bride's name in a dream.
Now the sun rises from the sea. The sun shines softly and warmly on the cold foam. Because the little mermaid princess of the Fish Kingdom did not feel destroyed. She saw the bright sun, and at the same time countless transparent, beautiful creatures flew above her.
"Who will I go to?" she asked. Her voice, like these other creatures, appeared to be ethereal, and no music in the world could compare with it.
"Go to the daughter of the sky!" Other voices replied. "Mermaids have no immortal soul, and never will have such a soul unless she acquires the love of a mortal. Her eternal existence depends on external forces. Nor do the daughters of the sky have eternal souls, but they can create a soul through acts of kindness. ”
The little mermaid princess raised her bright arm to the sun above, and for the first time she felt that tears were about to flow.
On that boat, the vocals and the activity began again. She saw the prince of Xihe and his beautiful bride looking for her. They looked mournfully at the churning foam, as if they knew she had jumped into the waves. In the darkness she kissed the bride's forehead, and she smiled at Prince Xihe. So she joined the other children in the air, rode on the rose-colored clouds, and rose into the sky.
"In this way, in three hundred years, we can ascend to heaven!"
"We may not have to wait that long!" A voice whispered. "We flew into the human house, where some children lived. When we fly over the house, the child will not know. When we smile happily at Him, we can subtract one year from these three hundred years; but when we see a naughty and bad child and have to cry out in sorrow, then each tear adds one more day to our testing days. ”
