The red flowers in her own garden would have suited her muchbetter, but she could not help herself: so she said, "Farewell," androse as lightly as a bubble to the surface of the water. The sun hadjust set as she raised her head above the waves; but the clouds weretinted with crimson and gold, and through the glimmering twilightbeamed the evening star in all its beauty. The sea was calm, and theair mild and fresh. A large ship, with three masts, lay becalmed onthe water, with only one sail set; for not a breeze stiffed, and thesailors sat idle on deck or amongst the rigging. There was music andsong on board; and, as darkness came on, a hundred colored lanternswere lighted, as if the flags of all nations waved in the air. Thelittle mermaid swam close to the cabin windows; and now and then, asthe waves lifted her up, she could look in through clear glasswindow-panes, and see a number of well-dressed people within. Amongthem was a young prince, the most beautiful of all, with large blackeyes; he was sixteen years of age, and his birthday was being keptwith much rejoicing. The sailors were dancing on deck, but when theprince came out of the cabin, more than a hundred rockets rose inthe air, making it as bright as day. The little mermaid was sostartled that she dived under water; and when she again stretchedout her head, it appeared as if all the stars of heaven were fallingaround her, she had never seen such fireworks before. Great sunsspurted fire about, splendid fireflies flew into the blue air, andeverything was reflected in the clear, calm sea beneath. The shipitself was so brightly illuminated that all the people, and even thesmallest rope, could be distinctly and plainly seen. And howhandsome the young prince looked, as he pressed the hands of allpresent and smiled at them, while the music resounded through theclear night air.
  It was very late; yet the little mermaid could not take her eyesfrom the ship, or from the beautiful prince. The colored lanternshad been extinguished, no more rockets rose in the air, and the cannonhad ceased firing; but the sea became restless, and a moaning,grumbling sound could be heard beneath the waves: still the littlemermaid remained by the cabin window, rocking up and down on thewater, which enabled her to look in. After a while, the sails werequickly unfurled, and the noble ship continued her passage; but soonthe waves rose higher, heavy clouds darkened the sky, and lightningappeared in the distance. A dreadful storm was approaching; oncemore the sails were reefed, and the great ship pursued her flyingcourse over the raging sea. The waves rose mountains high, as ifthey would have overtopped the mast; but the ship dived like a swanbetween them, and then rose again on their lofty, foaming crests. Tothe little mermaid this appeared pleasant sport; not so to thesailors. At length the ship groaned and creaked; the thick planks gaveway under the lashing of the sea as it broke over the deck; themainmast snapped asunder like a reed; the ship lay over on her side;and the water rushed in. The little mermaid now perceived that thecrew were in danger; even she herself was obliged to be careful toavoid the beams and planks of the wreck which lay scattered on thewater. At one moment it was so pitch dark that she could not see asingle object, but a flash of lightning revealed the whole scene;she could see every one who had been on board excepting the prince;when the ship parted, she had seen him sink into the deep waves, andshe was glad, for she thought he would now be with her; and then sheremembered that human beings could not live in the water, so that whenhe got down to her father's palace he would be quite dead. But he mustnot die. So she swam about among the beams and planks which strewedthe surface of the sea, forgetting that they could crush her topieces. Then she dived deeply under the dark waters, rising andfalling with the waves, till at length she managed to reach theyoung prince, who was fast losing the power of swimming in that stormysea. His limbs were failing him, his beautiful eyes were closed, andhe would have died had not the little mermaid come to hisassistance. She held his head above the water, and let the waves driftthem where they would.
  In the morning the storm had ceased; but of the ship not asingle fragment could be seen. The sun rose up red and glowing fromthe water, and its beams brought back the hue of health to theprince's cheeks; but his eyes remained closed. The mermaid kissedhis high, smooth forehead, and stroked back his wet hair; he seemed toher like the marble statue in her little garden, and she kissed himagain, and wished that he might live. Presently they came in sightof land; she saw lofty blue mountains, on which the white snowrested as if a flock of swans were lying upon them. Near the coastwere beautiful green forests, and close by stood a large building,whether a church or a convent she could not tell. Orange and citrontrees grew in the garden, and before the door stood lofty palms. Thesea here formed a little bay, in which the water was quite still,but very deep; so she swam with the handsome prince to the beach,which was covered with fine, white sand, and there she laid him in thewarm sunshine, taking care to raise his head higher than his body.Then bells sounded in the large white building, and a number ofyoung girls came into the garden. The little mermaid swam outfarther from the shore and placed herself between some high rocks thatrose out of the water; then she covered her head and neck with thefoam of the sea so that her little face might not be seen, and watchedto see what would become of the poor prince. She did not wait longbefore she saw a young girl approach the spot where he lay. She seemedfrightened at first, but only for a moment; then she fetched anumber of people, and the mermaid saw that the prince came to lifeagain, and smiled upon those who stood round him. But to her he sentno smile; he knew not that she had saved him. This made her veryunhappy, and when he was led away into the great building, she diveddown sorrowfully into the water, and returned to her father'scastle. She had always been silent and thoughtful, and now she wasmore so than ever. Her sisters asked her what she had seen duringher first visit to the surface of the water; but she would tell themnothing. Many an evening and morning did she rise to the place whereshe had left the prince. She saw the fruits in the garden ripen tillthey were gathered, the snow on the tops of the mountains melt away;but she never saw the prince, and therefore she returned home,always more sorrowful than before. It was her only comfort to sit inher own little garden, and fling her arm round the beautiful marblestatue which was like the prince; but she gave up tending her flowers,and they grew in wild confusion over the paths, twining their longleaves and stems round the branches of the trees, so that the wholeplace became dark and gloomy. At length she could bear it no longer,and told one of her sisters all about it. Then the others heard thesecret, and very soon it became known to two mermaids whose intimatefriend happened to know who the prince was. She had also seen thefestival on board ship, and she told them where the prince camefrom, and where his palace stood.
  "Come, little sister," said the other princesses; then theyentwined their arms and rose up in a long row to the surface of thewater, close by the spot where they knew the prince's palace stood. Itwas built of bright yellow shining stone, with long flights ofmarble steps, one of which reached quite down to the sea. Splendidgilded cupolas rose over the roof, and between the pillars thatsurrounded the whole building stood life-like statues of marble.Through the clear crystal of the lofty windows could be seen noblerooms, with costly silk curtains and hangings of tapestry; while thewalls were covered with beautiful paintings which were a pleasure tolook at. In the centre of the largest saloon a fountain threw itssparkling jets high up into the glass cupola of the ceiling, throughwhich the sun shone down upon the water and upon the beautifulplants growing round the basin of the fountain. Now that she knewwhere he lived, she spent many an evening and many a night on thewater near the palace. She would swim much nearer the shore than anyof the others ventured to do; indeed once she went quite up the narrowchannel under the marble balcony, which threw a broad shadow on thewater. Here she would sit and watch the young prince, who thoughthimself quite alone in the bright moonlight. She saw him many times ofan evening sailing in a pleasant boat, with music playing and flagswaving. She peeped out from among the green rushes, and if the windcaught her long silvery-white veil, those who saw it believed it to bea swan, spreading out its wings. On many a night, too, when thefishermen, with their torches, were out at sea, she heard themrelate so many good things about the doings of the young prince,that she was glad she had saved his life when he had been tossed abouthalf-dead on the waves. And she remembered that his head had rested onher bosom, and how heartily she had kissed him; but he knew nothing ofall this, and could not even dream of her. She grew more and more fondof human beings, and wished more and more to be able to wander aboutwith those whose world seemed to be so much larger than her own.They could fly over the sea in ships, and mount the high hills whichwere far above the clouds; and the lands they possessed, their woodsand their fields, stretched far away beyond the reach of her sight.There was so much that she wished to know, and her sisters were unableto answer all her questions. Then she applied to her oldgrandmother, who knew all about the upper world, which she veryrightly called the lands above the sea.
  "If human beings are not drowned," asked the little mermaid,"can they live forever?