THE LITTLE MERMAID

In the middle of the sea, in the greatest depths was extended a magical kingdom, the kingdom of the people of the sea. A place of extraordinary beauty surrounded by flowers and unique plants and in which was the castle of the king of the sea.

He and his six daughters lived happily in the midst of such beauty. They spent the day playing and tending their flowers in the majestic gardens of blue and red trees. The smallest of them, was the most special. Her skin was white and soft, her eyes large and blue, but like the rest of the sirens, she had a fish tail. The little mermaid was fascinated by the stories her grandmother told about human beings, so much so that when she found a statue of a man in the wreckage of a ship that was shipwrecked she did not think of it and took it to put it in her garden. The grandmother told them that someday they would know the surface.

- When you are fifteen you can climb to the surface and you can see the forests, the cities and everything there. Until then it is prohibited.

The little mermaid waited for her anxious turn to arrive, imagining what the world would look like up there. Every time one of her sisters came and turned fifteen, she listened attentively to the things she had and that increased her desire because it was time to go up.

After years of waiting he finally turned fifteen. The siren went up and found a large ship in which they held a party. He heard music and fuss and could not help but approach to try to see through one of his windows. Among the people he distinguished a handsome young man, who turned out to be the prince, and by whom he was enthralled to observe its beauty.

He continued to stare there until a storm suddenly fell upon them. The sea began to roar with force and the boat began to tumble as if it were a paper boat, until finally it managed to split it and to send it to the bottom of the sea. In the middle of the shipwreck, the Little Mermaid sought the prince, managed to rescue him and take him safely to the beach. While he was there he heard a few girls approaching, and swiftly swam to the sea for fear of being seen. In the distance she saw her prince wake up and get up.

The Little Mermaid continued to rise to the surface every day in the hope of seeing her prince, but she never saw him and every time returned sadder to the bottom of the sea. But one day he took courage and decided to visit the sea witch to help him to be human. She was so in love that she was able to pay any price, no matter what. And what if it was.

- I'll prepare your concoction and you can have two little legs. But in exchange ... you must pay a price!

- I want your most precious gift, your voice!

- My voice? But if I do not speak, how will I fall in love with the prince?

- You'll have to manage without her. If not, no deal

- It's okay

The wicked witch warned him that he could never return to the sea and that if he could not fall in love with the prince and he married another woman, he would die and become a sea foam. The Little Mermaid was very frightened but in spite of everything, accepted the deal.

The siren took the potion and woke up on the shore of the beach the next day. Her mermaid tail was gone, instead it had two legs. The prince found her and asked her who she was and how she got there, the siren tried to answer but remembered that she had delivered her voice to the witch. In spite of this she took her to her castle and let her stay there. Between the two emerged a beautiful friendship and each time spent more time together.

PLa The time came and the prince announced the next day his wedding to the daughter of the neighboring king. The poor mermaid was filled with sadness at his words, but nevertheless accompanied him in the celebration of his nuptials and celebrated his happiness as the rest of the guests. But he knew that this would be his last night, for as the witch had warned him, it would become sea foam at dawn. At dawn, as she stared sadly at the horizon, her sisters appeared with a knife in their hands. It was a magic knife that had been given to them by the witch in exchange for her hair and with which if she succeeded in killing the prince she could become a mermaid again.

The little mermaid came sneaking up to the prince, who was sleeping and raised the knife ... but he realized that he was incapable of killing him, even though this was his only chance to stay alive.

So he threw himself into the sea, and as he turned to foam, he met spiritual creatures: the daughters of the air.

- You still have a chance to get an immortal soul. You will have to spend three hundred years doing good as we do, and then you can fly to heaven.

As he listened to them he saw the prince looking for her on the ship, and in the distance he stared at him as a tear, the first of his whole life, began to flow down his cheek.

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1. Original name in Danish from the story.
2. Year it was published
3. What number of the Andersen collection represents.