有声英语儿童童话故事 海的女儿 第38章

When it grew dark, a number ofcolored lamps were lighted and the sailors danced merrily on the deck. Thelittle mermaid could not help thinking of her first rising out of the sea, whenshe had seen similar joyful festivities, so she too joined in the dance, poisedherself in the air as a swallow when he pursues his prey, and all presentcheered her wonderingly. She had never danced so gracefully before. Her tenderfeet felt as if cut with sharp knives, but she cared not for the pain; asharper pang had pierced her heart.

She knew this was the lastevening she should ever see the prince for whom she had forsaken her kindredand her home. She had given up her beautiful voice and suffered unheard-of paindaily for him, while he knew nothing of it. This was the last evening that sheshould breathe the same air with him or gaze on the starry sky and the deepsea. An eternal night, without a thought or a dream, awaited her. She had nosoul, and now could never win one.

有声英语儿童童话故事 海的女儿 第37章

All the church bells rang, andthe heralds rode through the town proclaiming the betrothal. Perfumed oil wasburned in costly silver lamps on every altar. The priests waved the censers,while the bride and the bridegroom joined their hands and received the blessingof the  /ˈbɪʃəp/. The little mermaid, dressed in silk and gold, held up thebride’s train; but her ears heard nothing of the festive music, and her eyessaw not the holy ceremony. She thought of the night of death which was comingto her, and of all she had lost in the world.

On the same evening the bride andbridegroom went on board the ship. Cannons were roaring, flags waving, and inthe center of the ship a costly tent of purple and gold had been erected. Itcontained elegant sleeping couches for the bridal pair during the night. Theship, under a favorable wind, with swelling sails, glided away smoothly andlightly over the calm sea.

有声英语儿童童话故事 海的女儿 第36章

At last she came. Then the littlemermaid, who was anxious to see whether she was really beautiful, was obligedto admit that she had never seen a more perfect vision of beauty. Her skin wasdelicately fair, and beneath her long, dark eyelashes her laughing blue eyesshone with truth and purity.

“It was you,” said the prince,“who saved my life when I lay as if dead on the beach,” and he folded his blushingbride in his arms.

“Oh, I am too happy!” said he tothe little mermaid; “my fondest hopes are now fulfilled. You will rejoice at myhappiness, for your devotion to me is great and sincere.”

有声英语儿童童话故事 海的女儿 第35章

In the moonlight night, when allon board were asleep except the man at the helm, she sat on deck, gazing downthrough the clear water. She thought she could distinguish her father’s castle,and upon it her aged grandmother, with the silver crown on her head, lookingthrough the rushing tide at the keel of the vessel. Then her sisters came up onthe waves and gazed at her mournfully, wringing their white hands. She beckonedto them, and smiled, and wanted to tell them how happy and well off she was.But the cabin boy approached, and when her sisters dived down, he thought whathe saw was only the foam of the sea.

有声英语儿童童话故事 海的女儿 第33章

 “Yes, you are dear to me,” said the prince, “for you have the bestheart and you are the most devoted to me. You are like a young maiden whom Ionce 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 maidensperformed the service. The youngest of them found me on the shore and saved mylife. I saw her but twice, and she is the only one in the world whom I couldlove. But you are like her, and you have almost driven her image from my mind.She belongs to the holy temple, and good fortune has sent you to me in herstead. We will never part.

“Ah, he knows not that it was Iwho saved his life,” thought the little mermaid. “I carried him over the sea tothe wood where the temple stands; I sat beneath the foam and watched till thehuman beings came to help him. I saw the pretty maiden that he loves betterthan he loves me.” The mermaid sighed deeply, but she could not weep. “He saysthe maiden belongs to the holy temple, therefore she will never return to theworld—they will meet no more. I am by his side and see him every day. I willtake care of him, and love him, and give up all my life for his sake.”

有声英语儿童童话故事 海的女儿 第32章

Once during the night her sisterscame up arm in arm, singing sorrowfully as they floated on the water. Shebeckoned to them, and they recognized her and told her how she had grievedthem; after that, they came to the same place every night. Once she saw in thedistance her old grandmother, who had not been to the surface of the sea formany years, and the old Sea King, her father, with his crown on his head. Theystretched out their hands towards her, but did not venture so near the land asher sisters had.

As the days passed she loved theprince more dearly, and he loved her as one would love a little child. Thethought never came to him to make her his wife. Yet unless he married her, shecould not receive an immortal soul, and on the morning after his marriage withanother, she would dissolve into the foam of the sea.

有声英语儿童童话故事 海的女儿 第31章

The prince said she should remain with him always, and she was given permission to sleep at his door, on a velvet cushion. He had a page’s dress made for her, that she might accompany him on horseback. They rode together through the sweet-scented woods, where the green boughs touched their shoulders, and the little birds sang /əˈmʌŋ/ the fresh leaves. She climbed with him to the tops of high mountains, and although her tender feet bled so that even her steps were marked, she only smiled, and followed him till they could see the clouds beneath them like a flock of birds flying to distant lands. While at the prince’s palace, and when all the household were asleep, she would go and sit on the broad marble steps, for it eased her burning feet to bathe them in the cold sea water. It was then that she thought of all those below in the deep.

有声英语儿童童话故事 海的女儿 第30章

Beautiful female slaves, dressedin silk and gold, stepped forward and sang before the prince and his royalparents. One sang better than all the others, and the prince clapped his handsand smiled at her. This was a great sorrow to the little mermaid, for she knewhow much more sweetly she herself once could sing, and she thought, “Oh, if hecould only know that I have given away my voice forever, to be with him!”

有声英语儿童童话故事 海的女儿 第29章

He fixed his coal-black eyes uponher so earnestly that she cast down her own and then became aware that herfish’s tail was gone and that she had as pretty a pair of white legs and tinyfeet as any little maiden could have. But she had no clothes, so she wrappedherself in her long, thick hair. The prince asked her who she was and whenceshe came. She looked at him mildly and sorrowfully with her deep blue eyes, butcould not speak. He took her by the hand and led her to the palace.

Every step she took was as thewitch had said it would be; she felt as if she were treading upon the points ofneedles or sharp knives. She bore it willingly, however, and moved at theprince’s side as lightly as a bubble, so that he and all who saw her wonderedat her graceful, swaying movements. She was very soon arrayed in costly robesof silk and muslin and was the most beautiful creature in the palace; but shewas dumb and could neither speak nor sing.