有声英语儿童童话故事 海的女儿 第39章

All was joy and gaiety on theship until long after midnight. She smiled and danced with the rest, while thethought of death was in her heart. The prince kissed his beautiful bride andshe played with his raven hair till they went arm in arm to rest in thesumptuous tent. Then all became still on board the ship, and only the pilot,who stood at the helm, was awake. The little mermaid leaned her white arms onthe edge of the vessel and looked towards the east for the first blush ofmorning—for that first ray of the dawn which was to be her death. She saw hersisters rising out of the flood. They were as pale as she, but their beautifulhair no longer waved in the wind; it had been cut off.

“We have given ourhair to the witch,” said they, “to obtain help for you, that you may not dieto-night. She has given us a knife; see, it is very sharp. Before the sun risesyou must plunge it into the heart of the prince. When the warm blood falls uponyour feet they will grow together again into a fish’s tail, and you will oncemore be a mermaid and can return to us to live out your three hundred yearsbefore you are changed into the salt sea foam. Haste, then; either he or youmust die before sunrise. Our old grandmother mourns so for you that her whitehair is falling, as ours fell under the witch’s scissors. Kill the prince, andcome back. Hasten! Do you not see the first red streaks in the sky? In a fewminutes the sun will rise, and you must die.”