the little mermaid lives in a utopian underwater kingdom with her father the sea king;her grandmother;and her five elder s**ters,born one year apart.when a mermaid turns 15,she ** allowed to swim to the surface to watch the world above,and as the s**ters become old enough,one of them v**its the surface every year.as each of them returns,the little mermaid l**tens longingly to their descriptions of the surface and of human beings.
s**ing the prince,an illustration by edmund dulac
when the little mermaid's turn comes,she ventures to the surface,sees a ship with a handsome prince,and falls in love with him from a d**tance.a great storm hits,and the little mermaid s**es the prince from a near-drowning.she delivers him unconscious to the shore near a temple.here she waits until a young girl from the temple finds him.the prince never sees the little mermaid.
the little mermaid asks her grandmother whether humans can live forever if they do not drown.the grandmother explains that humans h**e a much shorter lifespan than merfolk's 300 years,but that when mermaids die they turn to sea foam and cease to ex**t,while humans h**e an eternal soul that lives on in he**en.the little mermaid,longing for the prince and an eternal soul,eventually v**its the sea witch,who sells her a potion that gives her legs,in exchange for her tongue(as the little mermaid has the most intoxicating voice in the world).drinking the potion will make her feel as if a sword ** being passed through her,yet when she recovers she will h**e two beautiful legs,and will be able to dance like no human has ever danced before.however,it will constantly feel like she ** walking on sharp swords,and her feet will bleed most terribly.in addition,she will only get a soul if the prince loves her and marries her,for then a part of h** soul will flow into her.otherw**e,at dawn on the first day after he marries another woman,the little mermaid will die brokenhearted and d**integrate into sea foam.
the little mermaid drinks the potion and meets the prince,who ** attracted to her beauty and grace even though she ** mute.most of all he likes to see her dance,and she dances for him despite her excruciating pain.when the prince's father orders h** son to marry the nei**oring king's daughter,the prince tells the little mermaid he will not,because he does not love the princess.he goes on to say he can only love the young woman from the temple,but adds that the little mermaid ** beginning to take the temple girl's place in h** heart.it turns out that the princess ** the temple girl,who had been sent to the temple to be educated.the prince loves her and the wedding ** announced.
the prince and princess marry,and the little mermaid's heart breaks.she thinks of all that she has given up and of all the pain she has suffered.she despairs,thinking of the death that awaits her,but before dawn,her s**ters bring her a knife that the sea witch has given them in exchange for their long hair.if the little mermaid slays the prince with the knife and lets h** blood drip on her feet,she will become a mermaid again,all her suffering will end and she will live out her full life.
the little mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with h** bride and,as dawn breaks,throws herself into the sea.her body d**solves into foam,but instead of ceasing to ex**t,she feels the warmth of the sun;she has turned into a spirit,a daughter of the air.the other daughters of the air tell her she has become like them because she strove with all her heart to gain an eternal soul.she will earn her own soul by doing good deeds,and she will eventually r**e up into the kingdom of god.