The Little Mermaid
As the days passed,she loved the prince more fondly,and he loved her as he would love a little child,but it never came into his head to make her his wife;yet,unless he married her,she could not receive an immortal soul;and ,on the morning after his marriage with another,she would dissolve into the foam of the sea.
"Do you not love me the best of them all?"the eyes of the little mermaid seemed to say,when he took her in his arms, and kissed her fair forehead.
"Yes ,you are dear to me,"said the prince;"for you have the best heart,and you are the most devoted to me;you are like a young maiden whom i once saw,but whom i shall never meet again.I was in a ship that was wrecked,and the wave cast me ashore near a holy temple.where several young maidens performed the service.The youngest of them found me on the shore,and saved my life.I saw her but twice,and she is the only one in the world whom i could love."
When it grew dark a number of colored lamps were lit, and the sailors danced merrily on the deck.The little mermaid could not help thinking of her first rising out of the sea,when she had seen similar festivities and joys;and she joined in the dance,poised herself in the air as a swallow when he pursues his prey,and all present cheered her with wonder.She had never danced so elegantly before.Her tender feet felt as if cut with sharp knives,but she cared not for it;a sharper pang had pierred through her heart.She knew this was the last evening she would ever see the prince,for whom she had forsaken her kindred and her home;she had given up her beautiful voice,and suffered unheard-of pain daily for him,while he knew nothing of it.This was the last evening that she would breathe the same air with him,or gaze on the starry sky and the deep sea;an eternal night,without a thought or a dream, awaited her:she had no soul and now she could never win one.
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