THE LITTLE MERMAID
小小美人鱼
FAR out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water above.
大海的远处，海水就像最美丽的矢车菊花那么碧蓝，像水晶那么澄澈。大海很深，很深，什么样的锚链也沉不到底。如果要从海底达海面，非得用许许多多教堂的尖塔一个接一个地连结起来不可。
There dwell the Sea King and his subjects.
那里住着海国国王和他的臣民。
We must not imagine that there is nothing at the bottom of the sea but bare yellow sand. No, indeed; the most singular flowers and plants grow there; the leaves and stems of which are so pliant, that the slightest agitation of the water causes them to stir as if they had life. Fishes, both large and small, glide between the branches, as birds fly among the trees here upon land. In the deepest spot of all, stands the castle of the Sea King. Its walls are built of coral, and the long, gothic windows are of the clearest amber. The roof is formed of shells, that open and close as the water flows over them. Their appearance is very beautiful, for in each lies a glittering pearl, which would be fit for the diadem of a queen.
人们千万不要以为海底只是一片光秃秃的黄沙滩。不是的，那儿生长着最奇异的花朵和植物。它们的枝干和叶子是那么柔软，即使最轻微的水流动一下，它们就摇动起来，好像它们有生命似的。所有的大小鱼儿在这些枝子中间游来游去，像是陆地上林间的飞鸟。海里最深的地方是海王的宫殿。它的墙是用珊瑚砌成的，它那些长长的哥特式窗子是用最亮的琥珀做成的。屋顶上铺着蚌壳，它们随着水的流动可以自动地开合。外表非常好看，因为每一颗蚌壳里面都含有亮晶晶的珍珠，适用于王后的皇冠。
The Sea King had been a widower for many years, and his aged mother kept house for him. She was a very wise woman, and exceedingly proud of her high birth; on that account she wore twelve oysters on her tail; while others, also of high rank, were only allowed to wear six. She was, however, deserving of very great praise, especially for her care of the little sea-princesses, her granddaughters. They were six beautiful children; but the youngest was the prettiest of them all; her skin was as clear and delicate as a roseleaf, and her eyes as blue as the deepest sea; but, like all the others, she had no feet, and her body ended in a fish's tail.
那里的海国国王已经鳏居多年了，不过他的老母亲替他管家。她是一位聪明的妇人，可是很为自己的高贵出身而骄傲，因此尾巴上嵌着十二只蚝；其他的贵人只能有六只。除此之外，她是很值得夸奖的，特别是她十分地疼爱那些小海国公主，她的孙女们。她们是六个秀丽的孩子，而最小的那个是她们当中最漂亮的；她的皮肤光滑娇嫩得像一片玫瑰花瓣，她的眼睛蓝得像最深的海水；只是和其他的公主一样，她没有脚，身躯的最后一截是鱼的尾巴。
All day long they played in the great halls of the castle, or among the living flowers that grew out of the walls. The large amber windows were open, and the fish swam in, just as the swallows fly into our houses when we open the windows, excepting that the fishes swam up to the princesses, ate out of their hands, and allowed themselves to be stroked.
她们整天在宫殿的大厅里消磨时光，或者在长出宫墙的鲜艳花朵间玩耍，琥珀做的大窗户敞开着，鱼儿游进来，如同我们打开窗户燕子飞进屋子里来一样，不同的是鱼儿可以径直游到小公主的跟前，吃她们手里的东西，任凭她们抚爱。
Outside the castle there was a beautiful garden, in which grew bright red and dark blue flowers, and blossoms like flames of fire; the fruit glittered like gold, and the leaves and stems waved to and fro continually. The earth itself was the finest sand, but blue as the flame of burning sulphur. Over everything lay a peculiar blue radiance, as if it were surrounded by the air from above, through which the blue sky shone, instead of the dark depths of the sea. In calm weather the sun could be seen, looking like a purple flower, with the light streaming from the calyx.
宫殿外面有一个美丽的花园，里边生长着许多火红的深蓝色的花朵，像火焰般地盛开着；树上的果子摇得像黄金，花枝和叶子在不停地摆动。地上全是最细的沙子，但是蓝得像燃烧的硫磺发出的光焰。所有东西都闪着一种奇异的、蓝色的光彩，仿佛是处在蓝色的天空中而不是在海底。当天气沉静的时候，可以瞥见太阳，它像一朵紫色的花，从它的花萼里射出亮光。
Each of the young princesses had a little plot of ground in the garden, where she might dig and plant as she pleased. One arranged her flower-bed into the form of a whale; another thought it better to make hers like the figure of a little mermaid; but that of the youngest was round like the sun, and contained flowers as red as his rays at sunset. She was a strange child, quiet and thoughtful; and while her sisters would be delighted with the wonderful things which they obtained from the wrecks of vessels, she cared for nothing but her pretty red flowers, like the sun, excepting a beautiful marble statue. It was the representation of a handsome boy, carved out of pure white stone, which had fallen to the bottom of the sea from a wreck.
每位小公主在花园里都有一小块地，可以按照自己的愿望栽种。有一位公主把她的花园布置成鲸的形状；另一位觉得自己更喜欢把花园布置成一条小人鱼；可是最年轻的那位公主把她的花园布置成圆形，像太阳一样，种的全是太阳落山时那种赤红颜色的花。她是一个很奇特的孩子，安静、喜欢冥想，她的众位姐姐非常喜欢她们从沉船里得到的各种各样奇异的东西，而她呢，除了漂亮的红色花儿之外，只要了一尊精美的大理石雕像。这块石像雕的是一个美少年，石头洁白无瑕，是随着一条沉船而落到了海底。
She planted by the statue a rose-colored weeping willow. It grew splendidly, and very soon hung its fresh branches over the statue, almost down to the blue sands. The shadow had a violet tint, and waved to and fro like the branches; it seemed as if the crown of the tree and the root were at play, and trying to kiss each other. Nothing gave her so much pleasure as to hear about the world above the sea. She made her old grandmother tell her all she knew of the ships and the towns, the people and the animals. To her it seemed most wonderful and beautiful to hear that the flowers of the land should have fragrance, and not those below the sea; that the trees of the forest should be green; and that the fishes among the trees could sing so sweetly, that it was quite a pleasure to hear them. Her grandmother called the little birds fishes, or she would not have understood her; for she had never seen birds.
她在雕像旁边种植了粉红色的垂柳，树儿长得茂盛，鲜嫩的枝叶从石像上几乎垂延到蓝色的沙底。紫蓝色的荫影随着枝叶一道舞动；仿佛枝冠和树根在一起游戏，互相要亲吻的样子。她最大的快乐，莫过于听讲上面人类世界的事了。她让老祖母给她讲她所知道的一切：船、城市、人和动物。令她听了觉得最奇妙的是，在地面上，花儿会散出香味，海底的花儿却没有香味；森林里的树是绿的；树枝间可以看到的那种鱼儿会甜美地唱着歌儿，令人十分开心。老祖母说的鱼就是那些小鸟，不这样说她就听不懂，因为她们没有见过鸟。
"When you have reached your fifteenth year," said the grandmother, "you will have permission to rise up out of the sea, to sit on the rocks in the moonlight, while the great ships are sailing by; and then you will see both forests and towns."
“等你满了十五岁的时候，”老祖母说，“我就准许你浮到海面上去，坐在月光底下的石头上面，看巨大的船只在你身边驶过去；你也可以看到树林和城市。”
In the following year, one of the sisters would be fifteen: but as each was a year younger than the other, the youngest would have to wait five years before her turn came to rise up from the bottom of the ocean, and see the earth as we do. However, each promised to tell the others what she saw on her first visit, and what she thought the most beautiful; for their grandmother could not tell them enough; there were so many things on which they wanted information. None of them longed so much for her turn to come as the youngest, she who had the longest time to wait, and who was so quiet and thoughtful.
在这快要到来的一年，这些姐妹中有一位到了十五岁。可是其余的一个比一个小一岁。因此最年幼的那位公主还要等五个年头才能够从海底浮上来，来看看我们这个世界是什么样儿。但是，每位公主都保证：要把第一天看到的、她认为是最美的东西告诉众姐妹；因为老祖母告诉她们的实在太少太少，而她们渴望知道的却太多太多。众姐妹中，最年幼的公主心情最迫切，偏偏她要等的时间最长，而她又是那么沉默寡言，心事重重。
Many nights she stood by the open window, looking up through the dark blue water and watching the fish as they splashed about with their fins and tails. She could see the moon and stars shining faintly; but through the water they looked larger than they do to our eyes.
有多少夜晚，她就站在敞开的窗户旁边，透过深蓝色的海水，仰望鱼儿们用鳍和尾溅着水。她可以看到月亮和星星，微弱地闪着，不过透过海水，它们看去要比我们用肉眼看去大得多。
When something like a black cloud passed between her and them, she knew that it was either a whale swimming over her head, or a ship full of human beings, who never imagined that a pretty little mermaid was standing beneath them, holding out her white hands towards the keel of their ship.
要是有像乌云这样的东西在月下飘过，那么她就知道，如果不是一条大鲸从她头顶上游过，就是一艘载着许多人的船正在驶过去；船上的人绝对想不到，一条美丽的小人鱼会站在底下，把她白嫩的双手伸向船的龙骨呢。
As soon as the eldest was fifteen, she was allowed to rise to the surface of the ocean.
那位最大的公主已经到了十五岁，可以升到水面上去了。
When she came back, she had hundreds of things to talk about; but the most beautiful, she said, was to lie in the moonlight, on a sandbank, in the quiet sea, near the coast, and to gaze on a large town nearby, where the lights were twinkling like hundreds of stars; to listen to the sounds of the music, the noise of carriages, and the voices of human beings,and then to hear the merry bells peal out from the church steeples; and because she could not go near to all those wonderful things, she longed for them more than ever. Oh, did not the youngest sister listen eagerly to all these descriptions? and afterwards, when she stood at the open window looking up through the dark blue water, she thought of the great city, with all its bustle and noise, and even fancied she could hear the sound of the church bells, down in the depths of the sea.
当她回来的时候，她有无数的事情要讲；不过她说，最美的事情是当海上风平浪静的时候，在月光底下躺在一个沙洲上面，紧贴着海岸凝望着附近的大城市，那里的灯光亮得像无数星星似的，静听音乐、马车和人的声音，倾听从教堂尖塔，传来欢快的钟声。正因为她不能到好东西那儿去，所以她也就最渴望这些东西。哦，那位最小的妹妹听得多么全神贯注啊！后来她站在敞开的窗边，透过深蓝的海水仰望，一心想着那个喧闹不已的大城市，又想听到教堂里传来的钟声，尽管她此刻还待在深深的海底。
In another year the second sister received permission to rise to the surface of the water, and to swim about where she pleased. She rose just as the sun was setting, and this, she said, was the most beautiful sight of all. The whole sky looked like gold, while violet and rose-colored clouds, which she could not describe, floated over her; and, still more rapidly than the clouds, flew a large flock of wild swans towards the setting sun, looking like a long white veil across the sea. She also swam towards the sun; but it sunk into the waves, and the rosy tints faded from the clouds and from the sea.
第二年二姐得到许可浮到海水上去，想到哪里便游向哪里。她冒出水面的时候，正是太阳西落的那一霎那，她说那幅景色是最美丽的。整个天空看去就像是金的一样，而那她无法描绘的紫色和粉红色的云彩从她头上飘过，比云儿飞得更快的是一群朝落日飞去的野天鹅，掠过海面，像一条长长的白练。她也朝着太阳游去，可是太阳沉入水下去了，粉红色的晚霞在海面、在云朵上消逝了。
The third sister's turn followed; she was the boldest of them all, and she swam up a broad river that emptied itself into the sea. On the banks she saw green hills covered withbeautiful vines; palaces and castles peeped out from amid the proud trees of the forest; she heard the birds singing, and the rays of the sun were so powerful that she was obliged often to dive down under the water to cool her burning face. In a narrow creek she found a whole troop of little human children, quite naked, and sporting about in the water; she wanted to play with them, but they fled in a great fright; and then a little black animal came to the water; it was a dog, but she did not know that, for she had never seen one. This animal barked at her so terribly that she became frightened, and rushed back to the open sea. But she said she should never forget the beautiful forest, the green hills, and the pretty little children who could swim in the water, although they had not fish's tails.
接下来是三姐了。她是她们中最大胆的一位，因此她游向一条流进海里的大河里去了。她看到岸上的一些青山，上面种满了美丽的葡萄；宫殿和田庄在茂密的树林中隐隐地露出来；她听到各种鸟儿在歌唱，太阳光线那么强烈，她有时不得不沉入水里，好使水冰凉一下她灼热的面孔。在一个小河湾里她碰到一群人间的小孩子，他们光着身子，在水里游来游去；她倒很想跟他们一起玩耍，反倒把他们吓跑了。一个黑色的小动物跑进水里，这是一条狗，可是她不知道是什么，因为她从未见过狗。这个动物对她汪汪狂叫，她害怕了，只好重归大海。不过，她又说她怎么也忘不了那茂密的森林，青翠的山峦，还有那些可爱的小家伙，他们没有如鱼那样的尾巴，却能在水中游泳。
The fourth sister was more timid; she remained in the midst of the sea, but she said it was quite as beautiful there as nearer the land. She could see for so many miles around her, and the sky above looked like a bell of glass. She had seen the ships, but at such a great distance that they looked like sea-gulls. The dolphins sported in the waves, and the great whales spouted water from their nostrils till it seemed as if a hundred fountains were playing in every direction.
第四位姐姐有些胆小，她只游到了大海的中央，但是她说，那儿如近陆一样美丽。她可以看到四周许多英里以外的东西，上面的天就像是一口玻璃钟。她看到了船，但是很远，看上去就像一只只的海鸥，海豚在水里游动，巨大的鲸从它们的鼻孔喷出水来，看去就像周围有一百口喷泉一般。
The fifth sister's birthday occurred in the winter; so when her turn came, she saw what the others had not seen the first time they went up. The sea looked quite green, and large icebergs were floating about, each like a pearl, she said, but larger and loftier than the churches built by men. They were of the most singular shapes, and glittered like diamonds. She had seated herself upon one of the largest, and let the wind play with her long hair, and she remarked that all the ships sailed by rapidly, and steered as far away as they could from the iceberg, as if they were afraid of it. Towards evening, as the sun went down, dark clouds covered the sky, the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed, and the red light glowed on the icebergs as they rocked and tossed on the heaving sea. On all the ships the sails were reefed with fear and trembling, while she sat calmly on the floating iceberg, watching the blue lightning, as it darted its forked flashes into the sea.
五姐姐的生日恰恰是在冬天，所以当她出来时她能看到其他的姐姐们在第一次浮出海面时所没有看到过的东西。海看上去很绿，巨大的冰山在四周移动。她说每一座冰山就像一颗珠子，然而却比人类所建造的教堂还要大得多。它们以种种奇奇怪怪的形状出现，像钻石似的射出光彩。她曾经在一座最大的冰山上坐过，让海风吹着她的长发，她说所有的船只飞驶而过，远远避开冰山，似乎很害怕。不过在黄昏的时分，天空浓云密布，雷电交加，冰山在起伏的海面上摇荡，在火红的雷电中闪闪发光。航船全都恐慌地收起了风帆，不过，她坐在漂浮的冰山上，镇定自若，一面观看弯弯曲曲的蓝色闪电直射着大海。
When first the sisters had permission to rise to the surface, they were each delighted with the new and beautiful sights they saw; but now, as grown-up girls, they could go when they pleased, and they had become indifferent about it. They wished themselves back again in the water, and after a month had passed they said it was much more beautiful down below, and pleasanter to be at home.
姐妹们第一次被许可露出水面的时候，对自己所看到的新鲜和美丽的东西都非常高兴；但是现在，她们都是大姑娘了，可以随意游到水面上去了，她们也就觉得漠不关心了。她们又想回到水下去，过了一个月，她们又说，还是下面最漂亮，在家里最好不过了。
Yet often, in the evening hours, the five sisters would twine their arms round each other, and rise to the surface, in a row. They had more beautiful voices than any human being could have; and before the approach of a storm, and when they expected a ship would be lost, they swam before the vessel, and sang sweetly of the delights to be found in the depths of the sea, and begging the sailors not to fear if they sank to the bottom. But the sailors could not understand the song, they took it for the howling of the storm. And these things were never to be beautiful for them; for if the ship sank, the men were drowned, and their dead bodies alone reached the palace of the Sea King.
在黄昏的时候，这五个姐妹常常手挽着手地浮上来，在水面上排成一行。她们拥有比人类的任何声音都要动听的嗓音。当风暴快要到来，她们料想有些船只快要出事的时候，她们就游到这些船的面前，唱起非常美丽的歌来，说是海底下是多么可爱，同时请求这些水手不要害怕沉到海底；然而这些人却听不懂这些歌词，他们以为这是暴风的声息。这些东西对他们来说一点也不美好，因为如果船沉了的话，上面的人也就淹死了，他们的死尸才能到达海王的宫殿。
When the sisters rose, arm-in-arm, through the water in this way, their youngest sister would stand quite alone, looking after them, ready to cry, only that the mermaids have no tears, and therefore they suffer more. "Oh, were I but fifteen years old," said she: "I know that I shall love the world up there, and all the people who live in it."
一天傍晚，众姐妹这么手挽手往海面上游动，最小的那位妹妹孤单单地站着看着她们。她恨不得大哭一场，可是，人鱼没有眼泪可流，因此她更加感到难受。“唉，我要是到了十五岁就好了，”她说：“我定会喜欢海上面的那个世界，喜欢那个世界里居住的人们。”
At last she reached her fifteenth year.
她终于到十五岁了。
"Well, now, you are grown up," said the old dowager, her grandmother; "so we must let me adorn you like your other sisters;" and she placed a wreath of white lilies in her hair, and every flower leaf was half a pearl. Then the old lady ordered eight great oysters to attach themselves to the tail of the princess to show her high rank.
“瞧，现在你长大啦。”她的祖母，老王后说道；“让我给你打扮打扮，就像给你几个姐姐那样；”于是她在她的发上戴上一个白色百合花的花环，但是花上的每片花瓣都是半粒珍珠。老祖母把八只蚝嵌在公主的尾上，以显示她的高贵身份。
"But they hurt me so," said the little mermaid.
“好疼啊，”小人鱼说道。
"Pride must suffer pain," replied the old lady. Oh, how gladly she would have shaken off all this grandeur, and laid aside the heavy wreath! The red flowers in her own garden would have suited her much better, but she could not help herself: so she said, "Farewell," and rose as lightly as a bubble to the surface of the water.
“为了漂亮是应该吃点苦头的，”老祖母说。哎，她倒真想能摆脱这些装饰品，把这沉重的花环扔向一边!她花园里的那些红花要适合得多，但是她不敢这样办，于是她说，“再会吧，”轻盈得像一个水泡，冒出水面了。
The sun had just set as she raised her head above the waves; but the clouds were tinted with crimson and gold, and through the glimmering twilight beamed the evening star in all its beauty. The sea was calm, and the air mild and fresh. A large ship, with three masts, lay becalmed on the water, with only one sail set; for not a breeze stiffed, and the sailors sat idle on deck or amongst the rigging. There was music and song on board; and, as darkness came on, a hundred colored lanterns were lighted, as if the flags of all nations waved in the air. The little mermaid swam close to the cabin windows; and now and then, as the waves lifted her up, she could look in through clear glass window-panes, and see a number of well-dressed people within. Among them was a young prince, the most beautiful of all, with large black eyes; he was sixteen years of age, and his birthday was being kept with much rejoicing. The sailors were dancing on deck, but when the prince came out of the cabin, more than a hundred rockets rose in the air, making it as bright as day. The little mermaid was so startled that she dived under water; and when she again stretched out her head, it appeared as if all the stars of heaven were falling around her, she had never seen such fireworks before. Great suns spurted fire about, splendid fireflies flew into the blue air, and everything was reflected in the clear, calm sea beneath. The ship itself was so brightly illuminated that all the people, and even the smallest rope, could be distinctly and plainly seen. And how handsome the young prince looked, as he pressed the hands of all present and smiled at them, while the music resounded through the clear night air.
她的头刚刚升出海面，太阳正好下山。不过，云彩是深红色和金黄色的，黄昏的天空中，晚间的星星已经闪烁着美丽的光芒。大海风平浪静，空气新鲜宜人。有一艘带三根大桅杆大船，静静泊在水面上，只挂了一张风帆；因为纹风不动，甲板上和帆索上坐满了悠闲的水手。那里有音乐声，有歌声，天色越来越暗，数百盏彩灯大放光明，仿佛各国国旗在空中飘荡。小人鱼一直游到了舷窗前，每当海水把她托起来的时候，她都可以透过那洁净的玻璃窗子向里面望去，看到里面有许多打扮得很漂亮的人。最漂亮的却是一位年轻的王子，他长着一双黑眼睛；他只有十六岁，因为是他的生日才有这样的欢庆。水手们在甲板上跳舞，王子从船舱走出来的时候，燃放了数不清的焰火，把天照得如同白昼一般。小人鱼吓坏了，赶忙钻到海水里；但是当她又把头伸出来时，她觉得好像满天的星星都在向她落下，她从来没有看到过这样的焰火。许多巨大的太阳在周围喷出火光，光耀夺目的萤火虫在向蓝色的空中飞翔。这一切都映到这清明的、平静的海上。这船全身都被照得那么亮，连每根很小的绳子都可以清晰地看得出来，那位年轻的王子看上去多漂亮啊，在这灯火辉煌的夜晚，在阵阵乐曲声中，他同人们在握手，微笑。
It was very late; yet the little mermaid could not take her eyes from the ship, or from the beautiful prince. The colored lanterns had been extinguished, no more rockets rose in the air, and the cannon had ceased firing; but the sea became restless, and a moaning, grumbling sound could be heard beneath the waves: still the little mermaid remained by the cabin window, rocking up and down on the water, which enabled her to look in. After a while, the sails were quickly unfurled, and the noble ship continued her passage; but soon the waves rose higher, heavy clouds darkened the sky, and lightning appeared in the distance. A dreadful storm was approaching; once more the sails were reefed, and the great ship pursued her flying course over the raging sea. The waves rose mountains high, as if they would have overtopped the mast; but the ship dived like a swan between them, and then rose again on their lofty, foaming crests. To the little mermaid this appeared pleasant sport; not so to the sailors. At length the ship groaned and creaked; the thick planks gave way under the lashing of the sea as it broke over the deck; the mainmast snapped asunder like a reed; the ship lay over on her side; and the water rushed in. The little mermaid now perceived that the crew were in danger; even she herself was obliged to be careful to avoid the beams and planks of the wreck which lay scattered on the water. At one moment it was so pitch dark that she could not see a single object, but a flash of lightning revealed the whole scene; she could see every one who had been on board excepting the prince; when the ship parted, she had seen him sink into deep waves, and she was glad, for she thought he would now be with her; and then she remembered that human beings could not live in the water, so that when he got down to her father's palace he would be quite dead. But he must not die. So she swam about among the beams and planks which strewed the surface of the sea, forgetting that they could crush her to pieces. Then she dived deeply under the dark waters, rising and falling with the waves, till at length she managed to reach the young prince, who was fast losing the power of swimming in that stormy sea. His limbs were failing him, his beautiful eyes were closed, and he would have died had not the little mermaid come to his assistance. She held his head above the water, and let the waves drift them where they would.
夜色深沉；可是小人鱼的目光忍不住还在盯着那艘船，盯着那位漂亮的王子。五光十色的灯已经熄灭，也不再有焰火射向天空，炮声已经停止；但是，海水不再沉静，海底深处传来嗡嗡喊贼的鸣声。小人鱼仍呆在舷窗旁边，在水中或浮或沉，以便能看清里面的情况。过了一会儿，船上很快扬起了一个又一个的风帆，轮船又向前航行。突然间，水波汹涌起来，大朵的云笼罩着天空，远处出现了闪电。一切可怕的风暴就要来临了；于是水手们又把帆都收下，大船在波涛汹涌的海里继续飞驶着。海浪来了，就像一座座大山一样高，仿佛要压向桅杆；船像只天鹅似地潜入水中，又升到高大的浪峰。小人鱼觉得这样的航行真有趣，但水手们都不这样以为。最终这艘船现在发出碎裂的声音，它粗厚的板壁被冲上甲板的浪涛打弯了；船桅像芦苇似的折断了。船开始倾斜，水冲了进来。这时小人鱼才知道他们遇到了危险。她也得当心避开漂流在水上的船梁和板壁。刹那间一片漆黑，她什么也看不见。不过当闪电亮起来的时候，又照亮了一切。她可以看出船上的每一个人，只是不见那位王子。当这艘船裂开时，她看到他向海的深处下沉。她变得非常高兴起来，因为现在他要和她在一起了，可是她又记起来，人是不能在海里生活的，而当他到她父亲的王宫里去时已经死了。但是他不能死。于是她从散落在海面上的船梁和板壁之间游过去，完全忘掉这些东西会把她击碎，她深深地潜到水里，随着波浪起伏，这样她终于游到了年轻王子的身旁，他几乎不能再在这波涛汹涌的海里继续游了，她的四肢无力，美丽的眼睛也闭了起来，要不是小人鱼赶了过来，她必定已经死了。她把他的头发捧出水面，任海波载着他们漂流。
In the morning the storm had ceased; but of the ship not a single fragment could be seen. The sun rose up red and glowing from the water, and its beams brought back the hue of health to the prince's cheeks; but his eyes remained closed. The mermaid kissed his high, smooth forehead, and stroked back his wet hair; he seemed to her like the marble statue in her little garden, and she kissed him again, and wished that he might live. Presently they came in sight of land; she saw lofty blue mountains, on which the white snow rested as if a flock of swans were lying upon them. Near the coast were beautiful green forests, and close by stood a large building, whether a church or a convent she could not tell. Orange and citron trees grew in the garden, and before the door stood lofty palms. The sea here formed a little bay, in which the water was quite still, but very deep; so she swam with the handsome prince to the beach, which was covered with fine, white sand, and there she laid him in the warm sunshine, taking care to raise his head higher than his body.
天明的时分，风暴已经过去了。那条船连一块碎片也不见了。鲜红的太阳升起来了，在水上光耀地照着。它在这位王子的脸上注入了健康的色泽；不过他的眼睛仍然是闭着的。小人鱼在他光滑的高额上吻了一下，把他透湿的长发理向脑后；她觉得他的样子很像她小花园里的那尊大理石像。她又重新吻了他一下，希望他能苏醒过来。现在，展现在她眼前的是一片陆地，她看到了蓝色的大山，山顶上的白雪仿佛是一群白色的天鹅在那儿栖息。海岸线一带是美丽的绿森林，附近有一幢大建筑物，究竟是教堂还是修道院，她也弄不清楚。花园里有桔树和香橼树，大门前矗立着高大的棕榈树。大海在这儿有一个小湾，湾里的水平静如镜，可是很深；她带着美丽的王子游到了沙滩上，上面铺着白色、精细的沙。她把他放在温暖的阳光下，特别留神地将他的头高搁过身体。
Then bells sounded in the large white building, and a number of young girls came into the garden. The little mermaid swam out farther from the shore and placed herself between some high rocks that rose out of the water; then she covered her head and neck with the foam of the sea so that her little face might not be seen, and watched to see what would become of the poor prince.
白色的大建筑里响起了钟声，许多年轻姑娘走进了花园。于是小人鱼游到远离海岸一点的地方，藏在几块从海水里伸出的高石块之间，把海水泡沫抹在自己的头上和脖子上，不让人看见她那小小的脸，然后，她注意着是谁来到那可怜的王子跟前。
She did not wait long before she saw a young girl approach the spot where he lay. She seemed frightened at first, but only for a moment; then she fetched a number of people, and the mermaid saw that the prince came to life again, and smiled upon those who stood round him. But to her he sent no smile; he knew not that she had saved him. This made her very unhappy, and when he was led away into the great building, she dived down sorrowfully into the water, and returned to her father's castle.
不一会儿，她看到一个年轻的女子走到他躺的地方。她起初似乎非常吃惊，不过时间不久，她找了许多人来，小人鱼看到王子渐渐地苏醒过来了，并且向站在周围的人发出微笑。可是他没有对她微笑；他一点也不知道救他的人就是她，她感到非常地难过。因此当他被抬进那幢高大的建筑物里去的时候，她悲伤地跳进海里，回到她父亲的宫殿里去。
She had always been silent and thoughtful, and now she was more so than ever. Her sisters asked her what she had seen during her first visit to the surface of the water; but she would tell them nothing. Many an evening and morning did she rise to the place where she had left the prince. She saw the fruits in the garden ripen till they were gathered, the snow on the tops of the mountains melt away; but she never saw the prince, and therefore she returned home, always more sorrowful than before. It was her only comfort to sit in her own little garden, and fling her arm round the beautiful marble statue which was like the prince; but she gave up tending her flowers, and they grew in wild confusion over the paths, twining their long leaves and stems round the branches of the trees, so that the whole place became dark and gloomy. At length she could bear it no longer, and told one of her sisters all about it. Then the others heard the secret, and very soon it became known to two mermaids whose intimate friend happened to know who the prince was. She had also seen the festival on board ship, and she told them where the prince came from, and where his palace stood.
她一向安静而又喜欢冥想，现在就更是如此。几个姐姐问她第一次浮出海面看到了些什么，她却一个字也不肯对她们讲。有多少个黄昏，多少个黎明，她都往她离开王子的地方游去。她看到，花园里的果子成熟了，被摘走了，山顶上的积雪也在融化；可她就是看不到王子。因此，她回家的时候，总是一次比一次更加伤心。她坐在小小的花园里，用自己的胳臂拥着那美丽的像王子的大理石雕塑成了她唯一的慰藉；她不再照管她的花了，花朵乱地长着，长到了小径上，花枝和长长的叶子缠到了树枝上，于是花园里昏暗了起来。最后她再也忍受不住了，告诉给一个姐姐，接着其余的人也就都知道了这个秘密。两个人鱼的知心朋友之中有一位知道那个王子是什么人。她也看到过那次在船上举行的庆典，她告诉她们这位王子是从什么地方来的，他的王国在什么地方。
"Come, little sister," said the other princesses; then they entwined their arms and rose up in a long row to the surface of the water, close by the spot where they knew the prince's palace stood.
“来吧，小妹妹，”别的公主们说。她们彼此手挽手，排成一长排升到海面，一直游到一块她们认为是王子的宫殿的地方。
It was built of bright yellow shining stone, with long flights of marble steps, one of which reached quite down to the sea. Splendid gilded cupolas rose over the roof, and between the pillars that surrounded the whole building stood life-like statues of marble. Through the clear crystal of the lofty windows could be seen noble rooms, with costly silk curtains and hangings of tapestry; while the walls were covered with beautiful paintings which were a pleasure to look at. In the centre of the largest saloon a fountain threw its sparkling jets high up into the glass cupola of the ceiling, through which the sun shone down upon the water and upon the beautiful plants growing round the basin of the fountain.
它是用一种明亮的黄色石块建成，石块还闪闪发光，一段长长的台阶用大理石砌成，有一个台阶还直接通向大海。宫殿顶上有华美的金色圆塔突兀伸起。宫殿四周有许多圆柱相绕，圆柱之间矗立着许多大理石雕像，一个个看上去栩栩如生。窗户高大，透过明洁的玻璃就能看到富丽堂皇的大厅，悬挂着珍贵的丝帘和挂毯；四方墙壁都装饰着美丽的画，看上去真是令人开心。在中心那间最大的厅里，安置了一座喷泉，水柱高高地喷起。一直喷到了圆形的天花板上，阳光透过这屋顶照射到了水上，照在生长在池里的美丽花草上。
Now that she knew where he lived, she spent many an evening and many a night on the water near the palace. She would swim much nearer the shore than any of the others ventured to do; indeed once she went quite up the narrow channel under the marble balcony, which threw a broad shadow on the water. Here she would sit and watch the young prince, who thought himself quite alone in the bright moonlight.
这下子她知道他住在哪里了，好多个黄昏夜晚她都来到这宫殿附近的水面上。她游得比其他敢游的姐姐还要近一些。是的，她有一次一直游进那大理石阳台下面的一条狭小的河流里去，阳台宽大的阴影倒映在水上。她在这儿坐着，瞧着那个年轻的王子，而这位王子却以为在明亮的月光中只有他一个人呢。
She saw him many times of an evening sailing in a pleasant boat, with music playing and flags waving. She peeped out from among the green rushes, and if the wind caught her long silvery-white veil, those who saw it believed it to be a swan, spreading out its wings. On many a night, too, when the fishermen, with their torches, were out at sea, she heard them relate so many good things about the doings of the young prince, that she was glad she had saved his life when he had been tossed about half-dead on the waves. And she remembered that his head had rested on her bosom, and how heartily she had kissed him; but he knew nothing of all this, and could not even dream of her.
有好多次，她看到他在音乐声中乘着那艘飘着许多旗帜的船愉快地航行。她从灌木丛中向外面偷望，当风吹起她银白色的长面纱时，如果有人看到的话，他们总以为这是一只天鹅在展开它的翅膀。无数个夜晚，当渔民们带着火把出海时，她听到他们讲王子做过的许多好事，她非常高兴当他在海浪上颠簸得半死时自己救了他的命。她想起了他的头靠在自己的胸脯上，她由衷地吻了他；但是他却一无所知，更不会梦到她。
She grew more and more fond of human beings, and wished more and more to be able to wander about with those whose world seemed to be so much larger than her own. They could fly over the sea in ships, and mount the high hills which were far above the clouds; and the lands they possessed, their woods and their fields, stretched far away beyond the reach of her sight. There was so much that she wished to know, and her sisters were unable to answer all her questions. Then she applied to her old grandmother, who knew all about the upper world, which she very rightly called the lands above the sea.
她越来越喜欢人类了，越来越盼望她能上岸到他们中间去，他们的世界在她看来比她的大得多。他们可以乘船掠过大海，爬到耸入云端的高山；他们的土地上面长着树林，田野延伸得那么远，直到她的眼睛看不见。她希望知道许多许多的东西，可是姐姐们又无法给她回答。因此她就去问老祖母，她对上面的那个世界，知道得很清楚，她非常正确地把它称为海外的陆地。
"If human beings are not drowned," asked the little mermaid, "can they live forever? do they never die as we do here in the sea?"
“要是人类不被水淹死，”小人鱼问，“他们可以永远活着吗？我们住在海里还有死的一天，难道他们就不会死吗？”
"Yes," replied the old lady, "they must also die, and their term of life is even shorter than ours. We sometimes live to three hundred years, but when we cease to exist here we only become the foam on the surface of the water, and we have not even a grave down here of those we love. We have not immortal souls, we shall never live again; but, like the green sea-weed, when once it has been cut off, we can never flourish more. Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, lives after the body has been turned to dust. It rises up through the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars. As we rise out of the water, and behold all the land of the earth, so do they rise to unknown and glorious regions which we shall never see."
“不，”老太太回答说，“他们也会死的，他们的生命甚至比我们还短。我们可以活到三百岁，不过一旦生命结束，我们就变成了水面上的泡沫，在我们热爱的这个地方连一个坟墓也没有。我们没有不朽的灵魂，也绝不会有再生；我们像那绿色的海草一样，只要一割断了，就再也无法茁壮生长。相反，人类有一个不朽的灵魂，即使身体化为尘土，它仍是活着的。它升向那些晴朗，纯净的天空，一直升向那些闪耀着的星星。正如我们升到水面、看到人间的世界一样，他们升向那些神秘的、华丽的、我们永远不会看见的地方。”
"Why have not we an immortal soul?" asked the little mermaid mournfully; "I would give gladly all the hundreds of years that I have to live, to be a human being only for one day, and to have the hope of knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the stars."
“我们怎么就没有不朽的灵魂呢？”小人鱼很伤感地问道；“我宁可放弃这可以活着的几百年的寿命，让自己变成一个人，哪怕一天也是好的，让我知道那星星之外华丽世界的幸福。”
"You must not think of that," said the old woman; "we feel ourselves to be much happier and much better off than human beings."
“你可不许这样想，”老太太回答说，“我们这儿的生活比上面的人类要好得多，也幸福得多。”
"So I shall die," said the little mermaid, "and as the foam of the sea I shall be driven about never again to hear the music of the waves, or to see the pretty flowers nor the red sun. Is there anything I can do to win an immortal soul?"
“就是说，我会死掉，”小人鱼说，“变成海上的泡沫，再听不见水波的音乐，看不见美妙的花朵和那鲜红的太阳。难道我真的没有法子赢得一个不朽的灵魂吗？”
"No," said the old woman, "unless a man were to love you so much that you were more to him than his father or mother; and if all his thoughts and all his love were fixed upon you, and the priest placed his right hand in yours, and he promised to be true to you here and hereafter, then his soul would glide into your body and you would obtain a share in the future happiness of mankind. He would give a soul to you and retain his own as well; but this can never happen. Your fish's tail, which amongst us is considered so beautiful, is thought on earth to be quite ugly; they do not know any better, and they think it necessary to have two stout props, which they call legs, in order to be handsome."
“没有，”老太太说，“只有当一个人非常爱你，把你当作比他父母还要亲的人的时候；只有当他把他全部的思想和爱情都放在你身上，并且当牧师把他的右手放在你的手里，他答应现在和将来永远对你忠诚的时候，他的灵魂才会转移到你的身上去，而你就会得到一份人类的快乐。他就会分给你一个灵魂，而同时他自己的灵魂又能保持不灭。但是这是从来不会发生的。我们在这儿海底所认为美丽的东西——你的那条鱼尾，在陆地上却被认为非常难看；他们不知道什么叫做美丑。他们认为一个人想要显得漂亮，必须生有两根他们叫做腿的笨拙的支柱。”
Then the little mermaid sighed, and looked sorrowfully at her fish's tail.
小人鱼叹了口气，忧伤地看着她的鱼尾巴。
"Let us be happy," said the old lady, "and dart and spring about during the three hundred years that we have to live, which is really quite long enough; after that we can rest ourselves all the better. This evening we are going to have a court ball."
“大家高兴些吧，”老太太说，“我们要活三百年，真够长的，我们就跳舞吧，欢腾吧；三百年以后，我们还能休息得更愉快。今天晚上，我们就举行宫廷舞会。”
It is one of those splendid sights which we can never see on earth. The walls and the ceiling of the large ball-room were of thick, but transparent crystal. May hundreds of colossal shells, some of a deep red, others of a grass green, stood on each side in rows, with blue fire in them, which lighted up the whole saloon, and shone through the walls, so that the sea was also illuminated. Innumerable fishes, great and small, swam past the crystal walls; on some of them the scales glowed with a purple brilliancy, and on others they shone like silver and gold. Through the halls flowed a broad stream, and in it danced the mermen and the mermaids to the music of their own sweet singing. No one on earth has such a lovely voice as theirs. The little mermaid sang more sweetly than them all. The whole court applauded her with hands and tails; and for a moment her heart felt quite gay, for she knew she had the loveliest voice of any on earth or in the sea. But she soon thought again of the world above her, for she could not forget the charming prince, nor her sorrow that she had not an immortal soul like his; therefore she crept away silently out of her father's palace, and while everything within was gladness and song, she sat in her own little garden sorrowful and alone. Then she heard the bugle sounding through the water, and thought—"He is certainly sailing above, he on whom my wishes depend, and in whose hands I should like to place the happiness of my life. I will venture all for him, and to win an immortal soul, while my sisters are dancing in my father's palace, I will go to the sea witch, of whom I have always been so much afraid, but she can give me counsel and help."
那个场面十分壮观，这情景我们在陆地上不可能看到的。宽敞的大厅里，墙壁和天花板都是由厚厚的却极透明的玻璃建成的。好几百个巨型蚌，有的是深红色的，有的是草绿的，排成队站在两边拿着蓝色火把，把整个大厅照得通亮，亮光穿出了墙，所以外边的海也是亮的。无数大大小小的鱼，都朝着玻璃墙游了过来；有的鱼身上的鳞散发着紫色的光，另外一些鱼身上的光好似是银白金黄的。一股宽大的激流穿过大厅，海里的男人和女人，唱着美丽的歌，就在这激流中跳舞。这样优美的歌声，住在陆地上的人们是唱不出来的。在这些人中间，小人鱼唱得最好。大家用手和尾巴为她鼓掌。她心中有好一会儿感到非常快乐，因为她知道，在陆地上和海里只有她的声音最美。不过她马上又想起上面的那个世界，她忘记不了那位漂亮的王子，忘不了自己心中的忧愁，因为她不能像他那样有个不朽的灵魂。因此，她悄悄地游出了父亲的宫殿。正当所有的人狂欢狂舞时，她却很伤心地独自待在自己的小花园里。就在这时，她听到水中传来号角的鸣声，她思忖着——“毫无疑问，是他在海上航行。她是我终身所系，我愿意把一生的幸福托付在他的手中。我要不惜一切来赢得他和一颗不朽的灵魂。我的姐姐正在我父亲的宫殿里面跳舞，我却要到海底女巫那里去。我一直是害怕她的，不过她能出点主意给我些帮助。”
And then the little mermaid went out from her garden, and took the road to the foaming whirlpools, behind which the sorceress lived. She had never been that way before: neither flowers nor grass grew there; nothing but bare, gray, sandy ground stretched out to the whirlpool, where the water, like foaming mill-wheels, whirled round everything that it seized, and cast it into the fathomless deep. Through the midst of these crushing whirlpools the little mermaid was obliged to pass, to reach the dominions of the sea witch; and also for a long distance the only road lay right across a quantity of warm, bubbling mire, called by the witch her turfmoor. Beyond this stood her house, in the centre of a strange forest, in which all the trees and flowers were polypi, half animals and half plants; they looked like serpents with a hundred heads growing out of the ground. The branches were long slimy arms, with fingers like flexible worms, moving limb after limb from the root to the top. All that could be reached in the sea they seized upon, and held fast, so that it never escaped from their clutches. The little mermaid was so alarmed at what she saw, that she stood still, and her heart beat with fear, and she was very nearly turning back; but she thought of the prince, and of the human soul for which she longed, and her courage returned. She fastened her long flowing hair round her head, so that the polypi might not seize hold of it. She laid her hands together across her bosom, and then she darted forward as a fish shoots through the water, between the supple arms and fingers of the ugly polypi, which were stretched out each side of her. She saw that each held in its grasp something it had seized with its numerous little arms, as if they were iron bands. The white skeletons of human beings who had perished at sea, and had sunk down into the deep waters, skeletons of land animals, oars, rudders, and chests of ships were lying tightly gasped by their clinging arms; even a little mermaid, whom they had caught and strangled; and this seemed the most shocking of all to the little princess.
于是，小人鱼离开了自己的花园，朝那个湍急的漩涡游去，女巫就住在漩涡的背后。这条路她从来没有走过，这儿没有长什么花，也没有什么水草；有的只是光秃秃的灰色沙底，一直向漩涡那儿伸去。水在这儿像一架喧闹的水车似地旋转着，把它所碰到的东西都缠绕起来，投到深不可测的海底。要到达海底巫婆统治的地区，她必须走过这急转的漩涡。有好长一段路程正好通过一条冒着热泡的泥地，巫婆把这地方叫做她的泥炭沼泽。在这后面有一个奇怪的森林，她的屋子就在里面；所有的树和花全是水螅，一种半植物和半动物的东西；它们看起来很像地里冒出来的百头蛇。树枝就是粘糊糊的手臂，长得很长。手指都像柔软的蠕虫，从根到顶，一节一节地在蠕动。水里能抓住的东西它们就死死抓住不放，没有东西可以幸免。小人鱼看到这些很害怕，静静地站着，心里面七上八下，担惊受怕，差不多想往回跑了。但是她马上想到了王子，想到了她渴望拥有的人的灵魂，她又鼓起了勇气。她把她的长发紧紧地盘在头上，以免被水螅抓住，双手贴在胸前，就像鱼能飞着穿过海水跳跃那样，跳进了那些丑陋的水螅中间，伸出它们柔软的胳臂和指头抓她。她看到，无数只小胳臂里总抓着些什么东西，像铁环一样。遇难后深深沉入海底的人的白骨，陆地动物的骨骼，船桨、船舵和箱柜也被它们牢牢缠住，还有一个被它们抓住和勒死了的小人鱼，这对小公主来说，是一件最可怕的事情。
She now came to a space of marshy ground in the wood, where large, fat water-snakes were rolling in the mire, and showing their ugly, drab-colored bodies. In the midst of this spot stood a house, built with the bones of shipwrecked human beings. There sat the sea witch, allowing a toad to eat from her mouth, just as people sometimes feed a canary with a piece of sugar. She called the ugly water snakes her little chickens, and allowed them to crawl all over her bosom.
现在她来到了森林中一块沼泽地。这儿有又大又肥的水蛇在翻动着，露出黄褐色的、奇丑的肚皮。在这块地中央有一幢用死难者的白骨砌成的房子。海巫婆就正坐在这儿，用她的嘴喂一只癞蛤蟆，正如我们人用糖喂一只金丝雀一样。她把那些奇丑的水蛇叫做她的小鸡，同时让它们在她的胸口上爬来爬去。
"I know what you want," said the sea witch; "it is very stupid of you, but you shall have your way, and it will bring you sorrow, my pretty princess. You want to get rid of your fish's tail, and to have two supports instead of it, like human beings on earth, so that the young prince may fall in love with you, and that you may have an immortal soul."
“我知道你要干什么，”海巫婆说道；“你真蠢，你的选择只会给你带来不幸的，我的可爱的公主。你想去掉你的鱼尾巴，换上两条支柱，像陆地上的人那样，好让那位年轻王子爱上你，你好得到灵魂。”
And then the witch laughed so loud and disgustingly, that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground, and lay there wriggling about.
女巫大笑着，令人厌恶极了，癞蛤蟆和蛇都掉到地上，躺在那儿蠕动着。
"You are but just in time," said the witch; "for after sunrise to-morrow I should not be able to help you till the end of another year. I will prepare a draught for you, with which you must swim to land tomorrow before sunrise, and sit down on the shore, and drink it. Your tail will then disappear, and shrink up into what mankind calls legs, and you will feel great pain, as if a sword were passing through you. But all who see you will say that you are the prettiest little human being they ever saw. You will still have the same floating gracefulness of movement, and no dancer will ever tread so lightly; but at every step you take it will feel as if you were treading upon sharp knives, and that the blood must flow. If you will bear all this, I will help you."
“你来的正是时候，”女巫说道；“等到明天早晨太阳一出来，我就没有办法帮助你了，只有等待一年再说。我可以准备一服药给你喝。你带着这服药，在明天太阳出来以前，赶快游向陆地，你就坐在海滩上，把这服药吃掉，于是你的尾巴就会消失，收缩成为人类所谓的腿了。可是你会感到很痛的，这就好像有一把尖刀刺进你的身体。凡是看到你的人，一定会说你是他们所见到的最美丽的孩子。你将仍旧会保持你像游泳时优雅的步子，任何舞蹈家也不会像你那样轻柔。不过你每移动一步，就仿佛踏在尖刀上，仿佛在流血。如果你能忍受这些苦难，我就能帮你。”
"Yes, I will," said the little princess in a trembling voice, as she thought of the prince and the immortal soul.
“是的，我能忍受，”小人鱼说道，声音在颤抖。她想着王子，想着那不灭的灵魂。
"But think again," said the witch; "for when once your shape has become like a human being, you can no more be a mermaid. You will never return through the water to your sisters, or to your father's palace again; and if you do not win the love of the prince, so that he is willing to forget his father and mother for your sake, and to love you with his whole soul, and allow the priest to join your hands that you may be man and wife, then you will never have an immortal soul. The first morning after he marries another your heart will break, and you will become foam on the crest of the waves."
“但是，你要记住，”女巫说：“你一旦变成了人形，你永远也就不能再变成人鱼了，永远下不了海，回到你姐姐的身边，或是进到你父亲的宫殿里去；如果你不能赢得王子的爱情，使他为了你而忘掉他的父亲和母亲，用他的整个灵魂爱着你，让牧师把你们的手搭在一起，让你们成为夫妻，那你也就得不到不朽的灵魂。他和另外一个人结婚的第二天一早，你的心便会破碎，你就会成为海浪上的泡沫。”
"I will do it," said the little mermaid, and she became pale as death.
“我愿意，”小人鱼说道，脸庞变得像死那样苍白。
"But I must be paid also," said the witch, "and it is not a trifle that I ask. You have the sweetest voice of any who dwell here in the depths of the sea, and you believe that you will be able to charm the prince with it also, but this voice you must give to me; the best thing you possess will I have for the price of my draught. My own blood must be mixed with it, that it may be as sharp as a two edged sword."
“但是我要求有酬劳，”女巫说，“而且我所要的也并不是一件微小的东西。在海底的人中，你的声音要算是最美丽的了，你想用这声音去迷住王子；可是这个声音你得交给我；我必须得到你最好的东西，作为我的贵重药物的代价。我得把我自己的血混进这药里，好使它尖锐得像一柄双刃剑。”
"But if you take away my voice," said the little mermaid, "what is left for me?"
“不过，如果你把我的声音拿去了，”小人鱼说，“那么我还剩下什么呢？”
"Your beautiful form, your graceful walk, and your expressive eyes; surely with these you can enchain a man's heart. Well, have you lost your courage? Put out your little tongue that I may cut it off as my payment; then you shall have the powerful draught."
“还有美丽的身材，优美的步伐，楚楚动人的眼睛；就凭这些你就可以俘虏一个男人的心。怎么啦，你丧失勇气了吗？快把小舌头伸出来，让我割下作为给我的报酬。这样你将得到强烈功效的药。”
"It shall be," said the little mermaid.
“也只得这么办了，”小人鱼说。
Then the witch placed her cauldron on the fire, to prepare the magic draught.
女巫把大锅放到火上，开始煎这种神奇的药。
"Cleanliness is a good thing," said she, scouring the vessel with snakes, which she had tied together in a large knot; then she pricked herself in the breast, and let the black blood drop into it. The steam that rose formed itself into such horrible shapes that no one could look at them without fear. Every moment the witch threw something else into the vessel, and when it began to boil, the sound was like the weeping of a crocodile. When at last the magic draught was ready, it looked like the clearest water.
“干净是件好事情，”她说，于是她把蛇捆成一大团，用它把容器擦了擦；接着便刺破了自己的胸脯，让黑血滴进去。冒出的气形状恐怖，没有人看到不害怕的。女巫不断往里面添加一些新的东西，药剂沸腾的时候，就像是鳄鱼哭一样。最后这副神奇的药剂熬好了，看上去就像是清澈的水。
"There it is for you," said the witch. Then she cut off the mermaid's tongue, so that she became dumb, and would never again speak or sing.
“给你，”女巫说道，割下了小人鱼的舌头，现在她哑了，既不能唱，也不能说话了。
"If the polypi should seize hold of you as you return through the wood," said the witch, "throw over them a few drops of the potion, and their fingers will be torn into thousand pieces." But the little mermaid had no occasion to do this, for the polypi sprang back in terror when they caught sight of the glittering draught, which shone in her hand like a twinkling star.
“当你穿过森林回去的时候，如果水螅捉住了你的话，”女巫说，“你只须把这药水洒几滴到它们的身上，它们的指头就会裂成碎片。”可是小人鱼没有这样做的必要，因为当水螅一看到这亮晶晶的药水——它在她的手里亮得像一颗闪耀的星星——的时候，它们就在她面前惶恐地缩回去了。
So she passed quickly through the wood and the marsh, between the rushing whirlpools. She saw that in her father's palace the torches in the ballroom were extinguished, and all within asleep; but she did not venture to go in to them, for now she was dumb and going to leave them forever, she felt as if her heart would break. She stole into the garden, took a flower from the flower-beds of each of her sisters, kissed her hand a thousand times towards the palace, and then rose up through the dark blue waters.
这样，她很快地就走过了森林、沼泽和激转的漩涡。她看到父王宫殿了。大厅里，火把已经熄灭，大家都在睡觉；可是，她还不敢到他们那儿去，因为她现在已成了哑巴，还要永远离开他们。她感到自己的心要碎了。她悄悄地进了花园，分别从姐姐的花坛上摘了一朵花，一次又一次地对着王宫飞吻，终于穿过深蓝色的大海，浮出了水面。
The sun had not risen when she came in sight of the prince's palace, and approached the beautiful marble steps, but the moon shone clear and bright. Then the little mermaid drank the magic draught, and it seemed as if a two-edged sword went through her delicate body: she fell into a swoon, and lay like one dead. When the sun arose and shone over the sea, she recovered, and felt a sharp pain; but just before her stood the handsome young prince. He fixed his coal-black eyes upon her so earnestly that she cast down her eyes, and then became aware that her fish's tail was gone, and that she had as pretty a pair of white legs and tiny feet as any little maiden could have; but she had no clothes, so she wrapped herself in her long, thick hair. The prince asked her who she was, and where she came from, and she looked at him mildly and sorrowfully with her deep blue eyes; but she could not speak. Every step she took was as the witch had said it would be, she felt as if treading upon the points of needles or sharp knives; but she bore it willingly, and stepped as lightly by the prince's side as a soap-bubble, so that he and all who saw her wondered at her graceful-swaying movements. She was very soon arrayed in costly robes of silk and muslin, and was the most beautiful creature in the palace; but she was dumb, and could neither speak nor sing.
她看见王子的宫殿，靠近那漂亮的大理石台阶的时候，太阳还没有出来，月亮射出明净的光。小人鱼喝下了那副奇妙的药剂，就像一柄双刃的利剑穿透了她娇嫩的身体，她昏了过去，躺在那里好像死了一般。当太阳升起照到海上的时候，她醒过来了，感到一阵剧烈疼痛；但是就在她的前面，站立着那位英俊的年轻王子。王子用他的乌黑的眼睛盯着她，她只好低下自己的眼睛，这才看到自己经没了尾巴。但是，她却长了一双漂亮白嫩的腿和只有少女才能有的小巧的脚。可是她没有衣服，就只好用浓浓的长发来把身子裹住。王子问她是谁，从哪儿来的，她只好以深蓝色的眼睛对他看看，那样子既柔和又悲伤；因为她已经不能说话了。正如那女巫以前跟她讲过的一样，她觉得每步都好像是在针尖和利刃上行走。可是她情愿忍受这苦痛。她在王子身边走起路来轻盈得像一个水泡。他和所有的人望着她这文雅轻盈的步子，感到惊奇。很快，她穿上了价值昂贵的丝绸、薄纱做的服装，在王宫中她是最漂亮的；但是，她哑了，既不会歌唱，也不会说话。
Beautiful female slaves, dressed in silk and gold, stepped forward and sang before the prince and his royal parents: one sang better than all the others, and the prince clapped his hands and smiled at her. This was great sorrow to the little mermaid; she knew how much more sweetly she herself could sing once, and she thought, Oh if he could only know that! I have given away my voice forever,to be with him.
漂亮的女奴，穿丝着金，走上前来为王子和他的父母王后唱歌。有一个女奴唱得比其他的女奴都更加美妙，王子鼓着掌对她微笑。可是小人鱼却很悲伤，她知道，她曾经唱得比这些美妙多了，她想着，“唉，要是他知道，我为了和他一起，把我的声音永远丧失了，那该多好！”
The slaves next performed some pretty fairy-like dances, to the sound of beautiful music. Then the little mermaid raised her lovely white arms, stood on the tips of her toes, and glided over the floor, and danced as no one yet had been able to dance. At each moment her beauty became more revealed, and her expressive eyes appealed more directly to the heart than the songs of the slaves. Every one was enchanted, especially the prince, who called her his little foundling; and she danced again quite readily, to please him, though each time her foot touched the floor it seemed as if she trod on sharp knives.
接着奴隶们跟着美丽的音乐，跳起优雅的、轻柔的舞来。这时小人鱼就举起一双美丽的、白嫩的手臂，用脚尖站着，在地板上轻盈地滑动，从来还没有人这样舞过。她的每一个动作都更能衬托出她的美，她的眼神比奴隶们的歌声更能打动人的心坎。大家都看得入了迷，特别是那位王子，他把她叫做他的“小孤儿”。她非常乐意地舞着，虽然每次当她的脚接触到地面的时候，她就像踏在锋利的刀上一样。
The prince said she should remain with him always, and she received 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 among the fresh leaves. She climbed with the prince to the tops of high mountains; and although her tender feet bled so that even her steps were marked, she only laughed, and followed him till they could see the clouds beneath them looking like a flock of birds travelling 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; and then she thought of all those below in the deep.
王子说，她应该永远跟他在一起，因此她就得到了许可睡在他们门口的一个天鹅绒的垫子上面。他叫人为她做了一套男子穿的衣服，好使她可以陪他骑马。他们骑马穿过香气扑鼻的树林，绿色的枝子扫过他们的肩膀，小鸟儿在枝头鲜嫩的叶子间歌唱。她和王子一起爬上山顶；虽然她娇嫩的脚出了血，每一步都留下血印，她只是笑笑，还是跟着他，一直到他们看到云彩在他们的脚下浮游就像一群鸟儿往遥远的国度飞去。在王子的宫殿里，所有的人都睡觉了，她却出了门，坐到宽大的大理石台阶上；好使她发烧的脚在冰冷的海水里凉爽一点。就在这时，她想起了海底的亲人。
Once during the night her sisters came up arm-in-arm, singing sorrowfully, as they floated on the water. She beckoned to them, and then they recognized her, and told her how she had grieved them. After that, they came to the same place every night; and once she saw in the distance her old grandmother, who had not been to the surface of the sea for many years, and the old Sea King, her father, with his crown on his head. They stretched out their hands towards her, but they did not venture so near the land as her sisters did.
有一天夜晚，她的姐姐们手挽手出了海，一面唱着凄凉的歌。她向她们招了招手，她们也认出是她，并且对她说，大家都为她而感到悲伤。后来，她们每天晚上都到同样的地方去看她。有一晚，她远远地看到了多年不曾浮出海面的老祖母，和戴着王冠的海王父亲。他们对她伸出手来，但他们不像她的那些姐姐，没敢游近岸边。
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.
她对王子一天比一天更加热爱，他像爱一个小孩子那样爱她，但是他从来没有娶她为妻的思想。然而除非他娶她，否则她就不能得到一个不灭的灵魂，而且会在他和别人结婚的头一个早上就融化成海上的泡沫。
"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.
“在所有的人当中，你不是最喜欢我吗？”在他把她拥在怀里，亲吻着她白皙的额头的时候，小人鱼的眼睛似乎这样问道。
"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 waves 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 twice, and she is the only one in the world whom I could love; but you are like her, and you have almost driven her image out of my mind. She belongs to the holy temple, and my good fortune has sent you to me instead of her; and we will never part."
“是的，你是我最亲爱的人，”王子说道，“因为你有最善良的心，对我是最忠实的，你很像我有一次见到的一位姑娘，我再也遇不到她了。那时我在一艘遇难的船上，海波把我推到了一座圣庙附近的岸边，有一些年轻姑娘在那座庙里作祈祷，最年轻的那个在海滩边上发现我，就救了我。我只见过她两次。在这个世界上我能爱的只有她。可是，你很像她，能使我从脑海里想到她。她是属于圣庙里的人，因此，我的好运把你送给了我，而不是她；我们永远也不要分离。”
"Ah, he knows not that it was I who saved his life," thought the little mermaid. "I carried him over the sea to the wood where the temple stands: I sat beneath the foam, and watched till the human beings came to help him. I saw the pretty maiden that he loves better than he loves me;" and the mermaid sighed deeply, but she could not shed tears. "He says the maiden belongs to the holy temple, therefore she will never return to the world. They will meet no more: while I am by his side, and see him every day. I will take care of him, and love him, and give up my life for his sake."
“啊，他不知道是我救了他的生命，”小人鱼想。“我把他从海里托出来，送到圣庙所在的一个树林里。我坐在泡沫底下观望着，直到有人来救他。我看到那个美丽的姑娘他爱她胜过爱我；”这时小人鱼深深地叹了一口气，她哭不出声来。“他说那个姑娘是属于那个圣庙的，因此她永远不会走向这个世界。他们永远不会见面了。我是跟他在一起，每天看到他的。我要照看他，热爱他，为他献出我的生命。”
Very soon it was said that the prince must marry, and that the beautiful daughter of a neighboring king would be his wife, for a fine ship was being fitted out. Although the prince gave out that he merely intended to pay a visit to the king, it was generally supposed that he really went to see his daughter. A great company were to go with him. The little mermaid smiled, and shook her head. She knew the prince's thoughts better than any of the others.
很快，有人说，王子要结婚了，邻国国王美丽的女儿将成为他的妻子，为了这个缘故，他装备了一艘十分宏伟的船。虽然王子说他只是要去参观邻国，据说他实际上是为了看邻国国王的女儿。有一大队人要跟着他去。然而小人鱼却摇摇头笑了；她比所有的人都更了解王子的心思。
"I must travel," he had said to her; "I must see this beautiful princess; my parents desire it; but they will not oblige me to bring her home as my bride. I cannot love her; she is not like the beautiful maiden in the temple, whom you resemble. If I were forced to choose a bride, I would rather choose you, my dumb foundling, with those expressive eyes." And then he kissed her rosy mouth, played with her long waving hair, and laid his head on her heart, while she dreamed of human happiness and an immortal soul.
“我得去，”他曾对她说过，“我得去看那位美丽的公主，我的父母要求这样做，但是他们并没有逼我把她带回家当我的新娘。我不可能爱她；她不像圣庙里的那位美丽的女子，而你却非常像。如果要我选新娘，我宁可选你，我可爱的哑巴孤女，你那双眼多机灵。”他吻了吻她那玫瑰红的嘴唇，理了理她那长长的头发，把头靠在她的心口，她又梦想着人间的幸福，梦想着不朽的灵魂。
"You are not afraid of the sea, my dumb child," said he, as they stood on the deck of the noble ship which was to carry them to the country of the neighboring king. And then he told her of storm and of calm, of strange fishes in the deep beneath them, and of what the divers had seen there; and she smiled at his descriptions, for she knew better than any one what wonders were at the bottom of the sea.
“我的哑巴孩子，你不怕大海，”他问道。这时候，他们站在那艘豪华的船的甲板上，驶向邻近的王国。他和她谈论着风暴和平静的海，生活在海里的奇奇怪怪的鱼，和潜水者在海底所能看到的东西。对于他的描述，她只是微微一笑，因为关于海底的奇观她比谁都知道得清楚。
In the moonlight, when all on board were asleep, excepting the man at the helm, who was steering, she sat on the deck, gazing down through 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, looking through the rushing tide at the keel of the vessel. Then her sisters came up on the waves, and gazed at her mournfully, wringing their white hands. She beckoned to 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 it was only the foam of the sea which he saw.
在月夜里，船上的人都睡了，只有掌舵的人立在舵旁。这时她就坐在甲板上，凝望着下面清亮的海水。她想象着能看到她父亲的宫殿，上面站着她年迈的祖母，她头上戴着银色的皇冠，透过汹涌的激潮朝这条船的龙骨望着。然后，她的众位姐姐来到了海面上，她们悲伤望着望着她，挥舞着自己洁白的手。她向她们挥手，微笑着，想告诉她们自己有多幸福，有多好；然而船舱的役工向她走近，众位姐姐马上潜了下去，所以他还以为看到的那些东西是海面上的泡沫呢。
The next morning the ship sailed into the harbor of a beautiful town belonging to the king whom the prince was going to visit. The church bells were ringing, and from the high towers sounded a flourish of trumpets; and soldiers, with flying colors and glittering bayonets, lined the rocks through which they passed. Every day was a festival; balls and entertainments followed one another.
第二天早上，轮船驶进了王子要参观的邻国壮丽城市的港口，教堂的钟声齐鸣，高塔里喇叭劲吹。与此同时，士兵们手持飘扬的彩旗和明光闪闪的刺刀在沿途的岩石上列队。宴会天天都在举行，舞会和招待会一个接着一个。
But the princess had not yet appeared.People said that she was being brought up and educated in a religious house, where she was learning every royal virtue. At last she came. Then the little mermaid, who was very anxious to see whether she was really beautiful, was obliged to acknowledge that she had never seen a more perfect vision of beauty. Her skin was delicately fair, and beneath her long dark eye-lashes her laughing blue eyes shone with truth and purity.
可公主就是不出现。人们说她在一所修道院里被养大，并在那里学习皇家的所有礼仪。她终于来了。小人鱼迫切地想要看看她的美貌，她不得不承认她从来没有看见过比这更美的形体。她的皮肤是那么细嫩、洁白，在她黑而长的睫毛下面是一对微笑的蓝色眼珠，闪烁着忠诚和纯洁。
"It was you," said the prince, "who saved my life when I lay dead on the beach," and he folded his blushing bride in his arms. "Oh, I am too happy," said he to the little mermaid; "my fondest hopes are all fulfilled. You will rejoice at my happiness; for your devotion to me is great and sincere."
“是你啊，”王子说道，“当我像一具死尸躺在海岸边上的时候是你救活了我，”他把面带羞赧的新娘拥在手臂里。“啊，我真是太幸福了，”他对小人鱼说；“我最美好的愿望终于实现了。你会为我的幸运而高兴的，因为你对我的奉献是最大最忠心的。”
The little mermaid kissed his hand, and felt as if her heart were already broken. His wedding morning would bring death to her, and she would change into the foam of the sea. All the church bells rung, and the heralds rode about the town proclaiming the betrothal. Perfumed oil was burning in costly silver lamps on every altar. The priests waved the censers, while the bride and bridegroom joined their hands and received the blessing of the bishop. The little mermaid, dressed in silk and gold, held up the bride's train; but her ears heard nothing of the festive music, and her eyes saw not the holy ceremony; she thought of the night of death which was coming to her, and of all she had lost in the world.
小人鱼亲吻着他的手，觉得她的心完全破碎了。他的婚礼后的第一个早晨会给她带来死亡，只有她变成海上的泡沫。教堂全都敲响了钟声，信使队员们骑着马在城里四处传报订婚的喜讯。每个祭坛上，豪华的银灯都燃起了芳香四溢的油脂。牧师们转动着香炉，新郎和新娘手拉着手，接受主教的祝福。这时的小人鱼身穿金光闪闪的丝绸衣服，托着新娘的披纱。但是，她听到的不是欢快的乐曲，看到的也不是神圣的婚礼仪式；她一心想的是即将来临的夜晚之后的死亡，想的是她在这人世间所有的一切统统消失。
On the same evening the bride and bridegroom went on board ship; cannons were roaring, flags waving, and in the centre of the ship a costly tent of purple and gold had been erected. It contained elegant couches, for the reception of the bridal pair during the night. The ship, with swelling sails and a favorable wind, glided away smoothly and lightly over the calm sea. 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 pierced through her heart. She knew this was the last evening she should 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. All was joy and gayety on board ship till long after midnight; she laughed and danced with the rest, while the thoughts of death were in her heart. The prince kissed his beautiful bride, while she played with his raven hair, till they went arm-in-arm to rest in the splendid tent.
在同一天晚上，新郎和新娘来到船上；礼炮响起来了，旗帜在飘扬着。一个金色和紫色的华贵的帐篷在船中央架起来了，里面陈设着精美的长沙发，这是为新婚夫妇过夜准备的。风儿在鼓着船帆，船在这平静的海上，轻柔地航行着。当暮色渐渐浓时候，彩色的灯光就亮起来了，水手们愉快地在甲板上跳起舞来。小人鱼不禁想起她第一次游出海面时看到的同样壮丽和欢乐的场面，她随着大家一起跳起舞来。她旋转着，就像一只追逐快乐的燕子那样。大家都兴高采烈地为她欢呼。她从来没有如此开心地舞过，她娇嫩的双脚像被尖锐的刀割一样，但她感觉不到，因为她的心被割得更加疼痛万分。她知道，这是最后一个夜晚可以看到王子了。正是为了他，她离开了亲人和家庭；她放弃了美丽的嗓音，每天都为他遭受闻所未闻的痛苦，可是他对这一切都全然不知。这是最后一个夜晚她能和他同呼吸，能看到繁星密布的天空，能看到深沉的大海；等待她的是另一种永恒的夜晚，那是一种没有思想或没有梦境的夜晚，因为她没有灵魂，现在她什么也得不到。一直到半夜过后，船上的一切还是欢乐和愉快的；她和大家一起笑着，舞着，但是她心中一直想着死亡。王子吻着自己的美丽的新娘，新娘抚弄着他乌亮的头发，他们手挽着手到那华丽的帐篷里去休息。
Then all became still on board the ship; the helmsman, alone awake, stood at the helm. The little mermaid leaned her white arms on the edge of the vessel, and looked towards the east for the first blush of morning, for that first ray of dawn that would bring her death. She saw her sisters rising out of the flood: they were as pale as herself; but their long beautiful hair waved no more in the wind, and had been cut off.
船上的一切都很安静了。只有舵手清醒地站在舵旁。小人鱼把她洁白的手臂倚在船舷上，向东方凝望，等待着晨曦的出现，因为黎明的第一道光线将给她带来死亡。这时，她看到她的众位姐姐升出了海面，她们都和她一样苍白，在风中再没有了飘逸的长发，她们的发都剪掉了。
"We have given our hair to the witch," said they, "to obtain help for you, that you may not die to-night. She has given us a knife: here it is, see it is very sharp. Before the sun rises you must plunge it into the heart of the prince; when the warm blood falls upon your feet they will grow together again, and form into a fish's tail, and you will be once more a mermaid, and return to us to live out your three hundred years before you die and change into salt sea foam. Haste, then; he or you must die before sunrise. Our old grandmother moans so for you, that her white hair is falling off from sorrow, as ours fell under the witch's scissors. Kill the prince and come back; hasten: do you not see the first red streaks in the sky? In a few minutes the sun will rise, and you must die." And then they sighed deeply and mournfully, and sank down beneath the waves.
“我们把头发给了女巫，”她们说，“要她帮着不让你今夜死掉。她给了我们一把刀，在这里，你看多么锋利。太阳升起以前，你必须把它刺进王子的心脏，他温暖的血流到你的脚上的时候，它们又会长到一起，变成一条鱼尾，你又成了一条人鱼，可以游回到我们身边。你也就可以再活三百年，然后变成咸水泡沫。抓紧时间；太阳出来之前，你和他二者之间必有一死。我们的老祖母为了你而过于悲哀，连白发都脱落了，正如我们的头发被女巫剪掉了一样。刺死王子，回来吧；抓紧时间呀，天上已透露出第一道红光，你看到没有？太阳马上就要升起，到那时你就必然灭亡。”她们发出沉重而又悲伤的叹息声，便沉入浪涛里去了。
The little mermaid drew back the crimson curtain of the tent, and beheld the fair bride with her head resting on the prince's breast. She bent down and kissed his fair brow, then looked at the sky on which the rosy dawn grew brighter and brighter; then she glanced at the sharp knife, and again fixed her eyes on the prince, who whispered the name of his bride in his dreams. She was in his thoughts, and the knife trembled in the hand of the little mermaid: then she flung it far away from her into the waves; the water turned red where it fell, and the drops that spurted up looked like blood. She cast one more lingering, half-fainting glance at the prince, and then threw herself from the ship into the sea, and thought her body was dissolving into foam.
小人鱼把那帐篷上深红色的帘子掀开，看到那位美丽的新娘把头枕在王子的怀里睡着了。她弯下腰，在王子清秀的眉毛上吻了一下，然后望了望天空，晨曦的粉红色越发地鲜亮起来。她看了看锋利的刀，又用眼睛盯着王子，王子在梦中念着新娘的名字，他的思想中只有她。刀在小人鱼的手中颤抖着，但是，她马上把它抛得远远的，抛落到浪花里；刀子落下的地方闪着红光，看起来就像一滴滴的血从水中溅出来。她用更加留恋的目光模糊地望着王子，然后从船上跳入海中，她感到，她的身躯一点点地化为泡沫。
The sun rose above the waves, and his warm rays fell on the cold foam of the little mermaid, who did not feel as if she were dying. She saw the bright sun, and all around her floated hundreds of transparent beautiful beings; she could see through them the white sails of the ship, and the red clouds in the sky; their speech was melodious, but too ethereal to be heard by mortal ears, as they were also unseen by mortal eyes. The little mermaid perceived that she had a body like theirs, and that she continued to rise higher and higher out of the foam.
太阳已升出了海面，和煦的阳光洒在小人鱼化成的冰冷的泡沫上，她一点没有死亡的感觉。她看到灿烂的太阳，看到周围有无数透明好看的东西在漂荡；她是透过轮船的白帆和天空的红云看到了那些生物。它们的语言旋律美妙，可是非常缥缈，人的耳朵是听不到的，正如人的肉眼看不见一样。小人鱼感到自己身子也和那些东西很相像，渐渐地从泡沫中升浮。
"Where am I?" asked she, and her voice sounded ethereal, as the voice of those who were with her; no earthly music could imitate it.
“我在哪里呢？”她问。她的声音跟周围其他的生物一样，显得虚无缥缈；人世间的任何音乐都不能和它相比。
"Among the daughters of the air," answered one of them. "A mermaid has not an immortal soul, nor can she obtain one unless she wins the love of a human being. On the power of another hangs her eternal destiny. But the daughters of the air, although they do not possess an immortal soul, can, by their good deeds, procure one for themselves. We fly to warm countries, and cool the sultry air that destroys mankind with the pestilence. We carry the perfume of the flowers to spread health and restoration. After we have striven for three hundred years to all the good in our power, we receive an immortal soul and take part in the happiness of mankind. You poor little mermaid, have tried with your whole heart to do as we are doing; you have suffered and endured and raised yourself to the spirit-world by your good deeds; and now, by striving for three hundred years in the same way, you may obtain an immortal soul."
“到空气的女儿那儿去呀，”有一个声音回答说。“人鱼是没有不灭的灵魂的，而且永远也不会有这样的灵魂，除非她获得了一个凡人的爱情。她的永恒的存在要依靠外来的力量。空气的女儿也没有永恒的灵魂，不过她们可以通过善良的行为而创造出一个灵魂。我们飞向温暖的国度去，冷却那里炎热的带有瘟毒的扼杀人类的空气。我们传播鲜花的香味，送去健康和痊愈。只要在三百年中我们尽自己的可能行善，我们就能获得永生的灵魂，参加到人类的幸福中去。你这可怜的小人鱼，你诚心诚意地和我们一样在尽你的努力；你遭受痛苦，忍受痛苦，你通过善行升到了精神世界。现在你也可以以同样的方式在三百年里为自己创造一个不灭的灵魂。”
The little mermaid lifted her glorified eyes towards the sun, and felt them, for the first time, filling with tears. On the ship, in which she had left the prince, there were life and noise; she saw him and his beautiful bride searching for her; sorrowfully they gazed at the pearly foam, as if they knew she had thrown herself into the waves. Unseen she kissed the forehead of his bride, and fanned the prince, and then mounted with the other children of the air to a rosy cloud that floated through the aether.
小人鱼把充满光辉的眼睛投向太阳，她平生第一次感觉到她的眼睛里饱含着泪水。这时候，在她离开王子的那艘轮船上又响起了嘈杂的人声；她看到：王子和他美丽的新娘在寻找她；他们望着珍珠一般的泡沫，心里很悲哀，仿佛已经意识到她跳进了波涛之中。她在冥冥之中吻了新娘的前额，对美丽的王子微笑。于是她就跟其他的空气中的孩子们一道，骑上玫瑰色的云块，升入天空里去了。
"After three hundred years, thus shall we float into the kingdom of heaven," said she.
“这样三百年以后，我们就可以升入天国，”她说。
"And we may even get there sooner," whispered one of her companions. "Unseen we can enter the houses of men, where there are children, and for every day on which we find a good child, who is the joy of his parents and deserves their love, our time of probation is shortened. The child does not know, when we fly through the room, that we smile with joy at his good conduct; for we can count one year less of our three hundred years. But when we see a naughty or a wicked child, we shed tears of sorrow, and for every tear a day is added to our time of trial!"
“我们也许很快就到那儿了，”一个同伴低语着。“我们无形无影地飞进人类的屋子里去，那里生活着一些孩子，每一天如果我们找到一个好孩子、如果他给他父母带来快乐、值得他父母爱他的话，考验我们的时间就可以缩短。我们在屋里飞过，孩子是不知道的，我们因为他们的善行而快乐地微笑时，三百年便会减去一年。不过如果我们看到一个淘气的孩子，或是一个坏孩子，那我们就得悲伤地哭了，每一滴泪会给考验的时间增加一天呢！”
