Is there a thousand words about Hai's daughter in Andersen's fairy tales?

In the distance of the sea, the water is so blue, like the petals of the most beautiful cornflower, and so clear, like the brightest glass. However, it is too deep, and no anchor chain can reach the finish line. To reach the surface from the bottom of the sea, there must be many church spires, one after another.

People under the sea live here. However, you must not think that it is just a seabed covered with white sand. That's not true. The strangest trees and plants grow there. Their branches and leaves are very soft, and as long as water flows through them a little, they tremble as if they were alive. All the big fish and small fish are swimming among these branches, just like birds in the sky.

The deepest place in the sea is where the Sea Palace is located. Its walls are made of coral, and the high windows on the spire are made of the brightest amber; But the roof is covered with black mussels, which can automatically open and close with the water flow. This seems strange, because there are shiny pearls in every clam shell. Any pearl can be the main ornament on the queen's hat.

Neptune, who lives at the bottom of the sea, has been a widower for many years, but he has a mother to manage the housework for him. She is a clever woman, but she is proud of her aristocratic background, so she always wears a dozen oysters on her tail-the rest of the dignitaries can only wear half a dozen each. Besides, she deserves great praise, especially because she loves those little sea princesses-her granddaughters.

They are six beautiful children. Among these six children, the youngest is the most beautiful. Her skin is light and tender, like a rose petal; Her eyes are blue, like the deepest lake. However, like other princesses, she has no legs and a fish tail in her lower body.

They can spend a long day in the palace, and they can play in the hall with flowers on the wall. Those big windows inlaid with amber are open, and fish swim towards them, just as we open the windows and swallows fly in. But the fish will swim all the way to these little princesses, find something to eat in their hands and let them touch themselves. There is a big garden outside the palace. There are many red and dark blue trees in it. The fruit on the tree is as bright as gold, the flowers are like burning fire, and the branches and leaves keep shaking. The ground in the garden is full of the best sand, but it is as blue as a flame of sulfur. There, there are strange blue lights everywhere. It's easy to think that you are high above the sea instead of at the bottom of the sea, and there is a blue sky above your head and feet.

When the sea is very calm, you can catch a glimpse of the sun. It is like a purple flower, emitting all kinds of light from its calyx. Every little princess has her own small piece of land in the garden, which she can plant at will. The little princess decorated her flower bed like a whale; The little princess thinks she wants to decorate her flower bed like a little mermaid. But the youngest princess arranged her flower beds in a circle, much like the sun; At the same time, she only grows flowers as red as the sun.

She is an eccentric child, who doesn't like to talk much, and always thinks about something quietly. When other sisters decorated their garden with the strangest things they got from the sunken ship, she just wanted to have a beautiful marble statue, except for flowers as bright as the sun in the sky. This is a stone statue of a beautiful man; It was carved from a white stone and sank to the bottom of the sea with a wrecked ship.

She planted a weeping willow as red as a rose next to the stone statue. This tree grows very luxuriantly. Its delicate branches and leaves hang down from the stone statue to the blue sand bottom. Its reflection is blue and purple. Like its branches, its shadow is never static: the roots and tops of the trees seem to be playing a game of kissing each other.

Her happiest thing is to listen to some human stories. Her old grandmother had to tell her all about ships and cities, people and animals. What makes her feel beautiful in particular is that flowers on the ground can give off fragrance, but flowers on the bottom of the sea can't; The forest on the ground is green, and the "fish" that people see swimming among branches will sing crisp and pleasant songs, which makes people feel happy.

The so-called "fish" of grandma are actually some birds, but if she doesn't talk, the little princesses won't understand her story because they have never seen sparrows.

"When you 15 years old," said the old grandmother, "I will allow you to float to the surface. At that time, you can sit on a stone in the moonlight and watch a huge ship pass by you. You can also see trees and cities. "

A year later, one of these sisters was over 15, but the rest-well, they were all one year younger than each other. So the youngest princess will have to wait five years before she can come up from the bottom of the sea to see our world. But every princess promised that she would tell everyone the most beautiful things she saw and found on the first day, because their grandmother didn't say enough-they really didn't know what they wanted to know! None of them is so anxious as the youngest sister. She just has to wait the longest, and at the same time she is so silent and considerate.

I don't know how many nights she stood at the open window and looked up through the deep blue sea, watching the fish waving their tails and fins. She also saw the moon and stars-of course, their light was a little weak, but they looked much bigger through a layer of water than in our eyes. If something like a dark cloud floats under them, she will know that either a whale swam over her or a boat with many passengers passed by. But these passengers never imagined that there was a beautiful little mermaid below them, stretching out her white hands towards the bottom of their boat.

Now the oldest princess has reached 15 years old and can surface. When she comes back, she has countless words to say; However, she said, the most beautiful thing is to lie on the beach in the moonlight and cling to the coast when the sea is calm, staring at the bright lights like countless stars in that big city, listening to music, noise and the voices of carriages and people, looking at the dome and steeple of the church and listening to the tinkling bells. Because she can't go there, she is most eager for these things.

Ah, how attentively the youngest sister listens! When she stood by the open window at night and looked up through the deep blue sea, she remembered the big city and the noisy sound inside. She seemed to hear the church bells floating towards her.

The next year, the second sister was allowed to surface and swim anywhere at will. When she jumped out of the water, the sun had just set; She thinks the scenery is really beautiful. She said that at this moment, the whole sky looks like a piece of gold, and clouds-well, their beauty can't be expressed in words! They passed over her head, red and purple. However, what flies faster than them, like a long white gauze, is a group of wild swans skimming over the water. They are flying to the sun. She swam to the sun, too. But the sun went down. A rosy sunset slowly disappeared between the sea and the clouds.

Another year passed, and Third Sister floated up. She was the boldest of them, so she swam into a big river that flowed into the sea. She saw some beautiful green hills covered with rows of grapes. Palaces and granges are faintly exposed in lush forests; She heard all kinds of birds singing beautifully, and the sun shone so warmly on her that she sometimes had to sink into the water to cool her burning face. In a stream, she met a group of children on the earth. They swam around in the water naked. She wanted to play with them for a while, but they got a fright and ran away. So a little black animal came-this is a puppy. But she has never seen a puppy. It barked at her and scared her into the sea. But she will never forget the magnificent forest, the green mountains, and the lovely babies who can swim in the water-although they don't have tails like fish.

Fourth sister is not so bold. She stayed in the desolate sea. She said that the most beautiful thing is to stop at sea: because you can see far and far around from here, the sky is hanging on it, like a huge glass clock. She has seen ships, but they are far away from her and look like some seagulls. She has seen happy dolphins turn their heads, and huge whales spew water from their nostrils, as if there were countless fountains around them.

Now it's my fifth sister Her birthday happens in winter, so she can see what other sisters didn't see when they first surfaced. The sea is dyed green; Huge icebergs are moving around. She said that each iceberg looks like a pearl, but it is much bigger than the church tower built by human beings. They appear in all kinds of strange shapes; They shine like diamonds. She used to sit on the biggest iceberg, letting the sea breeze blow her slender hair, and all the boats bypassed where she was sitting, hiding away in horror. But at dusk, a dark cloud suddenly appeared in the sky. Lightning and thunder, black waves hold up the whole ice, making them shine in blood-red lightning. All the ships put up their sails, creating an atmosphere of panic and terror; But she sat quietly on the floating iceberg and watched the blue lightning winding into the reflective sea.

Any one of these sisters is always happy as long as she rises to the sea for the first time and looks at these fresh and beautiful things. But now they are all big girls and can float to their favorite places. These things can no longer arouse their interest. They are all eager to go home.

After more than a month, they said, it's better to be in the sea after all-how comfortable it is at home! At dusk, the five sisters often float up arm in arm and line up on the sea. They are singing beautiful songs-better than any human voice. When the storm is coming, they think that some ships are going to have an accident. They float in front of them, singing very beautiful songs, singing how lovely the bottom of the sea is, and telling the sailors not to be afraid to sink into the bottom of the sea. However, those people can't understand their lyrics. They think it's the sound of a strong wind. They never thought they would see anything beautiful at the bottom of the sea, because if the ship sinks, the people on board will drown, and they can only reach Neptune's palace as dead people.

One night, when the two sisters appeared arm in arm, the youngest sister stayed behind and watched them alone. It seems that she is going to cry, but the mermaid has no tears, so she feels even worse. "Oh, I wish I were 15 years old!" She said. "I know I will like the world above and the people living in it."

Finally, she really reached 15 years old. "You know, now you can leave our hands." Her grandmother, the old empress dowager, said, "Come on, let me dress you up as your sister."

So she put a wreath of lilies in the little girl's hair, but each petal of this flower is half a pearl. The old lady also let eight big oysters stick tightly to the princess's tail to show her noble status. "This makes me really uncomfortable!" Said the little mermaid. "Of course, for the sake of beauty, one should suffer a little." Grandma said.

Oh, how she wants to throw away these decorations and throw away the heavy garland! It is much more suitable for her to wear those red flowers in the garden, but she dare not do so. "Goodbye!" She said. So she emerged as light and clear as a bubble.

When she put her head out of the sea, the sun had set, but all the clouds were still shining like roses and gold; At the same time, in the reddish sky, the white star has been shining beautifully and brightly. The air is mild and fresh. The sea is very calm. There is a big ship with three masts parked there. Only one sail was hung on the ship because there was no wind. The sailors sat on the sail yard around the mast rope. There is music and singing in the air.

It's getting darker and darker, and all kinds of lanterns light up together. They look like the flags of all countries in the world flying in the air. The little mermaid swam all the way to the window of the hut. Whenever the waves lift her up, she can see many gorgeous men standing inside through the window glass shining like a mirror; But the most beautiful one is the prince with big black eyes: his age is undoubtedly only 16 years old. Today is his birthday, and it is for this reason that today is so lively. The sailors are dancing on the deck. When the prince came out, 100 rockets shot into the sky together. They shine like day, so the little mermaid was very scared and quickly sank to the bottom of the water. But after a while, she stuck her head out again-at this time, she felt as if all the stars in the sky had fallen on her. She has never seen such fireworks. Many huge suns hissed and dazzling salamanders jumped into the blue sky, all of which were reflected on the clear and calm sea. The whole hull is so bright that every tiny rope can be seen, and of course the people on board can see it more clearly.

Ah, how beautiful that young prince is! When the music faded away on this glorious night, he smiled and shook hands with the sailors ... the night was already deep; But the little mermaid couldn't take her eyes off the boat and the beautiful prince. Colorful lanterns went out, rockets stopped firing into the air, and gunfire stopped. But deep in the ocean, there is a buzzing sound. She sat on the water and floated everywhere together, so she could see what was in the cabin. But the ship picked up speed; The sails on the ship have been erected one by one. The waves are rising, dark clouds are floating, and lightning stops in the distance. Ah, a terrible storm is coming! For this reason, the sailors put away their sails. The big ship waddled along in the rough sea. The waves rose like a huge black mountain. It wants to break the mast. But the ship is like a swan, suddenly jumping into the hongtao, and then looking up at the high waves.

The little mermaid thought it was a very interesting voyage, but the sailors didn't think so. The ship is breaking up now; Its thick wooden wall was bent by the coming waves. The mast broke like a reed in the middle. Later, the ship began to tilt and water poured into the cabin. Only then did the little mermaid know that they were in danger. She must also be careful of beams and debris floating on the water.

The sky darkened at once and she couldn't see anything. But when lightning struck, the sky became very bright again, so that she could see everyone on board. Now everyone is trying to find their own way. She pays special attention to the prince. She saw him when the ship split and sank to the bottom of the sea. She became very happy at once, because he is coming towards her now.

But she remembered that man could not live in water, and he could not enter her father's palace unless he died.

No, he must not die! So she swam between the dripping beams and boards, not thinking that they might kill her. She sank deeply into the water, then rose high in the waves, and finally she reached the prince's side.

In this rough sea, he has little strength to float any more. His arms and legs began to fail, and his beautiful eyes closed. If the little mermaid hadn't arrived in time, he would have drowned.

She lifted his head from the water and let the waves carry her around.

At dawn, the storm passed. There is no trace of the ship. The bright red sun rises and shines brightly on the water. It seems to inject life into the prince's face. But his eyes are still closed. The little mermaid gave him a handsome kiss and brushed his long wet hair back. She thinks he looks like a marble statue in her small garden under the sea. She kissed him again, hoping that he would wake up.

Now she sees a land and a group of blue mountains spread out in front of her-the shining white snow on the top of the mountain looks like a sleeping swan. Along the coast is a beautiful green forest. In front of the forest is a church or monastery-she doesn't know its name, but it's a building.

There are some lemon trees and orange trees in the garden of the building, and tall palm trees are planted in front of the building. The sea forms a small bay here; The water is calm, but it is deep from here to the cliff, with a lot of fine sand.

She swam there with the beautiful prince. She put it on the beach and carefully put its head high in the warm sunshine.

The bell rang from the magnificent white building and many young women came out through the garden. The little mermaid swam far away in the sea, behind some big stones that appeared on the sea. She covered her hair and chest with a lot of sepiolite so that no one could see her little face.

She waited here to see who would take the side of the poor prince.

After a while, a young woman came along. She seemed surprised, but it didn't take long. So she brought a lot of people.

The little mermaid saw the prince waking up and smiling at the people around her. But he didn't smile at her: of course, he didn't know that she saved him.

She felt very sad. So when he was carried into the tall house, she sadly jumped into the sea and returned to her father's palace.

She used to be a quiet and considerate child, but now she has become more like this. Her sisters asked her what she saw when she first rose to the sea. But she couldn't say anything.

Many nights and mornings, she surfaced and swam to the place where she put the prince down. She saw that the fruit in the garden was ripe and picked; She saw the snow on the top of the mountain melt; But she can't see the prince. So every time she goes home, she always feels more painful. Her only comfort is sitting in her small garden, holding that beautiful marble statue similar to a prince in her hand. But she no longer takes care of her flowers. These flowers seem to be born in the wilderness and grow all over the ground. Their long diameter and the interweaving of leaves and branches make this place look very dark.

Finally, she couldn't stand it any longer. But as long as she tells one sister what she is thinking, the other sisters will know at once. But they only told the secret to a few close friends; No one knows except fishing with one or two other people. One of them knows who the prince is. She also saw the celebration held on the boat. She knows where the prince comes from and where his kingdom is.

"Come on, little sister!" The other princesses said. They put their hands on each other's shoulders and surfaced in a long row until they swam to a place they thought was the prince's palace. The palace is made of a glowing yellow stone, and there are many broad marble steps in it-one of which extends directly into the sea. The magnificent golden round tower extends from the top of the palace to the sky. Among the columns around the whole building, there are many marble statues. They look like living people. Through those high and bright windows, people can see some gorgeous halls with expensive silk curtains and tapestries and large pictures hanging on the walls-just looking at these things is very pleasant. In the center of the largest hall, there is a huge fountain spraying water, and the spray keeps shooting at the glass dome above, while the sun shines through the glass on the water surface and the plants in the big pool.

Now she knows where the prince lives. She spent several nights on the water there. She swam far to shore, farther than any other sisters dared to go. In fact, she even swam into the narrow river until she reached the magnificent marble balcony, whose long shadow was reflected on the water. She sat here and looked at the young prince, thinking that he was the only one in the moonlight.

Several nights, she saw him sitting on that gorgeous boat, and many flags fluttered with the music. She poked her head out of the green rushes. When the wind blows up her long silver mask, if anyone sees her, they will always think that it is a swan spreading its wings.

Some nights, fishermen go fishing with torches. She heard many compliments they said to the prince, and she became happy. She felt that when the waves washed him half to death, she came to save his life. She remembered his head lying tightly in her arms and she kissed him passionately.

But he knows nothing about these things. He won't dream of her. She gradually began to love human beings and began to look forward to living in them. She thinks their world is much bigger than hers.

Indeed, they can sail on the sea by boat and climb towering peaks. At the same time, all their land, including forests and fields, stretched out, so that she could not even see the end. She really wants to know a lot, but her sisters can't answer all her questions. So she had to ask her old grandmother.

Her old grandmother really knows the "upper world"-this is her proper name for the maritime country. "If humans don't drown," asked the little mermaid, "will they live forever? Will they die like those of us who live in the sea? "

"Exactly," said the old grandmother. "They will die, and their life span is even shorter than ours. We can live to be 300 years old, but when our life here is over, we will become bubbles on the water. We didn't even leave a grave for our loved ones. We have no immortal soul. We will never get life after death. We are like green grass, as long as we cut it, we will never be green again! On the contrary, human beings have souls; It lives forever, even if the body turns to dust, it is still alive. It rises from the clear sky to the shining stars! Just as we rise to the surface and see the world on earth, they rise to mysterious and gorgeous places that we will never see. "

"Why can't we have an immortal soul?" The little mermaid asked sadly. "As long as I can become a human being and enter the heaven, even if I live there for one day, I am willing to give up the hundreds of years I can live here."

"You must not have thought of that." The old grandmother said, "Compared with the humans above, our life here is much happier and better!" "

"Then I have to die and become a bubble floating on the water. I can't hear the music of the waves anymore, and I can't see the beautiful flowers and the bright red sun anymore! Can't I get an immortal soul? "

"no!" The old lady said. "Only when a person loves you and treats you as a kinder person than his parents, only when he puts all his thoughts and love on you, only when he asks the priest to put his right hand in your hand and promise to be loyal to you forever now and in the future, will his soul be transferred to you, and you will get a human happiness. He will give you a soul while keeping his own immortal. But this kind of thing will never happen! What we think beautiful at the bottom of the sea-your fishtail-is very ugly on land: they don't know what beauty and ugliness are. In their place, if a person wants to look beautiful, he must have two stupid pillars-they call them legs! "

The little mermaid sighed and looked at her fish tail sadly. "Let's have fun!" The old grandmother said, "In the 300 years we can live, let's dance and play games. This is a long time after all; We can also rest happily in the grave in the future. Let's dance in the palace tonight! "

This is really a magnificent sight that people will never see on land. In the spacious ballroom, the walls and ceiling are made of thick and transparent glass. Hundreds of grass green and pink shells stand in rows around; A blue flame burns in the shell, illuminating the whole ballroom and walls, thus illuminating the sea outside.

People can see countless schools of fish swimming towards this crystal palace. Some scales glow purple, while others are as bright as silver and gold. A broad torrent runs through the center of the ballroom, and men and women in the sea are singing and dancing beautifully on this torrent. People who live on land can't sing such beautiful songs.

Among these people, the little mermaid sings best. Everyone applauded for her; For a time, she felt very happy because she knew that only her voice was the most beautiful on land and in the sea.

But she immediately remembered the world above. She can't forget the beautiful prince, and she can't forget her own sadness, because she doesn't have an immortal soul like him. So she sneaked out of her father's palace; When the palace was full of songs and happiness, she sat sadly in her small garden.

Suddenly, she heard the horn coming from the water. She thought, "He must be sailing on it; He-I love him more than my parents, and he-I miss him all the time, and I want to hand over the happiness of my life to him. I will sacrifice everything to win him and an immortal soul.

Now, when my sisters are dancing in my father's palace, I will visit the witch of the sea. I've always been afraid of her, but maybe she can teach me some ways to help me. "

So the little mermaid walked out of the garden and went to a bubbling whirlpool-the witch lived behind it. She has never walked this road before. There are no flowers or seaweed here; Only the bare gray sand bottom extends to the whirlpool. The water here rotates like a noisy waterwheel, sweeping everything it touches to the bottom.

If you want to go to the area where witches live, you must go through this swirling vortex. There is still a long way to go, and she has to pass through a steaming mud field: the witch calls this place her mud field. There is a terrible forest behind the mud, and the witch's house is inside; All trees and shrubs are corals-something that is half plant and half animal. They look like multi-headed snakes coming out of the ground. Their branches are long and sticky arms, and their fingers are as soft as worms. They are shaking from the roots to the top, and they hold on to what they can catch in the sea and don't relax at all.

The little mermaid stopped in front of the forest and was very afraid. Her heart was beating with fear, and she almost wanted to turn back. But when she thought of the prince and the human soul, she had courage again.

She wrapped her long hair tightly around her head so that the coral couldn't catch her. She pressed her hands tightly to her chest and jumped forward among ugly corals like a fish jumping in the water. Coral just waved soft long arms and fingers behind it. She saw each of them holding something, holding it with countless small arms, like a solid iron ring. Those who drowned in the sea and sank to the bottom of the sea showed their bones in the arms of corals. Coral clutched the rudder and box tightly, grabbed the bones of land animals, and grabbed a little mermaid that they caught and strangled-this was the most terrible thing for her.

Now she came to a muddy clearing in the forest. Some big and fat water snakes are turning over, revealing their pale yellow ugly bellies. In the middle of this field, there is a house made of dead bones.

The sea witch sits here and feeds a toad with her mouth, just like we feed a golden finch with sugar. She called those ugly and fat water snakes her chickens and let them crawl around on its fat and soft chest.

"I know what you want." The sea witch said, "You are a stupid thing! But, my beautiful princess, I will let you achieve your goal, because this matter will give you a tragic ending. You want to get rid of the fish tail and give birth to two pillars that can walk like people. You want that prince to fall in love with you, so that you can get him and get an immortal soul. " At this time, the witch gave a disgusting laugh, and both the toad and the water snake rolled to the ground and crawled around.

"You are just in time," said the witch. "After the sun comes out tomorrow, I can't help you, I can only wait for a year. I can fry a medicine for you to drink. You took this medicine and swam to land before the sun came out. You sit on the beach and take this medicine, let your tail split in half and shrink into what humans call beautiful legs. But it's painful-like a sharp knife cutting into your body. Anyone who sees you will say that you are the most beautiful child they have ever seen. You will still keep your swimming pace. No dancer can dance as softly as you. But every step you take will make you feel like you are walking on a sharp knife, as if your blood is about to flow out. If you can stand the pain, I can help you. "

"I can bear it!" The little mermaid said in a trembling voice. Then, she remembered that the prince wanted an immortal soul.

"But remember," said the witch, "once you become a human, you can never become a mermaid again; You can never go into the water again and go back to your sister's or your father's palace. At the same time, if you can't get the prince's love, if you can't make him forget his parents for you and love you wholeheartedly, it's called grazing.