小美人鱼

名本

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.
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 own, 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.
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.” 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.
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.
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.
As the days passed, she loved the prince more fondly, and he loved her as he would love a little child, but it never came into his head to make her his wife; yet, unless he married her, she could not receive an immortal soul; and, on the morning after his marriage with another, she would dissolve into the foam of the sea.
“Do you not love me the best of them all?” the eyes of the little mermaid seemed to say, when he took her in his arms, and kissed her fair forehead.
“Yes, you are dear to me,” said the prince; “for you have the best heart, and you are the most devoted to me; you are like a young maiden whom I once saw, but whom I shall never meet again.
I was in a ship that was wrecked, and the 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 but 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.” “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.” 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.
“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.

名本

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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.” 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.
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.
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.
“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 the 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.
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.

名本

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.
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.
“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.
“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.” 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 her bride, and fanned the prince, and then mounted with the other children of the air to a rosy cloud that floated through the aether.
“After three hundred years, thus shall we float into the kingdom of heaven,” said she.
“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!”

名本

인어공주
Jellyfish
한스 크리스티안 안데르센

깊은 바다 속은 아름다운 수레국화의 꽃잎처럼 푸르고 투명한 유리처럼 맑습니다.
하지만 그 곳은 어떤 닻줄도 닿지 못하고, 바닥에서 물위까지 수많은 교회 종탑을 쌓아야 닿을 정도로 깊답니다.
그 깊은 곳에 바다의 종족들이 살고 있습니다.
그저 흰 모래밭만 있는 것은 아니랍니다.
그렇습니다.
그곳에는 이상한 나무와 식물들도 자라고 있습니다.
그 나무와 식물들의 줄기와 잎들은 너무나 부드러워 물살이 조금만 일어도 흔들린답니다.


  인어공주Veneridae
그 사이로 크고 작은 물고기들이 헤엄쳐 다니구요.
마치 새들이 하늘에서 공기 속을 날아다니는 것처럼 말이에요.
그리고 가장 깊은 곳에는 바다 임금님의 궁전이 있습니다.
궁전의 벽은 산호로 만들었고, 길고 뾰족한 창문들은 가장 맑은 호박으로 만들었습니다.
또 지붕은 물결이 흔들릴 때마다 저절로 열렸다 닫혔다 하는 조개 껍질들로 덮었답니다.
거기 조개껍질 하나하나 속에는 모두 빛나는 진주들이 놓여 있습니다.
정말 그런 궁전의 모습은 굉장하답니다.
거기 진주는 아무리 작은 것이라고 해도 임금님의 왕관을 멋지게 장식할 만큼 값진 것들이거든요.
바다 임금님은 혼자 살고 있답니다.
그의 늙은 어머니가 살림을 돌보고 있었습니다.
영리한 그 부인은 자신이 귀족이라는 사실을 자랑스럽게 여기는 그런 분이었습니다.
그녀는 꼬리에 열 두 개의 굴을 달고 다녔습니다.
다른 부인들은 여섯 개까지만 달 수 있도록 했지요.
그것만 빼고는 그녀는 다른 모든 사람들로부터 존경을 받았지요.
그녀는 나이 어린 바다의 공주들을 몹시 사랑했습니다.
여섯 명의 아름다운 아가씨들이지요.
그 중에서도 막내 공주가 가장 예뻤습니다.
피부는 장미빛처럼 깨끗하고 맑았으며, 두 눈은 깊은 바다처럼 파랗답니다.
하지만 다른 형제들처럼 발이 없고 물고기의 꼬리를 가지고 있었습니다.
공주들은 바다 속 궁전에서만 살았습니다.
공주들은 궁전의 커다란 수문에서 하루 종일 놀았습니다.
그 수문 벽에는 살아 있는 꽃들이 자라고 있었어요.
커다란 호박 창문이 열리면 거기로 물고기들이 헤엄쳐 들어오죠.
우리가 창을 열면 제비가 날아 들어오듯이 말이에요.
물고기들이 작은 공주들에게 헤엄쳐 오면 공주들은 먹이를 주기도 하고 물고기를 쓰다듬기도 했습니다.

名本

Русалочка
Jellyfish
Ганс Христиан Андерсен(1805-1875)

В открытом море вода совсем синяя, как лепестки самых красивых васильков, и прозрачная, как чистое стекло, — но зато и глубоко там! Ни один якорь не достанет до дна; на дно моря пришлось бы поставить одну на другую много-много колоколен, только тогда бы они могли высунуться из воды На самом дне живут русалки.


  РусалочкаVeneridae
Не подумайте, что там, на дне, один голый белый песок; нет, там растут невиданные деревья и цветы с такими гибкими стеблями и листьями, что они шевелятся, как живые, при малейшем движении воды.
Между ветвями шныряют рыбы большие и маленькие — точь-в-точь как у нас птицы.
В самом глубоком месте стоит коралловый дворец морского царя с высокими стрельчатыми окнами из чистейшего янтаря и с крышей из раковин, которые то открываются, то закрываются, смотря по тому, прилив или отлив, это очень красиво: ведь в каждой раковине лежит по жемчужине такой красоты, что любая из них украсила бы корону любой королевы.
Морской царь давным-давно овдовел, и хозяйством у него заправляла старуха мать, женщина умная, но очень гордая своим родом: она носила на хвосте целую дюжину устриц, тогда как вельможи имели право носить всего-навсего шесть.
Вообще же она была особа, достойная всяческих похвал, особенно потому, что очень любила своих маленьких внучек.
Все шестеро принцесс были прехорошенькими русалочками, но лучше всех была самая младшая, нежная и прозрачная, как лепесток розы, с глубокими синими, как море, глазами.
Но и у нее, как у других русалок, не было ножек, а только рыбий хвост.
День-деньской играли принцессы в огромных дворцовых залах, где по стенам росли живые цветы.
В открытые янтарные окна вплывали рыбки, как у нас, бывает, влетают ласточки; рыбки подплывали к маленьким принцессам, ели из их рук и позволяли себя гладить.
Возле дворца был большой сад; там росли огненно-красные и темно-голубые деревья с вечно колеблющимися ветвями и листьями: плоды их при этом сверкали, как золото, а цветы — как огоньки.
Земля была усыпана мелким голубоватым, как серное пламя, песком, и потому там на всем лежал какой-то удивительный голубоватый отблеск, — можно было подумать, что витаешь высоко-высоко в воздухе, причем небо у тебя не только над головой, но и под ногами.
В безветрие со дна можно было видеть солнце; оно казалось пурпуровым цветком, из чашечки которого лился свет.
У каждой принцессы был в саду свой уголок; тут они могли копать и сажать, что хотели.
Одна сделала себе цветочную грядку в виде кита, другой захотелось, чтобы ее грядка была похожа на русалочку, а самая младшая сделала себе грядку круглую, как солнце, и засадила ее ярко-красными цветами.
Странное дитя была эта русалочка; такая тихая, задумчивая...

名本

Die kleine Seejungfer

Jellyfish

Hans Christian Andersen

Weit draußen im Meere ist das Wasser so blau wie die Blütenblätter der schönsten Kornblume, und so klar wie das reinste Glas, aber es ist dort sehr tief, tiefer als irgendein Ankertau reicht, viele Kirchtürme müßten aufeinandergestellt werden, um vom Grunde bis über das Wasser zu reicher.

Dort unten wohnt das Meervolk.

Nun muß man nicht etwa glauben, daß dort nur der nackte, weiße Sandboden sei!

Die kleine Meerjungfrau mit dem MeerkönigVeneridae

Nein, da wachsen die wundersamsten Bäume und Pflanzen, deren Stiele und Blätter so geschmeidig sind, daß sie sich bei der geringsten Bewegung des Wassers rühren, als ob sie lebend wären.

Alle Fische, klein und groß, schlüpfen zwischen den Zweigen hindurch, gerade wie hier oben die Vögel in der Luft.

An der allertiefsten Stelle liegt des Meerkönigs Schloß.

Die Mauern sind aus Korallen und die langen spitzen Fenster von allerklarstem Bernstein.

Das Dach aber besteht aus Muschelschalen, die sich öffnen und schließen, je nachdem das Wasser strömt; das sieht prächtig aus, denn in jeder liegen strahlende Perlen, eine einzige davon würde der Stolz einer Königskrone sein.

Der Meerkönig dort unten war seit vielen Jahren Witwer, aber seine alte Mutter besorgte sein Haus.

Sie war eine kluge Frau, doch recht stolz auf ihren Adel deshalb trug sie zwölf Austern auf dem Schwanze während die anderen Vornehmen nur sechs tragen durften.

– Sonst verdiente sie großes Lob, besonders weil sie die kleinen Meerprinzessinnen, ihre Enkelinnen, so liebte.

Das waren sechs prächtige Kinder, aber die jüngste war die schönste von allen.

Ihre Haut war so klar und zart wie ein Rosenblatt, ihre Augen so blau wie die tiefste See, aber ebenso wie alle die anderen hatte sie keine Füße.

Ihr Körper endete in einem Fischschwanz.

Den lieben langen Tag durften sie unten im Schlosse, wo lebendige Blumen aus den Wänden wuchsen, spielen.

Die großen Bernsteinfenster wurden aufgemacht, und dann schwammen die Fische zu ihnen herein, gerade wie bei uns die Schwalben hereinfliegen wenn wir die Fenster aufmachen.

Aber die Fische schwammen geradeswegs auf die kleinen Prinzessinnen zu, fraßen aus ihren Händen und ließen sich streicheln.

Draußen vor dem Schlosse war ein großer Garten mit feuerroten und dunkelblauen Bäumen, die Früchte strahlten wie Gold und die Blumen wie brennendes Feuer, indem sie fortwährend Stengel und Blätter bewegten.

Der Boden selbst war der feinste Sand aber blau wie Schwefelflamme.

über dem Ganzen dort unten lag ein seltsamer blauer Schein, man hätte eher glauben mögen, daß man hoch oben in der Luft stände und nur Himmel über und unter sich sähe, als daß man auf dem Meeresgrunde sei.

Bei Windstille konnte man die Sonne sehen, sie erschien wie eine Purpurblume aus deren Kelche alles Licht strömte.

Jede der kleinen Prinzessinnen hatte ihren kleinen Fleck im Garten, wo sie graben und pflanzen konnte, ganz wie sie wollte.

Eine gab ihrem Blumenbeet die Gestalt eines Walfisches, einer anderen erschien es hübscher, daß das ihre einem Meerweiblein glich, aber die Jüngste machte ihr Beet ganz rund wie die Sonne und hatte nur Blumen darauf, die so rot wie diese leuchteten.

Sie war ein seltsames Kind, still und nachdenklich, und während die anderen Schwestern sich mit den merkwürdigsten Sachen, die aus gestrandeten Schiffen genommen waren, putzten, wollte sie nur, außer ihren rosenroten Blumen, die der Sonne dort oben glichen, ein schönes Marmorbild haben.

Es war ein herrlicher Knabe, aus weißem, klarem Stein gehauen, der beim Stranden auf den Meeresboden gesunken war.

Sie pflanzte neben dem Bilde eine rosenrote Trauerweide, die prächtig wuchs und mit ihren frischen Zweigen darüber hing bis auf den blauen Sandboden hinab, wo der Schatten sich violett färbte und gleich den Zweigen in sanfter Bewegung war; es sah aus, als ob die Spitze und die Wurzeln miteinander spielten, als ob sie sich küssen wollten.

Sie kannte keine größere Freude, als von der Menschenwelt über ihr zu hören, die alte Großmutter mußte ihr alles erzählen, was sie wußte von den Schiffen und Städten, Menschen und Tieren.

Ganz besonders wunderbar und herrlich erschien es ihr, daß oben auf der Erde die Blumen dufteten, denn das taten sie auf dem Meeresboden nicht, und daß die Wälder grün waren und die Fische, die man dort auf den Zweigen sieht, so laut und lieblich singen konnten, daß es eine Lust war.

Es waren die kleinen Vögel, die die Grobmutter Fische nannte, denn sonst hätten es die Kinder nicht verstehen können, da sie nie einen Vogel gesehen hatten.

“Wenn Ihr Euer fünfzehntes Jahr erreicht habt,” sagte die Grobmutter, “so werdet Ihr Erlaubnis bekommen, aus dem Meere emporzutauchen, im Mondschein auf den Klippen zu sitzen und die großen Schiffe vorbeisegeln zu sehen, auch die Wälder und Städte sollt Ihr dann sehen!” Im nächsten Jahre wurde die eine von den Schwestern fünfzehn Jahre, aber die anderen, die eine war immer ein Jahr jünger als die andere, die Jüngste mußte also noch fünf lange Jahre warten, bevor sie vom Meeresgrund aufsteigen und sehen konnte, wie es bei uns aussieht.

Aber die eine versprach der anderen zu erzählen, was sie gesehen und am ersten Tage am schönsten gefunden hätte denn ihre Grobmutter erzählte ihnen nicht genug, da war noch so vieles, worüber sie Bescheid wissen mußten.

Keine war so sehnsuchtsvoll, wie die Jüngste, gerade sie, die am längsten Zeit zu warten hatte und die so still und gedankenvoll war.

Manche Nacht stand sie am offenen Fenster und sah hinauf durch das dunkelblaue Wasser, wo die Fische mit ihren Flossen und Schwänzen einherruderten.

Mond und Sterne konnte sie sehen; zwar leuchteten sie nur ganz bleich, aber durch das Wasser sahen sie viel größer aus, als für unsere Augen; glitt es dann gleich einer schwarzen Wolke unter ihnen dahin, so wußte sie, daß es entweder ein Walfisch war, der über ihr schwamm, oder auch ein Schiff mit vielen Menschen; die dachten gewiß nicht daran, daß eine liebliche kleine Seejungfer unten stand und ihre weißen Hände gegen den Kiel emporstrecken.

Nun war die älteste Prinzessin fünfzehn Jahre alt und durfte zur Meeresoberfläche aufsteigen.