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"Who
are you? How did you come here?" the prince asked her. She looked
at him with her blue eyes, but she couldn't speak. The prince took
her by the hand into the house. When she walked, her feet gave her
great pain. Everyone looked at the beautiful way she walked. But no
one knew about the pain that it gave her.
When she went into the prince's house, rich and beautiful clothes
were brought to her. She was lovelier than all the people who lived
there. But she could not speak or sing. This made her sad. She knew
that the prince loved to hear singing.
But the young prince said to her, "You shall always be with
me."
And he told his servants to bring her some more clothes. Then she
went riding through the woods with him. She went up lovely hills with
him. Her feet gave her great pain all the time, but she never told
anyone. At night she put her feet in the cold water of the sea near
the prince's house. Then she thought about those whom she loved down
in the sea.
One night, as she was putting her feet in the water, her sisters
came. They were very sad.
"Everyone in our father's house is sad because you have gone
away, " they told her.
From this time the five sisters came every night. Once they brought
their old grandmother. Another time they brought their father, the
great Sea King. But there two old people did not go near the land.
So they could not speak to the little princess.
The young prince loved the sea princess more and more every day.
"You are very beautiful," her said. But he never thought
about making her his wife. But she must be his wife or she would die.
"Do
you not love me more than all others?" her eyes asked the prince
as he kissed her.
"Yes,
I do," said the prince. "I love you more than any other.
You are so kind and so good, and you love me so much. You are so like
a young girl whom I once saw. I was on a ship which became filled
with water. The sea threw me up on the land near a large white house.
There were many girls in the house, and the youngest of them found
me. She saved me from dying. I saw her just once. But I shall always
remember her."
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王子问她：“你是谁？”你怎么到这里来的？“
她用天蓝色的眼睛望着他，因为她现在已经不能说话
了。王子挽着她的手，把她领进宫殿里去。她每走一
步路，两脚都十分疼痛。人人都注意她那优美的步态
，可谁也不知道每走一步给她带的苦楚。
她住进王子的宫殿后，穿上了华丽珍贵的衣服。
她是宫里最美的女人。但她不能说话，也不能唱歌。
这使她感到很悲哀。她知道，王子是喜欢听唱歌的。
年轻的王子对她说：“今后你要永远和我在一起
。”他叫仆人给她再做些衣服，然后和她骑马同行，
穿过树林，爬上秀丽的群山。她的脚一直非常疼痛，
而她从来没有告诉过谁。在夜里，她把脚放在王子宫
殿附近冰冷的海水里。这时她想起了海底那些她所爱
的人们。
有一天夜里，当她把脚放到海水里的时候，她的
姐姐们来了。她们都很忧愁。
她们告诉她说：“我们父亲宫殿里的每一个人都
因为你的出走而难过。”
从此以后，她的五个姐姐每天晚上都来看她。有
一回她们还把老祖母带来；另一回，又把她们的父亲
——伟大的海王带来。但这两位老人不能游近陆地，
所以你们不能跟小公主讲话。
年轻的王子一天比一天更爱公主了。“你非常美
丽，”他说。但是他从来没有想过要娶她为妻。然而
，她必须做他的妻子，否则她就会死去。
“在所有的人当中，你最爱我吗？”当王子吻她
的时候，她的眼睛似乎这样问。
“是的，我爱你，”王子说，“我最爱的就是你
。你是多么善良，多么美好。你深情地爱着我。你很
象我曾见过一次面的一个年轻姑娘。有一回，我乘坐
一艘船，水灌满了船舱，沉没了。海水把我抛到陆地
上，就在一座高大的白色建筑物附近。那头有不少姑
娘，其中一个最年轻的发现了我。她救了我的命。我
只见过她一次，可是我永远忘不了她。”
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