1、boldest

boldest發(fā)音

英：　　美：

boldest中文意思翻譯

大膽的

陡峭的

醒目的

無禮的（bold的最高級）

boldest雙語使用場景

1、The expansion drive would have represented one of the boldest investments undertaken by a Nigerian company.───這種擴張力原本體現(xiàn)了尼日利亞企業(yè)最大膽的投資之一。

2、The prosecution of Mr Ibori was the boldest.───對Ibori先生的起訴是很有膽量的。

3、Morgiana, while they were at supper, determined in her own mind to execute one of the boldest acts ever meditated.───莫吉安娜，當他們開始吃晚餐時，她在心里下決心要做一件已經(jīng)考慮好的大膽的行為。

4、It's been described by the American showbiz bible Variety as "the boldest and best of recent Israeli movies" .───美國娛樂界圣經(jīng)《Variety》稱其為“以色列近來最大膽最好的電影”。

5、"This was their boldest attack yet, in terms of international visibility and targeting an international operation, " Lewis tells TIME.───“這是他們最大膽的攻擊，但在國際知名度方面，一個國際化經(jīng)營為目標，”劉易斯告訴時間。

6、The school's boldest experiment lies ahead.───學(xué)校最大膽的實驗還在后面。

7、Railways reflect the boldest ambitions.───鐵路反映了勃勃雄心。

8、she was the boldest of them all, and she swam up a broad river that emptied itself into the sea.───她是她們中最大膽的一位，因此她游向一條流進海里的大河里去了。

9、Gauguin was one of the boldest, one of the freest artists around.───高更是當時最大膽、自由的藝術(shù)家之一。

boldest相似詞語短語

1、boldest departures───最大膽的離開

2、海的女兒(英文版)？

FAR out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clearas crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it: manychurch steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to thesurface of the water above. There dwell the Sea King and his subjects. We must not imaginethat 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.

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.

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 grand-daughters. They were six beautiful children; but the youngest was the

prettiest of them all; her skin was as clear and delicate as a rose-leaf, 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.

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.

　　 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.

　　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. 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 of 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.

"When you have reached your fifteenth year," said the grand-mother, "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."

　　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. 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. 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.

　　As soon as the eldest was fifteen, she was allowed to rise to the surface of the ocean.

　 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.

　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.

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 with

beautiful 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 before 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.

　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 wereplaying in every direction.　

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.

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.

　　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.

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."

At last she reached her fifteenth year. "Well, now, you are grown up," said the old dowager,

her grandmother; "so you 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.

"But they hurt me so," said the little mermaid.

"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. 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.

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 the

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.

"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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

　"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."

"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."

　　"You must not think of that," said the old woman; "we feel ourselves to be much happier

and much better off than human beings."

　　 "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?"

"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."

　　Then the little mermaid sighed, and looked sorrowfully at her fish's tail. "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."

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."

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 on 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 grasped 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.

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.

"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 to 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." And then

the witch laughed so loud and disgustingly, that the toad and the snakes fell to the ground,

and lay there wriggling about. "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."

"Yes, I will," said the little princess in a trembling voice, as she thought of the prince

and the immortal soul.

　　"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."

　　"I will do it," said the little mermaid, and she became pale as death.

"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."

　　"But if you take away my voice," said the little mermaid, "what is left for me?"

　　"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."

　　"It shall be," said the little mermaid.

　　Then the witch placed her cauldron on the fire, to prepare the magic draught.

"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. "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. "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 a

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.

So she passed quickly through the wood and the marsh, and 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.

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.