小美人鱼 The Little Mermaid
Chapter One
海底世界 Under The Sea
Far out in the ocean the water is as blue as the petals of the loveliest cornflower, and as clear as the purest glass. But it is very deep too. It is down there that the sea folk live. From the deepest spot in the ocean rises the palace of the sea king.
在遥远的海洋中，海水像最可爱的矢车菊的花瓣一样蓝，像最纯净的玻璃一样清澈。但它也很深。海底的人们就住在那里。海王的宫殿从海洋的最深处升起。
The sea king down there had been a widower for years, and his old mother kept house for him. She was a clever woman, but very proud of her noble birth. Except for this she was an altogether praiseworthy person, particularly so because she was extremely fond of her granddaughters, the little sea princesses.
海王多年来一直是一个鳏夫，他的老母亲为他保留了房子。她是一个聪明的女人，但为自己高贵的出身感到骄傲。除此之外，她是一个值得称赞的人，尤其是因为她非常喜欢她的孙女们，小公主们。
They were six lovely girls, but the youngest was the most beautiful of them all. Her skin was as soft and tender as a rose petal, and her eyes were as blue as the deep sea, but like all the others she had no feet. Her body ended in a fish tail.
她们是六个可爱的女孩，但最小的是她们中最漂亮的。她的皮肤像玫瑰花瓣一样柔软，她的眼睛像深海一样蓝，但和其他人一样，她没有脚。她的身体最后变成了一条鱼尾。
The whole day long they used to play in the palace, down in the great halls where live flowers grew on the walls. Each little princess had her own small garden plot, where she could dig and plant whatever she liked. The youngest of them made flower bed as round as the sun. She was an unusual child, quiet and wistful.
他们整天都在宫殿里玩耍，在墙上种满鲜花的大厅里玩耍。每个小公主都有自己的小花园，在那里她可以挖掘和种植她喜欢的任何东西。他们中最小的一个让她的小花坛像太阳一样圆。她是一个不同寻常的孩子，安静而渴望。
Nothing gave the youngest princess such pleasure as to hear about the world of human beings up above them. Her old grandmother had to tell her all she knew about ships and cities, and of people and animals.
没有什么比听到他们上面的人类世界更让最年轻的公主高兴的了。她的老祖母不得不告诉她她所知道的关于船只、城市、人和动物的一切。
"When you get to be fifteen," her grandmother said, "you will be allowed to rise up out of the ocean and sit on the rocks in the moonlight, to watch the great ships sailing by. You will see woods and towns, too."
“当你十五岁的时候，”她的祖母说，“你将被允许从海洋中升起，在月光下坐在岩石上，看着大船驶过。你也会看到树林和城镇。”
The eldest princess had her fifteenth birthday, so now she received permission to rise up out of the water. When she got back she had a hundred things to tell her sisters about, but the most marvelous thing of all, she said, was to lie on a sand bar in the moonlight, when the sea was calm, and to gaze at the large city on the shore, where the lights twinkled like hundreds of stars.
大公主十五岁生日了，所以现在她得到了从水里爬起来的许可。当她回来的时候，她有一百件事要告诉她的姐妹们，但她说，最奇妙的事情是，在月光下，当大海平静的时候，躺在沙滩上，凝视着岸边的大城市，那里的灯光像数百颗星星一样闪烁。
The next year, her second sister had permission to rise up to the surface and swim wherever she pleased. She came up just at sunset, and she said that this spectacle was the most marvelous sight she had ever seen. The heavens had a golden glow, and as for the clouds she could not find words to describe their beauty.
第二年，她的二姐获准浮出水面，游到她喜欢的任何地方。她在日落时分来到这里，她说这是她所见过的最壮观的景象。天空泛着金色的光芒，至于云彩，她无法用语言来形容它们的美丽。
The following year, her third sister ascended, and as she was the boldest of them all she swam up a broad river that flowed into the ocean. She saw gloriously green, vine-colored hills. Palaces and manor houses could be glimpsed through the splendid woods.
下一年，她的第三个姐姐登上了船，因为她是所有人中最大胆的，所以她游上了一条流入大海的宽阔河流。她看到了郁郁葱葱的藤蔓色山丘。透过壮丽的树林，可以瞥见宫殿和庄园。
The fourth sister was not so venturesome. She stayed far out among the rough waves, which she said was a marvelous place. You could see all around you for miles and miles, and the heavens up above you were like a vast dome of glass. Each of the sisters took delight in the lovely new sights when she first rose up to the surface of the sea.
第四个姐姐就没那么冒险了。她呆在波涛汹涌的远处，她说这是一个奇妙的地方。你可以看到你周围的一切，绵延数英里，你头顶的天空就像一个巨大的玻璃圆顶。当她们第一次浮上海面时，每个姐妹都为这些美丽的新景象感到高兴。
Chapter Two
拯救王子 Rescuing The Prince
The sun had just gone down when her head rose above the surface. A great three-master lay in view with only one of all its sails set, for there was not even the whisper of a breeze, and the sailors idled about in the rigging and on the yards.
太阳刚落山，她的头就露出水面。一位伟大的三桅帆船只挂了一张帆，就躺在眼前，因为连微风的飒飒声都没有，水手们在索具和院子里闲荡着。
The little mermaid swam right up to the window of the main cabin, and each time she rose with the swell she could peep in through the clear glass panes at the crowd of brilliantly dressed people within. The handsomest of them all was a young Prince with big dark eyes. He could not be more than sixteen years old.
小美人鱼一直游到主舱的窗户前，每次她随着巨浪而上升时，她都能透过透明的玻璃窗窥视里面一群衣着光鲜的人。他们中最英俊的是一个年轻的王子，有一双乌黑的大眼睛。他不可能超过十六岁。
It was his birthday and that was the reason for all the celebration. Oh, how handsome the young Prince was! He laughed, and he smiled and shook people by the hand, while the music rang out in the perfect evening. It got very late, but the little mermaid could not take her eyes off the ship and the handsome Prince.
那天是他的生日，这就是所有庆祝活动的原因。噢，年轻的王子多么英俊啊！他笑了，笑了，握着人们的手，音乐在完美的夜晚响起。时间已经很晚了，但小美人鱼目不转睛地看着船和英俊的王子。
Now the ship began to sail. Canvas after canvas was spread in the wind, the waves rose high, great clouds gathered, and lightning flashed in the distance. Ah, they were in for a terrible storm, and the mariners made haste to reef the sails. The tall ship pitched and rolled as it sped through the angry sea.
现在船开始航行了。一幅又一幅的画布在风中展开，波浪高高升起，乌云密布，远处闪电闪烁。啊，他们将要遭遇一场可怕的风暴，水手们急忙把帆弄皱。那艘高高的船在汹涌的大海中疾驶，颠簸翻滚。
She dived through the waves and rode their crests, until at length she reached the young Prince, who was no longer able to swim in that raging sea. His arms and legs were exhausted, his beautiful eyes were closing, and he would have died if the little mermaid had not come to help him.
她在浪尖上乘风破浪，终于找到了年轻的王子。他无法在汹涌的大海中游泳。他的胳膊和腿都筋疲力尽了，他美丽的眼睛闭上了，如果不是小美人鱼来帮助他，他早就死了。
She held his head above water, and let the waves take them wherever the waves went. At daybreak, when the storm was over, not a trace of the ship was in view. The sun rose out of the waters, red and bright, and its beams seemed to bring the glow of life back to the cheeks of the Prince, but his eyes remained closed.
她把他的头举过水面，让海浪把他们带到波浪去的任何地方。天亮时，风暴结束了，看不到那艘船的踪迹。太阳从水中升起，又红又亮，它的光束似乎把生命的光芒带回了王子的脸颊，但他的眼睛仍然闭着。
She saw down by the shore were splendid green woods, and in the foreground stood a church. Here the sea formed a little harbor, quite calm and very deep. She swam there with the handsome Prince, and stretched him out on the sand, taking special care to pillow his head up high in the warm sunlight.
海岸边是美丽的绿色树林，前景中矗立着一座教堂。在这里，大海形成了一个小小的港湾，平静而深邃。她和英俊的王子一起游到那里，把他伸到沙滩上，特别小心地把他的头枕在温暖的阳光下。
The bells began to ring in the great white building, and a number of young girls came out into the garden. The little mermaid swam away behind some tall rocks that stuck out of the water. She covered her hair and her shoulders with foam so that no one could see her tiny face, and then she watched to see who would find the poor Prince.
白色的大楼里开始响起钟声，许多年轻的女孩走进花园。小美人鱼在伸出水面的一些高高的岩石后面游走了。她用泡沫盖住头发和肩膀，这样就没有人能看到她的小脸，然后她看着谁会找到可怜的王子。
In a little while one of the young girls came upon him. She seemed frightened, but only for a minute; then she called more people. The mermaid watched the Prince regain consciousness, and smile at everyone around him. But he did not smile at her, for he did not even know that she had saved him.
过了一会儿，其中一个年轻女孩向他走来。她看起来很害怕，但只害怕了一分钟；然后她叫来更多的人。美人鱼看着王子恢复了意识，并对周围的每一个人微笑。但他没有对她微笑，因为他甚至不知道她救了他。
She felt very unhappy, and when they led him away to the big building she dived sadly down into the water and returned to her father's palace. She had always been quiet and wistful, and now she became much more so. Her sisters asked her what she had seen on her first visit up to the surface, but she would not tell them a thing.
她感到非常不高兴，当他们把他带到那栋大楼时，她悲伤地跳入水中，回到了她父亲的宫殿。她的姐姐们问她第一次浮出水面时看到了什么，但她什么也不说。
Chapter Three
无尽思念 Endless Missing
Many evenings and many mornings she revisited the spot where she had left the Prince. She saw the fruit in the garden ripened and harvested, and she saw the snow on the high mountain melted away, but she did not see the Prince, so each time she came home sadder than she had left.
许多个晚上和许多个早晨，她都重访了她离开王子的地方。她看到花园里的水果成熟了，收割了，她看到高山上的雪融化了，但她没有看到王子，所以每次她回家都比离开时更难过。
Finally she couldn't bear it any longer. She told her secret to one of her sisters. Immediately all the other sisters heard about it. No one else knew, except a few more mermaids who told no one - except their most intimate friends. One of these friends knew who the Prince was. She too had seen the birthday celebration on the ship.
最后她再也忍受不了了。她把自己的秘密告诉了她的一个姐姐。其他的姐妹立刻都听说了，除了几个人鱼之外，其他人都不知道，除了她们最亲密的朋友，谁也不告诉任何人。其中一个朋友知道王子是谁。她也看到了船上的生日庆祝活动。
She knew where he came from and where his kingdom was. "Come, little sister!" said the other princesses. Arm in arm, they rose from the water in a long row, right in front of where they knew the Prince's palace stood. It was built of pale, glistening, golden stone with great marble staircases, one of which led down to the sea.
她知道他来自哪里，他的王国在哪里。“来吧，小妹妹！”其他公主说。他们手挽手，排成一长排从水中升起，就在他们所知道的王子宫殿的正前方。它是用苍白、闪闪发光的金色石头建造的，有巨大的大理石楼梯，其中一个通向大海。
Now that she knew where he lived, many an evening and many a night she spent there in the sea. She swam much closer to shore than any of her sisters would dare venture, and she even went far up a narrow stream, under the splendid marble balcony that cast its long shadow in the water.
现在她知道了他住在哪里，在海里度过了很多个晚上。她游得比她的任何姐妹都不敢冒险的要近得多，她甚至走上了一条狭窄的小溪，在华丽的大理石阳台下，阳台在水中投下了长长的影子。
Here she used to sit and watch the young Prince when he thought himself quite alone in the bright moonlight. On many evenings she saw him sail out in his fine boat, with music playing and flags a-flutter. She would peep out through the green rushes, and if the wind blew her long silver veil, anyone who saw it mistook it for a swan spreading its wings.
当年轻的王子在明亮的月光下独自一人时，她常常坐在这里看着他。许多晚上，她都看到他开着他那艘漂亮的船，音乐响起，旗帜飘扬。她会透过绿色的灯心草向外窥视，如果风吹过她的银色长面纱，任何看到它的人都会误以为它是一只展开翅膀的天鹅。
Increasingly she grew to like human beings, and more and more she longed to live among them. Their world seemed so much wider than her own, for they could skim over the sea in ships, and mount up into the lofty peaks high over the clouds, and their lands stretched out in woods and fields farther than the eye could see. There was so much she wanted to know.
她越来越喜欢人类，越来越渴望与人类生活在一起。他们的世界似乎比她自己的世界广阔得多，因为他们可以乘船掠过大海，登上云端的高峰，他们的土地延伸到眼睛看不见的树林和田野中。她想知道的太多了。
Her sisters could not answer all her questions, so she asked her old grandmother, who knew about the "upper world," which was what she said was the right name for the countries above the sea. "If men aren't drowned," the little mermaid asked, "do they live on forever? Don't they die, as we do down here in the sea?"
她的姐妹们无法回答她所有的问题，所以她问了她的老祖母，她知道“上层世界”，她说这是海上国家的正确名称。“如果男人们没有淹死，”小美人鱼问道，“他们会永远活下去吗？他们不会像我们在海里那样死去吗？”
"Yes," the old lady said, "they too must die, and their lifetimes are even shorter than ours. We can live to be three hundred years old, but when we perish we turn into mere foam on the sea, and haven't even a grave down here among our dear ones. We have no immortal soul, no life hereafter. We are like the green seaweed - once cut down, it never grows again.
“是的，”老太太说，“他们也必须死去，他们的寿命甚至比我们的还短。我们可以活到三百岁，但当我们灭亡时，我们变成了海上的泡沫，我们亲爱的人在这里甚至没有坟墓。我们没有不朽的灵魂，以后也没有生命。我们就像绿色的海藻——一旦被砍伐，它就再也不会生长了。”。
Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, long after their bodies have turned to clay. It rises through thin air, up to the shining stars. Just as we rise through the water to see the lands on earth, so men rise up to beautiful places unknown, which we shall never see."
恰恰相反，人类有一个灵魂，在他们的身体变成粘土很久之后，它就会永生。它在稀薄的空气中升起，直到闪闪发光的星星。正如我们从水中升起去看地球上的土地一样，人类也会上升到我们永远看不到的美丽的未知之地。"
"Why weren't we given an immortal soul?" the little mermaid sadly asked. "I would gladly give up my three hundred years if I could be a human being only for a day, and later share in that heavenly realm." "You must not think about that," said the old lady. "We fare much more happily and are much better off than the folk up there."
“为什么我们没有得到一个不朽的灵魂？”小美人鱼悲伤地问道。“我愿意放弃我的三百年，如果我能成为一个人，只做一天，以后分享到天堂的境界。”“你千万别想，”老太太说。“我们过得更快乐，生活也比那里的人好得多。”
The little mermaid sighed and looked unhappily at her fish tail. She could not forget the charming Prince, nor her sorrow that she did not have an immortal soul like his. Then she heard a bugle call through the water, and she thought, "That must mean he is sailing up there, he whom I love more than my father or mother, he of whom I am always thinking, and in whose hands I would so willingly trust my lifelong happiness.
小美人鱼叹了一口气，不高兴地看着她的鱼尾。她无法忘记那个迷人的王子，也无法忘记她没有像他那样不朽的灵魂的悲伤。然后，她听到水中传来号角声，她想：“这一定意味着他正在向上航行，我爱他胜过爱我的父亲或母亲，我一直在想念他，我愿意把我一生的幸福托付在他的手中。”
"I dare do anything to win him and to gain an immortal soul. While my sisters are dancing here, in my father's palace, I shall visit the sea witch of whom I have always been so afraid. Perhaps she will be able to advise me and help me." The little mermaid set out from her garden toward the whirlpools that raged in front of the witch's dwelling.
“我敢做任何事来赢得他，获得不朽的灵魂。当我的姐妹们在这里跳舞的时候，在我父亲的宫殿里，我将去拜访我一直很害怕的海巫婆。也许她能给我建议和帮助我。”小美人鱼从花园里出发，朝着女巫住所前肆虐的漩涡走去。
Chapter Four
海巫交易 Exchanging With Sea Witch
Between these tumultuous whirlpools she had to thread her way to reach the witch's waters. The little mermaid was terrified. Her heart thumped with fear and she nearly turned back, but then she remembered the Prince and the souls that men have, and she summoned her courage. In the middle of this clearing was a house built of the bones of shipwrecked men, and there sat the sea witch.
在这些汹涌的漩涡之间，她不得不穿过自己的路到达女巫的水域。小美人鱼吓坏了。她的心因恐惧而砰砰作响，几乎要回头了，但后来她想起了王子和男人们的灵魂，她鼓起了勇气。在这片空地中间有一座用海难男子的骨头建造的房子，海巫婆坐在那里。
"I know exactly what you want," said the sea witch. "It is very foolish of you, but just the same you shall have your way, for it will bring you to grief, my proud princess. You want to get rid of your fish tail and have two props instead, so that you can walk about like a human creature, and have the young Prince fall in love with you, and win him and an immortal soul besides."
“我完全知道你想要什么，”海巫婆说。“你真是太傻了，但你也要我行我素，因为这会让你悲伤的，我骄傲的公主。你想去掉你的鱼尾，换上两个道具，这样你就可以像人类一样四处走动，让年轻的王子爱上你，并赢得他和一个不朽的灵魂。”
"You are just in time," said the witch. "After the sun comes up tomorrow, a whole year would have to go by before I could be of any help to you. You shall compound you a draught, and before sunrise you must swim to the shore with it, seat yourself on dry land, and drink the draught down. Then your tail will divide and shrink until it becomes what the people on earth call a pair of shapely legs. But it will hurt; it will feel as if a sharp sword slashed through you.
“你来得正是时候，”巫婆说。“明天太阳出来后，我要花整整一年的时间才能帮助你。你要给自己灌一杯水，在日出之前，你必须带着它游到岸边，坐在旱地上，把水喝下去。然后你的尾巴会分裂和收缩，直到它变成地球上人们所说的一双匀称的腿。但这会很痛苦；感觉就像一把锋利的剑划过你。”
Everyone who sees you will say that you are the most graceful human being they have ever laid eyes on, for you will keep your gliding movement and no dancer will be able to tread as lightly as you. But every step you take will feel as if you were treading upon knife blades so sharp that blood must flow. I am willing to help you, but are you willing to suffer all this?"
“每个看到你的人都会说，你是他们见过的最优雅的人，因为你会保持你的滑翔运动，没有哪个舞者能像你一样轻盈地踩着。但你走的每一步都会感觉像是踩在锋利的刀刃上，鲜血直流。我愿意帮助你，但你愿意承受这一切吗？”
"Yes," the little mermaid said in a trembling voice, as she thought of the Prince and of gaining a human soul. "Remember!" said the witch. "Once you have taken a human form, you can never be a mermaid again. You can never come back through the waters to your sisters, or to your father's palace.
“是的，”小美人鱼颤抖着说，她想到了王子和获得人类灵魂。“记住！”巫婆说。“一旦你变成了人形，你就再也不能成为美人鱼了。你再也不能穿过水回到你的姐妹身边，或者回到你父亲的宫殿。”
And if you do not win the love of the Prince so completely that for your sake he forgets his father and mother, cleaves to you with his every thought and his whole heart, and lets the priest join your hands in marriage, then you will win no immortal soul. If he marries someone else, your heart will break on the very next morning, and you will become foam of the sea."
“如果你没有完全赢得王子的爱，以至于他为了你忘记了他的父亲和母亲，全心全意地爱着你，让牧师和你结婚，那么你就不会赢得不朽的灵魂。如果他娶了别人，第二天早上你的心就会碎，你就会变成大海的泡沫。”
"I shall take that risk," said the little mermaid, but she turned as pale as death. "Also, you will have to pay me," said the witch, "and it is no trifling price that I'm asking. You have the sweetest voice of anyone down here at the bottom of the sea, and while I don't doubt that you would like to captivate the Prince with it, you must give this voice to me.
“我愿意冒这个险，”小美人鱼说，但她脸色苍白得像死了一样。“而且，你还得付钱给我，”巫婆说，“我所要求的可不是一个微不足道的代价。你的声音在海底的任何人中都是最甜美的，虽然我毫不怀疑你想用它来迷住王子，但你必须把这个声音给我。”
"But if you take my voice," said the little mermaid, "what will be left to me?" "Your lovely form," the witch told her, "your gliding movements, and your eloquent eyes. With these you can easily enchant a human heart. Well, have you lost your courage? Stick out your little tongue and I shall cut it off. I'll have my price, and you shall have the potent draught." "Go ahead," said the little mermaid.
“但是，如果你取走我的嗓音，”小美人鱼说，“我还剩下什么？”“你那可爱的形体，”巫婆对她说，“你那滑翔的动作，还有你那传神的眼睛。有了这些，你可以很容易地迷住一个人的心。好吧，你失去勇气了吗？伸出你的小舌头，我就把它剪掉。我要我的价钱，你就要强效的药。”“就这么做吧”小美人鱼说。
"There's your draught," said the witch. And she cut off the tongue of the little mermaid, who now was dumb and could neither sing nor talk. It glittered in the little mermaid's hand as if it were a shining star. So she soon traversed the forest, the marsh, and the place of raging whirlpools. She could see her father's palace.
“这是你的药，”巫婆说。她割下了小美人鱼的舌头，小美人鱼现在是个哑巴，既不会唱歌也不会说话。它在小美人鱼的手里闪闪发光，好像是一颗闪闪发光的星星。于是她很快就穿过了森林、沼泽和漩涡肆虐的地方。她可以看到她父亲的宫殿。
Doubtless everyone in the palace was asleep, but she dared not go near them, now that she was stricken dumb and was leaving her home forever. Her heart felt as if it would break with grief. She tip-toed into the garden, took one flower from each of her sisters' little plots, blew a thousand kisses toward the palace, and then mounted up through the dark blue sea.
毫无疑问，宫殿里的每个人都睡着了，但她不敢靠近灯，因为她已经哑了，要永远离开家了。她的心好像要因悲伤而破碎。她踮起脚尖走进花园，从姐姐们的小花园里各取一朵花，向宫殿飞吻了一千次，然后穿过深蓝色的大海。
The sun had not yet risen when she saw the Prince's palace. As she climbed his splendid marble staircase, the moon was shining clear. The little mermaid swallowed the bitter, fiery draught, and it was as if a two-edged sword struck through her frail body. She swooned away, and lay there as if she were dead.
当她看到王子的宫殿时，太阳还没有升起。当她爬上他那华丽的大理石楼梯时，明月高照。小美人鱼吞下了那股苦涩而炽热的气流，仿佛一把双刃剑刺穿了她虚弱的身体。她昏倒了，躺在那里，好像死了一样。
Chapter Five
变成人类 Becoming A Human
When the sun rose over the sea she awoke and felt a flash of pain, but directly in front of her stood the handsome young Prince, gazing at her with his coal-black eyes. Lowering her gaze, she saw that her fish tail was gone, and that she had the loveliest pair of white legs any young maid could hope to have.
当太阳从海上升起时，她醒了，感到一阵疼痛，但就在她正前方，站着英俊的年轻王子，用他乌黑的眼睛凝视着她。她低下头，看到自己的鱼尾已经不见了，她有一双年轻女仆所希望拥有的最可爱的白腿。
But she was naked, so she clothed herself in her own long hair. The Prince asked who she was, and how she came to be there. Her deep blue eyes looked at him tenderly but very sadly, for she could not speak. Then he took her hand and led her into his palace.
但她是裸体的，所以她穿上了自己的长发。王子问她是谁，她是怎么来到那里的。她那双深蓝色的眼睛温柔而悲伤地看着他，因为她说不出话来。然后他拉着她的手，把她带进了他的宫殿。
Every footstep felt as if she were walking on the blades and points of sharp knives, just as the witch had foretold, but she gladly endured it. She moved as lightly as a bubble as she walked beside the Prince. He and all who saw her marveled at the grace of her gliding walk.
每一个脚步都像是踩在尖刀的刀刃上，正如女巫所预言的那样，但她很乐意忍受。她走在王子身边时，动作像气泡一样轻盈。他和所有看到她的人都惊叹于她滑翔行走的优雅。
Once clad in the rich silk and muslin garments that were provided for her, she was the loveliest person in all the palace, though she was dumb and could neither sing nor speak. Beautiful slaves, attired in silk and cloth of gold, came to sing before the Prince and his royal parents.
她曾经穿着为她提供的华丽的丝绸和细布衣服，是整个宫殿里最可爱的人，尽管她很笨，既不会唱歌也不会说话。身着丝绸和金布的美丽奴隶来到王子和他的皇室父母面前唱歌。
Graceful slaves now began to dance to the most wonderful music. Then the little mermaid lifted her shapely white arms, rose up on the tips of her toes, and skimmed over the floor. No one had ever danced so well. Each movement set off her beauty to better and better advantage, and her eyes spoke more directly to the heart than any of the singing slaves could do.
优雅的奴隶们现在开始随着最美妙的音乐翩翩起舞。然后，小美人鱼举起她那匀称的白色手臂，踮起脚尖，掠过地板。从来没有人跳得这么好。每一个动作都使她的美丽变得越来越有优势，她的眼睛比任何唱歌的奴隶都能更直接地表达内心的想法。
She charmed everyone, and especially the Prince, who called her his dear little foundling. She danced time and again, though every time she touched the floor she felt as if she were treading on sharp-edged steel. The Prince said he would keep her with him always, and that she was to have a velvet pillow to sleep on outside his door.
她迷住了所有人，尤其是王子，他称她为自己亲爱的小弃儿。她一次又一次地跳舞，尽管每次她碰到地板时，她都觉得自己好像踩在了锋利的钢铁上。王子说他会一直把她留在身边，并让她在门外睡一个天鹅绒枕头。
Chapter Six
越来越爱 More and More Love
At home in the Prince's palace, while the others slept at night, she would go down the broad marble steps to cool her burning feet in the cold sea water, and then she would recall those who lived beneath the sea. One night her sisters came by, arm in arm, singing sadly as they breasted the waves.
在王子宫的家里，当其他人晚上睡觉时，她会走下宽阔的大理石台阶，在冰冷的海水中冷却她燃烧的双脚，然后她会想起那些住在海底的人。一天晚上，她的姐妹们挽着胳膊走过来，在海浪中悲伤地唱歌。
When she held out her hands toward them, they knew who she was, and told her how unhappy she had made them all. They came to see her every night after that, and once far, far out to sea, she saw her old grandmother, who had not been up to the surface this many a year. With her was the sea king, with his crown upon his head. They stretched out their hands to her, but they did not venture so near the land as her sisters had.
当她向他们伸出双手时，他们知道她是谁，并告诉她她让他们都很不高兴。从那以后，他们每天晚上都来看她，有一次，她看到了她的老奶奶，她已经很多年没有浮出水面了。和她在一起的是海王，头上戴着王冠。他们向她伸出双手，但没有像她的姐妹们那样冒险靠近这片土地。
Day after day she became more dear to the Prince, who loved her as one would love a good little child, but he never thought of making her his Queen. Yet she had to be his wife or she would never have an immortal soul, and on the morning after his wedding she would turn into foam on the waves. "Don't you love me best of all?" the little mermaid's eyes seemed to question him, when he took her in his arms and kissed her lovely forehead.
一天又一天，她对王子越来越亲爱，王子爱她就像爱一个好孩子一样，但他从未想过要立她为王后。然而，她必须是他的妻子，否则她将永远不会有不朽的灵魂，在他婚礼后的第二天早上，她会变成波浪上的泡沫。“你不是最爱我吗？”当他把小美人鱼抱在怀里亲吻她可爱的前额时，小美人鱼的眼睛似乎在质问他。
"Yes, you are most dear to me," said the Prince, "for you have the kindest heart. You love me more than anyone else does, and you look so much like a young girl I once saw but never shall find again. I was on a ship that was wrecked, and the waves cast me ashore near a holy temple, where many young girls performed the rituals.
“是的，你是我最亲爱的，”王子说，“因为你有一颗最善良的心。你比任何人都爱我，你看起来很像一个我曾经见过但再也找不到的年轻女孩。我当时在一艘失事的船上，海浪把我抛到了一座圣庙附近的岸边，许多年轻女孩在那里举行仪式。”
The youngest of them found me beside the sea and saved my life. Though I saw her no more than twice, she is the only person in all the world whom I could love. But you are so much like her that you almost replace the memory of her in my heart. She belongs to that holy temple, therefore it is my good fortune that I have you. We shall never part."
“他们中最小的一个在海边找到了我，救了我的命。虽然我只见过她两次，但她是世界上唯一我能爱的人。但你和她太像了，你几乎取代了我心中对她的记忆。她属于那个神圣的寺庙，所以我有你是我的幸运。我们永远不会分开。"
"Alas, he doesn't know it was I who saved his life," the little mermaid thought. "I carried him over the sea to the garden where the temple stands. I hid behind the foam and watched to see if anyone would come. I saw the pretty maid he loves better than me." A sigh was the only sign of her deep distress, for a mermaid cannot cry.
“唉，他不知道是我救了他的命，”小美人鱼想。“我把他带过大海，来到寺庙所在的花园。我躲在泡沫后面，看着是否有人会来。我看到了他比我更爱的漂亮女仆。”叹息是她深深痛苦的唯一迹象，因为美人鱼哭不出来。
Now rumors arose that the Prince was to wed the beautiful daughter of a neighboring King, and that it was for this reason he was having such a superb ship made ready to sail. The rumor ran that the Prince's real interest in visiting the neighboring kingdom was to see the King's daughter, and that he was to travel with a lordly retinue.
现在有传言说，王子将娶邻国国王的美丽女儿为妻，正是因为这个原因，他准备了一艘如此出色的船来启航。传言说，王子访问邻国的真正兴趣是看望国王的女儿，他将与贵族随从一起旅行。
The little mermaid shook her head and smiled, for she knew the Prince's thoughts far better than anyone else did. "I am forced to make this journey," he told her. "I must visit the beautiful Princess, for this is my parents' wish, but they would not have me bring her home as my bride against my own will, and I can never love her.
小美人鱼摇摇头，微笑着，因为她比任何人都更了解王子的想法。“我是被迫踏上这段旅程的，”他告诉她。“我必须去看望美丽的公主，因为这是我父母的愿望，但他们不会让我违背自己的意愿把她带回家作为我的新娘，我永远不会爱她。
If I were to choose a bride, I would sooner choose you, my dear mute foundling with those telling eyes of yours." And he kissed her on the mouth, fingered her long hair, and laid his head against her heart so that she came to dream of mortal happiness and an immortal soul.
“如果我选择新娘，我宁愿选择你，我亲爱的哑巴，带着你那双明明白白的眼睛。“他吻了她的嘴，用手指抚摸她的长发，把头靠在她的心上，这样她就可以梦想着永生的幸福和不朽的灵魂。”
"I trust you aren't afraid of the sea, my silent child ' he said, as they went on board the magnificent vessel that was to carry them to the land of the neighboring King. And he told her stories of storms, of ships becalmed, of strange deep-sea fish, and of the wonders that divers have seen.
“我相信你不怕大海，我沉默的孩子，”当他们登上将要把他们带到邻国国王的土地上的宏伟船只时，他说。他给她讲述了风暴、船只停航、奇怪的深海鱼类以及潜水员所看到的奇观的故事。”
She smiled at such stories, for no one knew about the bottom of the sea as well as she did. In the clear moonlight, when everyone except the man at the helm was asleep, she sat on the side of the ship gazing down through the transparent water, and fancied she could catch glimpses of her father's palace.
听到这些故事，她笑了，因为没有人比她更了解海底。在清澈的月光下，除了掌舵人之外，其他人都睡着了，她坐在船舷上，透过透明的海水向下凝视，幻想着能瞥见她父亲的宫殿。
Chapter Seven
公主出现 Princess Appearing
Next morning the ship came in to the harbor of the neighboring King's glorious city. All the church bells chimed, and trumpets were sounded from all the high towers, while the soldiers lined up with flying banners and glittering bayonets.
第二天早上，这艘船驶入了邻近国王的光辉城市的港口。所有的教堂钟声都敲响了，所有的高塔都吹响了号角，士兵们打着飘扬的横幅和闪闪发光的刺刀排成一排。
Every day had a new festivity, as one ball or levee followed another, but the Princess was still to appear. They said she was being brought up in some far-away sacred temple, where she was learning every royal virtue. But she came at last.
每一天都有一个新的节日，舞会一个接另一个，但公主仍然还没出现。他们说她是在一个遥远的神圣寺庙里长大的，在那里她学习着每一种皇家美德。但她终于出现了。
The little mermaid was curious to see how beautiful this Princess was, and she had to grant that a more exquisite figure she had never seen. The Princess's skin was clear and fair, and behind the long, dark lashes her deep blue eyes were smiling and devoted.
小美人鱼好奇地想看看这位公主有多美丽，她不得不给她一个从未见过的更精致的身材。公主的皮肤清澈白皙，在长长的黑睫毛后面，她那深邃的蓝眼睛微笑而专注。
"It was you!" the Prince cried. "You are the one who saved me when I lay like a dead man beside the sea." He clasped the blushing bride of his choice in his arms. "Oh, I am happier than a man should be!" he told his little mermaid. "My fondest dream that which I never dared to hope has come true. You will share in my great joy, for you love me more than anyone does."
“是你！”王子喊道。“当我像死人一样躺在海边时，是你救了我。”他把自己选择的脸红的新娘抱在怀里。“哦，我比一个男人应该高兴多了！”他对他的小美人鱼说。“我最亲爱的梦想，我从来不敢希望它成真了。你会分享我的巨大喜悦，因为你比任何人都爱我。”
The little mermaid kissed his hand and felt that her heart was beginning to break. For the morning after his wedding day would see her dead and turned to watery foam. All the church bells rang out, and heralds rode through the streets to announce the wedding.
小美人鱼亲吻了他的手，感觉自己的心开始碎了。因为结婚后的第二天早上，他会看到她死了，变成了水泡沫。教堂的钟声全部响起，传令员们骑马穿过街道宣布婚礼。
The little mermaid, clothed in silk and cloth of gold, held the bride's train, but she was deaf to the wedding march and blind to the holy ritual. Her thought turned on her last night upon earth, and on all she had lost in this world. That same evening, the bride and bridegroom went aboard the ship. Cannon thundered and banners waved. Here the wedded couple were to sleep on that calm, clear night.
小美人鱼穿着丝绸和金布，牵着新娘的火车，但她对婚礼进行时充耳不闻，对神圣的仪式视而不见。她想起了她在世上的最后一晚，想起了她在这个世界上所失去的一切。当天晚上，新娘和新郎上了船。炮声隆隆，旗帜飘扬。在这里，这对新婚夫妇将睡在那个平静、晴朗的夜晚。
The little mermaid could not forget that first time she rose from the depths of the sea and looked on at such pomp and happiness. She joined in the whirling dance. Everyone cheered her, for never had she danced so wonderfully. Her tender feet felt as if they were pierced by daggers, but she did not feel it. Her heart suffered far greater pain.
小美人鱼无法忘记她第一次从海的深处站起来，看着这样的盛况和幸福。她也加入了旋转的舞蹈。每个人都为她欢呼，因为她从未跳得如此美妙。她那柔软的双脚感觉好像被匕首刺穿了，但她没有感觉到。她的心承受着更大的痛苦。
Chapter Eight
最后机会 The Last Chance
She knew that this was the last evening that she ever would see him for whom she had forsaken her home and family, for whom she had sacrificed her lovely voice and suffered such constant torment, while he knew nothing of all these things.
她知道这是她见到他的最后一个晚上，她为了他抛弃了自己的家和家人，为了他牺牲了自己可爱的声音，忍受了如此持续的折磨，而他对这些一无所知。
It was the last night that she would breathe the same air with him, or look upon deep waters or the star fields of the blue sky. A never-ending night, without thought and without dreams, awaited her who had no soul and could not get one. The little mermaid leaned her white arms on the bulwarks and looked to the east to see the first red hint of daybreak, for she knew that the first flash of the sun would strike her dead.
这是最后一个晚上，她会和他呼吸同样的空气，或者看着深水或蓝天的星空。一个永无止境的夜晚，没有思想，没有梦想，等待着她，她没有灵魂，也得不到灵魂。小美人鱼把她白色的手臂靠在舷墙上，向东方看去，看到黎明的第一缕红光，因为她知道第一缕阳光会射死她。
Then she saw her sisters rise up among the waves. They were as pale as she, and there was no sign of their lovely long hair that the breezes used to blow. It had all been cut off. "We have given our hair to the witch," they said, "so that she would send you help, and save you from death tonight.
然后她看到她的姐妹们在波浪中升起。她们和她一样苍白，也没有风吹过的那种可爱的长发的痕迹。她们说：“我们把头发给了女巫，这样她就会派人来帮助你，让你今晚免于死亡。”。
She gave us a knife. Here it is. See the sharp blade! Before the sun rises, you must strike it into the Prince's heart, and when his warm blood bathes your feet they will grow together and become a fish tail.
“她给了我们一把刀。给你。看到锋利的刀刃了！在太阳升起之前，你必须把它打到王子的心里，当他温暖的血液沐浴在你的脚上时，它们会一起长大，变成一条鱼尾。”
Then you will be a mermaid again, able to come back to us in the sea, and live out your three hundred years before you die and turn into dead salt sea foam. Make haste! He or you must die before sunrise. Our old grandmother is so grief-stricken that her white hair is falling fast, just as ours did under the witch's scissors.
“然后，你将再次成为美人鱼，能够在海里回到我们身边，在你死前活三百年，变成死的盐海泡沫。快！他或你必须在日出前死去。我们的老奶奶悲痛欲绝，她的白发很快就掉了下来，就像我们的老祖母在女巫的剪刀下一样。”
Kill the Prince and come back to us. Hurry! Hurry! See that red glow in the heavens! In a few minutes the sun will rise and you must die." So saying, they gave a strange deep sigh and sank beneath the waves. The little mermaid parted the purple curtains of the tent and saw the beautiful bride asleep with her head on the Prince's breast.
“杀死王子，回到我们身边。快！匆忙看那天上的红光！几分钟后太阳就会升起，你一定会死的。”说着，他们奇怪地深深地叹了一口气，沉入了海浪之中。小美人鱼拉开帐篷的紫色窗帘，看到美丽的新娘头枕在王子的胸前睡着了。
The mermaid bent down and kissed his shapely forehead. She looked at the sky, fast reddening for the break of day. She looked at the sharp knife and again turned her eyes toward the Prince, who in his sleep murmured the name of his bride. His thoughts were all for her, and the knife blade trembled in the mermaid's hand.
美人鱼弯下腰，吻了吻他那匀称的前额。她望着天空，天一亮就红了。她看了看那把锋利的刀，又把目光转向王子，王子在睡梦中低声说出了新娘的名字。他的心思都在想着她，刀刃在人鱼手里颤抖着。
But then she flung it from her, far out over the waves. Where it fell the waves were red, as if bubbles of blood seethed in the water. With eyes already glazing she looked once more at the Prince, hurled herself over the bulwarks into the sea, and felt her body dissolve in foam.
但后来她把它从身上扔了出去，远远地越过了海浪。它落在哪里，波浪是红色的，就好像血泡在水中沸腾。她眼睛已经发亮了，又看了王子一眼，翻过舷墙，跳进海里，感觉自己的身体溶解在泡沫中。
Chapter Nine
化为泡沫 Turning into foam
The sun rose up from the waters. Its beams fell, warm and kindly, upon the chill sea foam, and the little mermaid did not feel the hand of death. In the bright sunlight overhead,she saw hundreds of fair ethereal beings. They were so transparent that through them she could see the ship's white sails and the red clouds in the sky.
太阳从水面上升起。它的光束温暖而亲切地落在冰冷的海水泡沫上，小美人鱼没有感觉到死亡之手。在头顶明亮的阳光下，她看到了数百个美丽空灵的人。它们是如此透明，透过它们她可以看到船上的白帆和天空中的红云。
Their voices were sheer music, but so spirit-like that no human ear could detect the sound, just as no eye on earth could see their forms. Without wings, they floated as light as the air itself. The little mermaid discovered that she was shaped like them, and that she was gradually rising up out of the foam.
他们的声音纯粹是音乐，但如此的精神，以至于没有人的耳朵能察觉到声音，就像地球上没有人的眼睛能看到他们的形状一样。没有翅膀，它们像空气一样轻盈地漂浮着。小美人鱼发现自己的形状和他们一样，而且她正逐渐从泡沫中爬起来。
'Who are you, toward whom I rise?" she asked, and her voice sounded like those above her, so spiritual that no music on earth could match it. "We are the daughters of the air," they answered. "A mermaid has no immortal soul, and can never get one unless she wins the love of a human being.
“你是谁，我向谁而起？”她问道，她的声音听起来像她头顶上的那些声音，如此有灵性，以至于地球上没有音乐能与之匹敌。“我们是空中的女儿，”他们回答。“美人鱼没有不朽的灵魂，除非她赢得人类的爱，否则她永远无法获得不朽的灵魂。”
We carry the scent of flowers through the air, bringing freshness and healing balm wherever we go. When for three hundred years we have tried to do all the good that we can, we are given an immortal soul and a share in mankind's eternal bliss. You, poor little mermaid, have tried with your whole heart to do this too.
"我们在空气中弥漫着花香，无论走到哪里都能带来清新和治愈。三百年来，当我们尽力行善时，我们得到了一个不朽的灵魂，并分享了人类永恒的幸福。你，可怜的小美人鱼，也全心全意地想做这件事。”
Your suffering and your loyalty have raised you up into the realm of airy spirits, and now in the course of three hundred years you may earn by your good deeds a soul that will never die." The little mermaid lifted her clear bright eyes toward God's sun, and for the first time her eyes were wet with tears.
你的痛苦和忠诚已经把你提升到了精神的境界，现在在三百年的时间里，你可以通过你的善举获得一个永生的灵魂。”小美人鱼抬起她清澈明亮的眼睛望向上帝的太阳，她的眼睛第一次被泪水打湿了。
On board the ship all was astir and lively again. She saw the Prince and his fair bride in search of her. Then they gazed sadly into the seething foam, as if they knew she had hurled herself into the waves. "This is the way that we shall rise to the kingdom of God, after three hundred years have passed" , one spirit whispered.
船上的一切又热闹起来了。她看见王子和他美丽的新娘在找她。然后，他们悲伤地凝视着沸腾的泡沫，好像他们知道她已经跳进了海浪中。“三百年之后，我们将以这种方式到达上帝的王国”，一个灵魂低声说道。
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