海的女兒（十三）

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. 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.

現在大家在傳說王子快要結婚了，她的妻子就是鄰國國王的一個女兒。他為這事特別裝備好了一艘美麗的船。王子在表面上說是要到鄰近王國里去觀光，事實上他是為了要去看鄰國君主的女兒。他將帶著一大批隨員同去。小人魚搖了搖頭，微笑了一下。她比任何人都能猜透王子的心事。

“我得去旅行一下！”他對她說過，“我得去看一位美麗的公主，這是我父母的命令，但是他們不能強迫我把她作為未婚妻帶回家來！我不會愛她的。你很像神廟里的那個美麗的姑娘，而她卻不像。如果我要選擇新嫁娘的話，那么我就要先選你——我親愛的、有一雙能講話的眼睛的啞巴孤女。”

于是他吻了她鮮紅的嘴唇，摸撫著她的長頭發、把他的頭貼到她的心上，弄得她的這顆心又夢想起人間的幸福和一個不滅的靈魂來。

“你不害怕海嗎，我的啞巴孤兒？”他問。這時他們正站在那艘華麗的船上，它正向鄰近的王國開去。他和她談論著風暴和平靜的海，生活在海里的奇奇怪怪的魚，和潛水夫在海底所能看到的東西。對于這類的故事，她只是微微地一笑，因為關于海底的事兒她比誰都知道得清楚。

在月光照著的夜里，大家都睡了，只有掌舵人立在舵旁。這時她就坐在船邊上，凝望著下面清亮的海水，她似乎看到了她父親的王宮。她的老祖母頭上戴著銀子做的皇冠，正高高地站在王宮頂上；她透過激流朝這條船的龍骨瞭望。不一會，他的姐姐們都浮到水面上來了，她們悲哀地望著她，苦痛地扭著她們白凈的手。……