I know very well what you have come here for,' said the witch. 'It
is very foolish of you! all the same you shall have your way, because
it will lead you into misfortune, my fine princess. You want to get
rid of your fish's tail, and instead to have two stumps to walk about
upon like human beings, so that the young prince may fall in love
with you, and that you may win him and an immortal soul.' Saying
this, she gave such a loud hideous laugh that the toad and the snakes
fell to the ground and wriggled about there.
'You are just in the nick of time,' said the witch; 'after sunrise to-
morrow I should not be able to help you until another year had run
its course. I will make you a potion, and before sunrise you must
swim ashore with it, seat yourself on the beach and drink it; then
your tail will divide and shrivel up to what men call beautiful legs.
But it hurts; it is as if a sharp sword were running through you. All
who see you will say that you are the most beautiful child of man
they have ever seen. You will keep your gliding gait, no dancer will
rival you, but every step you take will be as if you were treading
upon sharp knives, so sharp as to draw blood.
If you are willing to
suffer all this I am ready to help you!'
'Yes!' said the little princess with a trembling voice, thinking of
the prince and of winning an undying soul.
'But remember,' said the witch, 'when once you have received a
human form, you can never be a mermaid again; you will never
again be able to dive down through the water to your sisters and to
your father's palace. And if you do not succeed in winning the
prince's love, so that for your sake he will forget father and mother,
cleave to you with his whole heart, let the priest join your hands
and make you man and wife, you will gain no immortal soul! The
first morning after his marriage with another your heart will break,
and you will turn into foam of the sea.'
'I will do it,' said the little mermaid as pale as death.
'But you will have to pay me, too,' said the witch, 'and it is no
trifle that I demand. You have the most beautiful voice of any at the
bottom of the sea, and I daresay that you think you will fascinate
him with it; but you must give me that voice; I will have the best
you possess in return for my precious potion! I have to mingle my
own blood with it so as to make it as sharp as a two-edged sword.'
'But if you take my voice,' said the little mermaid, 'what have I
left?