“I would give all the hundreds of years that I have to be human for only one day,” lamented the Little Mermaid. “and to hope to know that splendid world above the stars.”
“You must not envisage that,” shuddered the old woman.
“Then I shall die and be driven about as seafoam,” rued the Little Mermaid. “Can I do anything to win an immortal soul?”
“No,” answered the old woman. “You cannot gain an immortal soul unless a man loved you so much that he affianced him to you and the priest joined your hands together. Then both you and he will have an immortal soul. Since you have a fish’s tail, this cannot happen.”
Sorrowful, the Little Mermaid sighed and looked at her fish’s tail. To distract her, the old lady told her about that evening’s gala.
“Be content, because this evening, we will have a court ball.”
The ballroom was illuminated by hundreds of colossal shells, which burned with iridescent fire. Through the rooms a broad stream of mermen and mermaids danced to the music of their own rich, harmonious singing. The little mermaid sang more sweetly than the rest. Fervently the whole court applauded her with hands and tails and for a moment, the Little Mermaid felt content because she knew she had the loveliest voice of any.
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