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
