as pretty a pair of white legs and tiny feet as any little maiden could have;
but she had no clothes, so she wrapped herself in her long, thick hair. The
prince asked her who she was, and where she came from, and she looked at
him mildly and sorrowfully with her deep blue eyes; but she could not
speak. Every step she took was as the witch had said it would be, she felt as
if treading upon the points of needles or sharp knives; but she bore it
willingly, and stepped as lightly by the prince’s side as a soap-bubble, so
that he and all who saw her wondered at her graceful-swaying movements.
She was very soon arrayed in costly robes of silk and muslin, and was the
most beautiful creature in the palace; but she was dumb, and could neither
speak nor sing.
Beautiful female slaves, dressed in silk and gold, stepped forward and
sang before the prince and his royal parents: one sang better than all the
others, and the prince clapped his hands and smiled at her. This was great
sorrow to the little mermaid; she knew how much more sweetly she herself
could sing once, and she thought, “Oh if he could only know that! I have
given away my voice forever, to be with him.”
The slaves next performed some pretty fairy-like dances, to the sound of
beautiful music. Then the little mermaid raised her lovely white arms, stood
on the tips of her toes, and glided over the floor, and danced as no one yet
had been able to dance. At each moment her beauty became more revealed,
and her expressive eyes appealed more directly to the heart than the songs
of the slaves. Every one was enchanted, especially the prince, who called
her his little foundling; and she danced again quite readily, to please him,
though each time her foot touched the floor it seemed as if she trod on sharp
knives.
The prince said she should remain with him always, and she received
permission to sleep at his door, on a velvet cushion. He had a page’s dress
made for her, that she might accompany him on horseback. They rode
together through the sweet-scented woods, where the green boughs touched
their shoulders, and the little birds sang among the fresh leaves. She
climbed with the prince to the tops of high mountains; and although her
