The Deal with the Sea Witch

After that day, the little mermaid could not forget the prince. She swam to the shore near his palace every day and watched him from a distance. She learned that he was kind and good, and she loved him more and more.

She began to think constantly about the world above the water. She asked her grandmother about human beings.

"Can people live forever?" she asked.

"No," said her grandmother. "Their lives are much shorter than ours. We mermaids can live for three hundred years, but when we die, we turn into sea foam. We disappear completely. Human beings are different. When they die, their souls go up to live forever in a beautiful place in the sky."

"I would give all my three hundred years to be human for just one day," said the little mermaid quietly.

"Do not think about such things," said her grandmother. "Be happy with what you have."

But the little mermaid could not be happy. She thought about the prince, and she thought about having a soul. She made a decision. She would go to the Sea Witch.

The path to the Sea Witch was frightening. She had to swim through a roaring whirlpool, across a muddy swamp, and through a dark forest of terrible creatures — sea polyps, which were half animal and half plant. They reached out their long arms to catch her, and she could see the skeletons of drowned sailors and other lost things in their grip. She swam through as fast as she could, without stopping.

The Sea Witch lived in a clearing in that dark forest, in a house made of human bones. She was fat and ugly, with water-snakes coiling around her body.

"I know why you have come," said the witch. "You want legs instead of a tail, so the prince will fall in love with you. Very well. I can make you a magic drink. Swim to the shore and drink it, and your tail will split into two legs. But I must warn you — every step you take will feel like walking on sharp knives. And you must give me something in return."

"What do you want?" asked the little mermaid.

"Your voice," said the witch. "You have the most beautiful voice in all the sea. That is my price."

"But without my voice, how will I talk to the prince? How will I tell him I love him?"

"You will have your beautiful face and your graceful movements. That will have to be enough," said the witch. "And there is one more thing you must know. If the prince marries someone else, you will not get a soul. On the morning after his wedding, you will turn into sea foam and disappear. That is the deal. Do you still want it?"

The little mermaid was silent for a moment. Then she said, "Yes."

The witch cut out the little mermaid's tongue and mixed the magic drink. It was clear as water but burned like fire.

The little mermaid took the drink and swam away. She did not go back to say goodbye to her father or her sisters. She was afraid she would lose her courage. She only swam through her garden and took one flower from each sister's flower-bed. Then she blew a thousand silent kisses towards the palace and rose to the surface.