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She pulled aside the crimson cloth of the tent and saw the beautiful bride sleeping peacefully, with her head resting on the prince's chest. The little mermaid bent down and kissed his handsome forehead. She turned and looked at the sky; more and more, it was turning red. She glanced at the sharp knife; and once more she looked down at the prince. He moved a little in his steep and whispered the name of his bride. Only she was in his thoughts, in his dreams! The little mermaid's hand trembled as it squeezed the handle of the knife, then she threw the weapon out into the sea. The waves turned red where it fell, as if drops of blood were seeping up through the water.
Again she looked at the prince; her eyes were already glazed in death. She threw herself into the sea and felt her body changing into foam.
The sun rose out of the sea, its rays felt warm and soft on me deathly cold foam. But the little mermaid did not feel death, she saw the sun, and up above her floated hundreds of airy, transparent forms. She could see hght through them, see the sails of the ship and the blood-red clouds. Their voices were melodious, so spiritual and tender that no human ear could hear them, just as their forms were so fragile and fine that no human eye could see them. So light were they that they glided through the air, though they had no wings. The little mermaid looked down and saw that she had an ethereal body like theirs.
"Where am I?" she asked; and her voice sounded like theirs-so lovely and so melodious that no human music could reproduce it.
"We are the daughters of the air," they answered. "Mermaids have no immortal souls and can never have one, unless they can obtain the love of a human being. Their chance of obtaining eternal life depends upon others. We, daughters of the air, have not received an eternal soul either; but we can win one by good deeds. We fly to the warm countries, where the heavy air of the plague rests, and blow cool winds to spread it. We carry the smell of flowers that refresh and heal the sick. If for three hundred years we earnestly try to do ^ what is good, we obtain an immortal soul and can take part in ^ the eternal happiness of man. You, little mermaid, have tried with all your heart to do the same. You have suffered and ^, borne your suffering bravely; and that is why you are now among us, the spirits of the air. Do your good deeds and in ^ three hundred years an immortal soul will be yours."').
The little mermaid lifted her amis up toward God's sun,, ' and for the first time she felt a tear.
She heard noise coming from the ship. She saw the prince and the princess searching for her. Sadly they looked at the sea, as if they knew that she had thrown herself into the '^ waves. Without being seen, she kissed the bride*s forehead and smiled at the prince; then she rose together with the other children of the air, up into a pink cloud that was sailing by.
"In three hundred years I shall rise like this into God's kingdom," she said.
"You may be able to go there before that," whispered one of the others to her. "Invisibly, we fly through the homes of human beings. They can't see us, so they don't know when we are there; but if we find a good child, who makes his parents happy and deserves their love. we smile and God takes a year away from the time of our trial. But if there is a naughty and mean child in the house we come to, we cry; and for every tear we shed, God adds a day to the three hundred years we already must serve."