The Little Mermaid. Chapter Three

—You cannot speak, my dear companion. But when you listen, there is such feeling in your eyes that it seems you do so with all your soul.
The prince often spoke to her of his troubles, and one day he said:
—Do you remember the shipwreck I suffered and miraculously survived? My life was spared, but many men were lost, along with the royal ship.
There is nothing more I can do for my crew except honor them by rebuilding the ship entrusted to me, the ship I lost.
Tomorrow I will set out with several explorers to find the wood from which it was built, and I want you to come with me.
They departed the next day, riding out of the city toward the vast forests. The Little Mermaid wore an outfit the prince had ordered especially for her.
They crossed forests where green branches brushed their shoulders and little birds sang. She followed the prince over high mountains and along the course of rushing rivers.
Her delicate feet ached, but she smiled and urged her horse onward.
Yet the prince's worried expression filled her with sadness.
—We are not finding what we seek.
The ship can never be completed without that special wood!
She longed to help him and take away his sorrow, but she did not know how.
At that moment, a voice sounded within her.
“What is a little mermaid doing on land, in the company of humans?”
Just above her floated a curious little being. No one else seemed able to see it.
“I know you cannot speak, but do not worry. I can hear your thoughts.”
“I am a spirit of the wind. My brothers and sisters and I wander the world doing good.”
“I am helping my prince rebuild his ship. He lost it in a storm, and now he needs to find a very special wood to complete it.”
“I know the wood you mean. Come, follow me, and I will show you where it lies.”
The spirit flew away, and the Little Mermaid galloped after it.
—Hey! Little one, where are you going?
The prince followed her to a lake. There he found her pointing firmly at the water.
After investigating, they discovered a great quantity of sea oak beneath the surface, wood that had remained underwater for so long that it had acquired unique qualities.
So they returned to the palace and were able to rebuild the royal ship.
—I shall name it Cineres Maris.
He told the Little Mermaid as he proudly admired the magnificent vessel.
At night, the Little Mermaid soothed her feet in the cool waters of the sea.
One night, her sisters appeared and told her of the sorrow her departure had brought to their home.
On another, she saw her grandmother and father far away. His crown shone across the dark sea, but they did not dare come any closer.
The prince became dearer to her with every passing day, but he did not seem to think of marrying her.
—How greatly you remind me of the girl who saved my life in the shipwreck! If I could, I would marry her, and we would celebrate aboard the newly rebuilt ship.
But she belongs to the temple, so it can never be.
He did not know that the Little Mermaid had saved him. The prince remembered only the girl he had seen when he awoke upon the shore after the shipwreck, the one who lived in the convent.
—My parents wish me to marry the princess of the neighboring kingdom.
But deep down, they know I will not marry unless I choose to, and the only one I want is the girl from the temple.
The Little Mermaid was sad that he did not know she had saved him, yet she took comfort in knowing he did not want the princess.
To honor his parents' wish, they sailed across the sea in the new royal ship to the neighboring kingdom, so the prince might meet the princess.
They docked in a city alive with excitement at the prince's arrival. Flags fluttered along the quays, and trumpets sounded from the towers.
The prince went ashore, and the crowd parted to let the procession pass.
—All honor to the kingdom! Her Royal Highness, the princess, makes her entrance!
The beautiful princess appeared, and when the prince saw her, he caught his breath:
—It is you!
The Little Mermaid felt as though her heart had fallen to the ground. But she could not cry.
The princess of the neighboring kingdom was the very young woman from the temple whom he had seen upon waking on the shore after the storm. At the time, she had been studying and receiving her education there.
They received a blessing, and the people cheered their coming union.
The Little Mermaid had dressed simply for the ceremony and now waited with the assembled courts for the couple to arrive.
She could think of nothing but the dawn that would follow and bring her end, turning her into foam forever.
The priest blessed their union in the fading light that streamed through the cathedral windows. The Little Mermaid carried the train of the bride's gown.
Afterward, the newlyweds boarded the Cineres Maris, the very ship the Little Mermaid had helped bring back to life.
Cannons thundered, every flag flew, and a pavilion was raised in the middle of the deck where the couple would sleep.
The sails filled with wind, and the ship glided so smoothly over the clear sea that it scarcely seemed to move.
Night fell, lanterns were lit, music played, and everyone danced merrily.
The Little Mermaid danced too, more splendidly than she ever had before.
She remembered the first time she had risen from the sea. She no longer seemed to feel the pain in her feet. Now she felt only the same wonder and joy she had known that first night.
And now this would be the last time she saw the one for whom she had suffered and danced so much; the one for whom she had left her home and given up her voice; the one who would never know who she truly was.
The cool air, the deep sea, the starry sky; an endless night without thought or dreams awaited her, for she had no soul. In only a few hours, everything would be over for the Little Mermaid.
Despite it all, she smiled and danced with every feeling held inside her heart.
Then silence came.
The Little Mermaid gazed toward the horizon, waiting for the first ray of light that would end her journey.
Then her sisters rose from the water, but their hair no longer floated in the wind. They had cut it off. They explained that they had given it to the Sea Witch in exchange for a way to save her.
The eldest carried the witch's knife. To save herself, the Little Mermaid had to plunge it into the prince's heart. Then she would become a mermaid again and live out her three hundred years.
But she had to hurry, for dawn would soon break.
They threw her the knife…
…and she picked it up from the deck. She held it in trembling hands.
Her heart pounding against her chest, she made her way to the pavilion where the newlyweds slept peacefully.
At that moment, the first light began to stain the sky like drops of blood.
She gripped the knife tightly and hurled it as far as she could. It struck the water with a splash.
—At last, the sun is rising.
The first rays of sunlight shone upon her and soon passed straight through her, for she had become foam that the wind carried away.
—Oh… it’s you again!
Suddenly, the Little Mermaid found herself floating above the ship. Around her were the wind spirit who had helped her find the sea oak and others like him.
—But what has happened to me?
—Now you are like us. Mermaids have no souls and can gain one only through the love of a man. But we, the sons and daughters of the wind, can earn our souls through good deeds.
For three hundred years, we strive to do good so that we may gain a soul and enter the kingdom of heaven.
You have yearned and endured as we have, and now you have the same chance.
We are traveling south, where plague is ravaging the men and women who live there. Will you come?
The Little Mermaid looked down at the ship, where everyone was searching for her anxiously. She descended, kissed the prince upon the head and then the princess, and rose into the sky once more.
The Little Mermaid lifted her pale arms toward the sun and felt tears for the first time.
—In three hundred years, we shall enter the kingdom of God!
And that is all... for the moment.
Til the next tale.