海的女兒

《海的女兒》是安徒生童話寶庫中的珠璣，是最膾炙人口的名篇。《海的女兒》講述了美人魚對愛情的執(zhí)著追求和為愛而不惜犧牲自己生命的感人故事，表現(xiàn)了美人魚崇高的精神境界和美好善良的心靈。

Once upon a time， there was a Sea King living together with his six daughters under the sea. The youngest daughter was the most beautiful. They all had a fishtail instead of legs. 從前有個海王，他和六個女兒一起生活在海底。最小的女兒是最美麗的。六個女兒都沒有腿，她們的下身是一條魚尾。

The youngest daughter was always thinking something quietly in her room: a handsome young man sank in a castaway boat to the bottom of the sea. 最小的公主總是靜靜地在房間里幻想著一個年輕的美男子與一條遇難的船一同沉到海底。

The little princess enjoyed listening to her grandma’s talking about humans. Grandma said， “When you are 15， I will allow you to float to the sea surface.” 小公主喜歡聽老祖母講人類的故事。老祖母說：“等你十五歲的時候，我允許你到海面上去。”

She said， “Ah， how I wish I were already 15!” Finally， she was really 15. Having been dressed up by grandma， she floated elegantly to the sea surface. 她說：“啊，我多么希望我已經(jīng)有十五歲了！”。她終于到了十五歲。 經(jīng)過老祖母的一番打扮之后，她輕盈地浮出水面。

A big ship was on the calm sea. The princess saw a most handsome black-eyed prince among many well-dressed men. How handsome the prince was! She just could not move her eyes from him. 一艘大船停在平靜的大海上，她看見里面站著許多服裝華麗的男子，他們之中最英俊的是有著一對黑色大眼睛的王子。多么英俊的王子！小美人魚目不轉睛地望著他。

Suddenly， there came a storm. When the ship cracked and sank， she saw him. She was so happy because he was moving toward her. But it occurred to her that human could not survive under water. 突然來了一陣大風，這艘船裂開，向海底沉下去。她十分高興，因為王子就要到她身邊了。但是她突然想起人類是不能生活在水里的。

No， he would not die! She finally managed to get to the prince and pulled his head above the water. The torrent lifted them to somewhere. 不，決不能讓他死！她費了好大勁才到達王子身邊。她把他的頭托出水面，讓海浪載著他們一起漂到遠方。

At dawn， the storm calmed down. But the prince’s eyes were still closed. Little princess kissed his forehead， hoping that he could come to himself. 天明時分，風暴已經(jīng)過去了。王子的眼睛仍然閉著。小美人魚在他清秀的高額上吻了一下，希望他能蘇醒過來。

Along the shore was a green forest， in front of which was a cathedral. She swam there with the prince. She lay him on the sand in the warm shine. 沿著海岸是一片綠色樹林，林子前面有一座教堂。她托著這位英俊的王子向那兒游去。她把他放在沙灘上，讓他沐浴在溫暖的陽光里。

After a moment， a young lady came over. She seemed to be very surprised and sent for many others. The prince came to life and smiled to people around him except the little princess. Obviously， he didn’t know it was her that saved him. 不一會兒，一個年輕的女子走過來了。她非常驚訝，于是她找了許多人來。王子蘇醒過來了，對周圍的人微笑著。他就是沒有對小美人魚微笑：顯然他不知道是小美人魚救了他。

Little princess felt so sad. So when the prince was lifted up to the big house， she jumped into the sea and returned to her father’s palace. 她感到非常難過。因此當他被抬進那幢高大的房子里去的時候，她悲傷地跳進海里，回到她父親的宮殿里去。

She floated to the sea surface every day after that. After knowing where the prince lived， she sat under the balcony and watched the prince. 從那以后，她每天都浮出水面。她知道王子的住處后，每天都坐在他的陽臺下面，默默地望著年輕的王子。

She began to love humans and desired to live among them. She said to her grandma， “As long as I can become a human， I will give up my hundreds of years of life here.” 她漸漸地愛上了人類，開始盼望能夠生活在他們中間。小美人魚對祖母說：“只要我能夠變成人，我愿意放棄我在水下幾百年的生命。”

Grandma said， “No， but we think fishtails are very beautiful， but humans regard them very ugly. They think legs are most beautiful.” 祖母說：“不行，我們認為魚尾很美麗，人類卻認為非常難看。他們覺得腿才是最漂亮的！”

The mermaid sighed and took a look at her fishtail. She loved the prince so much that she decided to turn to the witch of sea for help. She feared the witch very much， though. 小美人魚嘆了一口氣，傷心地看了一眼自己的魚尾。小美人魚深愛著王子，她決定去拜訪海里的巫婆，盡管非常害怕她。

The mermaid had to pass a speedy eddy to reach the witch’s home. The witch lived in a house in the terrible forest. She stopped in front of the forest out of panic. But she regained courage at the thought of the prince. 她必須經(jīng)過急轉的漩渦才能到達巫婆所住的地方。她的房子在一個可怕的森林里。小美人魚非常害怕，在森林前停了下來。但是一想起王子，她就又有了勇氣。

The witch said， “I know why you are here， you want to exchange your fishtail for two legs. You want the prince to fall in love with you.” Then the witch laughed hatefully. 巫婆說：“我知道你是來求什么的。你想要去掉魚尾，長出雙腿。你想要那個王子愛上你。”這時巫婆可憎地笑了。

The witch said， “I will make you a dosage of medicine. Take it before sunrise tomorrow， and your fishtail will become two beautiful legs. But this hurts very much. It feels like a knife cutting through your body.” 巫婆說：“我可以煎一服藥給你。在明天太陽出來之前，把這服藥吃了，你的尾巴就會變成漂亮的腿。這可是很疼的，就像一把尖刀插進你的身體一樣。”

The mermaid with a shivering voice said， “I can endure.” The witch said， “Remember that you will turn into foams on the moment of the wedding ceremony of the prince and another lady.” “It doesn’t matter，” said she. 小美人魚用顫抖的聲音說：“我可以忍受。”巫婆說：“要記住，王子跟別人舉行婚禮的時候，你就會變成水上的泡沫。”小美人魚說：“我不怕！”

“I must get the best thing of yours—your voice as an exchange for the precious medicine. For I have to put my blood into the medicine to make it as acute as a knife.” said the witch. 巫婆說：“你必須用你最好的東西——你的聲音，來換我的藥！我得把我自己的血放進這藥里，使它尖銳得像一把刀子！”

Then she scratched her chest to let her black blood drop into the pot. Then she boiled the medicine and gave it to the mermaid. The witch cut her tongue. Then， the mermaid turned dumb. 然后她把自己的胸口抓破，讓黑血滴到罐子里。巫婆把煎好的藥給小美人魚，然后割掉了她的舌頭，小美人魚成了啞巴。

She came to the prince’s palace and took the medicine. Suddenly， she felt like a knife cutting through her body. Then， her fishtail was gone. A pair of beautiful legs appeared. 小美人魚來到王子的宮殿，喝下藥。她感覺像有一把刀子劈開了她的身體。她的魚尾不見了，取而代之的是美麗的雙腿。

The prince asked who she was and why she was there. She looked at him tenderly， for she could no longer speak. They walked into the palace. Though every step was like on awl and knife， she was happy. 王子問她是誰，為什么到這兒來。她溫柔地望著他，因為她已經(jīng)不能講話了。他們走進宮殿。盡管每一步都像是在錐子和尖刀上行走，但是她是快樂的。

As time went on， the prince’s love toward her increased. But he had never thought of marrying her. However， she must be his wife， or she would become foams on the moment of his wedding ceremony. 王子一天天愛上她了，但是他從來沒有娶她為皇后的想法。她必須做他的妻子，否則她會在他舉行婚禮的時候變成海上的泡沫。

It was said that the prince was to marry the daughter of king of the neighboring country. More over， when he saw his beautiful bride， he mistook her as the person who saved him. Then， he decided to marry her. 傳說王子要娶鄰國國王的女兒。當王子看到美麗的新娘時，他誤以為她就是當初救了自己的人。于是決定娶她。

The mermaid was very sad. On their wedding， she took the last sight of the prince， jumped into the sea and flew into the sky as foams. 小美人魚傷心極了。在他們的婚禮上，小美人魚看了一眼王子，然后跳到海里，融化成為泡沫，升入天空里去了。

丹麥首都哥本哈根是北歐最大的城市，也是著名的古城。哥本哈根在丹麥文中就是“商人的港口”或“貿(mào)易港”的意思。提起哥本哈根，人們就會立即想起美人魚。她是以安徒生童話《海的女兒》為原型的一尊銅像——頭和上半身是少女形象，下半身是一條魚尾。這尊銅像已經(jīng)成為哥本哈根的標志，同巴黎的艾菲爾鐵塔、羅馬的大教堂和倫敦的大本鐘一樣，是具有代表性的城市名勝景點。