She saw him many times of an evening sailing in a pleasant boat, with music playing and flags waving. She peeped out from among the green rushes, and if the wind caught her long silvery-white veil, those who saw it believed it to be a swan, spreading out its wings.

有好幾個(gè)晚上，她看到他在音樂聲中乘著那艘飄著許多旗幟的華麗的船。她從綠燈芯草中向上面偷望。當(dāng)風(fēng)吹起她銀白色的長面罩的時(shí)候，如果有人看到的話，他們總以為這是一只天鵝在展開它的翅膀。

On many a night, too, when the fishermen, with their torches, were out at sea, she heard them relate so many good things about the doings of the young prince, that she was glad she had saved his life when he had been tossed about half-dead on the waves. And she remembered that his head had rested on her bosom, and how heartily she had kissed him; but he knew nothing of all this, and could not even dream of her.

有好幾個(gè)夜里，當(dāng)漁夫們打著火把出海捕魚的時(shí)候，她聽到他們對(duì)于這位王子說了許多稱贊的話語。她高興起來，覺得當(dāng)浪濤把他沖擊得半死的時(shí)候，是她來救了他的生命；她記起他的頭是怎樣緊緊地躺在她的懷里，她是多么熱情地吻著他?？墒沁@些事兒他自己一點(diǎn)也不知道，他連做夢也不會(huì)想到她。

She grew more and more fond of human beings, and wished more and more to be able to wander about with those whose world seemed to be so much larger than her own. They could fly over the sea in ships, and mount the high hills which were far above the clouds; and the lands they possessed, their woods and their fields, stretched far away beyond the reach of her sight. There was so much that she wished to know, and her sisters were unable to answer all her questions. Then she applied to her old grandmother, who knew all about the upper world, which she very rightly called the lands above the sea.

她漸漸地開始愛起人類來，漸漸地開始盼望能夠生活在他們中間。她覺得他們的世界比她的天地大得多。的確，他們能夠乘船在海上行駛，能夠爬上高聳入云的大山，同時(shí)他們的土地，連帶著森林和田野，伸展開來，使得她望都望不盡。她希望知道的東西真是不少，可是她的姐姐們都不能回答她所有的問題。因此她只有問她的老祖母。她對(duì)于“上層世界”——這是她給海上國家所起的恰當(dāng)?shù)拿帧拇_知道得相當(dāng)清楚。

"If human beings are not drowned," asked the little mermaid, "can they live forever? do they never die as we do here in the sea?"

“如果人類不淹死的話，”小人魚問，“他們會(huì)永遠(yuǎn)活下去么？他們會(huì)不會(huì)像我們住在海里的人們一樣地死去呢？”

"Yes," replied the old lady, "they must also die, and their term of life is even shorter than ours. We sometimes live to three hundred years, but when we cease to exist here we only become the foam on the surface of the water, and we have not even a grave down here of those we love. We have not immortal souls, we shall never live again; but, like the green sea-weed, when once it has been cut off, we can never flourish more. Human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, lives after the body has been turned to dust. It rises up through the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars. As we rise out of the water, and behold all the land of the earth, so do they rise to unknown and glorious regions which we shall never see."

“一點(diǎn)也不錯(cuò)，”老太太說，“他們也會(huì)死的，而且他們的生命甚至比我們的還要短促呢。我們可以活到三百歲，不過當(dāng)我們?cè)谶@兒的生命結(jié)束的時(shí)候，我們就變成了水上的泡沫。我們甚至連一座墳?zāi)挂膊涣艚o我們這兒心愛的人呢。我們沒有一個(gè)不滅的靈魂。我們從來得不到一個(gè)死后的生命。我們像那綠色的海草一樣，只要一割斷了，就再也綠不起來！相反地，人類有一個(gè)靈魂；它永遠(yuǎn)活著，即使身體化為塵土，它仍是活著的。它升向晴朗的天空，一直升向那些閃耀著的星星！正如我們升到水面、看到人間的世界一樣，他們升向那些神秘的、華麗的、我們永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)看見的地方?！?/div>

"Why have not we an immortal soul?" asked the little mermaid mournfully; "I would give gladly all the hundreds of years that I have to live, to be a human being only for one day, and to have the hope of knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the stars."

“為什么我們得不到一個(gè)不滅的靈魂呢？”小人魚悲哀地問?！爸灰夷軌蜃兂扇?、可以進(jìn)入天上的世界，哪怕在那兒只活一天，我都愿意放棄我在這兒所能活的幾百歲的生命?！?/div>

"You must not think of that," said the old woman; "we feel ourselves to be much happier and much better off than human beings."

“你決不能起這種想頭，”老太太說?！氨绕鹕厦娴娜祟悂?，我們?cè)谶@兒的生活要幸福和美好得多！”

"So I shall die," said the little mermaid, "and as the foam of the sea I shall be driven about never again to hear the music of the waves, or to see the pretty flowers nor the red sun. Is there anything I can do to win an immortal soul?"

“那么我就只有死去，變成泡沫在水上漂浮了。我將再也聽不見浪濤的音樂，看不見美麗的花朵和鮮紅的太陽嗎？難道我沒有辦法得到一個(gè)永恒的靈魂嗎？”

"No," said the old woman, "unless a man were to love you so much that you were more to him than his father or mother; and if all his thoughts and all his love were fixed upon you, and the priest placed his right hand in yours, and he promised to be true to you here and hereafter, then his soul would glide into your body and you would obtain a share in the future happiness of mankind. He would give a soul to you and retain his own as well; but this can never happen. Your fish's tail, which amongst us is considered so beautiful, is thought on earth to be quite ugly; they do not know any better, and they think it necessary to have two stout props, which they call legs, in order to be handsome."

“沒有！”老太太說。“只有當(dāng)一個(gè)人愛你、把你當(dāng)做比他父母還要親切的人的時(shí)候：只有當(dāng)他把他全部的思想和愛情都放在你身上的時(shí)候；只有當(dāng)他讓牧師把他的右手放在你的手里、答應(yīng)現(xiàn)在和將來永遠(yuǎn)對(duì)你忠誠的時(shí)候，他的靈魂才會(huì)轉(zhuǎn)移到你的身上去，而你就會(huì)得到一份人類的快樂。他就會(huì)分給你一個(gè)靈魂，而同時(shí)他自己的靈魂又能保持不滅。但是這類的事情是從來不會(huì)有的！我們?cè)谶@兒海底所認(rèn)為美麗的東西——你的那條魚尾——他們?cè)陉懙厣蠀s認(rèn)為非常難看：他們不知道什么叫做美丑。在他們那兒，一個(gè)人想要顯得漂亮，必須生有兩根呆笨的支柱——他們把它們叫做腿！”

Then the little mermaid sighed, and looked sorrowfully at her fish's tail.

小人魚嘆了一口氣，悲哀地把自己的魚尾巴望了一眼。