Reading Notes: Hans Christian Andersen, Part B

 Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen

Little Mermaid: Part 1

- "It was the representation of a handsome boy, carved out of pure white stone, which had fallen to the bottom of the sea from a wreck. She planted by the statue a rose-colored weeping willow. It grew splendidly, and very soon hung its fresh branches over the statue, almost down to the blue sands. The shadow had a violet tint and waved to and fro like the branches; it seemed as if the crown of the tree and the root were at play, and trying to kiss each other."

*What a beautiful scene.*

- "Many nights she stood by the open window, looking up through the dark blue water and watching the fish as they splashed about with their fins and tails."

*It's weird that they have houses under the sea, for some reason.*

Little Mermaid: Part 2

- "And these things were never to be beautiful for them, for if the ship sank, the men were drowned, and their dead bodies alone reached the palace of the Sea King."

*Yikes, that's scary.*

Little Mermaid: Part 3

- "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."

*Boy, that's sad.*

- "The walls and the ceiling of the large ball-room were of thick, but transparent crystal. May hundreds of colossal shells, some of a deep red, others of a grass green, stood on each side in rows, with blue fire in them, which lighted up the whole saloon, and shone through the walls, so that the sea was also illuminated. Innumerable fishes, great and small, swam past the crystal walls; on some of them the scales glowed with a purple brilliancy, and on others they shone like silver and gold."

*Wow, what a scene!*

Little Mermaid: Part 4

- "You will never return through the water to your sisters or to your father’s palace again..."

*I would not take this deal, never.*

Little Mermaid: Part 5

- "Every step she took was as the witch had said it would be: she felt as if treading upon the points of needles or sharp knives..."

*How terrible.*

- "They stretched out their hands towards her, but they did not venture so near the land as her sisters did."

*So sad.*

Little Mermaid: Part 6

- "In the moonlight, when all on board were asleep, excepting the man at the helm who was steering, she sat on the deck, gazing down through the clear water. She thought she could distinguish her father’s castle, and upon it her aged grandmother, with the silver crown on her head, looking through the rushing tide at the keel of the vessel."

*Such a calm scene.*

- "She knew this was the last evening she should ever see the prince for whom she had forsaken her kindred and her home; she had given up her beautiful voice, and suffered unheard-of pain daily for him, while he knew nothing of it."

*So messed up and sad.*

- "You, poor little mermaid, have tried with your whole heart to do as we are doing; you have suffered and endured and raised yourself to the spirit-world by your good deeds, and now, by striving for three hundred years in the same way, you may obtain an immortal soul."

*At least there is still hope for her.*

The Little Mermaid Statue (Source: Wikipedia)

Bibliography: Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen. Website: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook.