海的女兒（七）

Many an evening and morning did she rise to the place where she had left the prince. She saw the fruits in the garden ripen till they were gathered， the snow on the tops of the mountains melt away； but she never saw the prince， and therefore she returned home， always more sorrowful than before. It was her only comfort to sit in her own little garden， and fling her arm round the beautiful marble statue which was like the prince； but she gave up tending her flowers， and they grew in wild confusion over the paths， twining their long leaves and stems round the branches of the trees， so that the whole place became dark and gloomy.

At length she could bear it no longer， and told one of her sisters all about it. Then the others heard the secret， and very soon it became known to two mermaids whose intimate friend happened to know who the prince was. She had also seen the festival on board ship， and she told them where the prince came from， and where his palace stood.

“Come， little sister，” said the other princesses； then they entwined their arms and rose up in a long row to the surface of the water， close by the spot where they knew the prince’s palace stood.

It was built of bright yellow shining stone， with long flights of marble steps， one of which reached quite down to the sea. Splendid gilded cupolas rose over the roof， and between the pillars that surrounded the whole building stood life—like statues of marble. Through the clear crystal of the lofty windows could be seen noble rooms， with costly silk curtains and hangings of tapestry； while the walls were covered with beautiful paintings which were a pleasure to look at. In the centre of the largest saloon a fountain threw its sparkling jets high up into the glass cupola of the ceiling， through which the sun shone down upon the water and upon the beautiful plants growing round the basin of the fountain.

Now that she knew where he lived， she spent many an evening and many a night on the water near the palace. She would swim much nearer the shore than any of the others ventured to do； indeed once she went quite up the narrow channel under the marble balcony， which threw a broad shadow on the water. Here she would sit and watch the young prince， who thought himself quite alone in the bright moonlight.

有好多晚上和早晨，她浮出水面，向她曾經(jīng)放下王子的那塊地方游去。她看到那花園里的果子熟了，被摘下來了；她看到高山頂上的雪融化了；但是她看不見那個王子。所以她每次回到家來，總是更感到痛苦。她的唯一的安慰是坐在她的小花園里，用雙手抱著與那位王子相似的美麗的大理石像?？墒撬僖膊徽樟纤幕▋毫?。這些花兒好像是生長在曠野中的東西，鋪得滿地都是：它們的長梗和葉子跟樹枝交叉在一起，使這地方顯得非常陰暗。

最后她再也忍受不住了。不過只要她把她的心事告訴給一個姐姐，馬上其余的人也就都知道了。但是除了她們和別的一兩個人魚以外（她們只把這秘密轉(zhuǎn)告給自己幾個知己的朋友），別的什么人也不知道。她們之中有一位知道那個王子是什么人。她也看到過那次在船上舉行的慶祝。她知道這位王子是從什么地方來的，他的王國在什么地方。

“來吧，小妹妹！”別的公主們說。她們彼此把手搭在肩上，一長排地升到海面，一直游到一塊她們認為是王子的宮殿的地方。

這宮殿是用一種發(fā)光的淡黃色石塊建筑的，里面有許多寬大的大理石臺階——有一個臺階還一直伸到海里呢。華麗的、金色的圓塔從屋頂上伸向空中。在圍繞著這整個建筑物的圓柱中間，立著許多大理石像。它們看起來像是活人一樣。透過那些高大窗子的明亮玻璃，人們可以看到一些富麗堂皇的大廳，里面懸著貴重的絲窗簾和織錦，墻上裝飾著大幅的圖畫——就是光看看這些東西也是一樁非常愉快的事情。在最大的一個廳堂中央，有一個巨大的噴泉在噴著水。水絲一直向上面的玻璃圓屋頂射去，而太陽又透過這玻璃射下來，照到水上，照到生長在這大水池里的植物上面。

現(xiàn)在她知道王子住在什么地方。在這兒的水上她度過好幾個黃昏和黑夜。她遠遠地向陸地游去，比任何別的姐姐敢去的地方還遠。的確，她甚至游到那個狹小的河流里去，直到那個壯麗的大理石陽臺下面——它長長的陰影倒映在水上。她在這兒坐著，瞧著那個年輕的王子，而這位王子卻還以為月光中只有他一個人呢。