n it boiled
the bubbling was like the sound of crocodiles weeping. At last the
potion was ready and it looked like the clearest water.

'There it is,' said the witch, and thereupon she cut off the tongue of
the little mermaid, who was dumb now and could neither sing nor speak.

'If the polyps should seize you, when you go back through my wood,' said
the witch, 'just drop a single drop of this liquid on them, and their
arms and fingers will burst into a thousand pieces.' But the little
mermaid had no need to do this, for at the mere sight of the bright
liquid, which sparkled in her hand like a shining star, they drew back
in terror. So she soon got past the wood, the bog, and the eddying
whirlpools.

She saw her father's palace; the lights were all out in the great
ballroom, and no doubt all the household was asleep, but she did not
dare to go in now that she was dumb and about to leave her home for
ever. She felt as if her heart would break with grief. She stole into
the garden and plucked a flower from each of her sisters' plots, wafted
with her hand countless kisses towards the palace, and then rose up
through the dark blue water.

[Illustration: _But the little mermaid had no need to do this, for at
the mere sight of the bright liquid which sparkled in her hand like a
shining star, they drew back in terror._]

The sun had not risen when she came in sight of the prince's palace
and landed at the beautiful marble steps. The moon was shining bright
and clear. The little mermaid drank the burning, stinging draught, and
it was like a sharp, two-edged sword running through her tender frame;
she fainted away and lay as if she were dead. When the sun rose on the
sea she woke up and became conscious of a sharp pang, but just in front
of her stood the handsome young prince, fixing his coal black eyes on
her; she cast hers down and saw that her fish's tail was gone, and that
she had the prettiest little white legs any maiden could desire; but she
was quite naked, so she wrapped her long thick hair around her. The
prince asked who she was and how she came there. She looked at him
tenderly and with a sad expression in her dark blue eyes, but could not
speak. Then he took her by the hand and led her into the palace. Every
step she took was, as the witch had warned her beforehand, as if she
were treading on sharp knives and spikes, but she bore it gladly; led by
the prince, she moved as lightly as a bubble, and he and every on