The Little Mermaid - La Sirenita

Once upon a time . . . in a splendid palace on the bed of the bluest ocean, lived the Sea King, a wise old
triton with a long flowing white beard. He lived in a magnificent palace, built of gaily coloured coral and
seashells, together with his five daughters, very beautiful mermaids.

Sirenetta, the youngest and loveliest of them all, also had a beautiful voice, and when she sang, the fishes
flocked from all over the sea to listen to her. The shells gaped wide, showing their pearls and even the
jellyfish stopped to listen. The young mermaid often sang, and each time, she would gaze upwards, seeking
the faint sunlight that scarcely managed to filter down into the depths.

"Oh, how I'd love to go up there and at last see the sky, which everyone says is so pretty, and hear the
voices of humans and smell the scent of the flowers!"
"You're still too young!" said her mother. "In a year or two, when you're fifteen. Only then will the King let
you go up there, like your sisters!" Sirenetta spent her time wishing for the world of humans, she listened to
her sisters' stories, and every time they returned from the surface, she would ask them questions, to satisfy
her curiosity.
And as she waited for the day when she too would be allowed to reach the surface of the sea and meet the
unknown world, Sirenetta spent her time in her wonderful sea garden. The seahorses kept her company, and
sometimes a dolphin would come and play. Only the unfriendly starfish never replied when she called. At
last, her long-desired birthday came. The night before, Sirenetta could not sleep a wink. In the morning, her
father called her and, stroking her long golden hair, slipped a lovely carved flower into her locks . . .
"There! Now you can go to the surface. You'll breathe air and see the sky. But remember! It's not our world!
We can only watch it and admire! We're children of the sea and have no soul, as men do. Be careful and
keep away from them; they can only bring bad luck!" In a second, Sirenetta had kissed her father and was
darting smoothly towards the surface of the sea. She swam so fast with flicks of her slender tail, that even
the fish could not keep up with her.
Suddenly she popped out of the water. How wonderful! For the first time, she saw the great blue sky, in
which as dusk began to fall, the first stars were peeping out and twinkling. The sun, already over the
horizon, trailed a golden reflection that gently faded on the heaving waves. High overhead, a flock of gulls
spotted the little mermaid and greeted her arrival with shrieks of pleasure.
"It's so lovely!" she exclaimed happily. But another nice surprise was in store for her: a ship was slowly
sailing towards the rock on which Sirenetta was sitting. The sailors dropped anchor and the ship swayed
gently in the calm sea. Sirenetta watched the men go about their work aboard, lighting the lanterns for the
night. She could clearly hear their voices.
"I'd love to speak to them!" she said to herself. But then she gazed sadly at her long flexible tail, her
equivalent of legs, and said to herself: "I can never be like them!" Aboard ship, a strange excitement seemed
to seize the crew, and a little later, the sky became a spray of many coloured lights and the crackle of
fireworks filled the sky.
"Long live the captain! Hurray for his 20th birthday. Hurray! Hurray . . . many happy returns!" Astonished at
all this, the little mermaid caught sight of the young man in whose honour the display was being held. Tall
and dignified, he was smiling happily, and Sirenetta could not take her eyes from him. She followed his
every movement, fascinated by all that was happening. The party went on, but the sea grew more agitated.
Sirenetta anxiously realized that the men were now in danger: an icy wind was sweeping the waves, the ink
black sky was torn by flashes of lightning, then a terrible storm broke suddenly over the helpless ship. In
vain Sirenetta screamed: "Look out! Beware of the sea . . ." But the howling wind carried her words away,
and the rising waves swept over the ship. Amidst the sailors' shouts, masts and sails toppled onto the deck,
and with a sinister splintering sound, the ship sank.
By the light of one of the lamps. Sirenetta had seen the young captain fall into the water, and she swam to
his rescue. But she could not find him in the high waves and, tired out, was about to give up, when suddenly
there he was on the crest of a nearby wave. In an instant, he was swept straight into the mermaid s arms.
The young man was unconscious and the mermaid held his head above water in the stormy sea, in an effort
to save his life. She clung to him for hours trying to fight the tiredness that was overtaking her.
Then, as suddenly as it had sprung up, the storm died away. ln a grey dawn over a still angry sea, Sirenetta
realized thankfully that land lay ahead. Aided by the motion of the waves, she pushed the captain's body
onto the shore, beyond the water's edge. Unable herself to walk, the mermaid sat wringing her hands, her
tail lapped by the rippling water, trying to warm the young captain with her own body. Then the sound of
approaching voices startled Sirenetta and she slipped back into deeper water.
"Come quickly! Quickly!" came a woman's voice in alarm. "There's a man here! Look, I think he's
unconscious!" The captain was now in good hands.
"Let's take him up to the castle!"
"No, no! Better get help . . ." And the first thing the young man saw when he opened his eyes again was the
beautiful face of the youngest of a group of three ladies.
"Thank you! Thank you . . . for saving my life . . . he murmured to the lovely unknown lady.
From the sea Sirenetta watched the man she had snatched from the waves turn towards the castle, without
knowing that a mermaid had saved his life. Slowly swimming out to sea, Sirenetta felt that there on the
beach she had left behind something she could never bring herself to forget. How wonderful those
tremendous hours in the storm had been, as she had battled with the elements. And as she swam down
towards her father's palace, her sisters came to meet her, anxious to know what had kept her so long on the
surface. Sirenetta started to tell her story, but suddenly a lump came to her throat and, bursting into tears,
she fled to her room. She stayed there for days, refusing to see anyone or to touch food. She knew that her
love for the young captain was without hope, for she was a mermaid and could never marry a human. Only
the Witch of the Deeps could help her. But what price would she have to pay? Sirenetta decided to ask the
Witch. .
". . . so you want to get rid of your fishy tail, do you? I expect you'd like to have a pair of woman's legs, isn't
that so?" said the nasty Witch scornfully, from her cave guarded by a giant squid.
"Be warned!" she went on. "You will suffer horribly, as though a sword were cutting you apart. And every
time you place your feet on the earth, you will feel dreadful pain!"
"It doesn't matter!" whispered Sirenetta, with tears in her eyes. "As long as I can go back to him!"
"And that's not all!" exclaimed the Witch. "In exchange for my spell, you must give me your lovely voice.
You'll never be able to utter a word again! And don't forget! If the man you love marries someone else, you
will not be able to turn into a mermaid again. You will just dissolve in water like the foam on the wave!"
"All right!" said Sirenetta, eagerly taking the little jar holding the magic potion. The Witch had told
Sirenetta that the young captain was actually a prince, and the mermaid left the water at a spot not far
from the castle. She pulled herself onto the beach, then drank the magic potion. An agonizing pain made
her faint, and when she came to her senses, she could mistily see the face she loved, smiling down at her.
The witch's magic had worked the spell, for the prince had felt a strange desire to go down to the beach,
just as Sirenetta was arriving. There he had stumbled on her, and recalling how he too had once been
washed up on the shore, gently laid his cloak over the still body, cast up by the waves.
"Don't be frightened! he said quickly. "You're quite safe! Where have you come from?" But Sirenetta was now
dumb and could not reply, so the young man softly stroke her wet cheek.
"I'll take you to the castle and look after you," he said. In the days that followed, the mermaid started a new
life. She wore splendid dresses and often went out on horseback with the prince. One evening, she was
invited to a great ball at Court. However, as the Witch had foretold, every movement and each step she
took was torture. Sirenetta bravely put up with her suffering, glad to be allowed to stay near her beloved
prince. And though she could not speak to him, he was fond of her and showered kindness on her, to her
great joy. However, the young man's heart really belonged to the unknown lady he had seen as he lay on the
shore, though he had never met her since, for she had returned at once to her own land.
Even when he was in the company of Sirenetta, fond of her as he was, the unknown lady was always in his
thoughts. And the little mermaid, guessing instinctively that she was not his true love, suffered even more.
She often crept out of the castle at night, to weep by the seashore. Once she thought she could spy her
sisters rise from the water and wave at her, but this made her feel sadder than ever.
Fate, however, had another surprise in store. From the Castle ramparts one day, a huge ship was sighted
sailing into the harbour. Together with Sirenetta, the prince went down to meet it. And who stepped from
the vessel, but the unknown lady who had been for long in the prince's heart. When he saw her, he rushed
to greet her. Sirenetta felt herself turn to stone and a painful feeling pierced her heart: she was about to
lose the prince for ever. The unknown lady too had never forgotten the young man she had found on the bea
and soon after, he asked her to marry him. Since she too was in love, she happily said "yes".
A few days after the wedding, the happy couple were invited for a voyage on the huge ship, which was still
in the harbour. Sirenetta too went on board, and the ship set sail. Night fell, and sick at heart over the loss
of the prince, Sirenetta went on deck. She remembered the Witch's prophecy, and was now ready to give up
her life and dissolve in the sea. Suddenly she heard a cry from the water and dimly saw her sisters in the
darkness. ". . . Sirenetta! Sirenetta! It's us . . . your sisters! We've heard all about what happened! Look! Do
you see this knife? It's magic! The Witch gave it to us in exchange for our hair. Take it! Kill the prince before
dawn, and you will become a mermaid again and forget all your troubles!"
As though in a trance, Sirenetta clasped the knife and entered the cabin where the prince and his bride lay
asleep. But as she gazed at the young man's sleeping face, she simply blew him a furtive kiss, before running
back on deck. When dawn broke, she threw the knife into the sea. Then she shot a parting glance at the
world she was leaving behind, and dived into the waves, ready to turn into the foam of the sea from whence
she had come, and vanish.
As the sun rose over the horizon, it cast a long golden ray of light across the sea, and in the chilly water,
Sirenetta turned towards it for the last time. Suddenly, as though by magic, a mysterious force drew her out
of the water, and she felt herself lifted high into the sky. The clouds were tinged with pink, the sea rippled
in the early morning breeze, and the little mermaid heard a whisper through the tinkling of bells: "Sirenetta,
Sirenetta! Come with us ..."
"Who are you?" asked the mermaid, surprised to find she had recovered the use of her voice. "Where am I?"
"You're with us in the sky. We're the fairies of the air! We have no soul as men do, but our task is to help
them. We take amongst us only those who have shown kindness to men!"
Greatly touched, Sirenetta looked down over the sea towards the prince's ship, and felt tears spring to her
eyes. The fairies of the air whispered to her: "Look! The earth flowers are waiting for our tears to turn into
the morning dew! Come along with us ..."
Cuento de Blancanieves en ingls para nios

Once upon a time, a king and a queen had a baby daughter, and when
she saw her black hair, snowy white skin and red red lips she decided to
call her Snow White. Snow White grew up to be a pretty child, but sadly,
after a few years, her mother died and her father married again. The
new queen, Snow White's stepmother, was a beautiful woman too, but
she was very vain. More than anything else she wanted to be certain
that she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

She had a magic mirror, and she used to look at herself in it each clay
and say:

-Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who is the fairest one of all?

And the mirror would always reply,

-You, oh Queen, are the fairest one of all.

The queen would smile when she heard this for she knew the mirror
never failed to speak the truth. The years passed. Each year Snow White
grew prettier and prettier, until one day, her stepmother looked in the
magic mirror and said,

-Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who is the fairest one of all?

-You, oh Queen, are fair, but Snow White is fairer than you now.
The queen was angry and jealous. In a terrible rage she decided that
Snow White should be killed. She called for a hunter and told him to take
Snow White far into the forest and to kill her there. In order to prove that
Snow White was indeed dead, she commanded him to cut out Snow
Whites heart and bring it back to her.

The hunter was very sad, because he loved Snow White very much, but
he knew he must obey his orders. He took her deep into the forest and,
as he drew his knife, but he couldn't kill her. He told her never to come
back to the castle, then he killed a young deer and cut out its heart and
took this to the queen, pretending it was Snow White's heart.

Poor Snow White was tired, lonely and hungry in the forest. She
wandered through the trees, until she came to a clearing and found a
little house. She opened it and went inside. There she saw a room with a
long table laid with seven places with food, and she ate a little from each
one. Beyond the table were seven little beds. She tried out some of
them, and when she found one that was comfortable, she fell into a deep
sleep, for she was exhausted by her long journey through the forest.

The cottage was the home of seven dwarfs. All day long they worked in a
nearby mine digging diamonds from deep inside the mountain. When
they returned home that evening, they were amazed to see that
someone had been into their cottage and had taken some food and drink
from each place at their table. They were also surprised to find their
beds disturbed, until one dwarf called out that he had found a lovely girl
asleep on his bed.

The next morning Snow White awoke and met the dwarfs, and she told
them her story. When she explained how she now had no home, the
dwarfs immediately asked her whether she would like to stay with them.

Back at the palace the queen welcomed the hunter when he returned
with the deers heart. She was happy that now she was once more the
most beautiful woman in the world. As soon as she was alone, she
looked n her magic mirror and said, confidently,

-Mirror, mirror on the wall, Who is the fairest one of all?

To her horror, the mirror replied,

The queen trembled with anger as she realized that the hunter had
tricked her. She decided that she would now find Snow White and kill her
herself. The queen disguised herself as an old pedlar woman with a
basket of apples, and one of them was poisoned. When she knocked at
the cottage door, the queen offered Snow White an apple as a present.
Snow White stretched out her hand for the apple and also took a bite. At
once Snow White was affected by the poison and fell down as though
dead.

That evening when the dwarfs returned they were quite unable to revive
her. They watched over her through the night, but when morning came
she still lay without any sign of life, and they decided she must be dead.
Weeping bitterly, they laid herein a coffin and placed a glass lid over the
top so that all could admire her beauty, even though she was dead. Then
they carried the coffin to the top of a hill where they took turns to stand
guard.

Not long after this a prince came riding through the forest and came to
the hill where Snow White lay in her glass-topped coffin. She looked so
beautiful that he loved her at once and he asked the dwarfs if he could
kiss her. As the prince kissed Snow White gently, he moved her head.
The piece of poisoned apple fell from her lips. Slowly she came back to
life. Snow White saw the handsome prince kneeling on the ground
beside her, and fell in love with him straight away.

Then the queen far away in the palace heard from the mirror,

-You, oh Oueen, are fair, tis true, But Snow White is fairer still than you.

She was furious that Snow White had escaped death once more. And
now the king discovered what mischief she had been up to, and
banished her from his land. No one ever saw her or her mirror again. As
for Snow White, she said farewell to her kind friends the dwarfs, and
rode away on the back of the prince's horse. At his castle they were
married and they both lived happily forever afterwards.