easy english readers the little mermaid · 2020-05-25 · mermaids are not real. but love is. and...

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Special Schools Edition published 1999 by David McKay Box A678 Sydney South 1235 Australia Rs 25/- $US 1.00 easy english readers New Century Book House Easy English words by Cherry McKay Pictures by S.M. Xavier Rajan By Hans Christian Andersen The Little Mermaid

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Page 1: easy english readers The Little Mermaid · 2020-05-25 · Mermaids are not real. But love is. And this is a story about true love. The little mermaid had true love for the young man

Special Schools Editionpublished 1999 by

David McKayBox A678

Sydney South 1235Australia

Rs 25/- $US 1.00

easy english readers

New Century Book House

Easy English words by Cherry McKayPictures by S.M. Xavier Rajan

By Hans Christian Andersen

The LittleMermaid

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The Little Mermaid in 'Easy English'

'Easy English' books use words fromthe 900-word list in the Easy EnglishWord Book. Each word in the list hasa picture in that same book to helpyou understand it.

Some words in this book are not inthe Easy English word list. They arein another list at the back of this book,with more words to help you under-stand them.

This book uses 450 different words.Each Easy English book has a numberon the cover to say how many wordsyou must know to read that book.

Look for the name "McKay" on EasyEnglish books to know if they are true'Easy English' books.

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About the StoryMermaids are not real. But love is.

And this is a story about true love.

The little mermaid had true love forthe young man in the story, but it wasnot easy for her to show this love.

When we love another person wemust often leave things, lose things,and go through much pain to showhow strong our love is. The littlemermaid did this in the story.

But in this story, the little mermaid'slove for God was stronger than herlove for the young man. What shewanted most was to be with God.

And what God wanted most was forher to show love for others. She didthis with her whole life.

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The Little MermaidFar out in the ocean the water is

dark blue and as clear as glass. Butit is very deep… deeper than anyperson can go. If you put the tallestbuildings on top of each other, theywould not go from the ocean floor tothe top of the water. It is in this partof the ocean where the mer-peoplelive.

Do not think that there is nothingbut sand on this part of the oceanfloor. No, no! The best trees andplants grow there. They all bendeasily, and the littlest movement ofthe water makes them move likeliving animals. There are manydifferent fish – big and little – andthey swim between the branches ofthe ocean trees in the way that birdsfly up here in the air.

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In the deepest place of allis the mer-king's house.

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In the deepest place of all is themer-king's house. Its walls are madefrom red and white coral. In thewalls are tall windows. And the roofis covered with shells that open andclose with the movement of the water.In each shell is a pearl. Any womanwould be happy to have one of them,but there are hundreds of them inthe roof of the mer-king's house.

The mer-king had six beautifulmermaid daughters. His wife diedmany years before, and now hismother lives in the house with himand his daughters. Important mer-women wear six pearls on their tails,but the king's mother wears 12. Shewas a good mer-woman, and sheloved the king's daughters verymuch.

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The mermaids playedin their father's house.

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The youngest mermaid was themost beautiful of the six sisters.Her skin was as smooth as thesmoothest flower, and her eyes wereas blue as the deepest ocean. But,like her sisters, she had no feet.Her body was half fish tail.

Each day the mermaids played intheir father's house, where flowersgrow out of the walls. When the bigwindows were open, fish would swimthrough them as birds fly in the air.The fish would swim up to the littlemermaids and eat out of their hands,staying to be softly touched by them.

Near the house was a beautifulplace with blue and red trees. Thebranches of the trees move softly,and their flowers are like burningfires. They give off light like thevery best glass.

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The ground around the red andblue trees was blue sand. Thisbeautiful blue colour was over all thatwas there. You would think that youwere not on the bottom of the ocean,but high above the ocean withnothing but blue sky around you. Inclear weather you could see the sunat the top of the ocean, looking likea purple flower with all that lightcoming from its middle.

Each of the mermaids had herown special place near the trees,where she would dig and plant whatshe wanted. One sister made herflower bed in the shape of a big fish.Another made her special place inthe shape of a mermaid. But theyoungest sister made her flower bedin the shape of a circle, and filled itwith red flowers.

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She made her flower bedin the shape of a circle.

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The littlest mermaid was a quietchild, always thinking. The sisterswould bring things from broken shipson the ocean floor and put them intheir flower beds. The others putmany beautiful things in their flowerbeds, but she put one thing with herflowers – a statue of a beautiful boymade out of white stone. The whitestatue was in the middle of a circle ofred flowers, under a red tree, with bluesand all around it. The light made thetree's shape on the ground look purple,and the long thin branches of the treedropped down to the ground like theywere playing with the red flowers.

The little mermaid was happiestwhen other mermaids talked aboutthe people who lived on land in the"top earth". She asked her grand-mother many questions about ships

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and towns and people and animals.She liked to hear her grandmothertalk about the top earth. What sheliked best was that on land flowershave beautiful smells – for flowers donot have smells on the ocean floor –and that trees are green and the fish inthe branches of the trees can singbeautiful songs. (Grandmother saidthe birds were fish, because mermaidsdo not have a word for birds.)

"When you are 15," said Grand-mother, "you can go up to the top ofthe water and sit on big stones in themoonlight and see the big ships goby. And you can see trees and townstoo!"

That same year the oldest sisterwas 15. And each year after thatanother sister would be 15 (for therewas one year between each of them).

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But it would be five years before thelittlest mermaid could see the topearth.

Each sister said that she would tellthe others about the things she learnedwhen it was time for her to see the topearth… because Grandmother did nottell them enough, and there wasalways more that they wanted to know.

The mermaid who wanted to knowmost was the youngest, and shewas the one who had to wait thelongest. But she waited very quietly,always thinking.

Many nights she looked out theopen window and up through thedark blue water where fish weremoving. She could see the moonand the stars above her. They lookmuch bigger through the water thanthey do to our eyes.

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She looked out the open windowand up through the blue water.

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At times a ship would move bylike a dark cloud above her. On theship were many people – peoplewho did not know that there was abeautiful mermaid down under themholding her soft hands up towardthem.

When the oldest sister turned 15,she travelled to the top of the ocean.And she had hundreds of things totell the others when she returned.

What she liked best was to restagainst the beach by the quiet oceanand see the big town near it. Atnight the lights of the town lookedlike hundreds of stars. She listenedto music and the sounds of themovements of animals, people, andother things. Above the town shecould see the tops of temples andhear the sound of their bells.

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She liked to rest against thebeach and see the town

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How happy the youngest sister wasto hear what the oldest sister wassaying! After that, when she lookedthrough the window after dark, shewould think of the big town with all ofits sounds and movement. She couldalmost hear the sound of the bellscoming down to her.

The following year sister numbertwo was able to swim to the top, andwhen she returned she could not findwords to say how beautiful the sunwas as it was going down. The wholesky was like gold; and red and purpleclouds sailed over her head. A line ofwild swans, flying more quickly thanthe clouds, moved over the water towhere the sun was going down. Shetried to swim toward the sun, but itdropped quickly under the water,taking the beautiful colours with it.

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Sister number three had moreconfidence when it was her time tosee the top earth. She followed awide river through the town andinto beautiful green mountains thatwere covered with trees andbushes. She could see houseslooking out at her between the trees.Birds were singing and the sun washot – too hot for her. She put herface under the water from time totime to cool it.

In one place a group of childrenwere playing in the water. Shewanted to play with them, but theywere afraid of her and were runningaway. A little black animal – it wasa dog, but she did not know it –made a loud sound, making herreturn to the ocean.

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Sister number four did not go as faras the others. Because she liked theocean, she stayed in the middlelooking all around her. She said thatthe sky above her was like a big glassbell covering the earth. Ships lookedlike ocean birds when they were faraway from her. She liked to look atfish jumping out of the water; and thebest part for her was seeing very bigfish push water up out of their headslike big fountains. They did not do thisat the bottom of the ocean.

It was the coldest time of the yearwhen sister number five was able togo to the top, and her stories werevery different from the others. Herocean was green, with big mountainsof ice swimming in it. Each one lookedlike a pearl, but they were bigger thanany building people could make.

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Her ocean was green,with big mountains of ice.

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Each mountain had a differentshape, and their many sidesreturned the light falling on themlike little suns.

She res ted on the b iggestmountain, with her long hair flyingin the wind like a flag. The big shipstravelled wide around her, thinkingshe was a spirit.

Late in the day dark clouds filledthe sky. The angry ocean lifted themountains of ice high above theships. On all the ships people wereafraid. They were taking down theirsails to stop the wind from pushingthem over. But she rested quietlyon her ice mountain. She looked onas lightning from the clouds wouldshoot down on the beautiful water.

Each sister was most interestedin her first look at the top earth.

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After they were 15, they were ableto go up at any time. But theirinterest quickly dropped after thefirst look, and in the end, they eachsaid that the bottom of the oceanwas the most beautiful place andthe one they liked most.

Some nights the five sisters wouldswim hand in hand in a line up to thetop of the water. They could singbeautifully – more beautifully thanany person on earth.

When the wind was strong andships were in danger, they would swimin front of the ships and sing songsabout how beautiful it is at the bottomof the ocean. But the people in theships would think it was the windthey were hearing, because thewords were not clear to them. Andpeople on the ships could not

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understand that it is beautiful at thebottom of the ocean, because whena ship goes to the bottom of theocean, the people on it die.

On nights when the older sisterswould go to the top of the watertogether, their little sister had to staybehind. She would look up to themalmost crying; but a mermaid can-not cry to take the pain away. Whena mermaid is sad it hurts more thanit does when a person is sad.

"I want to be 15!" she would say toherself. "I know I will grow to lovethe top earth and all the people wholive there."

At last the little mermaid turned 15."Now you can stop asking us all

your quest ions , " sa id hergrandmother. "Now you will see foryourself."

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"Now you can stop asking questionsand you will see for yourself."

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"Come now. I will dress you beau-tifully like your sisters," said the oldmer-woman. She put a circle ofwhite flowers made from pearls onthe little mermaid's hair, and six bigshells on her tail, each with a pearlin it, to show how important shewas.

"But it hurts, Grandmother!" saidthe little mermaid.

"We must all hurt a little to lookbeautiful," said the mer-woman.

She wanted to shake off the shellsand put down the big pearl flowers.She would have liked to wear herred flowers much more. But it wastime to leave for the top and she didnot want to take time now. Shesmiled at her grandmother and,without thinking, moved quickly upthrough the water.

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The sun was going down whenshe put her head up above the water,and the clouds were purple. In themiddle of the sky was the night star.Its light was strong and beautiful.There was no wind, and the waterwas as smooth as glass.

The sound of music and singingwere coming from inside a big shipnear the little mermaid. As the nightwas growing darker, hundreds ofcoloured lights started showing onthe ship. Many flags were movingsoftly in the wind.

The little mermaid moved upcloser to a window on the side of theship. Each time the water lifted her,she could see through the clearglass. Many well dressed peoplewere in the room, but the mostbeautiful person of them all was

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sitting in a special place in front ofall the others.

He was very young and he haddeep black eyes. It was a specialday for him too, because he wasnow 16 years old. The colouredlights were for him!

People moved to the top floor ofthe ship to dance, and when the boystepped out on the top floor withthem, guns s tar ted shoot ingbeautiful fountains of colour intothe sky. At first the mermaid wasafraid, and she put her head underthe water. But she returned quicklyto see the colours and to see theyoung man shaking people by thehand, smiling, and laughing asmusic filled the night.

"He must be the son of a king!"the little mermaid said to herself.

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"He must be the son of a king!"

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It was getting late, but she couldnot turn her eyes away from theship and the young man.

At last the music stopped. Peoplewere leaving the dance floor. Thecoloured lights were turned off. Theguns stopped shooting. And one byone the sails on the ship were putup.

Deep down in the water was thesound of movement. She stayed onthe top of the water, going up anddown with the movements, andlooking through the window whenshe was high enough, to see if shecould find the boy. She followed theship as it moved faster through thewater.

The waves were growing tallernow. Black clouds were moving in.The wind was growing stronger.

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People on the ship could see that badweather was coming. They weretaking the sails down, but they couldnot stop the wild ocean from pushingthe ship almost over on its side. Theship moved up and down on the waveslike a swan looking for food, and thelittle mermaid followed it.

She liked to swim quickly like this;but the people in the ship did not.Pieces of the ship were breaking, anda big hole in it made it fall over on oneside. Water quickly filled the bottomparts of it. Timber dropped from theship and the little mermaid had tomove quickly to stop it from falling onher. Now she could understand thatthe people on the ship were in danger.

At times it was too dark to see theship, but when lightning would comeshe could see people on the ship

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doing their best to hold on. Beforelong the whole ship started to breakinto pieces, and she could see thebeautiful young man falling into theocean.

At first the little mermaid was happy,because she was thinking that he wascoming to her. But she rememberedthat people cannot live in water. Theone way he could come to her father'shouse would be as a dead man; andthis must not happen. Without thinkingabout the danger of falling timber shestarted swimming through the waterto help him.

By the time she touched the boy hiseyes were closed and he was not ableto swim. He would have died if shehad not come. She moved with thewaves, holding his head above thewater.

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She moved with the waves,holding his head above the water.

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Through the night she carried theyoung man. By morning the badweather had stopped, and the littlemermaid could not see any part ofthe broken ship. The strong redcolour of the morning sun put lifeinto the young man's face, but hiseyes stayed closed. The mermaidsoftly touched his black hair, thinkinghe looked like the white stone statuein her flower bed under the red tree.She prayed that he would live.

In the morning light she could seeland in front of them. She could seehigh blue mountains with white snowon their tops like many swans restingthere. Down by the beach weremany beautiful green trees. In frontof the trees was a building like atemple. And plants were growing infront of the temple.

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Near the temple was a place withbig stones and white sand. Thewater was quiet and deep all theway up to the stones. The little mer-maid put the man on the sand, withhis beautiful head on a stone whereit would be safe in the warm sun.

Music was coming from the bellsin the temple and young girls wererunning out under the trees. Thelittle mermaid moved to hide behindsome high stones as she looked tosee who would come to help theyoung man.

Before long a young girl walkeddown to the beach where the manwas. At first the girl was afraid,thinking he was dead. But whenshe learned that he was not, shequickly returned to the temple tobring more people.

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She moved to hidebehind some high stones.

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Together the people were able toget the young man awake. Hesmiled at the people around him,but he did not turn and smile at themermaid, because he did not knowshe was there, or that she hadhelped him.

When they carried him to thetemple, the little mermaid was verysad to see him go. But it was timefor her to return to her father's house,and she moved slowly down throughthe water, away from the land andthe temple, and the beautiful youngman.

The little mermaid had alwaysbeen a quiet child, but now as sheremembered the young man shewas quieter than before. Her sistersasked about her travels to the topearth, but she did not say a thing.

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She did not dig or workin her flower bed.

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She returned many times afterthat to the temple on the beach.Through the year she could see theplants growing in front of the temple.When the plants finished growing,she could see the workers cuttingthem to eat. She looked at the snowon the high mountains. And shecould see the young girls playingunder the trees. But she did not seethe young man.

Each time she returned to herfather's house she was sadder thanbefore. She would sit quietly underher red tree and put her arms aroundthe beautiful stone statue thatlooked like the young man. But shedid not dig or work in her flower bed.The plants were growing wild overthe sand and up into the trees,making it a very sad and dark place.

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When she could hold her sadnessno longer, she at last talked to hersisters, telling them the story of theyoung man. Now the sisters couldunderstand the reason for the littlemermaid's sadness. One sister hadbeen to the top many times and shebelieved she could show them wherethe young man lived.

"Come, little sister," they said. Andwith their arms around each other,they quietly travelled to the top, to aplace where they could see a bighouse. A road made of flat whitestones was coming from it, down tothe ocean. The roof was gold, withmany round glass windows in it.Around the house were tall stonesholding up the roof. And between thestones were white stone statues ofmany different animals.

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They travelled to a placewhere they could see a big house.

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Through the windows they couldsee into the house. In the middle ofthe biggest room was a fountain.Water from the fountain was shoot-ing high up toward the glass on theroof where the sun was comingthrough. Many plants were growingaround the bottom of the fountain.

After learning where the youngman lived, the little mermaid re-turned many times to the house,going closer to it each time. Shewould swim up a little branch of theriver that goes close enough thatthe shape of the house shows onthe water in the moonlight. Thereshe waited to look at the young man,who liked to come there to think.

Some nights he would sail in alittle ship, with flags flying and musicplaying, and she would look out at

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him through the green water grass.If he did see her snow-white scarfflying in the wind, he would think itwas a swan opening its wings.

When people fished at night withlights on the water, she listened tothem. They said the young manwas very kind. That made her happythat she had helped him when hewas almost dead in the ocean. Sheremembered how his head hadrested on her and how she hadsoftly touched his hair. But he didnot know a thing about it. He couldnot think of her at all.

She was learning to like peoplemore and more, and she wanted tobe able to live with them. Their lifelooked much better than her own,for they could sail over the ocean inships, and walk on the tall mountains

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high above the clouds. The landwhere the people lived was coveredwith grass and green trees for as faras her eyes could see.

There was much that she wanted toknow, but her sisters could not giveher all the answers. When she hadquestions she asked her grandmother.

"I know that people die if they fallto the bottom of the ocean. But onthe land do they live for all time?"she asked.

"They die on land as we do downhere in the ocean," her grandmotheranswered. "And their life is not aslong as our life. We live for 300years, but when we die, we becomefoam on top of the water. Whenpeople die they have a spirit thatlives for all time with God. After thebody is dead and returns to the

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earth, the spirit goes up through thesky to the stars! In the way that wego up to look at the top earth, thespirits of people go to live in a muchmore beautiful place that we cannotsee, where God lives."

"I would give all the hundreds ofyears that I have to live as a mermaidto be able to live one day as a personbefore going to this beautiful place ofGod," said the little mermaid.

"You must not think about thingslike that," answered the old mer-woman. "We are happy and we havea better life here than people havethere."

"Must I die and become foam onthe waves... foam that cannot hearits own music or see the beautifulflowers or the red sun?" asked thelittle mermaid.

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"If a man loves you,part of his spirit will go into you."

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"Is there no way that I can receivea spirit that lives for all time withGod?" she asked her grandmotherone day.

"There is one way," said Grand-mother. "If a man loves you with thedeepest love – if he loves you morethan his father and mother, if hethinks of you day and night, and ifhe marries you – part of his spiritwill go into your body and you willbecome a person like him. By hislove he can give you a spirit.

"But that cannot happen, child,"she said sadly, "because you do nothave legs. Your fish tail is verybeautiful to us here in the ocean,but up there on earth, they think it isugly. To travel on land you musthave two legs where your tail isnow."

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The little mermaid breathed outslowly, making a sad sound as shelooked at her fish tail.

"Come and be happy with me!"said Grandmother. "We will swimand dance through our 300 years.It is a very long time, and when it isfinished, we will be happy to be-come foam on the top of the water.Come and we will have a dance forall the mer-people this night!"

The walls and roof of the danceroom were of clear glass. Aroundthe walls were hundreds of big redand green shells with blue fires inthem, to light up the whole room.Hundreds and hundreds of fish ofall shapes and sizes were swim-ming near the wall. In the lightsome looked red and others lookedlike they were made of gold.

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"We will have a dancefor all the mer-people this night!"

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Mer-men and mer-women danceand sing more beautifully than whatyou hear on earth, and the littlemermaid's singing was the best ofthem all.

For a time she was happy to singfor the others, because she couldsee that they liked it. But beforelong she was thinking of the earthabove her again, and of the beauti-ful young man. Her sadness re-turned when she remembered thatshe could not have a living spirit.When most of the singing and danc-ing was happening, she was sittingsadly in her special place under thered tree.

The sound of a ship made her thinkhe was sailing up above her that samenight. She said to herself, "I lovehim more than my father and sisters.

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I think of him day and night. I would behappy all my life if I could live it withhim. I would give all that I have to winhis love and to have a spirit that livesfor all time.

"I know what to do! I will go to theocean witch. I have always beenafraid of her; but now she can help."

The little mermaid started swimmingaway from her special place and towardthe place where the water moves veryquickly in circles. The witch lives be-hind this angry water, where no flowersgrow, and where the sand is an uglygrey. At the angry water, the littlemermaid could see it turning aroundand around, pulling into it all that movedclose to it. She moved through themiddle of this angry water and oversoft, grey mud on the far side of it.There in the middle of a group of ugly

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trees was the witch's house. Plantshere were part animal and part plant,like snakes with hundreds of headsgrowing out of the grey mud. Treebranches had long arms with fingerslike very little snakes, always movingas they tried to hold things close tothem to take the life from them.

The little mermaid was very muchafraid of the plants. Her heart hitagainst her ribs, and she almostreturned to her sisters. But when sheremembered the young man and thespirit that lives for all time, she wasfilled with confidence to move on.She pulled her hair behind her to stopthe trees from getting it; she put herhands together in front of her; andmoved forward as quickly as she wasable to swim, through the opening inthe ugly arms and fingers of the trees.

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She could see the white bones ofdead people and animals.

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Hanging in the arms of the treesshe could see the white bones ofdead people and animals, and partsof broken ships. She could see thatanother little mermaid had beenkilled by the branches too, and thatmade her most afraid.

On the far side of the trees was anopen place with big fat water snakesplaying around a house made fromthe bones of people. The ocean witchwas giving a frog food from her lips inthe way a mother bird would give foodto her young birds. The ugly snakes(her "children") moved about her soft,fat body.

"I know what you want," said theocean witch. "And you will havewhat you want. But it will bring youmuch sadness, my beautiful littledaughter of the king.

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The ugly snakes moved about hersoft, fat body.

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"You want to give away your beau-tiful fish tail and have two ugly legsin its place, to make you walk likepeople. You think that will makeyour young man love you and giveyou a spirit."

At that, the witch laughed a long,ugly laugh, making the snakes andfrog fall to the ground.

"I will make you a drink. Beforethe sun comes up again you mustswim to the land with it, sit on thebeach, and drink it. It will makeyour tail change to two beautifullegs.

"But it will hurt! It will feel likesharp knives going into you. Allwho see you will say you are themost beautiful person they know.No dancer will move as smoothly asyou do on your beautiful legs. But

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each step you take will be like step-ping on a knife that cuts you andmakes your blood run. Now tell me,do you want to go through with this?"

"I do," said the little mermaid. Hervo ice was shaking, but sheremembered again the young manand the spirit that lives on with God.

"Remember," said the witch, "Afteryou become a person, you cannotbecome a mermaid again! You willnot be able to swim down to see yourfather and sisters. And if the youngman does not love you more than hisfather and mother... if he does notthink of you day and night... if he doesnot marry you, you will NOT receive aspirit that lives on. The morning afterhe marries another person, your heartwill break, and you will become foamon the waves."

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"I understand," said the little mer-maid. But her face was white andshe was afraid.

"And you must give me much,"said the witch, "or I will not make thedrink. You have the most beautifulvoice of all the mermaids in theocean, and with it you could easilymake your young man fall in lovewith you. But you must give thatvoice to me. I will take the bestthing you have in return for mydrink."

"But if you take my voice," saidthe little mermaid, "what will I do?"

"You will have your beautifulbody," said the witch. "And yoursmooth walk, and your dancingeyes. With them you will be able tomake any man love you… do not beafraid! Where is your confidence?

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"When I have finished makingthe drink, I will cut out your voice,and you can have your drink."

The little mermaid agreed, andthe witch put a big black containeron the fire to make her specialdrink. She cut herself, and herblack blood dropped into thecontainer. Ugly cloud-like shapesstarted coming up out of thecontainer. The witch put otherthings in, and as it was becominghot it made the sound of an animalcrying. When, at last, the drink wasfinished, it looked like clear water.

"Here it is," said the witch, givingthe drink to the little mermaid in alittle glass container.

After that she cut out the littlemermaid's voice, making her notable to sing or talk.

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"If the trees hold you as youleave," said the witch, "put one dropof this drink on them and their armsand fingers will break into a hundredlittle pieces."

But the trees did not hold her.They moved their arms away fromher because they could smell thedrink she had in her hands. Thedrink looked like many little starsgiving off light.

The l i t t l e merma id qu ick lyreturned through the trees, over theugly mud, and through the angry,turning water.

The lights were off at her father'shouse. All of her sisters were sleep-ing. Her heart was filled with sadnessbecause of the love she had for them,but she must not see them beforeleaving or they would try to stop her.

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She stopped at the special place bythe trees to take one flower from eachof her sisters' flower beds, to carrywith her. After doing this, she turnedone last time to look at her father'shouse before starting the long swimto her new life as a person.

The sun was not up when the littlemermaid lifted herself up on the stonesteps by the young man's house. Themoonlight was clear and strong. Sheput the witch's drink to her lips and itburned as she was drinking it. Butshe did not stop. When she finished,she could feel it cutting into her like asharp knife, making her fall to theground like she was dead. A shorttime later, she opened her eyes. Thebeautiful young man was standing infront of her. His deep black eyeslooked at her, making her feel afraid.

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The beautiful young manwas standing in front of her.

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When she moved, she had asharp pain. She looked down tosee that two beautiful legs were inthe place where her fish tail wasbefore. She covered her body withher long hair, and with her scarf.

The young man smiled, andasked who she was and how shehad come there. She looked softly,but sadly, at him because she couldnot talk. The man showed her theway into the house. Each step wasas the witch said it would be… likestepping on sharp knives. But shewas happy to be near the youngman.

All the people in the house lovedher smooth way of walking. Shewas easily the most beautiful girl inthe king's house. But she could notsing or talk.

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Other girls would sing for theyoung man and his father andmother, the king and queen. Thevoice of one singer was morebeautiful than the others, and theyoung man smiled at her. Themermaid was sad that she did nothave her voice, because her voicewas more beautiful than that of thegirl he smiled at. She wanted him toknow that she loved him enough togive away her voice to be with him,but she could not tell him.

The girls started to dance to themusic. The little mermaid lifted herarms up and danced softly across thefloor on the ends of her toes as nodancer had danced before. With eachmovement she looked more beautiful.Her eyes talked more deeply to theheart than the songs of the other girl.

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The little mermaiddanced softly across the floor.

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All the people loved her. Theyoung man was very happy aboutfinding her. He said she was hislittle "sister".

She danced on and on, but eachtime her feet touched the ground itwas like stepping on sharp stones.The young man asked her to stay atthe house, and he put a soft red bednear his room for her to sleep on.

Each morning they would ridehorses together through beautifulsmelling trees. The birds wouldsing for them. She would walk withhim up the high mountains. Thewalks often made blood come fromher soft feet, but she would laughand not stop before coming to thetop. From there, they could seeclouds sailing under them like bigbirds flying away across the sky.

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At night in the king's house, whenall were sleeping, she would go outon the big stone steps and stand inthe ocean water to cool her burningfeet, and to think about the peopleshe loved down in the ocean.

She was there one night whenher sisters were swimming acrossthe water, singing sadly. On seeingher, they quickly made their way toher.

"You have made us all very sad,"they said to her. After that, theyreturned to see her each night. Onenight both her grandmother and themer-king, who had not been to thetop for many years, were far out inthe water, putting their hands outtoward her. They were too afraid tocome up to the land as her sistersdid.

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Day by day she loved the youngman more. And he loved her like abrother would love a very goodsister. But he did not think of makingher his queen.

"Do you love me more than theothers?" the little mermaid's eyessaid to him one day.

"I love you very much," said theyoung man. "You have the best heartof them all. You are very much like theyoung girl who helped me when myship was destroyed in the ocean. Thewaves pushed me to a beach near atemple where some girls worked. Iwas almost dead, but one of thegirls helped me to start breathingagain. She is the one person Icould love more than you, but shecannot leave the temple, and I willnot be able to see her again.

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"You are very much like her, andyou have almost filled her place inmy heart. You have come to me fromGod, and I want you to live with meand with my mother and father."

"He does not know I carried himto the beach," the little mermaidsaid to herself. "He thinks the girlfrom the temple is the one whohelped him; and now he loves hermore than me." She breathed sadly,but she could not cry.

After that she talked to herselfabout how good it was to be with theyoung man. "This girl cannot leavethe temple," she was thinking. "I donot need to be sad. They will notsee each other again, and I am herewith him each day. I will be hissister if that is what he wants, and Iwill give my life to him."

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People wanted the young man tobe married, but he did not want tomarry. Another king had a beautifuldaughter and the young man's fathermade a special ship for him to sail into see the other king's daughter.

"He is going to see the king'sland," the people said. But therewas an understanding that it wasthe daughter of the other king he wasgoing to see, and not the land. Thelittle mermaid laughed, knowing hisheart better than them all.

"I must see this girl," he said toher. "It is what my father and motherwant. But I will not marry her. Icannot love her. She cannot takethe place of the girl in the temple.Come with me, and if they say Imust marry, I will marry you, littlesister with the eyes that talk."

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"I must see this girl,but I will not marry her."

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This made her very happy, and shestarted thinking again about havinga spirit that lives on after dying.

"You do not look like you are afraidof the ocean at all, my little child,"the young man said as they werestanding on the ship, sailing to theland of the other king. He talkedabout bad weather and goodweather when sailing, of special fishdeep in the ocean, and the storiesof people who had been deep downin the ocean. She smiled at him,because she had much betterunderstanding of life under the waterthan any people had.

One quiet night when the otherswere sleeping, the little mermaidlooked down over the side of the ship,through the clear water. In the moon-light she could see her father's house.

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At the top of it, her grandmotherwas standing, looking up throughthe water toward the bottom of theship. Before long, her sisters wereon top of the water, looking at herwith sad eyes. She wanted to tellthem how happy she was, but aworker walked up to her and thesisters dropped under the water,leaving the worker to think that shewas looking at nothing more thanthe foam on the top of the water.

In the morning, the ship sailedinto the other king's town. The musicof bells was coming from the town.The king's men were standing tallwith guns at their sides. For manydays there was special food anddancing for them and for others inthe town. But the king's daughterwas not there.

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The king's daughterwas very beautiful.

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The king said that his daughterhad been learning how to followGod and live a good life. She hadtravelled to a far away temple tolearn to do this. But after manydays the daughter was returning tothe town.

The little mermaid wanted to seethis daughter. When she did, shecould see for herself that the girlwas very beautiful. Her skin wasvery clear, and her eyes were deepblue.

"It is you!" said the young man."You are the one who stopped theocean from killing me when I waslike a dead man on the beach."

The young man and the little mer-maid were surprised to learn thatthe girl on the beach was thedaughter of the king.

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Later, the young man said to thelittle mermaid, "You must know howhappy I am. The best thing on earthhas happened to me. You will under-stand my happiness, because youlove me more than the others." Shesmiled, but her heart was breaking.The morning after the young manmarried she would be dead. Shewould be foam on the waves.

* * *All the bells were making music.

The king's men were going throughthe town on horses, telling all thepeople that this was the day that theyoung man was going to marry theking's daughter. A special fire burnedin the temple, filling it with a beautifulsmell. The young man and womanwere walking into the temple to bemarried.

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They were walking into the templeto be married.

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The little mermaid, dressed inwhite, was holding the long tail ofthe other girl's dress. But she didnot hear the music, and her eyesdid not see the people praying fortheir happiness. She was thinkingabout dying, and about how littletime she had with her young man.

After they were married, the king'smen were shooting big guns on theship for the young man and hiswife. People from the town followedthem into the ship for a night ofdancing and happiness. The sailswere lifted, and the ship quietlymoved away.

When it was dark, many colouredlights were turned on, and all thepeople danced to show theirhappiness. The little mermaidremembered the first time she had

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put her head through the top of thewater to see the same dancing andhappiness on the ship.

This time she danced with theothers, moving as smoothly as abird flying across the sky. She hadnot danced as beautifully before.She did not feel the pain in her feet,because the pain in her heart wasmore. This was the last time thatshe would see him.

She had no father or grandmotherto turn to now, and no life under thewater. She had finished with thatbefore coming to be with the youngman. She had no voice, becausethat, too, she had walked away fromto be with him. For him she hadhappily received pain with each stepof her feet. But he did not knowabout any of this.

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This was the last night she wouldfeel the wind on her face, or look atthe ocean or the stars. A sleep forall time was waiting for her becauseshe did not have a spirit.

There was danc ing andhappiness on the ship long into thenight. She laughed and dancedwith them too, but in her heart allthat she was thinking about wasdying. At last, the man and womanwalked, arm in arm, to their beauti-ful room.

One by one people stoppeddancing to go to their beds. Theship was quiet, with all of the peopleasleep now. The little mermaid puther arms on the side of the ship andlooked toward the place where thefirst red light of the morning sunwould kill her.

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As she looked, her sisters pushedup out of the water. Their faces weresad. She looked again, to see thattheir hair did not fly in the wind. It hadbeen cut off!

"The witch has cut off our hair," theysaid. "In return we have received thisknife. See how sharp it is? Before thesun comes up you must push it intothe young man's heart. As his bloodfalls on your feet, they will growtogether as a fish tail and you will be amermaid as before. You can return tous and live your 300 years beforebecoming foam on the waves. One ofyou must die before the sun is up! Killthe young man and return to us.Quickly! See the red line in the sky?Move before the sun comes up, or youwill die!" They breathed deeply andsadly, and dropped under the water.

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"One of you must diebefore the sun is up."

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The little mermaid walked quietlyinto the young man's room. The beau-tiful woman was sleeping with herhead on his arm. Bending down, shetouched his face. She looked at thesky where the red light was growingstronger. She looked at the sharpknife and at the sleeping man, whowas smiling in his sleep. Her handwas shaking. She could not do it.She looked one last time at theyoung man before dropping the knifein the red waves, and jumping intothe water, where her beautiful bodyquickly turned to white foam on thetop of the waves.

As the sun lifted higher in the sky, ittouched the dead, cold foam. The littlemermaid had no feeling of pain as shelooked at the sun. Above were manybeautiful shapes flying toward her.

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Through them she could see theship and its sails and the red cloudsin the sky. The shapes had voices,and their voices were like music.

Because they were from God, noone but she could hear them, andno one but she could see them.They were able to fly without wings.And the little mermaid looked to seethat she too had a body like theirbodies. She was lifting higher andhigher out of the foam.

"Where am I going?" she asked,and her voice sounded like theirvoices.

"To the daughters of the wind!"answered the others.

One of them said: "As a mermaidyou have no spirit, and you cannotreceive one without the love of aman. We, too, do not have a spirit.

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But we can receive one if we showlove for others. We are flying to ahot place where sickness in the windis killing people. There we will bringa cool, soft wind. It will stop thesickness. When we have finishedwhat good we can do, we will havea spirit that lives for all time.

"You, little mermaid, have triedwith your whole heart to show loveall your life. Because of your loveand pain God is lifting you from thefoam to be with us. We are thedaughters of the wind. You, too,can be one of us. You will have aliving spirit after many years of doinggood."

The little mermaid lifted her handsup toward God, and for the first timein her life she could feel herselfcrying.

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The little mermaid lifted her handsup toward God.

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The ship was coming to life again.The young man and his wife werelooking for the little mermaid. Theylooked sadly into the foam, almostknowing that she had been there.They could not see her, but shesoftly touched the woman's faceand smiled on the young man. Afterthis, with the other daughters of thewind, she was lifted up on a redcloud and quickly sailed across thesky.

Her hea r t was f i l l ed w i thhappiness. To the young man shesaid softly through the wind. "Donot be sad for me. After many yearsI will sail like this to be with myloving God for all time, and that iswhat I wanted most of all!"

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QUESTIONS1. Where the mer-people live, fish

are able to swim through thebranches of ocean trees in the sameway that _____ are able to _____through the branches of trees onland. (p. 5)

2. The mer-king has them on hishouse, and the mer-king's motherhas them on her tail. They are______. (p. 7)

3. Each mermaid made a ______bed in her own special place nearthe trees. (p. 10)

4. What did the littlest mermaidtake from the broken ship for herflower bed? (p. 12)

5. Trees and flowers on land aredifferent because the trees are_____ and you can _____ the flow-ers. (p. 13)

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6. When each mermaid turned 15,she was able to go see the ________. (p. 13)

7. When the oldest sister was 15,what she liked best about the topearth were the lights and sounds ofthe _____. (p. 16)

8. What the second sister likedmost about the top earth was thegold ____ and red and purple _____.(p. 18)

9. One sister was able to get closeto the green mountains by followinga ______ from the ocean to themountains. (p. 19)

10. Sister number three wanted toplay with some ________ but theywere afraid of her. (p. 19)

11. Sister number four stayed inthe ocean, looking at ____ and_____ in the water. (p. 21)

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12. Sister number five rested on abig mountain made of _____ whenshe was at the top of the water forthe first time. (p. 21-22)

13. When _____ were in danger,the mermaids would sing songsabout how beautiful it is at the bot-tom of the ocean. (p. 23)

14. It hurts more when a mermaidis sad than when a person is sad,because a mermaid cannot ____.(p. 24)

15. When the littlest mermaidturned 15, her grandmother put six______ with ______ in them on hertail. (p. 26)

16. The little mermaid could hearthe sound of _____ and _____ com-ing from inside a ship when she firstput her head above the water. (p.27)

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17. The little mermaid was able tosee many ______ through the win-dow on the side of the ship. (p. 27)

18. The day the little mermaidturned 15 was special for the boy onthe ship because it was the daywhen he ___________. (p. 28)

19. When the boy walked out onthe top floor of the ship, guns startedto shoot ______ of _____ into thesky. (p. 28)

20. Bad _________ made thepeople on the ship take the sailsdown. (p. 31)

21. When the whole ship startedto break into pieces, the little mer-maid could see the ________ fall-ing into the ocean. (p. 32)

22. The young man would have_____ in the water if the little mer-maid had not come to him. (p. 32)

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23. The little mermaid put theyoung man on the sand near a build-ing like a ______. (p. 34-35)

24. A young _____ was the firstperson to find the man on the beach.(p. 35)

25. When the young man wasawake on the beach, he did notsmile at the __________ becausehe did not know that she was there.(p. 37)

26. When the little mermaid wassaid, she would put her arms aroundthe _________ in her flower bed.(p.39)

27. One ______ showed the littlemermaid where the young manlived. (p. 40)

28. The young man liked to go toa branch of the ____ near his housewhen he wanted to think. (p. 42)

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29. The little mermaid learnedthat the young man was kind, bylistening to people who _____ onthe river at night. (p. 43)

30. The little mermaid learnedfrom her __________ that peopledo not live as long as mermaids. (p.44)

31. Mermaids do not have a______ that goes to live with Godafter they die. (p. 44)

32. By his _____ a man can give amermaid a spirit. (p. 47)

33. To travel on land, a mermaidmust have ______. (p. 47)

34. The little mermaid said thatshe loved the young man more thanher ______ and her _______. (p.50)

35. The ocean ______ was ableto help the little mermaid. (p. 51)

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36. Plants near the ocean witch'shouse are part plant and part_______. (p. 52)

37. The ocean witch's "children"were ugly ______. (p. 54)

38. The ocean witch made a _____that would give the mermaid ____.(p. 56)

39. If the young man did not marrythe little mermaid, she would be-come ____ on the _____ after shedied. (p. 57)

40. The little mermaid agreed togive her _____ to the ocean witch.(p. 58-59)

41. The little mermaid carried_______ with her to help her re-member her sisters. (p. 61)

42. When the young man askedthe little mermaid who she was, shewas not able to ______. (p. 63)

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43. Other girls were able to singsongs for the young man, but thelittle mermaid talked to him with her____. (p. 64)

44. The mermaid was not able tosee the______ and her _______ upclose because they were afraid toswim to the land where she lived.(p. 67)

45. The young man did not knowthat the girl who helped him whenhis ship was destroyed was the________. (p. 68-69)

46. Did the young man plan tomarry the daughter of the other kingthat he was going to see? (p. 70)

47. The king's men were waitingfor the young man when his shipsailed into the other king's town; butthe king's _______ was not there.(p. 73)

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48. The young man was surprisedto see that the king's daughter wasthe girl on the _____, who had______ him. (p. 75)

49. The morning after the youngman was _______, the little mer-maid would be changed to ____ onthe ______. (p. 76)

50. After he was married, the youngman and his new wife danced onthe floor of a _____. (p. 78)

51. The young man did not knowabout the little mermaid leaving herfather, and giving her _____ to thewitch for him. (p. 79)

52. The little mermaid's sisterswere bringing her a _____ that theyreceived from the _____ _____.With it the little mermaid could stophaving legs and grow a fish tailagain. (p. 81)

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53. The little mermaid was notable to use the knife to ____ the_____ ___. (p. 83)

54. The daughters of the wind wereable to receive a ______ by show-ing love for others. (p. 84-85)

55. God made the little mermaid adaughter of the wind because allher life she had ______ ____. (p.85)

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Little Mermaid Comedy Sequel Series in the Works at Peacock: 15 Years Later, She's a Miserable 'Basic Bitch'?! 21 May 2020 |TVLine.com. ‘Little Mermaid’ Follow-Up Series Titled ‘Washed Up’ in Development at Peacock 21 May 2020 | The Wrap.Gracie Glassmeyer Sets 2 Comedies – Yael Grobglas-Led ‘Here She Lies’ At HBO Max & ‘Little Mermaid’ Follow-Up‘Washed Up’ At Peacock; Jennie Snyder Urman Set As Ep 21 May 2020 | Deadline. See all related articles ». Around The Web.| Powered by ZergNet. Visit The Little Mermaid website to watch videos, play games and order the movie on Digital, Blu-ray™ and 4KUltra HD. Special Features. Over an hour of bonus features, plus experience the Sing-Along. Digital Exclusive: Part of Your World: A30 Year Retrospective. Alan Menken and the Leading Ladies. What I Want From You Is...Your Voice: Inside Look at RecordingSessions. Stories from Walt’s Office: Gadgets and Gizmos. The Little Mermaid. 8.9M likes. "Have you ever seen anything sowonderful in your entire life?† Disney Legend Jodi Benson reads "The Little Mermaid" from"Disney Princess My First BedtimeStorybook." #DisneyMagicMoments. See all. Recommendations and reviews. It is the greatest movie! I had an evil stepmother whooddly looked like Ursula, always tried to kee...p me down. Ariel taught me that I can be what I want, I just have to go for it!