The Tales of Hans Christian Andersen The Little Mermaid - Den lille Havfrue 1837 Far, far from land, where the waters are as blue as the petals of the cornflower and as clear as glass, there, where no anchor can reach the bottom, live the mer-people. So deep is this part of the sea that you would have to pile many church towers on top of each other before one of them emerged above the surface. Now you must not think that at the bottom of the sea there is only white sand. No, here grow the strangest plants and trees; their stems and leaves are so subtle that the slightest current in the water makes them move, as if they were alive. Big and small fishes flit in and out among their branches, just as the birds do up on earth. At the very deepest place, the mer-king has built his castle. Its walls are made of coral and its long pointed windows of amber. The roof is oyster shells that are continually opening and closing. It looks very beautiful, for in each shell lies a pearl, so lustrous t
The Little Mermaid - Den lille Havfrue
1837
Far, far from land, where the waters are as blue as the petals of the cornflower and as clear as glass,
there, where no anchor can reach the bottom, live the mer-people. So deep is this part of the sea that you
would have to pile many church towers on top of each other before one of them emerged above the
surface.
Now you must not think that at the bottom of the sea there is only white sand. No, here grow the
strangest plants and trees; their stems and leaves are so subtle that the slightest current in the water
makes them move, as if they were alive. Big and small fishes flit in and out among their branches, just
as the birds do up on earth. At the very deepest place, the mer-king has built his castle. Its walls are
made of coral and its long pointed windows of amber. The roof is oyster shells that are continually
opening and closing. It looks very beautiful, for in each shell lies a pearl, so lustrous t