vements. She was very soon arrayed in costly robes of silk and
muslin and was the most beautiful creature in the palace; but she was
dumb and could neither speak nor sing.

Beautiful female slaves, dressed in silk and gold, stepped forward and
sang before the prince and his royal parents. One sang better than all
the others, and the prince clapped his hands and smiled at her. This was
a great sorrow to the little mermaid, for she knew how much more sweetly
she herself once could sing, and she thought, "Oh, if he could only know
that I have given away my voice forever, to be with him!"

The slaves next performed some pretty fairy-like dances, to the sound of
beautiful music. Then the little mermaid raised her lovely white arms,
stood on the tips of her toes, glided over the floor, and danced as no
one yet had been able to dance. At each moment her beauty was more
revealed, and her expressive eyes appealed more directly to the heart
than the songs of the slaves. Every one was enchanted, especially the
prince, who called her his little foundling. She danced again quite
readily, to please him, though each time her foot touched the floor it
seemed as if she trod on sharp knives.

The prince said she should remain with him always, and she was given
permission to sleep at his door, on a velvet cushion. He had a page's
dress made for her, that she might accompany him on horseback. They rode
together through the sweet-scented woods, where the green boughs touched
their shoulders, and the little birds sang among the fresh leaves. She
climbed with him to the tops of high mountains, and although her tender
feet bled so that even her steps were marked, she only smiled, and
followed him till they could see the clouds beneath them like a flock of
birds flying to distant lands. While at the prince's palace, and when
all the household were asleep, she would go and sit on the broad marble
steps, for it eased her burning feet to bathe them in the cold sea
water. It was then that she thought of all those below in the deep.

Once during the night her sisters came up arm in arm, singing
sorrowfully as they floated on the water. She beckoned to them, and they
recognized her and told her how she had grieved them; after that, they
came to the same place every night. Once she saw in the distance her
old grandmother, who had not been to the surface of the sea for many
years, and the old Sea King, her father, with his crown on his head.
They st