"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 Arielle 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. Arielle 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 Arielle 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. Arielle 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. in a grey dawn over a still angry sea, Arielle 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 Arielle 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 Arielle 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, Arielle 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. Arielle 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? Arielle decided to ask the Witch.
