Once upon a time, far away in the deep ocean where the water was very clear and blue, a king ruled the underwater world and the sea people. In the underwater world, beautiful trees and colorful flowers grew. There were also beautiful animals and all kinds of fish. The sea people lived in harmony.
King Triton lived in his castle with his mother and four daughters. The walls of the castle were made of blue corals and the roof shells opened whenever water flowed past them.
The little princesses were very beautiful, but the youngest was the most beautiful. Her name was Ariel and she was a little mermaid. She had soft skin and eyes as blue as the depths of the sea. Because she was a mermaid, she had a beautiful fish tail instead of legs.
Ariel often swam to ships that sank to the bottom of the sea while playing in the ocean. In the wrecks she found many treasures from the world above the ocean. She saw things like silver forks, mirrors and golden combs.
The little mermaid began to keep all these treasures and made a collection in her treasure chest. Every day she became more curious and wanted to learn more about the land on the above the ocean. She wanted to sail to the surface, but her father wouldn’t let her or any of her sisters do that until they turned fifteen.
That was a long time to wait for a little mermaid because she was the youngest! So she asked her grandmother to tell her stories about the world above the ocean and she at least dreamed about it. Soon all her sisters turned fifteen and were allowed to go to the surface.
Whenever they came back, they told the little mermaid about the wonders and beauty of the world above the ocean and the people! When it was Ariel’s turn to go, she was very eager and excited.
She swam to the surface and found that there was a boat. She rushed to see the boat, but the crew was in trouble. There was a heavy downpour and the boat was rocking, tossing and turning from side to side. Ariel saw a very handsome young man trying to help everyone on the boat.
The man was trying hard to keep the boat afloat. The crew of the ship called him Prince. Suddenly, the ship began to turn over and the young prince fell into the sea!
Ariel quickly dived into the depths and caught the prince. She swam to the surface as fast as she could because she knew that people could not live underwater. She laid the prince on the dry sand on the shore and spoke to him to wake him up.
Then the prince coughed and woke up. Ariel immediately hid behind a rock. He must not see her as a mermaid! Even so, he would never know that she had saved him.
Ariel was sad and swam back home. Her sisters asked her about her adventure, but she was too sad to say anything. If only she were human.
The next day, Ariel swam to the surface, hoping to see the prince again. She was lucky, the prince was walking along the shore with his dog. She watched him for a while and then swam back to the depths. She realized she had fallen in love with the prince, but she couldn’t be with him.
The sea witch Ursula saw her and asked why she was sad. Ariel told her that she wanted to become human so she could be with the prince.
Ursula told Ariel that she would make her human, but only if Ariel gave her her beautiful voice in return. If the prince does not kiss Ariel in three days, the mermaid will have to become Ursula’s slave. Ariel agreed without thinking. Ursula performed a spell and wove Ariel’s voice into the shell of her magical necklace. She then conjured the fairy’s legs and the eels carried Ariel to the surface a short distance from the shore.
The prince soon found her on the shore. He and his dog searched for the woman who had saved him. He did not know what the woman looked like, but he remembered her beautiful voice trying to wake him up. When he found Ariel, he assumed that she was a princess who had also been shipwrecked here the other day in a storm. Since she was mute, he decided to take care of her.
So Ariel spent time with the prince. She couldn’t tell him that she fell in love with him, but the prince could tell from her eyes that she was kind and gentle. He quickly grew fond of her even without words. So much so that he decided to stop looking for the woman who had saved him.
The next day, he took Ariel for a ride on his boat and they almost kissed. This, however, made Ursula very angry, as she would not give up her plan to enslave Ariel. That night, Ursula was transformed into a beautiful woman with the help of her magic necklace. She went to the prince and spoke to him in Ariel’s voice. The prince recognized that beautiful voice immediately. It was the voice of the woman who saved him.
The next day the prince decided to marry Ursula. Ariel was sad, she didn’t know what to do and where this strange beautiful woman had come from. But her friend the seagull helped her solve this mystery. He heard Ariel singing on the deck of the ship, so he flew to her. The woman who sang in Ariel’s voice, however, was not Ariel. So he sought out the little mermaid on the ship to tell her that someone had her voice. Ariel immediately understood that the mysterious woman was Ursula. She couldn’t leave the prince at the mercy of a witch.
There was a feast on the board to celebrate the prince’s savior and soon-to-be wife. Ariel came running in accompanied by a seagull. She tried to warn the prince, but he didn’t understand her angry chatter.
And that’s when the seagull stepped in. He started attacking Ursula. He pounced on her, and before anyone could stop him, he managed to knock Ursula’s necklace off her neck. The necklace shattered when it hit the ground, breaking the spell that gave the witch her beauty. Ariel’s voice was released from the broken shell and came back to her. For the first time, Ariel could speak to the prince.
She explained to him what had actually happened, how she had saved him, and told him about the deal with the witch. The prince kissed Ariel. It was just the third day since they had met. This broke the deal with the witch and Ariel didn’t have to become her slave. Defeated, Ursula went back to the sea.
Soon the wedding of the prince and the little mermaid took place. As a wedding gift from her father, the Sea King, Ariel was given a spell that allowed her to turn back into a sea fairy at any time and visit her family.
