The Little Mermaid [AUDIOBOOK] read by David Walliams - GivingTales

Once upon a time, far beneath the waves of a wide bay, lived a sea king who had six mermaid daughters. The youngest was the most beautiful, with rose petal skin, sea blue eyes, and a shimmering tail. All the princesses had sea gardens, blooming with coral flowers. Each day, they played their harps and sang to the sea. The youngest had the statue of a handsome boy in hers, a white marble figure lost in a shipwreck. She longed to know more of the world above the waves. When you are fifteen, you can rise up out of the ocean, her grandmother said. You can sit on the rocks in the moonlight and sing to the great ships sailing by. Finally, it was the youngest mermaid's turn. Above the surface sailed a great three-masted ship. She heard music and men's voices in choir. She swam outside the cabin window. Inside, she saw a young prince with big, dark eyes, the crest of a red dragon on his breast, celebrating his birthday. Then, a terrible storm broke. The waves rose high, and lightning struck the sea. The ship pitched and creaked and gave way, its mast snapping in two. As the sailors were flung into the dark waters, the little mermaid looked for the prince. At first, she was overjoyed to see him sink into the sea towards her home. But then she remembered that human people could not live underwater. He must not die! She dived down fast and brought the prince to the surface. She held his head above water and carried him to a shore with fine white sand. He lay there still, like a marble statue. She kissed him and hoped he would live. Other people came to the beach and found the prince, and he awoke. They took him away to a castle by the sea. He did not know that the little mermaid had saved him, for she had hidden away. The little mermaid watched him outside the castle for many a night, and grew to love the prince and his fellow human beings. They aren't like us, her grandmother warned her. We die and become sea foam, but they have an immortal soul that rises to the stars. The little mermaid longed for her own soul. You can only get one if a human loves you more than anything in the world, granny told her. But then you'd have to swap your tail for two legs. So the little mermaid decided to visit the sea witch for help. The witch lived in a seething mire of seaweed and slimy tentacles that clutched the bones of drowned men. I know what you want, said the sea witch. I will give you a potion to turn your tail into legs, to win the prince's heart and gain a soul. But you can never be a mermaid again. My price is your voice. The little mermaid turned pale with fear, for she loved to sing above all else. But she drank the magic draught and fell silent. She could no longer talk or sound a single note. She swam to the shore and walked on her two new legs to the prince's palace. The prince found her asleep on his marble stair and was mesmerized by her beauty. Even though she could not speak a word, they became inseparable companions and traveled everywhere together, over meadows, mountains and misty valleys. One day came the terrible announcement that the prince must marry a princess from his own land. My parents are forcing me to do this, he said, but I want no other woman but you. The little mermaid could only sigh, for she was mute and mermaids cannot cry. The king and queen paid an enchanter who lived in the Black Mountain to make their son a bride. He wove a maiden out of flowers, with skin of lilies and hair of bright gold daffodils. She was so beautiful that the prince fell in love with her at first sight. They were married and the little mermaid felt her heart break. She returned to the sea and met her sisters. We have cut off our long hair to pay the sea witch for help. They said. They handed the little mermaid an enchanted knife. Use this to kill the prince and his blood will turn your feet back into a tail. She went to the prince's bedchamber and watched him while he slept alongside his beautiful bride and the little mermaid. Instead, she flung the knife into the waves of the bay where it made the water boil red like blood. Then she cast herself into the sea and felt herself turn into foam. But what was this? She felt the warm sun on the chill foam and she felt herself rising high above. There was a host of ethereal beings and she was now shaped like them. We are the daughters of the air, they said. You are one of us as a reward for your suffering and loyalty. In 300 years, if you do enough good deeds, you may gain a soul. The little mermaid lifted her eyes towards the sun and for the first time, her eyes were wet with tears. Unseen, she kissed the prince and blessed his bride. Then she flew with her new spirit sisters to the rose-red clouds on high.