The Little Mermaid
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THE LITTLE MERMAID
(An original story by Hans Christian Andersen, not the Disney version)
CHARACTERS:
SEA KING
RED SHRIMP
LITTLE MERMAID
GRANDMOTHER
FISH
PRINCE
GIRL 1
GIRL 2
GIRL 3
FOUR SISTERS
WIND FAIRIES
SCRIPT:
NARRATOR: In the bottom of the blue ocean there was a palace where the Sea King, an old man with a white beard, lived. The palace was a splendid mansion whose walls were built of coral and the roof was formed of shells.
SEA KING: Red Shrimp!. Have you seen my daughters lately?.
RED SHRIMP: Yes, they were going out of the sea to watch the ships passing by.
SEA KING: What about the youngest?.
RED SHRIMP: She is in her room.
SEA KING: Very good, she is not allowed to go with her sisters out of the sea. She is still too young.
NARRATOR: The Little Mermaid was very beautiful. She loved to sing, and when she sang all the fish from the sea came to listen to her beautiful songs. Sea shells would open showing their pretty pearls, and the jellyfish would stop floating. One day she was talking to her grandmother.
LITTLE MERMAID: Oh, grandmother, I wish I could go out of the sea to watch the sky. Everybody says that it is so beautiful. And how much I would like to hear the voices of men and smell the perfume of flowers!.
GRANDMOTHER: You are still too young. In a couple of years, when you are fifteen years old, the king will let you go out of the sea, just like your sisters do.
LITTLE MERMAID: I want to know the people that live in the world up there. My sisters have told me a lot of stories.
GRANDMOTHER: Stop dreaming. It’s time for you to go and take care of the garden. And remember to feed the dolphins and the sea horses.
LITTLE MERMAID: Dolphins are great company and they like to play with me, but the sea horses don´t like me that much!.
GRANDMOTHER: Anyway, go now, it’s getting late.
LITTLE MERMAID: Good-bye, grandmother.
GRANDMOTHER: Good-bye, my child.
NARRATOR: When it was her fifteenth birthday, she couldn’t sleep all night. Next morning her father told her.
SEA KING: Very well, my precious daughter, you can now go out of the sea and breath the fresh air and see the sky! Just remember this… that world is not our world. We can only admire it. We don´t have a soul, like humans do. We belong to the sea. Be careful and don’t get near people. You can get in trouble!
LITTLE MERMAID: Yes father!.
NARRATOR: So the Little Mermaid kissed her father good-bye and started swimming away.
LITTLE MERMAID: I feel so happy!. I have to swim as fast as I can!.
FISH: Wait!. We are going with you!.
LITTLE MERMAID: Ha, ha, ha, ha, try to catch me if you can!.
NARRATOR: Then she finally got out of the water.
LITTLE MERMAID: This is so fascinating!. The blue sky is so beautiful.
FISH: Yes it is.
LITTLE MERMAID: What is that big yellow circle over there?.
FISH: That is the sun! …. And those are sea gulls!.
LITTLE MERMAID: This is wonderful!. Everything is so beautiful.
NARRATOR: Then they saw a ship. The sailors threw the the anchor to the water.
LITTLE MERMAID: I can hear their voices. I wish I could talk to them! But….I don’t have legs. I will never be like them!.
NARRATOR: Aboard the ship the sailors were dancing and celebrating.
SAILOR: Hooray for our captain!. Happy twentieth birthday!.
NARRATOR: At that moment the Little Mermaid saw the young man.
LITTLE MERMAID: Oh, he is so handsome, and he looks very happy!. I can´t stop looking at him!.
FISH: A storm is coming, look at the black sky.
LITTLE MERMAID: Oh, I can feel the strong waves…. And the thunder…… Oh, the ship… Be careful!. The sea!.
NARRATOR: But nobody heard her screaming. The wind was strong, and the waves were so high that they rocked the ship. A dreadful storm was approaching.
LITTLE MERMAID: Be careful!. The sea!.
NARRATOR: In vain she kept shouting. The sailors were screaming, the ship lights were extinguished, and the ship kept rocking up and down. Then the ship layed over on her side, the water rushed in, and the ship finally sank. Then he saw the captain sinking.
LITTLE MERMAID: I have to help him!
NARRATOR: And she started swimming toward the young man. He took him by the hand and pulled him out of the water. He was unconscious. He held his head above the water and let the waves drift them where they would. In the morning the sun rose up red and glowing from the water.
LITTLE MERMAID: I have to take him to the beach.
NARRATOR: So she swam with the handsome prince to the beach, which was covered with fine, white sand, and there she laid him in the warm sunshine. She stayed there for awhile holding his hands. Then she heard people talking, she kissed him in a hurry and swam out farther from the shore and placed herself between some high rocks that rose out of the water; then she covered her head and neck with the foam of the sea so that her little face might not be seen, and watched to see what would become of the poor prince.
GIRL 1: Run!. Run!. There’s a man in the beach!.
GIRL 2: He’s alive!. Oh, poor man, it was the storm!. Let’s take him to the castle!.
GIRL 3: No! No! Let’s get help!
NARRATOR: The young man woke up, and he saw one of the girls, the one that was the most beautiful, and told her.
PRINCE: Thank you for saving me!.
NARRATOR: The little mermaid saw that the young man was going to the castle with the three girls. But he didn’t know that it was her who saved him, and not the other girl.
LITTLE MERMAID: I must go home now…. and leave him there. Oh… that was the most wonderful time I have spent … holding him in my arms!.
NARRATOR: When she got to her palace she went straight to her room, and started to cry. She stayed there for many days without wanting to see anybody, and without eating.
LITTLE MERMAID: Oh, I am in love, and I know that I will never marry him!. I have to do something… but who could help me?.
NARRATOR: Desperately she started thinking what to do. Then she remembered the Sea Witch.
LITTLE MERMAID: She is the only one who can help me!. But at what price? Anyway, I will go see her.
NARRATOR: When she arrived to the castle of the Sea Witch, she said.
SEA WITCH: I know what you want!. It is very foolish of you, and your decision will bring you sorrow, my pretty princess.
LITTLE MERMAID: I just want to get rid of my fish’s tail.
SEA WITCH: I suppose you want legs like human beings on earth. Right?.
LITTLE MERMAID: Yes, I want the young prince to fall in love with me.
SEA WITCH: Very well!. But you will suffer. Everytime you walk, you will feel a terrible pain, as if a sword were passing through you.
LITTLE MERMAID: I don’t care!. I just want to be with him again!.
SEA WITCH: I haven´t finish yet!. I must be paid!. You must give me your beautiful and sweet voice, you will not charm the prince with it, your will not speak or sing, you will remain speechless forever! … But remember, if the man you love fells in love with another woman, your body will disappear in the water just like the foam of the waves.
LITTLE MERMAID: But if you take away my voice, what is left for me?.
SEA WITCH: Your beautiful body, your graceful walk, and your pretty eyes. Do you want more?.
LITTLE MERMAID: I accept!. Give me the magic potion.
NARRATOR: Then she went to the beach and drank the potion. Suddenly a strong pain made her unconscious. When she woke up she saw the prince beside her.
PRINCE: Don’t be afraid. You are safe. Where do you come from?.
NARRATOR: But she could not speak.
PRINCE: I will take you to the palace and take care of you until you get well.
NARRATOR: For a few days her life changed. The prince gave her wonderful dresses, and she was his companion.
PRINCE: Tonight you will go with me to a party. I know that you can´t talk, but I can see in your eyes that you are happy here.
NARRATOR: And she was very happy, but every movement from her legs caused her great pain, just as the sea witch told her. But that was the price she was paying for being with her loved prince. That night the prince said.
PRINCE: I have to tell you something. One day I was rescued by a beautiful girl, and since that day she has been in my heart and in my mind. But I never saw her again, she returned to her country.
LITTLE MERMAID: (thinking) Oh, it was me who rescued you!. But I can’t tell you!.
PRINCE: I feel very good with you, but I can´t forget her.
NARRATOR: When she heard those words she went running toward the beach and started crying.
PRINCE: Wait!. please, I didn’t mean to…
NARRATOR: But it was late, she was not there with him. One day they were in one of the towers of the palace, when the prince saw that a big ship was approaching.
PRINCE: Look!. There’s a ship approaching. Let’s see who is coming.
NARRATOR: And when the people was coming down from the ship he was surprised.
PRINCE: Oh, it’s her!. She came back to me!.
LITTLE MERMAID: (thinking) Oh, I feel a terrible pain in my heart. I am sure I will lose him forever.
NARRATOR: And she did, because the prince and the girl got married. A few days after the wedding they were invited for a trip on a ship and she also went with them.
LITTLE MERMAID: (thinking) I lost him forever! And now just as the sea witch said, I will disappear in the ocean.
NARRATOR: Then she heard someone calling her from the sea water.
FOUR SISTERS: Little Mermaid!. Little Mermaid!. It´s us, your sisters!. Look, we have a potion, the sea witch gave it to us in exchange for our hairs. Give the potion to the prince, he will then vanish, and you will be a mermaid again!.
NARRATOR: The Little Mermaid took the potion and went to the Prince´s room where he was sleeping, while her sisters returned to the deep sea.
LITTLE MERMAID: (thinking) I can’t do this!. I love you so much. I will just kiss you and leave forever.
NARRATOR: After kissing the prince she threw herself into the sea.
LITTLE MERMAID: (thinking) I want to disappear and turn into foam. Good-bye my love.
NARRATOR: When she turned to see the ship for the last time, suddenly a mysterious force got her out of the water and took her to the sky, and she felt the warmth of the sun. Then she heard some voices that sounded like tiny bells.
WIND FAIRIES: Little Mermaid!. Little Mermaid!. Come with us!.
LITTLE MERMAID: Who are you?. Where are you?. Oh, I can speak again!.
WIND FAIRIES: You are with us in the sky. We are the Wind Fairies. We don´t have a soul like humans do, but it’s our responsibility to help those who have been kind to them.
NARRATOR: The Little Mermaid looked down at the sea where the ship was, and started to cry.
WIND FAIRIES: Look!. The flowers of the earth receive our tears and turned them into morning dew. Come with us! We will help mankind wherever we are, and we will be part of their happiness. With your heart, you have done the same efforts that we have done, you have suffered and you have passed the test, now you are a wind spirit, here you actions can get you an immortal soul.
NARRATOR: The Little Mermaid raised her arms to the sky and cried. Then she saw the ship, the prince and his beautiful bride, and said.
LITTLE MERMAID: You can’t hear me or see me, I will always love you, and I wish you happiness.
NARRATOR: Then she kissed the prince, and left with the other wind fairies in a pink cloud floating through the air.
THE END
Author: Hans Christian Andersen
Adapted by: K I D S I N C O
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