她让她的老祖母把所知道的关于船只、城镇、人和动物的一切都告诉她。

she made her old grandmother tell her all she knew of the ships and of the towns, the people and the animals

对她来说，听说陆地上的花有香味，而海底的花没有；这似乎是最奇妙和最美丽的事情。

to her it seemed most wonderful and beautiful to hear that the flowers of the land should have fragrance, and not those below the sea;

森林里的树应该是绿色的；

that the trees of the forest should be green;

树林里的鱼能唱得如此甜美，听它们唱歌是一种极大的乐趣。

and that the fishes among the trees could sing so sweetly, that it was quite a pleasure to hear them

她的祖母把小鸟叫做鱼，否则她就不会理解祖母的话了；因为她从未见过鸟。

her grandmother called the little birds fishes, or she would not have understood her; for she had never seen birds

“当你到了十五岁的时候，” 祖母说，“你将被允许从海里升起来，在月光下坐在岩石上，这时大船正从旁边驶过；然后你将看到森林和城镇。”

“when you have reached your fifteenth year,” said the grand - mother, “you will have permission to rise up out of the sea, to sit on the rocks in the moonlight, while the great ships are sailing by; and then you will see both forests and towns”

第二年，姐妹中的一个就十五岁了：但由于每个姐妹都比下一个大一岁，最小的那个在轮到她从海底升起来像我们一样看到陆地之前，还得等五年。

in the following year, one of the sisters would be fifteen: but as each was a year younger than the other, the youngest would have to wait five years before her turn came to rise up from the bottom of the ocean, and see the earth as we do

然而，每个姐妹都承诺告诉其他人她第一次出访看到了什么，以及她认为最美丽的东西；因为她们的祖母告诉她们的还不够；有太多东西她们想要了解。

however, each promised to tell the others what she saw on her first visit, and what she thought the most beautiful; for their grandmother could not tell them enough; there were so many things on which they wanted information

她们中没有人像最小的那个那样渴望轮到自己，她要等的时间最长，而且她是如此安静和爱思考。

none of them longed so much for her turn to e as the youngest, she who had longest time to wait, and who was so quiet and thoughtful

许多夜晚，她站在敞开的窗户旁，透过深蓝色的海水向上看，看着鱼儿用鱼鳍和鱼尾四处泼水嬉戏。

many nights she stood by the open window, looking up through the dark blue water, and watching the fish as they splashed about with their fins and tails

她能看到月亮和星星微弱地闪烁着；

she could see the moon and stars shining faintly;

但是透过海水，它们看起来比我们眼中的更大。

but through the water they looked larger than they do to our eyes

当有像乌云一样的东西在她和它们之间经过时，她知道那要么是一头鲸鱼在她头顶游过，要么是一艘满载人类的船，人类从没想到一个美丽的小美人鱼正站在他们下方，朝着船的龙骨伸出她洁白的双手。

when something like a black cloud passed between her and them, she knew that it was either a whale swimming over her head, or a ship full of human beings, who never imagined that a pretty little mermaid was standing beneath them, holding out her white hands towards the keel of their ship

大姐一到十五岁，就被允许升到海面上去了。

as soon as the eldest was fifteen, she was allowed to rise to the surface of the ocean

当她回来的时候，她有成百件事要讲述；

when she came back, she had hundreds of things to talk about;

但是她说，最美好的事情是在月光下，躺在靠近海岸的宁静海水中的沙洲上，凝视附近的一个大城镇，那里的灯光像数百颗星星一样闪烁；

but the most beautiful, she said, was to lie in the moonlight, on a sandbank, in the quiet sea, near the coast, and to gaze on a large town nearby, where the lights were twinkling like hundreds of stars;

去听音乐声、马车的喧闹声和人类的说话声，然后听到教堂尖塔上传来欢快的钟声；

to listen to the sounds of the music, the noise of carriages, and the voices of human beings, and then to hear the merry bells peal out from the church steeples;

因为她不能靠近所有那些美妙的事物，她比以往任何时候都更渴望它们。

and because she could not go near to all those wonderful things, she longed for them more than ever

哦，最小的妹妹不是急切地听着所有这些描述吗？

oh, did not the youngest sister listen eagerly to all these descriptions

之后，当她站在敞开的窗户前透过深蓝色的海水向上望时，她想起了那座大城市，想起了那里的喧嚣与嘈杂，甚至幻想自己能听到海底深处教堂的钟声。

and afterwards, when she stood at the open window looking up through the dark blue water, she thought of the great city, with all its bustle and noise, and even fancied she could hear the sound of the church bells, down in the depths of the sea

又过了一年，二姐得到许可升到水面，可以随意游动。

in another year the second sister received permission to rise to the surface of the water, and to swim about where she pleased

她升出水面的时候，正值太阳落山，她说这是最美丽的景色。

she rose just as the sun was setting, and this, she said, was the most beautiful sight of all

整个天空看起来像金子一样，还有她说不出名字的紫罗兰色和玫瑰色的云彩在她头顶飘浮；

the whole sky looked like gold, while violet and rose - colored clouds, which she could not describe, floated over her;

而且，一群野天鹅朝着夕阳飞去，速度比云彩还要快，看起来就像横在海面上的一条长长的白色面纱。

and, still more rapidly than the clouds, flew a large flock of wild swans towards the setting sun, looking like a long white veil across the sea

她也朝着太阳游去；

she also swam towards the sun;

但是太阳沉入了波浪之中，云彩和大海的玫瑰色也渐渐褪去。

but it sunk into the waves, and the rosy tints faded from the clouds and from the sea

接着就轮到三姐了；

the third sister’s turn followed;

她是她们当中最勇敢的，她沿着一条宽阔的河流向上游去，这条河流入大海。

she was the boldest of them all, and she swam up a broad river that emptied itself into the sea