《小美人鱼》，1836 年
the little mermaid, 1836
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安徒生认为，凭借《小美人鱼》，他创作出了自己最动人的童话故事之一。
with “the little mermaid,” andersen believed that he had created one of his most moving fairy tales
“我与我的角色同甘共苦。” 他反复对朋友们这样讲，他的读者也承受了他笔下那美丽水生生物的痛苦。
“i suffer with my characters,” he told his friends again and again, and his readers too have endured the pain of his beautiful aquatic creature
《欢乐满人间》系列书籍的作者 pl 特拉弗斯发现汉斯克里斯蒂安安徒生是折磨艺术的大师。
pltravers, author of the mary poppins books, found hans christian andersen to be a master in the art of torture
“我多么希望看到邪恶的继母被油煎……” 她宣称，“而不是忍受小美人鱼或者穿红鞋的女孩那漫长的痛苦。”
“how much rather would i see wicked stepmothers boiled in oil,” she declared, “than bear the protracted agony of the little mermaid or the girl who wore the red shoes”
在安徒生的故事里，苦难可能成为一种精神优越的标志，他笔下那些受压迫的主人公在忍受了看似无尽的屈辱之后常常胜利归来。
in andersen’s tales, suffering can bee a badge of spiritual superiority, and his downtrodden protagonists often emerge triumphant after enduring seemingly endless humiliations
小美人鱼有着世俗的野心，并非朝着默默忍受痛苦的方向。
the little mermaid has worldly ambitions that run in directions other than silent suffering
被上层世界所吸引，她渴望航海、爬山并探索禁地。
drawn to the upper world, she is eager to sail the seas, climb mountains, and explore forbidden territory
她穿上男孩的衣服，和王子一起骑马，以前所未有的方式跨越性别界限。
donning boy’s clothing, she goes horseback riding with the prince, crossing gender boundaries in unprecedented ways
尽管她对冒险和生活充满热情，而且尽管她有着异教的天性，但她是一个富有同情心的生物，不愿意为了自己而牺牲王子的生命。
for all her passion for adventure and life, she is, despite her pagan nature, a creature of passion, unwilling to sacrifice the prince’s life for her own
驱使她探寻人类世界的强烈好奇心也恰恰是导致她失败的原因，从而陷入特拉弗斯觉得如此令人苦恼的痛苦境地。
the spirited curiosity that impels her to seek out the world of humans is also precisely what defeats her, leading to the condition of suffering that travers found so troubling
迪士尼动画版的《小美人鱼》（1989 年）与启发它的故事有很大的偏离。
the animated disney version of “the little mermaid” (1989) deviates sharply from the tale that inspired it
它可能以一场婚姻幸福地结尾，但正如玛丽娜沃纳所指出的，“女性欲望的问题在这部电影中占主导地位，这也许是它在小女孩中极受欢迎的原因：小美人鱼爱丽儿口中说出‘想要’这个动词的频率比其他任何词都高 —— 直到她的舌头被割掉。”
it may end happily with a marriage, but as marina warner points out, “the issue of female desire dominates the film, and may account for its tremendous popularity among little girls: the verb ‘want’ falls from the lips of ariel, the little mermaid, more often than any other—until her tongue is cut out”
不过，迪士尼版本在很多方面让安徒生的故事保持活力，即便它的女主人公和结局与启发它的故事截然不同。
still, the disney version has in many ways kept andersen’s story alive, even if it has a heroine and an ending radically different from the story that inspired it
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在大海深处，海水蓝得像最美丽的矢车菊，清澈得像水晶，那里非常非常深；
far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep;
深得实际上任何缆绳都无法测量：
so deep, indeed, that no cable could fathom it:
许多教堂的尖塔一个接一个地堆积起来，也无法从海底到达海面。
many church steeples, piled one upon another, would not reach from the ground beneath to the surface of the water above
海王和他的臣民就住在那里。
there dwell the sea king and his subjects
我们可不能想象海底除了光秃秃的黄沙就什么都没有。
we must not imagine that there is nothing at the bottom of the sea but bare yellow sand
不，当然不是；
no, indeed;
那里生长着最奇特的花卉和植物；
the most singular flowers and plants grow there;
它们的叶子和茎非常柔韧，水最轻微的波动都会使它们晃动，仿佛它们有生命似的。
the leaves and stems of which are so pliant, that the slightest agitation of the water causes them to stir as if they had life
大大小小的鱼在枝杈间游动，就像陆地上鸟儿在树林间飞翔一样。
fishes, both large and small, glide between the branches, as birds fly among the trees here upon land
在最深的地方，矗立着海王的城堡。
in the deepest spot of all, stands the castle of the sea king
它的城墙是用珊瑚建成的，长长的哥特式窗户是用最清澈的琥珀做成的。
its walls are built of coral, and the long, gothic windows are of the clearest amber
屋顶是由贝壳构成的，随着水流过贝壳会开合。
the roof is formed of shells, that open and close as the water flows over them
它们的外观非常美丽，因为每个贝壳里都有一颗闪闪发光的珍珠，这珍珠适合做女王的王冠。
their appearance is very beautiful, for in each lies a glittering pearl, which would be fit for the diadem of a queen