于是她向老祖母请教，老祖母对上面的世界了如指掌，她非常正确地称之为海面上的陆地。
then she applied to her old grandmother, who knew all about the upper world, which she very rightly called the lands above the sea
“如果人类不被淹死，” 小美人鱼问道，“他们能永远活着吗？他们是否像我们在海里一样永远不死呢？”
“if human beings are not drowned,” asked the little mermaid, “can they live forever do they never die as we do here in the sea”
“是的，” 老妇人回答说，“他们也必须死，而且他们的寿命甚至比我们的还短。”
“yes,” replied the old lady, “they must also die, and their term of life is even shorter than ours
我们有时能活到三百岁，但当我们在这里不复存在时，我们只会变成水面上的泡沫，而且我们在海底甚至连一个埋葬我们所爱的人的坟墓都没有。
we sometimes live to three hundred years, but when we cease to exist here we only bee the foam on the surface of the water, and we have not even a grave down here of those we love
我们没有不朽的灵魂，我们永远不会再活过来；
we have not immortal souls, we shall never live again;
但是，就像绿色的海藻一样，一旦被割掉，就再也不能茁壮成长。
but, like the green sea - weed, when once it has been cut off, we can never flourish more
相反，人类有一个永远活着的灵魂，在肉体化为尘土之后仍然活着。
human beings, on the contrary, have a soul which lives forever, lives after the body has been turned to dust
它穿过清澈纯净、繁星闪烁之上的空气飞升。
it rises up through the clear, pure air beyond the glittering stars
就像我们浮出水面，看到地球上所有的陆地一样，他们也会飞升向我们永远无法看到的未知而荣耀的地方。
as we rise out of the water, and behold all the land of the earth, so do they rise to unknown and glorious regions which we shall never see”
“为什么我们没有不朽的灵魂呢？”
“why have not we an immortal soul”
小美人鱼悲伤地问道；
asked the little mermaid mournfully;
“我愿意欣然放弃我能活的数百年时光，只为做一天的人类，并且有希望了解星空之上那个荣耀世界的幸福。”
“i would give gladly all the hundreds of years that i have to live, to be a human being only for one day, and to have the hope of knowing the happiness of that glorious world above the stars”
“你可不能那样想，” 老妇人说；
“you must not think of that,” said the old woman;
“我们觉得自己比人类幸福得多，也富裕得多。”
“we feel ourselves to be much happier and much better off than human beings”
“那么我将会死去，” 小美人鱼说，“并且我将作为海的泡沫四处飘荡，再也听不到海浪的音乐，看不到美丽的花朵，也看不到红日了。有没有什么办法能让我获得一个不朽的灵魂呢？”
“so i shall die,” said the little mermaid, “and as the foam of the sea i shall be driven about never again to hear the music of the waves, or to see the pretty flowers nor the red sun is there anything i can do to win an immortal soul”
“没有，” 老妇人说，“除非一个男人如此爱你，以至于你对他来说比他的父亲或母亲还重要；
“no,” said the old woman, “unless a man were to love you so much that you were more to him than his father or mother;
并且如果他所有的思想和全部的爱都集中在你身上，牧师将他的右手放在你的手里，而且他承诺今生来世都对你忠诚，那么他的灵魂就会溜进你的身体，你就会获得一份人类未来的幸福。
and if all his thoughts and all his love were fixed upon you, and the priest placed his right hand in yours, and he promised to be true to you here and hereafter, then his soul would glide into your body and you would obtain a share in the future happiness of mankind
他会给你一个灵魂，同时自己也保留灵魂；
he would give a soul to you and retain his own as well;
但这永远不可能发生。
but this can never happen
你的鱼尾，在我们看来是如此美丽，但在陆地上却被认为非常丑陋；
your fish’s tail, which amongst us is considered so beautiful, is thought on earth to be quite ugly;
他们不懂（我们的美），而且他们认为必须有两个粗壮的支撑物，他们称之为腿，才显得英俊。
they do not know any better, and they think it necessary to have two stout props, which they call legs, in order to be handsome”
然后小美人鱼叹了口气，悲伤地看着自己的鱼尾。
then the little mermaid sighed, and looked sorrowfully at her fish’s tail
“让我们快乐起来吧，” 老妇人说，“在我们必须度过的三百年里跳跃嬉戏，这时间真的够长了；
“let us be happy,” said the old lady, “and dart and spring about during the three hundred years that we have to live, which is really quite long enough;
之后我们就能更好地休息了。
after that we can rest ourselves all the better
今晚我们将有一场宫廷舞会。”
this evening we are going to have a court ball”
这是我们在陆地上永远看不到的壮丽景象之一。
it is one of those splendid sights which we can never see on earth
大舞厅的墙壁和天花板是由厚实但透明的水晶制成的。
the walls and the ceiling of the large ball - room were of thick, but transparent crystal
成百个巨大的贝壳，有些是深红色的，有些是草绿色的，一排排地立在两边，贝壳里有蓝色的火焰，照亮了整个大厅，并且透过墙壁闪耀着，这样大海也被照亮了。
may hundreds of colossal shells, some of a deep red, others of a grass green, stood on each side in rows, with blue fire in them, which lighted up the whole saloon, and shone through the walls, so that the sea was also illuminated