"They were six lovely mermaids; the youngest was the most
beautiful. Her complexion was as fine as the petal of a rose and her eyes as
blue as the deepest lake but, just like everyone else down there, she had no
feet; her body ended in a fishtail."
"Through the
great hall flowed a moving current, and on that the mermen and mermaids
danced, while they sang their own beautiful songs. Such lovely voices are never
heard up on earth; and the little mermaid sang most beautifully of them all.
The others clapped their hands when she had finished, and for a moment she
felt happy, knowing that she had the most beautiful voice both on earth
and in the sea."
- Hans Christian Andersen
The Little Mermaid
I remember reading this passage when I was a child and
thinking what a lovely image it formed in my mind. Though I am by no means
an artist and this fails to capture the beautiful creature Andersen describes, I
drew this sketch many years later in an attempt to capture the lovely image
living within my imagination.
