"The little mermaid found this ride enjoyable (...)

(...) but the sailors did not, the ship creaked and groaned, the thick planking bent at the buffeting of the waves, the mast broke in two as if it was a reed, and the ship rolled over on its side and water began to pour in. Now the little mermaid realised that they were in danger, she had to take care herself to avoid the beams and fragments of the ship that were floating on the water. For one moment it was so dark that she couldn’t see the slightest thing, but when a flash of lightning came, everything was clear. Once more that she could make out all of them on the ship; everyone lurched around as best they could; she looked especially for the young prince, and when the ship came apart, she saw him sink down into the depths of the ocean. “To begin with, she was quite pleased, for now he would be coming down to her, but then she remembered that humans cannot live in the water, and that he would not come down to her father’s palace, only his corpse."