I will prepare a drink for you; before the sun rises you must swim with it to where there is land, s

I will prepare a drink for you; before the sun rises you must swim with it to where there is land, sit down on the shore there and drink it, then your tail will split and contract into what humans call a nice pair of legs, but it will hurt you, it is as if a sharp sword passed through you. Everyone who sees you will say you are the loveliest human child they have ever seen! you will keep your floating walk, no dancer can float as you can, but each step you take will be like treading on a sharp knife that made your blood flow. Are you prepared to suffer all this? – for then I will help you.’ ‘Yes!’ the little mermaid said with a trembling voice, and she thought of the prince and of winning an immortal soul.
‘But remember this,’ the witch said, ‘once you have assumed human form, you can never become a mermaid again! you can never dive down through the water to your sisters and to your father’s palace...