"Once clad in the rich silk and muslin garments that were provided for her,

... she was the loveliest person in all the palace, though she was mute and could neither sing nor speak. Beautiful slaves, attired in silk and cloth of gold, came to sing before the Prince and his royal parents. One of them sang more sweetly than all the others, and when the Prince smiled at her and clapped his hands, the little mermaid felt very unhappy, for she knew that she herself used to sing much more sweetly.

'Oh', she thought, 'if he only knew that I parted with my voice forever so that I could be near him."