"and if you do not gain the love of the prince, so that he forgets his father and mother for you...

...unless you fill all his thoughts and he lets the priest place your hands in each other’s so that you become man and wife, you will not gain an immortal soul! the first morning after he has married someone else, your heart will break, and you will become foam on the water.’
‘This is my wish!’ the little mermaid said and was deathly pale. ‘But you must also pay me!’ the witch said, ‘and what I am asking for is no trifle. You have the loveliest voice of all those here on the sea-bed, and you count on entrancing him with it, but that voice you must give to me. I must have the best thing you own for my precious drink! I must give you of my own blood for the drink, so that it can be as sharp as a double-edged sword!’
‘But if you take my voice,’ the little mermaid said, ‘what am I left with?’ ‘Your beautiful appearance,’ the witch said, your floating walk and your eloquent eyes – with those you’re sure to be able to captivate a human heart. Well, have you lost your courage!