"On board the ship everything was so bright that she could see every little rope, and the people...

... Oh, how handsome the young prince was, and he clasped people’s hands, laughed and smiled, while the music rang out in the wonderful evening.
It grew late, but the little mermaid was unable to take her eyes off the ship or from the handsome prince. The many-coloured lamps were put out, no more rockets soared into the sky, there were no more cannon shots, but deep down in the sea there was a humming and droning, still the little mermaid remained by the cabin window, rocking up and down on the water, so that she could look within; but the ship picked up speed, one sail after the other unfurled, now the waves became stronger, large clouds appeared, and there was lightning in the distance. Oh, there was going to be a terrible storm! so the sailors reefed in the sails. And the large ship careered along at great speed on the wild waves, the ocean rose to form great black mountains of water that would crash down over the mast, but the ship dipped like a swan down between the high waves...