She jumped into the sea. She knew that her body was changing
into wa-ter. The sun came up into the sky. She could still see the
ship and the sky over her. She could hear the People of the Sky
singing. She could see them in the sky above her. Then she saw
that she had a body like theirs! She found herself going up and up
out of the water and up into the sky.
"Who are you?" she said. "Where are you taking me.?"
"We are the children of the sky," was the answer. "We do not
have souls1 like the land people. But we do not die like sea
people. We can get souls by do-ing good to others. We bring rain
and flowers to dusty lands. We bring sleep to those who are ill
and in pain, and happiness to those who are sad. If we do good
things for three hundred years, we get a soul, and we can live
forever.You, poor sea princess, are now one of us. You have gone
away from the sea because of your love for someone. You have had
great pain and sadness. Now you can bring happiness to others, and
you can get a soul. "
她跳入了海中,知道自己的身躯已化成了水。太阳升起来了。她依然能
看见海面的船只和头顶上的天空:她依然能听见天上的人们正唱着歌。她看
见她们就在天空中。后来,她看到自己获得了同她们一样的形体。发现自己
渐渐地浮出了水面,朝天空飞去。
“你们是谁?”她问道,“你们要把我带到哪儿去啊?”
“我们是天空的女儿,”一个声音回答道,“我们和陆地上的人不一样
,我们没有灵魂;我们和海里的人也不一样,我们不会死去。我们可以通过
与人为善来获取灵魂。我们为蒙尘的大地带来雨水和花朵;我们让病痛中的
人们能够睡得安稳,给忧愁的人带去欢乐。倘若做上三百年的善事,我们就
能获得灵魂,就能得到永生。而你,可怜的海公主,现在就是我们中的一员
了。你因为爱一个人而离开了海洋;你经受过巨大的伤痛与悲哀。如今,你
也可以将幸福带给他人。你自己也能获得灵魂。”
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