: Because of love for the prince, the little mermaid changes her fish tail for a pair of slender legs. Failing to achieve reciprocity, she dies and becomes sea foam.

In the deepest part of the sea stands the coral palace of the sea king. He has been widowed for a long time, and his old mother, a worthy and intelligent woman, is the boss of the palace. She really loves her six granddaughters, pretty little mermaid princesses. Best of all - the youngest, quiet and thoughtful, with blue eyes like a sea. Instead of legs, she, like other mermaids, has a fish tail. She loves only her garden with bright red flowers and a marble statue of a beautiful boy who fell to the bottom from a dead ship. Hugging the statue, the little mermaid dreams of ships, cities, people and animals.

By tradition, the mermaid first rises to the surface in her sixteen. The turn comes to see the land and the daughters of the sea king. The little mermaid, the youngest in the family, happened to rise after her sisters. She emerges near the three-masted ship, from the deck of which music is heard. In the cabin of the ship, the little mermaid notices many smart people, and among them is a handsome prince with big black eyes, looking like a marble boy from her garden. The ship's crew and guests cheerfully celebrate his sixteenth birthday. In the evening, fireworks begin. Big suns are spinning in the night sky, fiery fish are spinning their tails, and loud music is playing on the deck.

Late in the evening, after the holiday, a strong storm begins at sea. The ship of the prince is turned on its side and broken into pieces. The little mermaid saves the drowning prince. Supporting him, she sails ashore with a beautiful grove and a tall white building like a church or monastery, and leaves the prince in the sand. Soon, people rushed out of the white building to help. Having regained consciousness, the prince smiles and the little mermaid becomes sad, because he did not smile at her and did not even know who saved his life. She dives into the water and swims away.

The little mermaid tells everything to the sisters and they take her to the palace of the prince. Since then, the little mermaid has sailed there every evening and has been looking at the young prince for a long time. Often she hears fishermen telling a lot of good things about the prince, and she rejoices that she saved him.

The little mermaid asks her grandmother about people and finds out that their age is shorter than that of the mermaids. But people have an immortal soul, which flies into the sky after the body turns to dust. Mermaids live three hundred years, but they are not given an immortal soul. After death, only sea foam remains from them. A mermaid can get a soul only if one of the people falls in love with her and they are married by a priest. But this will never happen, because the fishtail at the mermaids is considered beautiful, but people find it ugly. To please a person, you need to get two clumsy props - legs, as they are called by people.

The little mermaid loves the prince and is ready for anything to get an immortal soul. Leaving the sister to dance at the ball, she goes to the sea witch. She agrees to make a drink, after drinking which, the mermaid’s fish tail will turn into a pair of slender legs. At the same time, her graceful walk will be preserved, but walking will cause terrible pain. The Witch warns that, having adopted the human image, the little mermaid will never return to her native element. If the prince marries another, the heart of the little mermaid will be torn to pieces, and she will become sea foam. In payment for a magical drink, the witch requires a beautiful little mermaid voice. She will have a charming face, an air walk and expressive eyes, "enough to win a human heart." Giving the little mermaid a potion, the witch cuts off her tongue.

Sailing at night to the palace of the prince, the little mermaid drinks a magic drink. A sharp pain pierces her. and she loses consciousness. Waking up during the day, she sees the prince in front of her, and lowering her eyes, she finds instead of a fish tail two small legs, like a child’s. The prince is trying to find out who she is and how she got here, but she is silent. Taking the little mermaid by the hand, the prince leads her to the palace, and she patiently endures the pain, and her gait remains airy.

In the palace, the little mermaid is dressed in silk and muslin, and she becomes the first beauty, Remaining still dumb, she dances, like no one else has danced. Everyone admires her, and the prince calls the little mermaid his little foundling. He is increasingly becoming attached to the little mermaid, but loves her only as a sweet, kind child. It never crossed his mind to make her his wife.

At the request of his parents, the prince goes across the sea to the neighboring king to meet his daughter, and takes the Little Mermaid with him. The prince and the beautiful princess fall in love with each other, celebrate the engagement, and after it the wedding. Soon the time comes to go to the prince’s homeland. On the deck of the ship scatter a luxurious bridal tent.

Only one evening remains for the little mermaid to stay with the one “for whom she left her relatives and her father’s house, gave her wonderful voice and endured endless torment every day, while he did not notice them. ... Long after midnight, dancing and music continued on the ship, and the little mermaid laughed and danced with deadly torment in her heart. ”

When the ship subsides, the little mermaid remains on the deck waiting for the first rays of the sun. Suddenly, near the ship, she notices her sisters with cropped hair - they gave their hair to the witch so that she could save the little mermaid from death. The witch gave them a sharp knife, which the little mermaid should stick into the heart of the prince. If his blood falls on her legs, they will again grow into a fish tail, the little mermaid will become the same and will live her three hundred years. “Kill the prince and come back to us!” - with these words the sisters are floating away.

The little mermaid lifts the curtain of the tent and sees that the head of the beautiful bride lies on the chest of the prince. She kisses the prince, throws a knife into the waves, which turn red, as if stained with blood, rushes into the sea and her body is blown with sea foam.

After death, the little mermaid joins the daughters of the air, flying without wings due to its own lightness. Like mermaids, they do not have an immortal soul. But they can get it for the good deeds that people do. The little mermaid sees how the prince and the bride are looking for her throughout the ship. Invisible, she kisses the beautiful bride, smiles at the prince and, together with other children of the air, rises to the pink clouds.