It was not long before one of the maidens came up to him.

不一会儿，一个年轻的女子走过来了。

At first she seemed quite frightened, but only for a moment, and then she fetched several others,

她似乎非常吃惊，不久，她找来了许多人。

and the mermaid saw that the prince was coming to life, and that he smiled at all those around him, but he never smiled at her.

小人鱼看到王子渐渐地苏醒过来了，并且向周围的人微笑。可是他从未对自己作出微笑的表情。

You see he did not know that she had saved him.

可事实是他一点也不知道正是小人鱼救了他的性命。

She felt so sad that when he was led away into the great building she dived sorrowfully into the water and made her way home to her father's pa lace.

她感到非常地难过。当王子被抬进那幢高大的房子里时，她也悲伤地跳进海里，回到她父亲的宫殿里去了。

Always silent and thoughtful, she became more so now than ever.

她一直就是一个多愁善感的孩子，现在她变得更加多愁善感了。

Her sisters often asked her what she had seen on her first visit to the surface, but she never would tell them anything.

她的姐姐们都问她，她第一次升到海面上去究竟看到了一些什么东西;但是她什么也说不出来。

Many an evening and many a morning she would rise to the place where she had left the prince.

有好多晚上和早晨，她浮出水面，向她曾经放下王子的那块地方游去。

She saw the fruit in the garden ripen, and then gathered,

她看到那花园里的果子熟了又被摘下;

she saw the snow melt on the mountain-tops, but she never saw the prince, so she always went home still sadder than before.

她看到高山顶上的雪一天天融化;但是始终不见那个王子。所以她每次回到家时只感到更加痛苦。

At home her only consolation was to sit in her little garden with her arms twined round the handsome marble statue which reminded her of the prince.

唯一能给她安慰的就是坐在小花园里，双手抱着与那位王子相似的美丽的大理石像。