''If men are not drowned,'' asked the little mermaid, ''do they live for ever? Do they not die as we do down here in the sea?''

“如果人类不淹死的话，”小人鱼问，“他们会永远活下去吗？他们会不会像我们人鱼一样地死去呢？”

''Yes,'' said the old lady, ''they have to die too, and their lifetime is even shorter than ours.

“一点也不错，”老祖母说，“他们也会死的，而且他们的生命甚至比我们的还要短呢。

We may live here for three hundred years,

我们可以活到三百岁，

but when we cease to exist we become mere foam on the water and do not have so much as a grave among our dear ones.

不过当我们的生命结束的时候，我们就变成了水上的泡沫。连一座坟墓也留不下。

We have no immortal souls; we have no future life;

我们没有永恒的灵魂。唯有我们的消逝永恒的。

we are just like the green sea-weed, which, once cut down, can never revive again!

像那绿色的海草一样，只要一割断了，就再也绿不起来了！

Men, on the other hand, have a soul which lives for ever, lives after the body has become dust;

但人类有灵魂;它永远地存在着，即使身体化为尘土，灵魂也永不会枯朽。

it rises through the clear air, up to the shining stars!

它升向晴朗的天空，直到成为闪耀着的星星！

Just as we rise from the water to see the land of mortals, so they rise up to unknown beautiful regions which we shall never see.''

正如我们升到水面、看到人间的世界一样，他们升向那些神秘的、华丽的、我们永远不会看见的地方。”

''Why have we no immortal souls?'' asked the little mermaid sadly.

“为什么我们没有不灭的灵魂呢？”小人鱼悲伤地问。

''I would give all my three hundred years to be a human being for one day, and afterwards to have a share in the heavenly kingdom.''

“只要我能够变成人、可以进入天上的世界，哪怕在那儿只活一天，我都愿意放弃我几百岁的生命。”

''You must not be thinking about that,'' said the grandmother;

“你绝不能起这种念头，”老祖母说。

''we are much better off and happier than human beings.''

“比起上面的人类来，我们在这儿的生活要幸福和美好得多！”