The True Story Of The Little Mermaid

Movies tends to give every story they have a happy ending. Which is always good, but once you read the original story, you will be left telling yourself  "The fuck did I just read, that was so sad". The perfect example for this would be Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Mermaid.

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The Disney version of this was just so lovely wasn't it? Yes, Ariel came out as a little bratty but she did get to have her fairy tale ending. Plus the road going there was paved with catchy, beautiful songs and hilarious side-kicks. But the original story of this tale was way more dark and depressing than that.

In the original story, the little mermaid has just turned 15 and was finally permitted to go up to the surface and see the outside world. She found a ship and fell in love with the handsome prince she could see from afar. But then, a storm came up and wrecked the ship. She was able to save the prince and she took him to a nearby shore. She waited there until she saw a temple girl coming for him. She left, and the prince never got to see the mermaid who saved him.
Mermaids, in this case, do not have souls like humans do. When they die, they don't go to heaven, but instead they turn into sea foam. After learning about this, the little mermaid went to the sea witch who gave her potion that will make her become human. It was for the price of her voice (the little mermaid has a very beautiful voice) and her comfort (whenever she would walk, it would feel like daggers piercing through her feet). In order for her to get a soul, she will need true love's kiss, but if her love were to marry someone else, she would die the day after the wedding and turn into sea foam. When she took the potion, it felt like a sword was passing through her body. But she did get what she wanted, she became human and met the prince.
The prince was immediately enchanted by her (even though she could not speak). And he especially loved to watch her dance. She would feel excruciating pain just to make him happy. In the end of it all though, he was not in love with her. He was in love with the temple girl who he thought saved his life. He eventually found her and asked her to marry him. 
Heartbroken and hopeless, the little (former) mermaid turned to her sisters, who gave her a dagger that could save her life. If she kills the prince with it, she will be able to turn back into a mermaid and have another chance in living She was not able to carry on with the deed because of her love for the prince. She died and became sea foam. The end.


Actually, that was the actual end. There are still some stuff about her still having a shot at eternal life if she helps find lost children at sea. But still, story is still really sad and it just reminds me of how depressing everything is when it isn't Disney-fied. 


Anyhoo. If you want to read the whole story, you can very well do that by just clicking here. It's a beautiful tale that warns you to really be careful of what you wish for.