The Little Mermaid

Hans Christian Andersen told the story of The Little Mermaid in one of his many fairy tales for children. Yet, Disney's adaptation is not quite the story that Andersen tells. The original story depicts a young mermaid who suffers for love. She struggles between her life and death as a mermaid and an eternal soul on land. In the end, she jumps into the ocean as the sun rises and is turned into sea foam. Instead of falling into nothingness, the story goes on to say that her spirit continues on in the air. For every day the mermaid sees a joyous child, her probation into eternal life is shortened, and every day she cries of sorrow for a child in misery her probation is extended. And so, the story of The Little Mermaid is eternalized in this statue by the docks in the far corner of Copenhagen. She sits there as a reminder for us all, or at least for me, that we should live our lives in joy and do good upon each other. Let's all work together to shorten her time bound here.