《小美人魚》，1836 年

the Little mermaid, 1836

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安徒生認為，憑藉《小美人魚》，他創作出了自己最動人的童話故事之一。

with “the Little mermaid,” Andersen believed that he had created one of his most moving fairy tales.

“我與我的角色同甘共苦。” 他反覆對朋友們這樣講，他的讀者也承受了他筆下那美麗水生生物的痛苦。

“I suffer with my characters,” he told his friends again and again, and his readers too have endured the pain of his beautiful aquatic creature.

《歡樂滿人間》系列書籍的作者 p.L. 特拉弗斯發現漢斯?克里斯蒂安?安徒生是折磨藝術的大師。

p.L.travers, author of the mary poppins books, found hans christian Andersen to be a master in the art of torture.

“我多麼希望看到邪惡的繼母被油煎……” 她宣稱，“而不是忍受小美人魚或者穿紅鞋的女孩那漫長的痛苦。”

“how much rather would I see wicked stepmothers boiled in oil...,” she declared, “than bear the protracted agony of the Little mermaid or the girl who wore the Red Shoes.”

在安徒生的故事裡，苦難可能成為一種精神優越的標誌，他筆下那些受壓迫的主人公在忍受了看似無盡的屈辱之後常常勝利歸來。

In Andersen’s tales, suffering can bee a badge of spiritual superiority, and his downtrodden protagonists often emerge triumphant after enduring seemingly endless humiliations.

小美人魚有著世俗的野心，並非朝著默默忍受痛苦的方向。

the little mermaid has worldly ambitions that run in directions other than silent suffering.

被上層世界所吸引，她渴望航海、爬山並探索禁地。

drawn to the upper world, she is eager to sail the seas, climb mountains, and explore forbidden territory.

她穿上男孩的衣服，和王子一起騎馬，以前所未有的方式跨越性別界限。

donning boy’s clothing, she goes horseback riding with the prince, crossing gender boundaries