Now you have read the "true story" of the Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderssen and if not well you can go back to my older post before you read this post. Well I will be recounting the story in this post anyway, so read on :)
I like the original version of the Little Mermaid because although it is a fairy tale still the true and harsh reality of life is depicted there. We are always presented with stories that have happy endings. What if there was no happy ending or there is a happy ending but not the kind that one would think of as a happy one?
I can see myself in the little mermaid - adventurous, stubborn, ambitious, wanting something far beyond her reach, hopeful, dreamy. When people say to me stay put, I don't stay put. I always want to explore... to probe .. be nosey... (which sometimes gets me into trouble) to discover on my own and not just rely on vicarious experiences. I more often than not will venture into deep and dangerous territory even if I do not know what lies ahead... well I may have an inkling but you'll never know unless you try it right? that is how I am.
But the little mermaid's "real" story begins with a party in the ship wherein she "finds" her prince for the very first time. She immediately fell for him seeing that he was from a different world from hers - a "breath of fresh air" from her own world. More often than not we tend to gravitate to people different from the norm we used to. We meet person/s in our lives that make us see who we are inside. They may not mean to but they do so. Sometimes it is uncanny ... weird how certain people can do that in our lives without even trying.
And then a storm came and the ship went overboard that nearly drowned the prince. And the little mermaid came to his rescue but he was too groggy to recognize his rescuer and fainted. Very much like what happens to me in real life. I love helping people especially people close to my heart - be it family or friends. I want to make people happy even if I know my own happiness is at stake. I feel happy when I get to help people during their turbulent storms in their lives especially for the person I love. For the little mermaid it is dangerous for her to go to the surface and even interact with humans because she might get hurt and probably killed. She was given thousands and thousands of warnings/ precautions but still she did not heed. She followed her heart to where she seems happy. She placed the prince on the beach and faithfully waited for him to regain consciousness. (something similar - metaphorically speaking happened to me in real life) But she heard noise from a bunch of school girls approaching the beach. Frightened she swam off. One of the school girls helped the poor prince but he was still unconscious and the girl with the help of her friends brought him home to his castle.
But because she wanted so much to be with "her" prince, she would make a dangerous decision of becoming a human and to do so she has to see the sea witch. Like her, in real life, I would do anything... exhaust all energies I have to make my dream a reality. As the story goes, she goes to the sea witch to become human but everything in life even in fairy tales there is always a trade off. he must give her voice to the sea witch and not only that she must make her prince fall in love with her before he marries another woman if she fails to do so on the morning after the prince and his bride's wedding she will turn into sea foam. Knowing this consequence, she still went on with the deal. Very similar to what I experienced. I knew what I was getting into. I knew the trade off - to "lose my voice" and stay silent and understand and be patient and be there for him no matter what and have faith that he will "see" and choose me.
Fast forward she becomes human. She was transformed. Similar to what happened to me. I changed. People often tell me you should never change for someone. But what if you really want to change but have been really scared to do so and that person was just an instrument of God or for some a Higher Power in order for me to change? Sometimes it takes something or someone to ignite that fire within us. It is there but we just fail to know or see that it is really there.
She met the prince and fell in love with him everyday that they were together. The prince grew fond of her. But there is this feeling that has been bugging him. He really wants to know who is the girl who saved him during the shipwreck and he says that if he finds her he will marry that girl. Because the little mermaid cannot speak, she cannot tell him that it was she who saved him during the shipwreck. All she could do is show him in actions how much she cared and loved him.
One day the prince told the little mermaid that his parents asked him to marry the princess of the other kingdom. But he doesn't want to be forced into marriage. He even told the little mermaid that if he never finds the girl who saved him during the shipwreck then he would marry her.
Fast forward again. The prince met the princess of the other kingdom and alas she was the girl who saved him on the beach and you know how the story goes. The prince married the princess. She knew now what will become of her. She will become sea foam on the morning after the wedding. She made the choice and now she must take the consequence that comes with it.
Learning about her ordeal, her mermaid sisters went to the sea witch and gave their beautiful hair to her in exchange for a dagger that the little mermaid should pierce into the prince's heart. The blood from his heart should trickle down to her feet in order for her to become a mermaid again. She tried to do it but seeing him with his bride happily and sound asleep it broke her heart to even think of taking away his life. She loved him too much that she was willing to sacrifice her own happiness ... her own life just to see him happy.
So instead she threw the dagger into the ocean and waited for sunrise to creep in - the dawning of her death. She was ready to die for the one she loved. Only thru her death can she keep her love for her prince pure and true. Dying to oneself is the ultimate sacrifice one can ever give another. Even if I know that his happiness will never be with me still I am willing to give my life for my life for him. The Little Mermaid never died in vain because she was willing to sacrifice and give all that she could give and to love unconditionally until her very last breath.
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