巫師從箱子里拿出一個瓶子，把它交給美人魚。瓶子里的藥水很難喝。美人魚把它喝了下去。巫師嘴里念念有詞，美人魚聽不懂。美人魚覺得非常疼，她的臉痛得慘白。巫師看見了，說：“如果你不能忍受，我可以停止?！薄安?！請不要，我能忍受。”美人魚說。美人魚的尾巴變得越來越短，痛感也越來越強烈，最后巫師對美人魚說：“看看你的腿！”美人魚看見她的尾巴不見了，她有了一雙漂亮的腿。

美人魚站起來，開始走路。她覺得是那么疼，但是她非常高興，她有腿了，她能在海邊走路，能像人那樣走來走去，能和人們一塊兒唱歌和玩?！，F(xiàn)在，美人魚不再是一條魚，她是一個女人，一個漂亮的女人。

The Mermaid(Ⅱ)

The Wizard took out a bottle from a box and gave it to the Mermaid.The water in the bottle tasted bad.The Mermaid drank(drink-drank)it at once.The wizard said something that the Mermaid didn’t understand(明白).There was a great pain(疼痛).The Mermaid’s face(臉)went white.The wizard saw that and said，“If you cannot stand it，I can stop(停止).”“No!Please don’t，I can stand it，”the mermaid said.Her tail became shorter and shorter(越來越短)，yet the pain became greater and greater(越來越劇烈).Finally(最后)the wizard said to the Mermaid，“Look at your legs!”The mermaid saw that her tail was not there，she had a pair(一對，一雙)of beautiful legs in stead.

The mermaid stood up and began(開始)to walk.It was so painful but she was very happy-because she had legs，she could walk on the bank of the sea，she could walk like a person，she could sing and play like a person.Now，the mermaid was not a fish any more，she was a woman，a beautiful woman.

Exercises:

1.How did the wizard turn the Mermaid’s tail into legs?

2.Why did the wizard say“I can stop”?

3.What did the Mermaid say to him?

4.What could the Mermaid do when she had a pair of legs?

5.Do you like the Mermaid?Why?