When it grew dark, a number of colored lamps were lighted

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the sailors and royal family danced merrily on the deck

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The little mermaid could not help thinking of her birthday

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the day that she rose out of the sea for the first time

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similar joyful festivities were celebrated on that day

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she thought about the wonder and hope she felt that day

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with those pleasant memories, she too joined in the dance

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on her paining feet, she poised herself in the air

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the way a swallow poises itself when in pursued of prey

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the sailors and the servants cheered her wonderingly

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She had never danced so gracefully before

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Her tender feet felt as if cut with sharp knives

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but she cared little for the pain of her feet

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there was a much sharper pain piercing her heart

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