the little mermaid 美人鱼

"The Little Mermaid" by the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Andersen about a young mermaid willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul and the love of a human prince.

The Little Mermaid lives in a utopian underwater kingdom with her father the sea king; her grandmother; and her five elder sisters, born one year apart. When a mermaid turns 15, she is allowed to swim to the surface to watch the world above, and as the sisters become old enough, one of them visits the surface every year. As each of them returns, the Little Mermaid listens longingly to their descriptions of the surface and of human beings.

When the Little Mermaid's turn comes, she ventures to the surface, sees a ship with a handsome prince, and falls in love with him from a distance. A great storm hits, and the Little Mermaid saves the prince from a near-drowning. She delivers him unconscious to the shore near a temple. Here she waits until a young girl from the temple finds him. The prince never sees the Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid asks her grandmother whether humans can live forever if they do not drown. The grandmother explains that humans have a much shorter lifespan than merfolk's 300 years, but that when mermaids die they turn to sea foam and cease to exist, while humans have an eternal soul that lives on in Heaven. The Little Mermaid, longing for the prince and an eternal soul, eventually visits the Sea Witch, who sells her a potion that gives her legs, in exchange for her tongue (as the Little Mermaid has the most intoxicating voice in the world). Drinking the potion will make her feel as if a sword is being passed through her, yet when she recovers she will have two beautiful legs, and will be able to dance like no human has ever danced before. However, it will constantly feel like she is walking on sharp swords, and her feet will bleed most terribly. In addition, she will only get a soul if the prince loves her and marries her, for then a part of his soul will flow into her. Otherwise, at dawn on the first day after he marries another woman, the Little Mermaid will die brokenhearted and disintegrate into sea foam.

The Little Mermaid drinks the potion and meets the prince, who is attracted to her beauty and grace even though she is mute. Most of all he likes to see her dance, and she dances for him despite her excruciating pain. When the prince's father orders his son to marry the neighboring king's daughter, the prince tells the Little Mermaid he will not, because he does not love the princess. He goes on to say he can only love the young woman from the temple, who he believes rescued him, but adds that the Little Mermaid is beginning to take the temple girl's place in his heart. It turns out that the princess is the temple girl, who had been sent to the temple to be educated. The prince loves her and the wedding is announced.

The prince and princess marry, and the Little Mermaid's heart breaks. She thinks of all that she has given up and of all the pain she has suffered. She despairs, thinking of the death that awaits her, but before dawn, her sisters bring her a knife that the Sea Witch has given them in exchange for their long hair. If the Little Mermaid slays the prince with the knife and lets his blood drip on her feet, she will become a mermaid again, all her suffering will end and she will live out her full life.

The Little Mermaid cannot bring herself to kill the sleeping prince lying with his bride and, as dawn breaks, throws herself into the sea. Her body dissolves into foam, but instead of ceasing to exist, she feels the warmth of the sun; she has turned into a spirit, a daughter of the air. The other daughters of the air tell her she has become like them because she strove with all her heart to gain an eternal soul. She will earn her own soul by doing good deeds, and she will eventually rise up into the kingdom of God.

Principality of Monaco 摩纳哥

Principality of Monaco, originally uploaded by gu@n.

Monaco, is a small sovereign city-state located in South Western Europe on the northern central coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It is surrounded on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its center is about 16 km (9.9 mi) from Italy. Its area is just under 2 km² with an estimated population of almost 33,000.

Monaco is the name of the country and its capital (and only) city. It is famous as a tax haven, and wealthy foreigners make up the majority of the population, around 84%.[4] It is often referred to as the Las Vegas of Europe.

Monaco is a constitutional monarchy and principality, with Prince Albert II as head of state. The House of Grimaldi has ruled Monaco since 1297, and the state's sovereignty was officially recognized by the Franco-Monegasque Treaty of 1861. Despite being independent, Monaco's defence is the responsibility of France.

Since 1929, the Monaco Grand Prix has been held annually in the streets of Monaco. It is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious automobile races in the world. The erecting of the Circuit de Monaco takes six weeks to complete, and the removal after the race another three weeks. The circuit has many elevation changes and tight corners, along with a tunnel. This together with being incredibly narrow and tight makes it perhaps the most demanding Formula One track. Only two drivers have ever crashed into the harbour, the most famous being Alberto Ascari in the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix. (Ascari lost his life four days later at Monza). The other was Paul Hawkins, during the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix.

contemporary | classical

contemporary | classical, originally uploaded by gu@n.

Happy 2010

Happy 2010, originally uploaded by gu@n.

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6 legs spider

spider with 6 legs, originally uploaded by gu@n.

Spiders are invertebrates, which means they don't have backbones. These small creatures help plants reproduce by pollinating them. They also help recycle dead trees and animals back into the earth. They are also a vital source of food for birds, fish, and small mammals. Without invertebrates, like spiders and insects, many other living things would not survive.



Spiders are not insects. Insects have three body parts and six legs.

Spiders have eight legs and two body parts, the abdomen and the thorax.

Spiders have silk spinning glands called spinnerets, at the tip of their abdomen.

Not all spiders spin webs. Spiders belong to the Arachnid family.

There are more than 30,000 species of spiders.

Spiders are oviparous, which means their babies come from eggs.

Most spiders have either six or eight eyes.

Most spiders have fangs, through which venom is ejected.

Opiliones are commonly called shepherd spiders, harvest spiders or harvestmen.

The term harvestmen or harvest spiders was a result of them being seen only during harvesting time. They are also referred to as daddy long legs but should not be confused with similarly named spiders, the Pholcidae.

Opiliones are not spiders and have no spinning organs, fangs or venom glands and are harmless to man.


Spider bites can be quite painful, and a select few can be fatal.

Fear of spiders is called Arachnophobia. It is one of the most common fears among humans.

Tarantulas shed their furry skin as they grow, leaving behind what looks just like another tarantula.

Spiders eat many types of harmful insects, helping to keep your garden free of pests.

Spiders are creatures that have 8 legs, have no wings or antennae. They have 2 distinct body parts called the thorax or head and the abdomen. Spiders have an exoskeleton, meaning that their skeleton is on the outside.

Spiders have as many as 8 eyes, but some spiders have only 6 eyes and several spiders have fewer or even none. All spiders have fangs through which venom is ejected. The tip of the abdomen has silk spinning glands called spinnerets by which a spider can spin a web. However, not all spiders spin webs.

Most spiders are very nearsighted. To make up for this, they use the hair on their body to feel their way around and to sense when other animals are near.

Webs get dirty and torn, so lots of spiders make a new one every day. They don't waste the old one, though--they roll it up into a ball and eat it!

Young spiders resemble adults. Only their size and coloration differ.

Male spiders are usually smaller than female spiders.

text by http://www.tooter4kids.com/Spiders/facts.htm