Undine

Undine is a water spirit raised by an old fisherman and his wife in a cottage by a haunted forest, a lively, mischievous girl with no soul. When the knight Huldbrand takes shelter there in a storm, they fall in love and marry, and through her marriage Undine gains a human soul, becoming gentle and loving. But her stormy uncle Kühleborn, a spirit of the waters, haunts them, and when Huldbrand turns to the proud Bertalda and breaks the rules of Undine's world, the waters claim her and fate follows him to his wedding day.

Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué (1777–1843) published the fairy tale in 1811, and it became one of the best-loved works of German Romanticism, inspiring operas, ballets, Dvořák's Rusalka and Andersen's 'The Little Mermaid'. It is short and beautifully sad. Read Andersen's Fairy Tales beside it.