The Happy Prince
Did you know? This swallow is actually moving house!
Did you know? The swallow in the story isn't just flying around for fun—it's on its yearly migration! Real swallows fly thousands of kilometres every autumn, from the cold north to the warm south to spend the winter. If a swallow stays too long to keep a friend company, the weather might turn cold and it could miss its chance to fly away. So when the Prince asks the swallow to stay one more day, he's really racing against the seasons—that friendship is bought with time and courage.
Long, long ago, in the middle of a busy city, stood a tall stone column. On top of the column stood a statue of a young and handsome prince. Everyone called him the Happy Prince. His whole body was covered with thin leaves of gold, one overlapping another like fish scales, shining brightly in the sunlight—from afar, he looked like a ball of golden light. His eyes were two clear blue sapphires, as blue as the deepest lake. At his waist hung a sword, and on its hilt was set a large, bright red gem, as red as a tiny heart. People walking through the square would always look up and sigh, 'Look how happy the Happy Prince is! He lacks nothing and worries about nothing.' Children clapped, old people nodded, and even passing travellers stopped in their tracks. No one knew that this glittering statue was quietly looking down on the whole city, and quietly watching everything that happened in every window and every alley.
One evening, a little swallow flew in from the north. His companions had already gathered in flocks and flown to the warm south for the winter. Only he, because he loved to play, had chased a butterfly too far and got left behind. The little swallow flapped his tired wings, flying over rooftops, over the bell tower, over one street after another. The wind grew cooler and cooler, and his wings grew heavier and heavier. 'I'll find a place to rest tonight,' the little swallow said to himself. He saw the tall stone column in the middle of the square, and the prince's statue on top glittering faintly in the twilight. The little swallow circled the statue once and thought it was high and safe, so he gently landed at the statue's feet, tucked his head under his wing, and prepared to sleep well. He thought: Early tomorrow morning, I'll fly south and surely catch up with my companions.
Just as the little swallow was about to fall asleep, he suddenly felt something cool dripping on him. One drop, and another. 'Huh? The weather is so nice—how can it be raining?' He looked up and was stunned. It wasn't rain—it was the statue crying. From those sapphire eyes, sparkling tears were rolling down his golden cheeks and dripping onto the little swallow's wings. The little swallow asked in surprise, 'Who are you? Why are you crying?' The statue answered in a gentle and sorrowful voice, 'I am the Happy Prince. Once I lived in the Palace of Sans-Souci, where there was no wind and no cold, and I never knew what tears were. But now I stand in such a high place, and for the first time I see all the suffering in the city, and my heart can't help but ache.'
The Prince sighed softly and said, 'Little swallow, would you be willing to do me a favour? Look over there—in the narrow alley there is a small house, with a faint light shining through the window. A poor mother lives there. Her child is sick with a high fever and keeps crying out for a drink, but she has no money to call a doctor or buy medicine. She can only hold the child and weep again and again.' The little swallow looked where the Prince was looking and indeed saw the tiny window. The Prince went on, 'On the hilt of my sword there is a red gem. Please peck it off and give it to that mother. I cannot move from this spot—only you can run this errand for me.' The little swallow looked down at the red gem, then at the Prince's pleading eyes, and his heart suddenly softened.
The little swallow nodded, gently pecked the ruby from the sword hilt, and carried it over the rooftops, through narrow alleys, and softly landed on the windowsill of a small house. Inside, a sick child lay with a flushed face, and his mother had fallen asleep by the bed. The swallow placed the ruby gently on the table and fanned the child with its wings. Strangely, the child's breathing became calm, his forehead cooled, and he slept peacefully. When the mother woke and saw the glowing ruby on the table, she was speechless with amazement, and a smile she had not shown for a long time spread across her face. The swallow flew back to the prince and felt warm inside, no longer cold at all.
The next day, it grew colder. The swallow planned to fly south, but could not bear to leave the prince. The prince looked into the distance and said, "Little swallow, look at that street corner. There is a poor girl selling matches. She has no hat and no shoes, her cheeks are red with cold, and she holds a bunch of matches tightly, but has not sold any all day. She is cold and hungry, and about to cry." The prince paused, his voice lower: "My eyes are made of sapphires. Please peck out one and give it to the child." The swallow said anxiously, "No! Then you will have only one eye left!" But the prince smiled gently: "It's all right. The child needs it more than I do."
The swallow had to obey. It pecked out one of the prince's sapphire eyes, carried it to the street corner, and gently placed it in the match girl's hand. The girl looked down, her eyes lit up, she smiled happily, and skipped home. The swallow flew back to the statue's feet, but felt heavy-hearted. It had thought: I will leave tomorrow. But the next day, it could not bear to go. With his remaining eye, the prince saw a group of hungry children shivering in a corner of the square. The prince said, "Little swallow, please give them my other eye too." The swallow was frantic, but finally, with tears in its eyes, pecked out the last sapphire.
From that moment on, the prince could see nothing. Both his eyes were gone, leaving only two deep hollows. The swallow perched on the prince's shoulder and asked sadly, "Now you cannot see, what will you do?" The prince said calmly, "Don't worry. Little swallow, will you stay and be my eyes?" The swallow was stunned. The south was so warm, and its companions must be singing in the sunshine. But it looked at the prince's empty eyes, then at the city full of suffering, and finally made up its mind: "I will not go. I will stay and be your eyes, fly all over the city every day, and see who needs help." From that day on, the swallow flew out every day and told the prince everything it saw, one by one.
Each day grew colder than the last. The icy wind howled, and frost crept over the rooftops. The little swallow saw that many poor people still lived in the city. Children's lips turned blue with cold, and old people shivered in their ragged clothes. The prince said, "Little swallow, I still have gold leaf stuck all over me. Please peel it off, piece by piece, and give it to them." So the swallow peeled it off piece by piece and gave it away piece by piece. There was less and less gold, and the prince's body grew duller and duller, until at last only bare lead remained. But the children's faces slowly grew rosy again, and laughter came from the houses. Yet the little swallow grew weaker and weaker, its wings heavier and heavier, flying lower and lower and slower and slower.
One day, the little swallow used the very last of its strength to fly back to the prince's feet. Softly it said, "Dear prince, I am going now." The prince asked, "Are you going to the south?" The swallow shook its head, its voice as thin as the wind: "No... I am going somewhere much farther away." With that, it closed its eyes, fell at the prince's feet, and never woke again. At that very moment, a soft crack came from inside the statue's chest — the heavy lead heart had split in two. God told an angel to go into the city and find the most precious thing. The angel flew over the city, saw the broken lead heart and the dead little swallow, gently lifted them up, and carried them back to heaven. It is said that in that garden, the little swallow sings forever, and the Happy Prince smiles forever. They will never be apart, happy forever and ever.
