He was too polite to make any personal remarks out loud. 'What, is he not solid gold?' said the Swallow to himself. And now that I am dead they have set me up here so high that I can see all the ugliness and all the misery of my city, and though my heart is made of lead yet I cannot choose but weep.' My courtiers called me the Happy Prince, and happy indeed I was, if pleasure be happiness. Round the garden ran a very lofty wall, but I never cared to ask what lay beyond it, everything about me was so beautiful. In the daytime I played with my companions in the garden, and in the evening I led the dance in the Great Hall. 'When I was alive and had a human heart,' answered the statue, 'I did not know what tears were, for I lived in the Palace of Sans-Souci where sorrow is not allowed to enter. 'Why are you weeping then?' asked the Swallow 'you have quite drenched me.' His face was so beautiful in the moonlight that the little Swallow was filled with pity.
The eyes of the Happy Prince were filled with tears, and tears were running down his golden cheeks. 'What is the use of a statue if it cannot keep the rain off?' he said 'I must look for a good chimney-pot,' and he determined to fly away.īut before he had opened his wings, a third drop fell, and he looked up, and saw - Ah! what did he see? The Reed used to like the rain, but that was merely her selfishness.' The climate in the north of Europe is really dreadful. 'I have a golden bedroom,' he said softly to himself as he looked round, and he prepared to go to sleep but just as he was putting his head under his wing, a large drop of water fell on him.'What a curious thing!' he cried, 'there is not a single cloud in the sky, the stars are quite clear and bright, and yet it is raining. 'I will put up there,' he cried 'it is a fine position with plenty of fresh air.' So he alighted just between the feet of the Happy Prince. Then he saw the statue on the tall column. 'Where shall I put up?' he said 'I hope the town has made preparations.' Good-bye!' and he flew away.Īll day long he flew, and at night-time he arrived at the city. 'You have been trifling with me,' he cried, 'I am off to the Pyramids. 'Will you come away with me?' he said finally to her but the Reed shook her head, she was so attached to her home. I admit that she is domestic,' he continued, 'but I love travelling, and my wife, consequently, should love travelling also.' 'She has no conversation,' he said, 'and I am afraid that she is a coquette, for she is always flirting with the wind.' And certainly, whenever the wind blew, the Reed made the most graceful curtsies. Then, when the autumn came, they all flew away.Īfter they had gone he felt lonely, and began to tire of his lady-love.
#Taken 2 movie cover full
'It is a ridiculous attachment,' twittered the other Swallows, 'she has no money, and far too many relations ' and indeed the river was quite full of Reeds. This was his courtship, and it lasted all through the summer. So he flew round and round her, touching the water with his wings, and making silver ripples. 'Shall I love you said the Swallow', who liked to come to the point at once, and the Reed made him a low bow. He had met her early in the spring as he was flying down the river after a big yellow moth, and had been so attracted by her slender waist that he had stopped to talk to her. His friends had gone away to Egypt six weeks before, but he had stayed behind, for he was in love with the most beautiful Reed. One night there flew over the city a little Swallow. 'Ah! but we have, in our dreams,' answered the children and the Mathematical Master frowned and looked very severe, for he did not approve of children dreaming. 'How do you know?' said the Mathematical Master, 'you have never seen one.' 'He looks just like an angel,' said the Charity Children as they came out of the cathedral in their bright scarlet cloaks, and their clean white pinafores.
'I am glad there is some one in the world who is quite happy', muttered a disappointed man as he gazed at the wonderful statue. 'The Happy Prince never dreams of crying for anything.' 'Why can't you be like the Happy Prince?' asked a sensible mother of her little boy who was crying for the moon. He was very much admired indeed.'He is as beautiful as a weathercock,' remarked one of the Town Councillors who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic taste 'only not quite so useful,' he added, fearing lest people should think him unpractical, which he really was not. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt. High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. Note: Oscar Wilde intended this story to be read to children
0 kommentar(er)
