The Happy Prince (Short Story)

The Happy Prince (Image-Internet)

“The Happy Prince” by Oscar Wilde inhabits themes like social injustice, the redemptive power of love, and the loss of innocence. I read this one in 9th class. For me, this story is about friendship, desire, and the credible strength of human existence which enables others to be part of one's riches.

The story is-

There once was a statue of a prince. When alive, he lived in a palace… unaware of any kind of human hardship and misery. His life was full of joys. Upon his death, his statue was built at the top of a tall column in the city.

The statue was covered 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. The statue of the Happy Prince looked beautiful and everyone in the city admired it.

Since he was placed high above the city, the Prince was able to witness all the sorrows and sufferings which the common people faced in their daily life. This made the Prince very sad. His eyes got watered and large drops of tears began to run down his golden cheeks.

One day, a little swallow bird alighted between the feet of the Happy Prince to spend the night there. He became curious to know where the drops of water were falling from. He looked up and found the source.

The bird took pity on the Prince and became ready to assist him in his desire to ease the sufferings of the common people. He became the messenger of the Prince and agreed to remove the fine gold and jewels from his statue to distribute them among the poor and the needy.

He plucked the ruby from the Prince’s sword and gave it to the seamstress who had no money to feed her ailing child. Then he plucked a sapphire from one of the eyes of the statue and gave it to the hungry playwright who was too poor to make a fire in the winter to continue his writing.

One day, the Prince saw a match girl beaten by her father for letting her matches fall in the gutter. The Prince’s heart filled with pity for the girl. He immediately commanded the swallow to pluck out his other eye and help the girl. But the swallow was not ready to do so because this would make the Prince completely blind. On being insistent, he plucked out the Prince’s other eye, swooped past the match girl, and slipped the jewel ‘ into the palm of her hand.

The little bird decided not to leave the company of the Happy Prince who had gone blind now. The invisibility did not stop the blind prince and with the help of the bird, he continued to help the poor.

The bird followed his words and picked off leaf after leaf of the gold, till the Happy Prince looked quite dull and grey.

The snow came. The little swallow grew colder but he did not leave the side of Prince. Eventually, he grew weak and died from exposure and exhaustion. Just at that moment, a curious crack sounded inside the statue as if something had broken.

It was the leaden heart that had snapped right in two at the loss of the sweet and kind swallow. The statue was no more beautiful and useful. It stood deserted. So, the Town Councillors and the Mayor pulled it down. They melted the statue in a furnace but the broken heart did not melt. So, they threw it on a dust-heap where the dead swallow was lying.

When God asked one of His Angels to bring the two most invaluable things from the city, the Angel brought Him the leaden heart and the dead bird. God welcomed the two in His garden of Paradise and cherished them as symbols of humanity.