17. Summary of the lesson "The Happy Prince"

The lesson "The Happy Prince" was written by Oscar Wilde. The Happy Prince was a beautiful statue covered with thin gold leaves, and his eyes were made of sapphires, and the sword's handle had a ruby. The statue stood high above the city. One day a little swallow arrived at the city. He was on his way to Egypt to join his friends. When he sat between the feet of the Happy Prince, a few drops of water fell on him. While he looked up, he noticed that the statue was crying. The swallow inquired the reason for his crying. Later, the prince said that he had lived happily throughout his life, so he was called Happy Prince. Also, he said that his subjects had built a high statue after his death. When he died, he could see the miseries of the people in the city. The prince then narrated the story of a poor woman whose son was not feeling well. After telling the story, the Happy Prince asked the swallow to give the ruby to the woman. Initially, the swallow refused to do it because he thought he didn't like boys. Later, he took the ruby, reached the poor woman's house, and placed it near the thimble. After completing his task, the swallow returned to the prince. The Happy Prince asked for another help from the swallow. He asked the swallow to give sapphires to the hungry young writer and a little girl. The swallow refused to take the sapphires from his eyes because the Happy Prince would become blind if he plucked the sapphires. Later the swallow took the sapphires from the prince's eyes. When the statue lost sight, he asked the swallow to fly high and tell him what was happening in his city. After noticing the suffering of the poor people, the swallow intimated the things to the prince. Then the prince told him to take all the thin leaves of gold from his body to feed the poor children. Finally, the statue became dull and lost its beauty. When the Mayor and the counsellors looked at the ugly statue, they decided to melt the heart of the Happy Prince in the furnace. Unfortunately, the heart didn't burn in the furnace. Meanwhile, they saw a dead bird was lying at the feet of the prince's statue. So the Mayor proclaimed an order that no bird should die on the statue's feet. Later, the workmen at the foundry threw the statue's heart in the place where they had thrown the dead swallow. At last, God asked his Angel to bring any two beautiful things from the earth. The Angel brought the heart of the statue and the dead bird in front of God. He appreciated the Angel for choosing the right thing.