The Happy Prince was published by Oscar Wilde in 1888.
The story opens with a description of the statue of the happy prince.
He stands high up on a tall column overlooking his city.
He's decorated in fine jewels and gold leaf.
His eyes are sapphires, and the hilt of his sword is topped with a huge ruby.
His people admire his beauty so much.
When a child acts up, the mother might say something like “Why can’t you be more
like the happy prince?”.
Then, we meet a little Swallow.
His friends have begun their migration south to Egypt and he’s trying to catch up.
He stayed behind to be with his love, a Reed.
He spent the entire spring and summer with her.
But, by fall their romance fell apart and he left for Egypt.
At night the swallow needs a break from flying and rests underneath the statue of the Happy
Prince.
The Swallow is about to fall asleep but feels that it’s starting to rain.
He looks up and realizes that the statue is crying.
The statue explains that he used to live a life of pleasure and luxury.
He lived at the palace of Sans Souci and never had to worry about anything.
But, after he died the people made a statue of him.
Now, he’s able to see the pain of his city but can’t do anything about it since he
can't move.
The statue tells the swallow that far away there is a mother who isn’t able to buy
medicine for her sick child.
This is in despite of the fact that she is a tireless seamstress.
The happy prince feels so bad for her that he asks the Swallow to take the ruby from
the hilt of the sword and give it to the woman.
The Swallow doesn’t want to at first since he has friends waiting for him.
Eventually, he concedes and takes the ruby to the woman.
The Swallow says he feels warm inside even though it’s a cold night.
The Happy prince tells him that he feels warm because he’s done a good action.
The Swallow tells him about Egypt.
Then, the happy prince sees a distressed writer who is trying to finish a play.
Unfortunately, the writer is hungry and cold.
The Happy Prince only has sapphires and gold left, so he asks the Swallow to take one of
his eyes.
At first, the Swallow is reluctant to take out one of his eyes but eventually he does.
The Swallow again wants to move on, but the happy prince asks him for one more night.
The happy prince sees a little girl selling matches that has dropped them.
If she doesn’t bring home money then her father will punish her.
He asks the swallow to take his other sapphire, which he does after protesting.
Since he doesn’t have eyes anymore, the Happy Prince asks the Swallow to fly out and
look at the city.
The Swallow observes two boys who are cold and hungry.
The Swallow tells the Happy Prince what he has seen and the Happy Prince wants to help
them.
He asks the swallow to take his gold leaf and give it to the children, which he does.
When he’s done with his mission, the Swallow returns to The Happy Prince.
The Swallow was freezing, but refused to leave The Happy Prince’s side.
He kissed the Happy prince, and then died . The happy prince’s heart snapped in two
due to the cold.
Then, town Councillors came and remarked how shabby the statue was.
They had it torn down and melted.
The lead heart wouldn’t melt, so they threw it away.
At the end of the story, God asks his angels to bring him two of the most precious things
in the city.
When the angels return, they have brought the lead heart and the dead bird.
The End.