This is the story of the statue of a prince and a little swallow who, in order to help the poor, sacrificed their lives. There was the statue of a prince called the Happy Prince standing on a tall pillar high above the city.
It was a beautiful statue. It was covered with gold and had sapphires for eyes and a ruby in his sword. The Happy Prince could see the sufferings of the people in the city but was unable to move and help them. One day a little swallow, which was on his way to Egypt, landed on the statue.
He was tired and so he decided to spend his night at the feet of the statue of the Happy Prince. The swallow found the statue weeping. He was very kind and full of pity. He asked the Happy Prince. The Happy Prince told him that he could see the people in the city who were hungry. He wanted to help them but could not move. He requested the swallow to stay with him for some time and help him in helping the poor. The swallow agreed. The Happy Prince helped a seamstress by sending his great ruby through the swallow. Then he requested the swallow to take out a sapphire from his eye and give it to the playwright who was about to faint because of hunger and cold.
Next day the Happy Prince requested the swallow to pluck another Sapphire from his eye and give it to the match girl who was weeping as she had no money to take home. Now the Happy Prince became blind.
The swallow decided to stay with him forever. The Prince asked him to go to Egypt but he refused. Now onward the swallow would tell the Happy Prince the stories of the poor. The Happy Prince asked the swallow to take the gold off his body and give it to the poor.
The weather had become extremely cold. The snow fell and then the frost. The poor little swallow could not survive and fell dead. At that moment, the leaden heart of the statue broke into two.
Next morning the Mayor of the city visited that site and found the statue useless and unattractive. The statue was pulled down and melted in a furnace at a foundry. But the leaden heart could not be melted. It was thrown in a dust heap where the dead swallow was also lying.
God asked one of his angles to bring him the two most precious things in the city. The angle brought Him the leaden heart of the Happy Prince and the dead swallow. God praised the angle for the right choice. god said that the little bird would sing forever in his garden of paradise and the Happy Prince would praise Him in His city of gold.