He was very much admired [liked]. "He is as beautiful as a cock," said one of the farmers.

"Why can't you be like the Happy Prince?" asked a mother to her little boy who was crying for the moon. "The Happy Prince never cries for anything."

"I am glad there is some one in the world who is happy," muttered [μíéùμ??μ] a sad man as he looked at the wonderful statue.

"He looks just like an angel," said the orphans [1??ù] as they came out of the church in their bright red clothes.

"How do you know?" said the Mathematics teacher, "you have never seen one."

"Ah! but we have, in our dreams," answered the children. The Mathematics teacher frowned [????] because he did not like children dreaming.

One night there flew over the city a little Swallow. His friends had gone away to Egypt six weeks before, but he had stayed behind because he was in love with the most beautiful Reed [???-]. He had met her in the spring as he was flying down the river after a big yellow butterfly and had been so attracted by her slender [thin] waist [?ü] that he had stopped to talk to her.

"Shall I love you?" said the Swallow, who liked to come to the point at once, and the Reed made him a low bow. So he flew round and round her, touching the water with his wings, and making silver [ò?×ó] ripples [á°??]. This lasted all through the summer.

"It is a silly love," said the other Swallows; "she has no money and has too many relations". Indeed the river was full of Reeds. When autumn came they all flew away.

After they had gone he felt lonely and began to tire of his lady-love. "She has no conversation," he said, "also I love traveling, so my wife should love traveling too."

"Will you come with me?" he said to her, but the Reed shook her head. She did not want to leave her home.

"You have been playing with me," he cried. "I am off to the Pyramids [?e×??t]. Good-bye!" and he flew away.

All day long he flew and at night he arrived at the city. "Where shall I stay?" he said, "I hope the town has some good places."

Then he saw the statue on the tall column.

"I will stay there," he cried; "it is a good place with plenty of fresh air." So he stopped just between the feet of the Happy Prince.

"I have a golden bedroom," he said softly to himself as he looked round and he prepared to go to sleep. Just as he was putting his head under his wing a large drop of water fell on him. "What a strange thing!" he cried, "there is not a single cloud in the sky. The stars are quite clear and bright, but it is raining. The climate [weather] here is really bad."

Then another drop fell.

"What is the use of a statue if it cannot stop the rain?" he said. "I must look for a good place." and he decided to fly away.

But before he had opened his wings, a third drop fell and he looked up, and saw--Ah! what did he see?

The eyes of the Happy Prince were filled with tears [??àá] and tears were running down his golden cheeks [á3??]. His face was so beautiful in the moonlight that the little Swallow was filled with pity.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I am the Happy Prince."

"Why are you weeping then?" asked the Swallow; "you have almost drenched [made very wet] me."

"When I was alive and had a human heart," answered the statue, "I did not know what tears were because I lived in the Palace [King's house] of Sans-Souci, where sadness is not allowed to enter. In the daytime I played with my friends in the garden and in the evening I led the dance in the Great Hall. Round the garden ran a very tall wall, but I never asked what lay on the other side. Everything near me was so beautiful. My servants called me the Happy Prince and indeed I was very happy. So I lived and so I died. And now that I am dead they have set me up here so high that I can see all the ugliness and all the sadness of my city and though my heart is made of lead [?|] I still weep."

"What! is he not solid gold?" said the Swallow to himself.

"Far away," continued the statue in a low musical voice, "far away in a little street there is a poor house. One of the windows is open and through it I can see a woman seated at a table. Her face is thin and worried and she has rough, red hands, all pricked [′ì] by the needle because she is a tailor [person who makes clothes]. She is stitching [·ì] roses on a silk [??3?] gown [long dress] for the loveliest of the Queen's maids-of-honor [friends of the bride] to wear at the next Court-ball. In a bed in the corner of the room her little boy is lying ill. He has a fever [·￠é?] and is asking for oranges. His mother has nothing to give him but river water, so he is crying. Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow, will you not bring her the ruby out of my sword handle? My feet are stuck [?3×?] to this pedestal [high place] and I cannot move."

"My friends are waiting for me in Egypt," said the Swallow. "My friends are flying up and down the Nile and talking to the large lotus [oé?¨] flowers. Soon they will go to sleep in the tomb [·??1] of the great King. The King is there himself in his painted coffin [1×2?]. He is wrapped in yellow silk. Round his neck is a chain [á±×ó] of pale [not bright] green jade [ó?] and his hands are like leaves."

"Swallow, Swallow, little Swallow," said the Prince, "will you not stay with me for one night and help me? The boy is so thirsty and the mother so sad."

"I don't think I like boys," answered the Swallow. "Last summer, when I was staying near the river, there were two rude [bad behaving] boys who were always throwing stones at me."

But the Happy Prince looked so sad that the little Swallow was sorry. "It is very cold here," he said, "but I will stay with you for one night and help you."

"Thank you, little Swallow." said the Prince.

So the Swallow picked out the great ruby from the Prince's sword, and flew away with it in his beak over the roofs [top of houses] of the town.

He passed by the church tower, where the white marble [′óàíêˉ] angels were. He passed by the palace and heard the sound of dancing. A beautiful girl came out on the balcony [part of house where you can look out] with her lover. "How wonderful the stars are," he said to her, "and how wonderful is the power of love!"

"I hope my dress will be ready in time for the State ball [dance]," she answered; "I have ordered roses to be stitched on it, but the tailors are so lazy."

He passed over the river and saw the lamps hanging on the masts [?|??] of the ships. He passed over the little houses and saw the old Jews talking in their shops. At last he came to the poor house and looked in. The boy was tossing [turning from side to side] on his bed and the mother had fallen asleep because she was very tired. He went in and laid the big ruby on the table beside the woman. Then he flew gently round the bed, fanning the boy's forehead [?°??] with his wings. "How cool I feel," said the boy, "I must be getting better" and he went into a delicious sleep.

Then the Swallow flew back to the Happy Prince and told him what he had done. "It is interesting," he said, "but I feel quite warm now even though it is very cold."

"That is because you have done a good action," said the Prince. And the little Swallow began to think and then he fell asleep. Thinking always made him sleepy.

Next morning he flew down to the river and had a bath. "What a remarkable thing," said the Professor of Birds as he was passing over the bridge. "A swallow in winter!" And he wrote a long letter about it to the local newspaper. Every one quoted [òyó?] it. It was full of so many words that they could not understand.