The Happy Prince

🌟 The Happy Prince 🌟
High above a city stood the statue of the Happy Prince, adorned with gold, sapphires for eyes, and a ruby on his sword. Admired for his beauty, he seemed the symbol of joy. One night, a Swallow seeking shelter alighted at his feet. As he prepared to sleep, drops of water fell on him. Looking up, he saw the statue weeping.
The Happy Prince explained that in life he had lived in luxury, oblivious to the suffering beyond the palace walls. Now, from his elevated view, he witnessed the city’s misery. Bound by his immobile state, he pleaded with the Swallow to deliver his riches to the needy. Despite his initial reluctance, the Swallow agreed to stay one night.
The Swallow took the ruby to a seamstress struggling to care for her sick son, the sapphire eyes to a playwright in poverty, and eventually stripped the statue of its golden leaves to feed the hungry. Each act of kindness warmed the Swallow's heart, and he decided to stay with the Prince, despite the approaching winter.
As frost gripped the city, the Swallow grew weaker but remained loyal, telling the Prince of the beauty and pain he saw in the world. Finally, with his last breath, the Swallow kissed the Prince and died at his feet. At that moment, the Prince's leaden heart broke.
The townspeople, finding the statue shabby and worthless, tore it down and melted it. However, the Prince's broken heart would not melt and was discarded alongside the dead Swallow.
God, seeing their pure love and sacrifice, commanded His Angel to bring Him the two most precious things in the city: the leaden heart and the dead Swallow. "You have rightly chosen," said God, granting them eternal joy in His paradise.