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The Happy Prince ブログトップ

The Happy Prince (1) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (1)

There was once a prince who had everything he wanted, so he was never sad, and he never cried.

Because of this, he was called the Happy Prince.

But alas, one day he died.

His people were sad about that, and they made a statue of the Happy Prince that they would never forget him.

Although the statue was made of lead, it looked just like the Happy Prince, except that the eyes were made of blue jewels and the clothes were of gold.

When the  statue was ready, they put it on top of a tall pillar in the middle of the town, where everyone could see him.

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The Happy Prince (2) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (2)

Now in that country, the winter were very cold, and every autumn the swallows flew way to a warmer place where the sun shone brightly. 

This year, however, one little swallow did not go with the others.
He stayed behind at a place where reeds grew round a lake.

The reeds were tall and graceful, and the swallow loved one of them so much that he could not bring himself to leave her.

At last, when he saw that he was the only one left there, he said goodbye to her and flew off.

That night he came to the town and as he was tired he stopped to rest...where do you think ? Why, on top of the tall pillar, right between the feet of the Happy Prince.

The little swallow was just going off to sleep when a drop of water fell on his head.
He looked up at the sky, but could see no cloud.

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The Happy Prince (3) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (3)

Then another fell, and another.

He looked up again and saw that it was not rain that had made him wet.

It was tears.

They were falling from the eye of the statue.

" Who are you ? " the swallow asked.

" I am the Happy Prince, " replied the statue.

" Then why are you crying ? " he asked.

" Because of all the unhappy things I can see in this town. When I live in the palace I did not know anything about them. But up here I can see everything, and it makes me very sad. "

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The Happy Prince (4) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (4)

" What can you see ? " asked the swallow.

" Far off in a poor little street, " said the Prince,
" there is a house with an open window.
Inside the room a woman is sewing a beautiful dress for one of the queen's maids to wear at the ball.
In a bed close to her lies her little boy. He is very ill and his mother has no money to pay for a doctor to come.
She has nothing to give her little boy but water. I think he is going to die. "

He continued, " Little swallow, will you take her the red jewel from the hilt of my sword ? She can sell it and buy food. I cannot take it to her
by myself because my feet are fixed to this pillar. " 

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The Happy Prince (5) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (5)

" But I am on may way to the south, "said the swallow.
" All the others have gone. I shall be lost if I don't go soon. "

" Please, little swallow, stop here just one night and do as I ask, " pleaded the Prince.

" I don't like boys very much, " said the swallow.
" Some of them throw stones at me. "

" This one is very, very ill. Please, little swallow. "

" All right. Just one night then. "

So the swallow pecked out the red jewel and flew off with it in his beak.

On the way he passed the big house where the queen's maid lived.

He heard her say, " I hope my dress will be ready in time for the ball. That lazy woman is so slow; she will have to work much faster or it will be too late. "

The little swallow flew on till he came to the poor house.

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The Happy Prince (6) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (6)

The boy was tossing about in his bet, but his mother had fallen asleep with her head on the table.
She was so tired.

The swallow hopped through the window and put the red jewel close by her thimble sot that she would see it when she awake.

Then he flew over the sick boy's bed and fanned him with his wings.

" How cool I feel, " said the boy.
" I must be getting better. "
And he fell asleep.

Back flew the swallow to tell the Happy Prince what he had done.
" It's funny thing, " he said, " but I don't feel cold any more. "

" That's because you did a good deed, " said the Prince.

All the same, the swallow still wanted to fly away to the warm land where his brothers and sisters had gone.

So that night he said to the Prince, " Goodbye, I'm off now. "

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The Happy Prince (7) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (7)

" Little swallow, " replied the Prince, " don't go yet. I can see a poor young man in a bare room where there is no fire. He is trying to write but his hand is too cold  to hold the pen. And he has no food to eat. "

" Do you want me to take him another jewel from your sword hilt ? " asked the swallow.

" There was only one, " replied the Prince.
" You will have to take one of my eyes. They are made of blue jewels and cost a lot of money. "

" But I cannot do that ! " cried the swallow.

" Please do as I ask, " begged the Prince.

So the swallow pecked out one of the jewels from the statue's eyes and flew with it over the chimney pots, to the room of the poor young man.

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The Happy Prince (8) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (8)

He went in through a hole in the roof and dropped the jewel into a bunch of flowers on the table.

When the young man saw it he thought someone had sent it with the flowers because they like a play he had written.

He was so pleased that he forgot he was hungry, and went on with his work there and then.

" Now I can pay my rent and buy some food, " he said.

Back flew the swallow to tell the Prince the good news.
" And now, goodbye, " he added.
" I'll come back next spring and bring you a red jewel and a blue one to replace those you have given away. "

"Don't go yet, " pleaded the Prince.

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The Happy Prince (9) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (9)

" Look down there. Do you see that little girl ? She was trying to sell matches but her hands were so cold that she has dropped them in the wet and now they are no use. Her father will beat her when she gets home. You must peck out the jewel from my another eye and give it to her. "

" But if I do that you won't be able to see at all ! " cried the swallow.
" You will be blind. "

" Please do as I say, " begged the Prince.

So the swallow took the blue jewel and put it in the little girl's hand.

" How pretty ! she smiled when she saw it.

And she ran off home to give it to her father.
He would not beat her now.

Back once more flew the swallow.

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The Happy Prince (10) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (10)

The swallow said to the Prince, " I cannot leave you now that you are blind. I will stay with you always, and you can use my eyes now that yours cannot see. "

At the days grew colder, he told the Prince all about the warm land where his brothers and sisters were living.

As he talked, he did not feel quite so cold.

The Prince wanted him to fly over the town and tell him what he saw.

There were big houses where rich people lived, but there were many more dark lanes where poor people lived in ugly huts.

Their children had thin, white faces because they did not get much food.

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The Happy Prince (11) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (11)

One day, the swallow saw two little boys lying down under a bridge trying to keep one another warm.

Along came a policeman and told them to go home ー he did not know that they had no home to go to.

They just got up and went out hand-in-hand into a rain.

When the Happy Prince heard this by swallow, he was very sad.
" I have no jewels left, " he said, " but my clothes are made of gold. You must peck off a bit and give it to those children. "

Every day the swallow saw someone who needed help, and before long all the gold from the Prince's clothes had been given away.

He stood on the top of his pillar looking dull and grey, but the faces of the children were no longer white ー their cheeks were red and their thin arms and legs grew nice and round.

They began to play in the streets, and no longer had to beg for bread.

Then the snow came.

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最後の長さを間違えまして、1回追加で、全13回になります。
明日から、(何とは言えませんが) もう一つ、始まる予定です。
ありがとうございます。よろしくお願い申し上げます。

The Happy Prince (12) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (12)

The poor little swallow got colder and colder, but he would not go away from the Prince.

At last he knew that his end had come.
" Goodbye, dear Prince, " he whispered as he fell at the statue's feet.

" Goodbye, " replied the Prince.
And something broke inside him.
It was his heart.

Next day the mayor and town councilors passed by the pillar and looked up at the statue.

" Dear me ! How shabby our Prince looks ! " they cried.
" He seems to have lost all his jewels and someone has stolen his gold clothes. "

" And look ! There's a horrid dead bird at his feet ! We can't have that here. It must be taken away at once ! "

" We'd better take the statue down too, " said another councilor.
" We'll put up a better one in its place. Whose shall we put there this time ? "

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The Happy Prince (13 完) [The Happy Prince]

The Happy Prince (13 完)

" Mine, of course, " said the Mayor.

So they took down the Prince's statue and melted the lead to make the new one.

But the workman found a broken heart inside, and that would not melt.
So they threw it on the dust-heap where the little dead swallow was lying.

That night God told his angels, " Bring me the two most precious things in this town. "

They brought Him the broken heart and the dead swallow.

And God said, " You are right. So this little bird shall always sing in my garden of Paradise and the Happy Prince shall praise my name for ever. "

(13/13 完) 

The Happy Prince ブログトップ

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