The Happy Prince丨Aesop’s Fables from Every Land

0:00Baby bus! Oscar Wilde tales. The happy prince. Once there was a little swallow who flew high above a city. He was on his way to join his friends in a far off land. But... Where can I land and take a rest? He was quite tired from his traveling. Oh! What about that statue down there? I can rest between its feet. The swallow flew down to the base of a statue of a prince. The statue was plated with gold and had sapphires for eyes and a ruby in the hilt of its sword. Everyone in the city loved that it was always smiling. Oh! This will be a comfortable spot for the night. I think I felt a raindrop and another. The weather here short. Wait a minute.

1:00That is a rain. This statue is crying. You... you are a live statue? Yes, I'm happy, prince. Then why are you crying? I'm all wet now. From way up here, I could see all the sadness and misery of my city. But I'm just a statue. I can't move or help anyone. Huh? This swallow thought this was all very strange indeed. For example, I could see a little house on the street across town. There's a very sad woman in there. Her son is ill with a fever and needs oranges, but she has no money. That's a shame. Hey, why not take the ruby for my sword, little bird? Bring it to her. I would do it, but I can't move. Well, I'm supposed to be somewhere. My friends have all flown to Egypt and they're waiting for me. Please, just stay here one night and do this favor for me. All right, all right.

2:02The swallow picked up the precious gem out of the statue's sword and flew to the little house. He left the ruby on the table for the boy's mother to find. Then he flew back to the statue. Done. To be honest, that's funny. I know it's very cold tonight, but I feel warm inside. That's because you did something good for someone. Sure, I guess. Now I'm going to sleep. The next morning, when the first rays of sunlight shone down on the statue and the swallow. Well, I am off to Egypt, statue. It was nice meeting you. Swallow. My friend. Can't you stay another night? I really shouldn't. My friends will be getting impatient waiting for me. It's just I see a young man in a little room not far from here. He's trying to ride a play, but he's too cold to work. There's no fire in his fireplace. Oh, all right. I'll help. But with what?

3:03You don't have any other rubies. Thanks. Take one of my sapphire eyes and bring it to the rider so he can buy logs for his fire. The swallow did as the statue asked. The next day, he flew to the statue to say goodbye. Okay, really time for me to get going. Take care of yourself, statue. Maybe I'll see you when I come back this way. Stay one more night. Please. It's winter here. It's summer where I'm going. There's a little girl in the city square. She has no shoes or socks. Her head is bare and she has no money for food. Take my other sapphire eye to her. Please. The swallow couldn't say no. So he brought the other sapphire eye to the poor little girl. I'm back, statue. The little girl has food and clothing now. But you have no sapphire eyes left. I'll stay with you since now you can't see. No, you should go your own way.

4:03You've done enough. But the swallow insisted on staying. These days, he flew over the city and saw all the poor people who lived in the streets. Statue, I never noticed how poor and hungry people were before. I wish we could do something for them. I'm covered in gold plate. Take it off me and give it to the poor. Maybe the gold will make their lives better. So the swallow gave the gold to the hungry people all over the city until there was no more gold to give. The statue had helped so many. But now when people saw it, they said, Yeah, that statue looks awful. No sapphire in its eyes, no gold on its body, and no ruby on the health of its sword. It looks shabby. It makes the whole city look bad. Someone should tear it down. And that's exactly what they did. They pulled down the statue and threw it in the furnace. Where all of it melted, except the happy princess led heart.

5:07Oh, poor happy prince. If only I could have stopped them. But don't worry, I'll stay and keep helping others. After a while, people forgot the statue had ever been there. And no one ever solved the mystery of why one little swallow stayed in the city. Long after all the other birds had flown south for the winter. But they could all hear his song. A sad song about a happy prince who gave everything he had for the people he loved. Question time. Hey kids, if your best friend was feeling sad, what would you do to cheer them up? Tell us in the comments if you want to shout out.