liza lehmann - the happy prince lyrics
high above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the happy prince. he was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword_hilt
“he is as beautiful as a weatherc_ck,” remarked one of the town councillors who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic tastes; “only not quite so useful,” he added, fearing lest people should think him unpractical, which he really was not
“he looks just like an angel,” said the charity children as they came out of the cathedral in their bright scarlet cloaks and their clean white pinafores
“how do you know?” said the mathematical master, “you have never seen one.”
“ah! but we have, in our dreams,” answered the children; and the mathematical master frowned and looked very severe, for he did not approve of 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, for he was in love with the most beautiful reed. he had met her early in the spring as he was flying down the river after a big yellow moth, and had been so attracted by her slender waist that he had stopped to talk to her
“shall i love you?” said the swallow, and the reed made him a low bow. so he flew round and round her, touching the water with his wings, and making silver ripples
“it is a ridiculous attachment,” twittered the other swallows; “she has no money, and far too many relations”; and indeed the river was quite full of reeds. then, when the autumn came they all flew away
after they had gone he felt lonely, and began to tire of his lady_ love. “i am off to the pyramids,” he cried. “good_bye!” and he flew away
all day long he flew, and at night_time he arrived at the city. “where shall i put up?” he said; “i hope the town has made preparations.”
then he saw the statue on the tall column
“i will put up there,” he cried; “it is a fine position, with plenty of fresh air.” so he alighted just between the feet of the happy prince
“i have a golden bedroom,” he said softly to himself as he looked round, but just as he was putting his head under his wing a large drop of water fell on him
then another drop fell
“what is the use of a statue if it cannot keep the rain off?” he said; “i must look for a good chimney_pot,” and he determined 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, and tears were running down his golden cheeks. his face was so beautiful in the moonlight that the little swallow was filled with pity
“who are you?” he said
“i am the happy prince.”
“why are you weeping then?” asked the swallow
“when i was alive and had a human heart,” answered the statue, “i did not know what tears were, for i lived in the palace of sans_ souci, where sorrow is not allowed to enter. in the daytime i played with my companions in the garden, and in the evening i led the dance in the great hall. round the garden ran a very lofty wall, but i never cared to ask what lay beyond it, everything about me was so beautiful. my courtiers called me the happy prince, and happy indeed i was, if pleasure be happiness. 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 misery of my city, and though my heart is made of lead yet i cannot chose but 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 worn. she is embroidering passion_ flowers on a satin gown for the loveliest of the queen’s maids_of_ honour to wear at the next court_ball. in a bed in the corner of the room her little boy is lying ill. 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_hilt? my feet are fastened to this pedestal and i cannot move.”
“i am waited for in egypt,” said the swallow. “my friends are flying up and down the nile, and talking to the large lotus_ flowers. soon they will go to sleep in the tomb of the great king. the king is there himself in his painted coffin. he is wrapped in yellow linen, and embalmed with spices. round his neck is a chain of pale green jade, and his hands are like withered leaves.”
“swallow, swallow, little swallow,” said the prince, “will you not stay with me for one night, and be my messenger? the boy is so thirsty, and the mother so sad.”
“i don’t think i like boys,” answered the swallow
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 be your messenger.”
“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 of the town
he passed by the cathedral tower, where the white marble angels were sculptured. he passed by the palace and heard the sound of dancing. a beautiful girl came out on the balcony 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,” she answered; “i have ordered passion_flowers to be embroidered on it; but the seamstresses are so lazy.”
he passed over the river, and came to the poor house and looked in. the boy was tossing feverishly on his bed, and the mother had fallen asleep, she was so tired. in he hopped, and laid the great ruby on the table beside the woman’s thimble. 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 sank into a delicious slumber
then the swallow flew back to the happy prince. “to_night i go to egypt,” and he was in high spirits at the prospect. he visited all the public monuments, and sat a long time on top of the church steeple. when the moon rose he flew back to the happy prince. “have you any commissions for egypt?” he cried; “i am just starting.”
“swallow, swallow, little swallow,” said the prince, “will you not stay with me one night longer?”
“i am waited for in egypt,” answered the swallow. “to_morrow my friends will fly up to the second cataract. the river_horse couches there among the bulrushes, and on a great granite throne sits the god memnon. all night long he watches the stars, and when the morning star shines he utters one cry of joy, and then he is silent. at noon the yellow lions come down to the water’s edge to drink. they have eyes like green beryls, and their roar is louder than the roar of the cataract
“swallow, swallow, little swallow,” said the prince, “far away across the city i see a young man in a garret. he is leaning over a desk covered with papers, and by his side there is a bunch of withered violets. he is trying to finish a play for the director of the theatre, but he is too cold to write any more. there is no fire in the grate, and hunger has made him faint.”
“i will wait with you one night longer,” said the swallow, who really had a good heart. “shall i take him another ruby?”
“alas! i have no ruby now,” said the prince; “my eyes are all that i have left. they are made of rare sapphires. pluck out one of them and take it to him.”
“dear prince,” said the swallow, “i cannot do that”; and he began to weep
“swallow, swallow, little swallow,” said the prince, “do as i command you.”
so the swallow plucked out the prince’s eye, and flew away to the student’s garret. it was easy enough to get in, as there was a hole in the roof. through this he darted, and came into the room. the young man had his head buried in his hands, so he did not hear the flutter of the bird’s wings, and when he looked up he found the beautiful sapphire lying on the withered violets
the next day the swallow flew down to the harbour. he sat on the mast of a large vessel and watched the sailors hauling big chests out of the hold with ropes. “heave a_hoy!” they shouted as each chest came up. “i am going to egypt”! cried the swallow, but n0body minded, and when the moon rose he flew back to the happy prince
“i am come to bid you good_bye,” he cried
“swallow, swallow, little swallow,” said the prince, “will you not stay with me one night longer?”
“it is winter,” answered the swallow, “and the chill snow will soon be here. in egypt the sun is warm on the green palm_trees, and the crocodiles lie in the mud and look lazily about them. my companions are building a nest in the temple of baalbec, and the pink and white doves are watching them, and cooing to each other.”
“in the square below,” said the happy prince, “there stands a little match_girl. she has no shoes or stockings, and her little head is bare. pluck out my other eye, and give it to her.”
“i will stay with you one night longer,” said the swallow, “but i cannot pluck out your eye. you would be quite blind then.”
“swallow, swallow, little swallow,” said the prince, “do as i command you.”
so he plucked out the prince’s other eye, and darted down with it. he swooped past the match_girl, and slipped the jewel into the palm of her hand. “what a lovely bit of glass,” cried the little girl; and she ran home, laughing
then the swallow came back to the prince. “you are blind now,” he said, “so i will stay with you always.”
“no, little swallow,” said the poor prince, “you must go away to egypt.”
“i will stay with you always,” said the swallow, and he slept at the prince’s feet
all the next day he sat on the prince’s shoulder, and told him stories of what he had seen in strange lands. he told him of the red ibises, who stand in long rows on the banks of the nile, and catch gold_fish in their beaks; of the sphinx, who is as old as the world itself, and lives in the desert, and knows everything; of the merchants, who walk slowly by the side of their camels, and carry amber beads in their hands; of the king of the mountains of the moon, who is as black as ebony, and worships a large crystal; of the great green snake that sleeps in a palm_tree, and has twenty priests to feed it with honey_cakes; and of the pygmies who sail over a big lake on large flat leaves, and are always at war with the b_tterflies
“dear little swallow,” said the prince, “you tell me of marvellous things, but more marvellous than anything is the suffering of men and of women. there is no mystery so great as misery.”
then the snow came, and after the snow came the frost. the streets looked as if they were made of silver; long icicles like crystal daggers hung down from the eaves of the houses, everybody went about in furs, and the little boys wore scarlet caps and skated on the ice
the poor little swallow grew colder and colder, but he would not leave the prince, he loved him too well. he picked up crumbs outside the baker’s door when the baker was not looking and tried to keep himself warm by flapping his wings
but at last he knew that he was going to die. he had just strength to fly up to the prince’s shoulder once more. “good_bye, dear prince!” he murmured, “will you let me kiss your hand?”
“i am glad that you are going to egypt at last, little swallow,” said the prince, “you have stayed too long here; but you must kiss me on the lips, for i love you.”
“it is not to egypt that i am going,” said the swallow. “i am going to the house of death. death is the brother of sleep, is he not?”
and he kissed the happy prince on the lips, and fell down dead at his feet
at that moment a curious crack sounded inside the statue, as if something had broken. the fact is that the leaden heart had snapped right in two. it certainly was a dreadfully hard frost
early the next morning the mayor was walking in the square below in company with the town councillors. as they passed the column he looked up at the statue: “dear me! how shabby the happy prince looks!” he said
“the ruby has fallen out of his sword, his eyes are gone, and he is golden no longer. in fact, “he is little better than a beggar!”
“little better than a beggar,” said the town councillors
so they pulled down the statue of the happy prince, and the mayor held a meeting of the corporation to decide what was to be done with the metal. “we must have another statue, of course,” he said, “and it shall be a statue of myself.”
“what a strange thing!” said the overseer of the workmen at the foundry. “this broken lead heart will not melt in the furnace. we must throw it away.” so they threw it on a dust_heap where the dead swallow was also lying
“bring me the two most precious things in the city,” said god to one of his angels; and the angel brought him the leaden heart and the dead bird
“you have rightly chosen,” said god, “for in my garden of paradise this little bird shall sing for evermore, and in my city of gold the happy prince shall praise me.”
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