Back to: Jammu and Kashmir Board Class 9th English Guide and Notes
Table of Contents
Introduction
A swallow and a prince decided to help poor people. They both entered paradise. Read how!
The Crying Statue
The statue of the happy prince stood high. He had delicate gold leaves and sapphire in his eyes. A little swallow flew over the city. He decided to put up on that statue. A drop of water fell on him. Two more drops fell. He observed that the prince’s eyes had tears in them.
The swallow asked the prince as to why he was crying, and the prince told him that when he was alive, he used to live in the palace where sorrow was not allowed to enter, not that he is dead, his statue can see all the ugliness of the city that made him cry.
The prince told him that he could see a woman who is doing embroidery. In the corner, her child is lying sick and has nothing to eat. He asked the swallow if he would give that ruby from his sword to that woman?
The swallow decided to stay with the prince for one night. The swallow took the ruby and flew to the woman’s room. She was asleep. The swallow placed the ruby on the table and fanned the boy with his wings. He fell asleep.
The Night of Death
Then as the swallow returned to the prince, he told the swallow to stay with him one night longer. He told the swallow that he could see a man who was too cold to write the theatre play. The prince ordered the swallow to take a sapphire from his eye and give it to the man so that he could buy some firewood and finish the play.
The prince again ordered the swallow to pluck out another sapphire and give it to a crying girl because she had destroyed all her matches. The swallow gave the sapphire to the girl. As he returned to the king, he told the king that he would stay with him as the king was blind.
The next day, the prince ordered the swallow to fly over his city and tell him what was happening there. The swallow saw that the rich people enjoyed their beautiful houses while the poor were very sad and hungry. He plucked all the gold leaves and distributed them among the poor.
The prince now looked dull and grey, but the poor people on the street were happy. They had bread to eat now. It was winter, and snow was everywhere. The little swallow was very cold. He thought that he would die soon. The prince ordered the swallow to kiss him. After kissing the prince, the bird died.
A Way for Salvation
The next day, the mayor noticed that the statue looked shabby. The town councilors agreed with him. The mayor proclaimed that birds are not allowed to die here.
They also pulled down the statue and melted it in a furnace, but the prince’s heart did not melt. The factory worker threw it in the garbage pool along with the dead bird.
“God had asked his angel to bring him the most precious things from the city, and the angel bought the leaden heart and dead bird. God announced that this bird would sing in the garden of paradise, and the prince shall praise him.“
