先讀課文﹕
The Happy Prince 快樂王子
by Oscar Wilde
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 was very much admired indeed. "He is as beautiful as a weathercock,"
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.
"Why can't you be like the Happy Prince?" asked a sensible mother of her
little boy who was crying for the moon. "The Happy Prince never dreams of
crying for anything."
"I am glad there is someone in the world who is quite happy," muttered a
disappointed man as he gazed at the wonderful statue.
"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, who liked to come to the point at
once, 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. This was his courtship,
and it lasted all through the summer.
"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.
"She has no conversation," he said, "and I am afraid that she is a coquette,
for she is always flirting with the wind." And certainly, whenever the wind
blew, the Reed made the most graceful curtseys. "I admit that she is domestic,
" he continued, "but I love travelling, and my wife, consequently, should
love travelling also."
"Will you come away with me?" he said finally to her; but the Reed shook
her head, she was so attached to her home.
"You have been trifling with me," he cried. "I am off to the Pyramids. 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,
and he prepared to go to sleep; but just as he was putting his head under
his wing a large drop of water fell on him. "What a curious thing!" he cried;
"there is not a single cloud in the sky, the stars are quite clear and bright,
and yet it is raining. The climate in the north of Europe is really dreadful.
The Reed used to like the rain, but that was merely her selfishness."
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; "you have quite drenched
me."
"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 [1], 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 choose but weep."
"What! is he not solid gold?" said the Swallow to himself. He was too polite
to make any personal remarks out loud.
"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, and she
has coarse, red hands, all pricked by the needle, for she is a seamstress.
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. He has a fever, and
is asking for oranges. 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. "Last summer, when I
was staying on the river, there were two rude boys, the miller's sons, who
were always throwing stones at me. They never hit me, of course; we swallows
fly far too well for that, and besides, I come of a family famous for its
agility; but still, it was a mark of disrespect."
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 saw the lanterns hanging to the masts of the
ships. He passed over the Ghetto [2], and saw the old Jews bargaining with
each other, and weighing out money in copper scales. At last he 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, and told him what he had
done. "It is curious," he remarked, "but I feel quite warm now, although
it is so cold."
"That is because you have done a good action," said the Prince. And the
little Swallow began to think, and then he fell asleep. Thinking always
made him sleepy.
When day broke he flew down to the river and had a bath. "What a remarkable
phenomenon," said the Professor of Ornithology as he was passing over the
bridge. "A swallow in winter!" And he wrote a long letter about it to the
local newspaper. Every one quoted it, it was full of so many words that
they could not understand.
"To-night I go to Egypt," said the Swallow, 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. Wherever he went the Sparrows chirruped, and
said to each other, "What a distinguished stranger!" so he enjoyed himself
very much.
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 [3]. 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 in a tumbler by his side there is a bunch of withered violets.
His hair is brown and crisp, and his lips are red as a pomegranate, and
he has large and dreamy eyes. 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, which were brought out of India a
thousand years ago. Pluck out one of them and take it to him. He will sell
it to the jeweller, and buy food and firewood, and finish his play."
"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.
"I am beginning to be appreciated," he cried; "this is from some great admirer.
Now I can finish my play," and he looked quite happy.
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 nobody 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 [4], and the pink and white doves are watching
them, and cooing to each other. Dear Prince, I must leave you, but I will
never forget you, and next spring I will bring you back two beautiful jewels
in place of those you have given away. The ruby shall be redder than a red
rose, and the sapphire shall be as blue as the great sea."
"In the square below," said the Happy Prince, "there stands a little match-girl.
She has let her matches fall in the gutter, and they are all spoiled. Her
father will beat her if she does not bring home some money, and she is crying.
She has no shoes or stockings, and her little head is bare. Pluck out my
other eye, and give it to her, and her father will not beat 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 [name of a picture by Charles Robinson http://www.wikigallery.org/
wiki/painting_235859/Charles-Robinson/The-King-of-the-Mountains-of-the-Moon,-
1913], 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 butterflies.
"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. Fly over my city, little Swallow,
and tell me what you see there."
So the Swallow flew over the great city, and saw the rich making merry in
their beautiful houses, while the beggars were sitting at the gates. He
flew into dark lanes, and saw the white faces of starving children looking
out listlessly at the black streets. Under the archway of a bridge two little
boys were lying in one another's arms to try and keep themselves warm. "How
hungry we are!" they said. "You must not lie here," shouted the Watchman,
and they wandered out into the rain.
Then he flew back and told the Prince what he had seen.
"I am covered with fine gold," said the Prince, "you must take it off, leaf
by leaf, and give it to my poor; the living always think that gold can make
them happy."
Leaf after leaf of the fine gold the Swallow picked off, till the Happy
Prince looked quite dull and grey. Leaf after leaf of the fine gold he brought
to the poor, and the children's faces grew rosier, and they laughed and
played games in the street. "We have bread now!" they cried.
Then the snow came, and after the snow came the frost. The streets looked
as if they were made of silver, they were so bright and glistening; 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.
"How shabby indeed!" cried the Town Councillors, who always agreed with
the Mayor; and they went up to look at it.
"The ruby has fallen out of his sword, his eyes are gone, and he is golden
no longer," said the Mayor in fact, "he is little better than a beggar!"
"Little better than a beggar," said the Town Councillors.
"And here is actually a dead bird at his feet!" continued the Mayor. "We
must really issue a proclamation that birds are not to be allowed to die
here." And the Town Clerk made a note of the suggestion.
So they pulled down the statue of the Happy Prince. "As he is no longer
beautiful he is no longer useful," said the Art Professor at the University.
Then they melted the statue in a furnace, 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."
"Of myself," said each of the Town Councillors, and they quarrelled. When
I last heard of them they were quarrelling still.
"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."
1) 生詞自查。
2) 作者介紹﹕Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 -- 30
November 1900) was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different
forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights
in the early 1890s. He died destitute in Paris at the age of forty-six.
3) 註解﹕[1] Sans Souci is the name of the former summer palace of Frederick
the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. The palace was designed
by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff between 1745 and 1747 to fulfill King
Frederick's need for a private residence where he could relax away from
the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. The palace's name emphasises
this; it is a French phrase (sans souci), which translates as "without concerns"
, meaning "without worries" or "carefree", symbolising that the palace was
a place for relaxation rather than a seat of power. [2] The term was originally
used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The
term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated with specific
ethnic or racial populations living below the poverty line. [3] In Greek
myth, God Memnon is Son of EOS and Ethiopian leader Tithonus, the Trojan
hero who finally came up in single combat against Achilles and lost. [4]
Baalbek is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, altitude 1,170 metres
(3,840 ft), situated east of the Litani River. It is famous for its exquisitely
detailed yet monumentally scaled temple ruins of the Roman period, when
Baalbek, then known as Heliopolis, was one of the largest sanctuaries in
the Empire.
4) 快樂王子也是名篇。在49年前高中英文課本裡就有選入。我就在那裡第一次讀到
的。故事非常感人。
