Оригинал на английском:
16. Read the text and answer the questions after it.
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 that sparkled in the sun, 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.
“I ain glad there is someone in the world who is quite happy,” muttered a disappointed man as he gazed at the wonderful statue.
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 nighttime he arrived in the city and saw the statue on the tall column. “I will put up there,” he cried and alighted just between the feet of the Happy Prince.
“I have a golden bedroom,” he said and prepared to go to sleep; but at this moment a large drop of water fell on him. Then another drop fell. At first he thought it was going to rain but there were no clouds in the sky, the lightning didn’t flash and there were no peels of thunder. 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. The little Swallow was filled with pity.
“Why are you weeping?” 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-Souci1, 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 is 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.”
“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 flowers on a satin gown. 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.”
The Happy Prince looked so sad that the little Swallow decided to stay with him for one night, and be his messenger though he didn’t like boys very much. He remembered the two boys throwing stones at him. But the Happy Prince looked so sad that the little Swallow was sorry.
So the Swallow picked out the great shining ruby from the Prince’s sword, and flew away with it to the poor house.
When he came to the poor house he looked in. The boy was tossing feverishly on his bed, and the mother had fallen asleep, she was so tired. He 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.
Questions:
1. What does Oscar Wilde ridicule when he reports the words of one of the Town Councillors and his impression of the statue? 2. With what human qualities did the sensible mother and the disappointed man associate the statue of the Happy Prince? 3. What made the Happy Prince suffer when he became a statue? Why did he need a help? 4. What impression is the Swallow supposed to make on the reader? Why is the episode of his flirting with the Reed included in the story? What excuses did the Swallow find for falling out of love with the Reed? 5. How did the Happy Prince describe his life to the Swallow? Do you think he had any regrets? What regrets? 6. Why did the seamstress’s life circumstances touch the Happy Prince so much? 7. In what way did the Swallow help the family? How was he rewarded? 8. Do you know the end of the story about the Happy Prince? (If not, make it up and tell your friends your own version. Don’t forget to compare it with Oscar Wilde’s.
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 that sparkled in the sun, 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.
“I ain glad there is someone in the world who is quite happy,” muttered a disappointed man as he gazed at the wonderful statue.
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 nighttime he arrived in the city and saw the statue on the tall column. “I will put up there,” he cried and alighted just between the feet of the Happy Prince.
“I have a golden bedroom,” he said and prepared to go to sleep; but at this moment a large drop of water fell on him. Then another drop fell. At first he thought it was going to rain but there were no clouds in the sky, the lightning didn’t flash and there were no peels of thunder. 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. The little Swallow was filled with pity.
“Why are you weeping?” 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-Souci1, 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 is 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.”
“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 flowers on a satin gown. 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.”
The Happy Prince looked so sad that the little Swallow decided to stay with him for one night, and be his messenger though he didn’t like boys very much. He remembered the two boys throwing stones at him. But the Happy Prince looked so sad that the little Swallow was sorry.
So the Swallow picked out the great shining ruby from the Prince’s sword, and flew away with it to the poor house.
When he came to the poor house he looked in. The boy was tossing feverishly on his bed, and the mother had fallen asleep, she was so tired. He 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.
Questions:
1. What does Oscar Wilde ridicule when he reports the words of one of the Town Councillors and his impression of the statue? 2. With what human qualities did the sensible mother and the disappointed man associate the statue of the Happy Prince? 3. What made the Happy Prince suffer when he became a statue? Why did he need a help? 4. What impression is the Swallow supposed to make on the reader? Why is the episode of his flirting with the Reed included in the story? What excuses did the Swallow find for falling out of love with the Reed? 5. How did the Happy Prince describe his life to the Swallow? Do you think he had any regrets? What regrets? 6. Why did the seamstress’s life circumstances touch the Happy Prince so much? 7. In what way did the Swallow help the family? How was he rewarded? 8. Do you know the end of the story about the Happy Prince? (If not, make it up and tell your friends your own version. Don’t forget to compare it with Oscar Wilde’s.