Swallow

The Swallow is one of the two protagonists in children's short story "The Happy Prince" from Oscar Wilde's collection The Happy Prince and Other Tales.
During his trip to Egypt, the Swallow arrives to the city where the statue of the Happy Prince is. He meets the statue who is sad due to sorrows that the poor experience. The Happy prince, who has two sapphires for eyes and a red ruby on s sword-hilt and is covered in golden leaves, asks the Swallow to become his messanger. For three nights, The Happy Prince asks the Swallow to postpone his trip to Egypt and deliver a part of his body to someone. Once The Happy Prince is without eyes, the Swallow decides to always stay with him despite the Prince telling him that he should now go to Egypt. The next day, the Prince tells the Swallow to take off his golden leaves and distribute them across the city. When the winter comes, the Swallow dies due to severe cold. His body is brought to Heaven by one of God's angels.
== History ==
Early in the summer, the Swallow fell in love with a beautiful Reed. He would spend a lot of time with her and so when the autumn came, he refused to go with his friends to Egypt. After his friends had gone, he started to miss them. And he also started to question his relationship with the Reed as she would never talk and because she seemed to flirt with the wind. He decided that, because he likes travelling, his love should love travelling also. He asked her if she would go with him to Egypt but the Reed shook her head. Feeling betrayed by his love, the Swallow flew away from her in the direction of Egypt.
One night, he arrives to some town and decides to rest beneath a beautiful golden statue which stood high above the ground. Suddenly, drops of water start falling onto him. When he looked up, he saw that the statue was crying. Surprised that the statue is alive, the Swallow asks him who he is. He introduces himself as the Happy Prince. He tells him that, while he was human, he lived in the Palace of Sans-Sauci. In there, he never knew what it means to be sorrow, as sorrow "was not allowed to enter." He would always play and dance and he always seemed happy, which is why he was nicknamed the Happy Prince. After his death, a statue of him was made and he became very sad. He was now able to see the sorrows of the poor people in the city. The Happy Prince then tells the Swallow that he is right now seeing a seamstress and her son. Her son is crying because he is ill and wants oranges, but she is too poor to afford them. He asks the Swallow to stay for a night and be his messenger. He tells him that he has a red ruby on his sword-hilt which the Swallow can bring to the seamstress At first, the Swallow doesn’t want to stay as he wants to see beauties of Egypt, but he agrees after seeing just how sad the Happy prince is. He plucks out the red ruby and brings it to the seamstress, who fell asleep. He also cools the boy down by flapping his wings, enabling him to fall asleep. Upon returning to the Happy Prince, the Swallow remarks that it is strange how he suddenly feels warm, despite being fairly cold night. The Prince responds that it is because he did a good deed.
The next night, The Happy Prince once again asks the Swallow to stay. He doesn’t want to because he wants to see beauties of Egypt. The Prince tells him how he sees a writer who cannot finish his play because he is too cold. He then tells the Swallow that his eyes are made of sapphires and commands him to pluck one out and bring it to the writer. The Swallow cries that he doesn’t want to pluck out the Prince’s eye. Nevertheless, due to Prince’s insistence, he does it anyway.
The next night, The Happy Prince once again asks the Swallow to stay. He doesn’t want to because it is winter and he must go to the warm land of Egypt. The Prince tells him about a match-girl whose matches have fallen and got spoiled. If she doesn’t bring some money home, her father will beat her. The Happy Prince asks the Swallow to pluck out his other eye and bring it to her. At, first, the Swallow refuses because he doesn’t want to leave the Prince blind, but due to Prince’s insistence, he does it anyway. After returning to the Happy Prince, the Swallow tells him that he will always stay with him because he is now blind. The Happy Prince, knowing the Swallow will die if he doesn’t go to Egypt, tells him not to but the Swallow reiterates that he will stay always.
The next day, the Swallow entertains the Prince by telling him about his experiences in Egypt. While enjoying what he heard, the Prince asks the Swallow to fly around the city as he is more interested in what is happening to the poor. After the Swallow returns and tells him about what he saw, the Happy Prince asks him to take off his golden leaves and distribute them. The Swallow does so. Soon, the snow falls, and it becomes severely cold. The Swallow was not able to survive at such weather, but he didn't want to leave the Prince as he loved him too much. He comes to the Prince and gives him a kiss before dying. After the Swallow dies, the Prince’s leaden heart breaks in half due to hard frost.
The next day, the Mayor and the Town Councilors looked at the statue of the Happy Prince and were disgusted by its appearance without any ornaments. After complaining that the statue now looks like a beggar, they decide to melt it and raise a new statue. During melting, it is discovered that the leaden hearth cannot melt so it was thrown away along with the Swallow's dead body. In Heaven, God sends an angel to bring Him two most precious things from the city. The Angel brings the leaden hearth and the dead Swallow. God tells him that he chose correctly and that in Heaven, the Swallow will always sing and the Happy Prince will always praise Him.
Category:Animals
Category:Book Heroes
Category:Determinators
Category:Hope Bringers
Category:In Love
Category:Male
Category:Martyr
Category:Neutral Good
Category:Non-Action
Category:Saved Souls
Category:Selfless
Category:Successful
Category:Protectors of Innocence