英语故事2-4快乐王子

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快乐王子

Winter is almost here. A bird is flying to a warm place far away.

"Whew! I'm tired," says the bird. "I need to rest for the night."

The bird looks for a place to sleep. Down below him, there is a city.

"Where should I sleep?" thinks the bird.

The bird sees a statue of a smiling prince.The prince is standing on a tall column.

"I will sleep on that staue's foot ," thinks the bird. "It will be safe and clean there."

The bird feels happy to find such a nice place to sleep. It looks at the smiling prince.

"What a pretty statue," it thinks. "The eyes on his face are both jewels. The buttons on his coat are jewels, too. And look at those clothes!

They are made of gold!"

The bird closes its eyes. Just then, a drop of water falls on its head.

Then, a second later, another drop falls on its tail.

"Oh, no. It's raining," thinks the bird. "I will find a dry place to sleep."

But it is not raining. The drops of water come from the prince's eyes.

He is crying."Who are you?" asks the bird.

"I am the Happy Prince," says the statue.

"Then why are you crying?" asks the bird. "You are making me wet!"

The prince tells the bird why he's crying.

"Before I was a happy prince. My family was rich, and I lived in a big palace. Every day I played with my friends. The palace had a big wall.

I never saw the world on the other side of the wall."

"You were so lucky," says the bird. "I would like to be rich and happy, too."

The prince finishes his story.

"When I died, they put me up here. I can see many bad things. People are not happy. They are poor. Their lives are very hard."

The prince tells the bird what he can see.

"I can see a house on a small street. One of the windows is open. A poor woman is making a nice dress for a rich woman. Her little boy is very sick. He is crying, but there is no money to buy medicine."

The prince asks the bird to help him.

"I am a statue, so I can't walk. Please take a jewel from my shirt and fly to the house. With the jewel the woman can buy medicine for the boy."

The bird wants to help the prince, but it can't.

"My friends are waiting for me in a warm place. I must not stay here long," it says.

The prince looks very sad, so the little bird agrees to help him.

"It is very cold here, but I will help you tonight," says the bird.

The bird takes a jewel from the prince's coat. It flies over the city to the house. Inside, the woman is asleep. She has worked all day to finish the dress. It puts the jewel on the table.

The bird returns to the prince.

"Strange," it says. "It is so cold, but I feel warm inside."

"That is because you have done a good thing," says the prince.

The next morning, the bird flies to the river. It wants to take a bath. After that it will fly south.

"Tonight I will leave," thinks the bird. "But before I go, I want to say good-bye to the prince."

The bird flies back to the prince. The prince is sad again.

"Little bird. Can you stay with me one more day?" asks the prince. "I see a poor man. He is sitting all alone in his house. He is writing a play. There is no fire, so he is very cold. Give him one of my jewel eyes. Then he can buy some wood."

The bird doesn't want to take the prince's eye. It begins to cry.

"How can I take your eye?" says the bird. "You won't see well without it."

"Please do it," says the prince. "I still have one more eye."

"All right. I will help you one more time," says the bird.