Tượng hải cẩu bằng đồng và thép không gỉ này của Kópakonan (Người vợ hải cẩu) được tạo ra bởi Hans Pauli Olsen và được đặt tại Cảng Mikladalur trên Kalsoy, một trong những quần đảo Faroe, vào tháng 8 năm 2014. Nó dựa trên câu chuyện dân gian mà ngôi làng Mikladalur bị nguyền rủa.

Một trong những huyền thoại và câu chuyện nổi tiếng nhất ở Quần đảo Faroe là của "Kópakonan", hoặc người phụ nữ hải cẩu. Hải cẩu được cho là cựu con người tình nguyện tìm cái chết trên đại dương. Mỗi năm một lần, vào đêm thứ mười ba, họ được phép lên cạn, lột da và vui chơi như con người, nhảy múa và tận hưởng.

Hàng ngàn người đã đến thăm tượng, được thiết kế chịu sóng 13 mét. Đầu năm 2015, một cơn sóng 11,5 mét đã quét qua bức tượng. Nó đứng vững và không có thiệt hại nào bị gây ra.

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   Long, long ago, as far back as the time when animals spoke, there lived a community of cats in a deserted house they had taken possession of not far from a large town. They had everything they could possibly desire for their comfort, they were well fed and well lodged, and if by any chance an unlucky mouse was stupid enough to venture in their way, they caught it, not to eat it, but for the pure pleasure of catching it. The old people of the town related how they had heard their parents speak of a time when the whole country was so overrun with rats and mice that there was not so much as a grain of corn nor an ear of maize to be gathered in the fields; and it might be out of gratitude to the cats who had rid the country of these plagues that their descendants were allowed to live in peace.

No one knows where they got the money to pay for everything, nor who paid it, for all this happened so very long ago. But one thing is certain, they were rich enough to keep a servant; for though they lived very happily together, and did not scratch nor fight more than human beings would have done, they were not clever enough to do the housework themselves, and preferred at all events to have some one to cook their meat, which they would have scorned to eat raw. Not only were they very difficult to please about the housework, but most women quickly tired of living alone with only cats for companions, consequently they never kept a servant long; and it had become a saying in the town, when anyone found herself reduced to her last penny: ‘I will go and live with the cats,' and so many a poor woman actually did.
  Now Lizina was not happy at home, for her mother, who was a widow, was much fonder of her elder daughter; so that often the younger one fared very badly, and had not enough to eat, while the elder could have everything she desired, and if Lizina dared to complain she was certain to have a good beating.
  At last the day came when she was at the end of her courage and patience, and exclaimed to her mother and sister:
  ‘As you hate me so much you will be glad to be rid of me, so I am going to live with the cats!'
  ‘Be off with you!' cried her mother, seizing an old broom-handle from behind the door. Poor Lizina did not wait to be told twice, but ran off at once and never stopped till she reached the door of the cats' house. Their cook had left them that very morning, with her face all scratched, the result of such a quarrel with the head of the house that he had very nearly scratched out her eyes. Lizina therefore was warmly welcomed, and she set to work at once to prepare the dinner, not without many misgivings as to the tastes of the cats, and whether she would be able to satisfy them.

  Going to and fro about her work, she found herself frequently hindered by a constant succession of cats who appeared one after another in the kitchen to inspect the new servant; she had one in front of her feet, another perched on the back of her chair while she peeled the vegetables, a third sat on the table beside her, and five or six others prowled about among the pots and pans on the shelves against the wall. The air resounded with their purring, which meant that they were pleased with their new maid, but Lizina had not yet learned to understand their language, and often she did not know what they wanted her to do. However, as she was a good, kindhearted girl, she set to work to pick up the little kittens which tumbled about on the floor, she patched up quarrels, and nursed on her lap a big tabby - the oldest of the community - which had a lame paw. All these kindnesses could hardly fail to make a favourable impression on the cats, and it was even better after a while, when she had had time to grow accustomed to their strange ways. Never had the house been kept so clean, the meats so well served, nor the sick cats so well cared for. After a time they had a visit from an old cat, whom they called their father, who lived by himself in a barn at the top of the hill, and came down from time to time to inspect the little colony. He too was much taken with Lizina, and inquired, on first seeing her: ‘Are you well served by this nice, black-eyed little person?' and the cats answered with one voice: "Oh, yes, Father Gatto, we have never had so good a servant!"
  At each of his visits the answer was always the same; but after a time the old cat, who was very observant, noticed that the little maid had grown to look sadder and sadder. ‘What is the matter, my child has any one been unkind to you?' he asked one day, when he found her crying in her kitchen.
  She burst into tears and answered between her sobs: ‘Oh, no! They are all very good to me; but I long for news from home, and I pine to see my mother and my sister.'
  Old Gatto, being a sensible old cat, understood the little servant's feelings. ‘You shall go home,' he said, ‘and you shall not come back here unless you please. But first you must be rewarded for all your kind services to my children. Follow me down into the inner cellar, where you have never yet been, for I always keep it locked and carry the key away with me.'
  Lizina looked round her in astonishment as they went down into the great vaulted cellar underneath the kitchen. Before her stood the big earthenware water jars, one of which contained oil, the other a liquid shining like gold. ‘In which of these jars shall I dip you?' asked Father Gatto, with a grin that showed all his sharp white teeth, while his moustaches stood out straight on either side of his face. The little maid looked at the two jars from under her long dark lashes: ‘In the oil jar,' she answered timidly, thinking to herself: ‘I could not ask to be bathed in gold.'
  But Father Gatto replied: ‘No, no; you have deserved something better than that.' And seizing her in his strong paws he plunged her into the liquid gold. Wonder of wonders! When Lizina came out of the jar she shone from head to foot like the sun in the heavens on a fine summer's day. Her pretty pink cheeks and long black hair alone kept their natural colour, otherwise she had become like a statue of pure gold. Father Gatto purred loudly with satisfaction. ‘Go home,' he said, ‘and see your mother and sisters; but take care if you hear the cock crow to turn towards it; If on the contrary the donkey brays, you must look the other way.'
  The little maid, having gratefully kissed the white paw of the old cat, set off for home; but just as she got near her mother's house the cock crowed, and quickly she turned towards it. Immediately a beautiful golden star appeared on her forehead, crowning her glossy black hair. At the same time the donkey began to bray, but Lizina took care not to look over the fence into the field where the donkey was feeding. Her mother and sister, who were in front of their house, uttered cries of admiration and astonishment when they saw her, and their cries became still louder when Lizina, taking her handkerchief from her pocket, drew out also a handful of gold.
  For some days the mother and her two daughters lived very happily together, for Lizina had given them everything she had brought away except her golden clothing, for that would not come off, in spite of all the efforts of her sister, who was madly jealous of her good fortune. The golden star, too, could not be removed from her forehead. But all the gold pieces she drew from her pockets had found their way to her mother and sister.
  ‘I will go now and see what I can get out of the cats,' said Peppina, the elder girl, one morning, as she took Lizina's basket and fastened her pockets into her own skirt. ‘I should like some of the cats' gold for myself,' she thought, as she left her mother's house before the sun rose.
  The cat colony had not yet taken another servant, for they knew they could never get one to replace Lizina, whose loss they had not yet ceased to mourn. When they heard that Peppina was her sister, they all ran to meet her. ‘She is not the least like her,' the kittens whispered among themselves.
  ‘Hush, be quiet!' the older cats said; ‘all servants cannot be pretty.'
  No, decidedly she was not at all like Lizina. Even the most reasonable and large-minded of the cats soon acknowledged that.
  The very first day she shut the kitchen door in the face of the tom-cats who used to enjoy watching Lizina at her work, and a young and mischievous cat who jumped in by the open kitchen window and alighted on the table got such a blow with the rolling-pin that he squalled for an hour.
  With every day that passed the household became more and more aware of its misfortune.
  The work was as badly done as the servant was surly and disagreeable; In the corners of the rooms there were collected heaps of dust; spiders' webs hung from the ceilings and in front of the window-panes; the beds were hardly ever made, and the feather beds, so beloved by the old and feeble cats, had never once been shaken since Lizina left the house. At Father Gatto's next visit he found the whole colony in a state of uproar.
  ‘Caesar has one paw so badly swollen that it looks as if it were broken,' said one. ‘Peppina kicked him with her great wooden shoes on. Hector has an abscess in his back where a wooden chair was flung at him; and Agrippina's three little kittens have died of hunger beside their mother, because Peppina forgot them in their basket up in the attic. There is no putting up with the creature- do send her away, Father Gatto! Lizina herself would not be angry with us; she must know very well what her sister is like.'
  ‘Come here,' said Father Gatto, in his most severe tones to Peppina. And he took her down into the cellar and showed her the same two great jars that he had showed Lizina. ‘In which of these shall I dip you?' he asked; and she made haste to answer: ‘In the liquid gold,' for she was no more modest than she was good and kind.
  Father Gatto's yellow eyes darted fire. ‘You have not deserved it,' he uttered, in a voice like thunder, and seizing her he flung her into the jar of oil, where she was nearly suffocated. When she came to the surface screaming and struggling, the vengeful cat seized her again and rolled her in the ash-heap on the floor; then when she rose, dirty, blinded, and disgusting to behold, he thrust her from the door, saying: ‘Begone, and when you meet a braying donkey be careful to turn your head towards it.'
  Stumbling and raging, Peppina set off for home, thinking herself fortunate to find a stick by the wayside with which to support herself. She was within sight of her mother's house when she heard in the meadow on the right, the voice of a donkey loudly braying. Quickly she turned her head towards it, and at the same time put her hand up to her forehead, where, waving like a plume, was a donkey's tail. She ran home to her mother at the top of her speed, yelling with rage and despair; and it took Lizina two hours with a big basin of hot water and two cakes of soap to get rid of the layer of ashes with which Father Gatto had adorned her. As for the donkey's tail, it was impossible to get rid of that; It was as firmly fixed on her forehead as was the golden star on Lizina's. Their mother was furious. She first beat Lizina unmercifully with the broom, then she took her to the mouth of the well and lowered her into it, leaving her at the bottom weeping and crying for help.
  Before this happened, however, the king's son in passing the mother's house had seen Lizina sitting sewing in the parlour, and had been dazzled by her beauty. After coming back two or three times, he at last ventured to approach the window and to whisper in the softest voice: ‘Lovely maiden, will you be my bride?' and she had answered: ‘I will.'
  Next morning, when the prince arrived to claim his bride, he found her wrapped in a large white veil. ‘It is so that maidens are received from their parents' hands,' said the mother, who hoped to make the king's son marry Peppina in place of her sister, and had fastened the donkey's tail round her head like a lock of hair under the veil. The prince was young and a little timid, so he made no objections, and seated Peppina in the carriage beside him.
  Their way led past the old house inhabited by the cats, who were all at the window, for the report had got about that the prince was going to marry the most beautiful maiden in the world, on whose forehead shone a golden star, and they knew that this could only be their adored Lizina. As the carriage slowly passed in front of the old house, where cats from all parts of world seemed to be gathered a song burst from every throat!
  Mew, mew, mew! Prince, look quick behind you! In the well is fair Lizina, and you've got nothing but Peppina.
  When he heard this the coachman, who understood the cat's language better than the prince, his master, stopped his horses and asked:
  ‘Does your highness know what the grimalkins are saying?' and the song broke forth again louder than ever.
  With a turn of his hand the prince threw back the veil, and discovered the puffed-up, swollen face of Peppina, with the donkey's tail twisted round her head. ‘Ah, traitress!' he exclaimed, and ordering the horses to be turned round, he drove the elder daughter, quivering with rage, to the old woman who had sought to deceive him. With his hand on the hilt of his sword he demanded Lizina in so terrific a voice that the mother hastened to the well to draw her prisoner out. Lizina's clothing and her star shone so brilliantly that when the prince led her home to the king, his father, the whole palace was lit up. Next day they were married, and lived happy ever after; and all the cats, headed by old Father Gatto, were present at the wedding.

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  Once upon a time in Japan, there lived in the country an old man and his wife. They were very lonely because they had no children.
  One day the old man went into the mountains to cut firewood and his wife went to the river to wash clothes.
  No sooner had the old woman begun her washing than she was very surprised to see a big peach floating down the river. It was a huge peach. The biggest she had ever seen. She pulled the peach out of the river and took it home to give her husband for supper.

  Late in the afternoon the old man came home, and the old woman said to him: "Look what a wonderful peach I found for your supper." The old man said it was truly a beautiful peach. He was so hungry that he said: "Let's divide it and eat it."
  So the old woman brought a big knife from the kitchen and was getting ready to cut the peach in half. But just then there was the sound of a human voice from inside the peach. "Wait! Don't cut me!" said the voice. Suddenly the peach split open, and a beautiful baby boy jumped out.
  The old man and his wife were very happy, and they took the baby to be their son. Since he was born from a peach, they named him Momotaro, which means Peach Boy. They loved Momotaro very much and raised him well.
  When Momotaro was about fifteen years old, he went to his father and said: "Father, you have always been very kind to me. Now I am a big boy and I must do something to help my country. In a distant part of the sea there is an island named Ogre Island. Many wicked ogres live there, and they often come to our land and do bad things like carrying people away and stealing their things. So I'm going to go to Ogre Island and fight them and bring back treasure. Please let me do this."
  The old man was surprised to hear this, but he was also very proud of Momotaro for wanting to help other people. So he and the old woman helped Momotaro get ready for his journey to Ogre Island. The old man gave him a sword and armor, and the old woman fixed him dumplings for lunch. Then Momotaro began his journey.
  He walked toward the sea. As he went, he met a spotted dog. The dog growled at Momotaro and was about to bite him, but then Momotaro gave him one of the dumplings. He told the spotted dog that he was going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island. So the dog said he'd come along too.
  Momotaro and the spotted dog kept on walking and soon they met a monkey. The spotted dog and the monkey started to fight. But Momotaro explained to the monkey that he and the spotted dog were going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island. Then the monkey asked if he could go with them. So Momotaro gave the monkey a dumpling and brought him along.
  Momotaro and the spotted dog and the monkey kept on walking. Suddenly they met a pheasant. The spotted dog and the monkey and the pheasant were about to start fighting. But when the pheasant heard that Momotaro was going to fight the ogres on Ogre Island, he asked if he could go too. So Momotaro gave the pheasant a dumpling and brought him along.
  So, with Momotaro as their general, the spotted dog and the monkey and the pheasant, who usually hated each other, all became friends and followed Momotaro. They walked a long, long way, and finally reached the sea. At the edge of the sea Momotaro built a boat. They and all got in the boat and started across the sea toward Ogre Island. When they came within sight of the island, they could see that the ogres had a very strong fort there. And there were many ogres. There were many different colors of ogre, red, blue and green.
  First the pheasant flew over the walls of the fort and began to peck at the ogres' heads. They all tried to hit the pheasant with their clubs, but he was quick and dodged all their blows. And while the ogres weren't looking, the monkey slipped up and opened the gate of the fort. Then Momotaro and the spotted dog rushed into the fort and started fighting the ogres too.
  It was a huge battle! The pheasant pecked at the heads and eyes of the wicked ogres. And the monkey clawed them. And the spotted dog bit them. And Momotaro cut them with his sword. At last the ogres were defeated. They all bowed down low before Momotaro and promised never to be wicked again. Then they brought Momotaro all the treasure they had.
  It was a great treasure, with gold, and silver, and colored jewels. There was an invisible coat and hat, arid a hammer that made a piece of gold every time you hit the ground, and many other wonderful things. Momotaro and his three friends carried all this in their boat back to their own land. Then they made a cart and put all the treasure in the cart and pulled it all the way to Momotaro's house.
  How surprised the old man and his wife were when they saw their son come home safely! With all the treasure Momotaro brought they were very rich, and they all lived happily ever after.

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  Down in the south, where the sun shines so hotly that everything and everybody sleeps all day, and even the great forests seem silent, except early in the morning and late in the evening-down in this country there once lived a young man and a maiden. The girl had been born in the town, and had scarcely ever left it; but the young man was a native of another country, and had only come to the city near the great river because he could find no work to do where he was.

  A few months after his arrival, when the days were cooler, and the people did not sleep so much as usual, a great feast was held a little way out of the town, and to this feast everyone flocked from thirty miles and more. Some walked and some rode, some came in beautiful golden coaches; but all had on splendid dresses of red or blue, while wreaths of flowers rested on their hair.
  It was the first time that the youth had been present on such an occasion, and he stood silently aside watching the graceful dances and the pretty games played by the young people. And as he watched, he noticed one girl, dressed in white with scarlet pomegranates in her hair, who seemed to him lovelier than all the rest.
  When the feast was over, and the young man returned home, his manner was so strange that it drew the attention of all his friends.
  Through his work next day the youth continued to see the girl's face, throwing the ball to her companions, or threading her way between them as she danced. At night sleep fled from him, and after tossing for hours on his bed, he would get up and plunge into a deep pool that lay a little way in the forest.
  This state of things went on for some weeks, then at last chance favoured him. One evening, as he was passing near the house where she lived, he saw her standing with her back to the wall, trying to beat off with her fan the attacks of a savage dog that was leaping at her throat. Alonzo, for such was his name, sprang forward, and with one blow of his fist stretched the creature dead upon the road. He then helped the frightened and half-fainting girl into the large cool verandah where her parents were sitting, and from that hour he was a welcome guest in the house, and it was not long before he was the promised husband of Julia.
  Every day, when his work was done, he used to go up to the house, half hidden among flowering plants and brilliant creepers, where humming-birds darted from bush to bush, and parrots of all colours, red and green and grey, shrieked in chorus. There he would find the maiden waiting for him, and they would spend an hour or two under the stars, which looked so large and bright that you felt as if you could almost touch them.
  ‘What did you do last night after you went home?' suddenly asked the girl one evening.
  ‘Just the same as I always do,' answered he. ‘It was too hot to sleep, so it was no use going to bed, and I walked straight to the forest and bathed in one of those deep dark pools at the edge of the river. I have been there constantly for several months, but last night a strange thing happened. I was taking my last plunge, when I heard-sometimes from one side, and sometimes from another-the sound of a voice singing more sweetly than any nightingale, though I could not catch any words. I left the pool, and, dressing myself as fast as I could, I searched every bush and tree round the water, as I fancied that perhaps it was my friend who was playing a trick on me, but there was not a creature to be seen; and when I reached home I found my friend fast asleep.'
  As Julia listened her face grew deadly white, and her whole body shivered as if with cold. From her childhood she had heard stories of the terrible beings that lived in the forests and were hidden under the banks of the rivers, and could only be kept off by powerful charms. Could the voice which had bewitched Alonzo have come from one of these? Perhaps, who knows, it might be the voice of the dreaded Yara herself, who sought young men on the eve of their marriage as her prey.
  For a moment the girl sat choked with fear, as these thoughts rushed through her; then she said: ‘Alonzo, will you promise something?'
  ‘What is that?' asked he.
  ‘It is something that has to do with our future happiness.'
  ‘Oh! it is serious, then? Well, of course I promise. Now tell me!'
  ‘I want you to promise,' she answered, lowering her voice to a whisper, ‘never to bathe in those pools again.'
  ‘But why not, queen of my soul; have I not gone there always, and nothing has harmed me, flower of my heart?'
  ‘No; but perhaps something will. If you will not promise I shall go mad with fright. Promise me.'
  ‘Why, what is the matter? You look so pale! Tell me why you are so frightened?'
  ‘Did you not hear the song?' she asked, trembling.
  ‘Suppose I did, how could that hurt me? It was the loveliest song I ever heard!'
  ‘Yes, and after the song will come the apparition; and after that-after that-'
  ‘I don't understand. Well-after that?'
  ‘After that-death.'
  Alonzo stared at her. Had she really gone mad? Such talk was very unlike Julia; but before he could collect his senses the girl spoke again:
  ‘That is the reason why I implore you never to go there again; at any rate till after we are married.'
  ‘And what difference will our marriage make?'
  ‘Oh, there will be no danger then; you can go to bathe as often as you like!'
  ‘But tell me why you are so afraid?'
  ‘Because the voice you heard - I know you will laugh, but it is quite true - it was the voice of the Yara.'
  At these words Alonzo burst into a shout of laughter; but it sounded so harsh and loud that Julia shrank away shuddering. It seemed as if he could not stop himself, and the more he laughed the paler the poor girl became, murmuring to herself as she watched him:
  ‘Oh, heaven! You have seen her! You have seen her! What shall I do?'
  Faint as was her whisper, it reached the ears of Alonzo, who, though he still could not speak for laughing, shook his head.
  ‘You may not know it, but it is true. Nobody who has not seen the Yara laughs like that.' And Julia flung herself on the ground weeping bitterly.
  a couple standing together
  At this sight Alonzo became suddenly grave, and kneeling by her side, gently raised her up.
  ‘Do not cry so, my angel,' he said, ‘I will promise anything you please. Only let me see you smile again.'
  With a great effort Julia checked her sobs, and rose to her feet.
  ‘Thank you,' she answered. ‘My heart grows lighter as you say that! I know you will try to keep your word and to stay away from the forest. But - the power of the Yara is very strong, and the sound of her voice is apt to make men forget everything else in the world. Oh, I have seen it, and more than one betrothed maiden lives alone, broken-hearted. If ever you should return to the pool where you first heard the voice, promise me that you will at least take this with you.' And opening a curiously carved box, she took out a sea-shell shot with many colours, and sang a song softly into it. ‘The moment you hear the Yara's voice,' said she, ‘put this to your ear, and you will hear my song instead. Perhaps-I do not know for certain-but perhaps, I may be stronger than the Yara.'
  It was late that night when Alonzo returned home. The moon was shining on the distant river, which looked cool and inviting, and the trees of the forest seemed to stretch out their arms and beckon him near. But the young man steadily turned his face in the other direction, and went home to bed.
  The struggle had been hard, but Alonzo had his reward next day in the joy and relief with which Julia greeted him. He assured her that having overcome the temptation once, the danger was now over; but she, knowing better than he did the magic of the Yara's face and voice, did not fail to make him repeat his promise when he went away.
  For three nights Alonzo kept his word, not because he believed in the Yara, for he thought that the tales about her were all nonsense, but because he could not bear the tears with which he knew that Julia would greet him, if he confessed that he had returned to the forest. But, in spite of this, the song rang in his ears, and daily grew louder.
  On the fourth night the attraction of the forest grew so strong that neither the thought of Julia nor the promises he had made her could hold him back. At eleven o'clock he plunged into the cool darkness of the trees, and took the path that led straight to the river. Yet, for the first time, he found that Julia's warnings, though he had laughed at her at the moment, had remained in his memory, and he glanced at the bushes with a certain sense of fear which was quite new to him.
  When he reached the river he paused and looked round for a moment to make sure that the strange feeling of some one watching him was fancy, and he was really alone. But the moon shone brightly on every tree, and nothing was to be seen but his own shadow; nothing was to be heard but the sound of the rippling stream.
  He threw off his clothes, and was just about to dive in headlong, when something-he did not know what-suddenly caused him to look round. At the same instant the moon passed from behind a cloud, and its rays fell on a beautiful golden-haired woman standing half hidden by the ferns. With one bound he caught up his mantle, and rushed headlong down the path he had come, fearing at each step to feel a hand laid on his shoulder. It was not till he had left the last trees behind him, and was standing in the open plain, that he dared to look round, and then he thought a figure in white was still standing there waving her arms to and fro. This was enough; he ran along the road harder than ever, and never paused till he was safe in his own room.
  With the earliest rays of dawn he went back to the forest to see whether he could find any traces of the Yara, but though he searched every clump of bushes, and looked up every tree, everything was empty, and the only voices he heard were those of parrots, which are so ugly that they only drive people away.
  ‘I think I must be mad,' he said to himself, ‘and have dreamt all that folly'; and going back to the city he began his daily work. But either that was harder than usual, or he must be ill, for he could not fix his mind upon it, and everybody he came across during the day inquired if anything had happened to give him that white, frightened look.
  ‘I must be feverish,' he said to himself; ‘after all, it is rather dangerous to take a cold bath when one is feeling so hot.' Yet he knew, while he said it, that he was counting the hours for night to come, that he might return to the forest.
  In the evening he went as usual to the creeper-covered house. But he had better have stayed away, as his face was so pale and his manner so strange, that the poor girl saw that something terrible had occurred. Alonzo, however, refused to answer any of her questions, and all she could get was a promise to hear everything the next day.
  On pretense of a violent headache, he left Julia much earlier than usual and hurried quickly home. Taking down a pistol, he loaded it and put it in his belt, and a little before midnight he stole out on the tips of his toes, so as to disturb nobody. Once outside he hastened down the road which led to the forest.
  He did not stop till he had reached the river pool, when holding the pistol in his hand, he looked about him. At every little noise- the falling of a leaf, the rustle of an animal in the bushes, the cry of a night-bird- he sprang up and cocked his pistol in the direction of the sound. But though the moon still shone he saw nothing, and by and by a kind of dreamy state seemed to steal over him as he leant against a tree.
  How long he remained in this condition he could not have told, but suddenly he awoke with a start, on hearing his name uttered softly.
  ‘Who is that?' he cried, standing upright instantly; but only an echo answered him. Then his eyes grew fascinated with the dark waters of the pool close to his feet, and he looked at it as if he could never look away.
  He gazed steadily into the depths for some minutes, when he became aware that down in the darkness was a bright spark, which got rapidly bigger and brighter. Again that feeling of awful fear took possession of him, and he tried to turn his eyes from the pool. But it was no use; something stronger than himself compelled him to keep them there.
  At last the waters parted softly, and floating on the surface he saw the beautiful woman whom he had fled from only a few nights before. He turned to run, but his feet were glued to the spot.
  She smiled at him and held out her arms, but as she did so there came over him the remembrance of Julia, as he had seen her a few hours earlier, and her warnings and fears for the very danger in which he now found himself.
  Meanwhile the figure was always drawing nearer, nearer; but, with a violent effort, Alonzo shook off his stupor, and taking aim at her shoulder he pulled the trigger. The report awoke the sleeping echoes, and was repeated all through the forest, but the figure smiled still, and went on advancing. Again Alonzo fired, and a second time the bullet whistled through the air, and the figure advanced nearer. A moment more, and she would be at his side.
  Then, his pistol being empty, he grasped the barrel with both hands, and stood ready to use it as a club should the Yara approach any closer. But now it seemed her turn to feel afraid, for she paused an instant while he pressed forward, still holding the pistol above his head, prepared to strike.
  In his excitement he had forgotten the river, and it was not till the cold water touched his feet that he stood still by instinct. The Yara saw that he was wavering, and suffering herself to sway gently backwards and forwards on the surface of the river, she began to sing. The song floated through the trees, now far and now near; no one could tell whence it came, the whole air seemed full of it. Alonzo felt his senses going and his will failing. His arms dropped heavily to his side, but in falling struck against the sea shell, which, as he had promised Julia, he had always carried in his coat.
  His dimmed mind was just clear enough to remember what she had said, and with trembling fingers, that were almost powerless to grasp, he drew it out. As he did so the song grew sweeter and more tender than before, but he shut his ears to it and bent his head over the shell. Out of its depths arose the voice of Julia singing to him as she had sung when she gave him the shell, and though the notes sounded faint at first, they swelled louder and louder till the mist which had gathered about him was blown away.
  Then he raised his head, feeling that he had been through strange places, where he could never wander any more; and he held himself erect and strong, and looked about him. Nothing was to be seen but the shining of the river, and the dark shadows of the trees; nothing was to be heard but the hum of the insects, as they darted through the night.

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  There was a man who had three sons, the youngest of whom was called the Simpleton, and was despised, laughed at, and neglected, on every occasion. It happened one day that the eldest son wished to go into the forest to cut wood, and before he went his mother gave him a delicious pancake and a flask of wine, that he might not suffer from hunger or thirst. When he came into the forest a little old gray man met him, who wished him good day, and said, "Give me a bit of cake out of your pocket, and let me have a drink of your wine; I am so hungry and thirsty."
  But the prudent youth answered, "Give you my cake and my wine? I haven't got any; be off with you." And leaving the little man standing there, he went off.
  Then he began to fell a tree, but he had not been at it long before he made a wrong stroke, and the hatchet hit him in the arm, so that he was obliged to go home and get it bound up. That was what came of the little gray man.
  Afterwards the second son went into the wood, and the mother gave to him, as to the eldest, a pancake and a flask of wine. The little old gray man met him also, and begged for a little bit of cake and a drink of wine. But the second son spoke out plainly, saying, "What I give you I lose myself, so be off with you." And leaving the little man standing there, he went off.

  The punishment followed. As he was chopping away at the tree, he hit himself in the leg so severely that he had to be carried home.
  Then said the Simpleton, "Father, let me go for once into the forest to cut wood"; and the father answered, "Your brothers have hurt themselves by so doing; give it up, you understand nothing about it."
  But the Simpleton went on begging so long, that the father said at last, "Well, be off with you; you will only learn by experience."
  The mother gave him a cake (it was only made with water, and baked in the ashes), and with it a flask of sour beer. When he came into the forest the little old gray man met him, and greeted him, saying, "Give me a bit of your cake, and a drink from your flask; I am so hungry and thirsty."
  And the Simpleton answered, "I have only a flour and water cake and sour beer; but if that is good enough for you, let us sit down together and eat." Then they sat down, and as the Simpleton took out his flour and water cake it became a rich pancake, and his sour beer became good wine. Then they ate and drank, and afterwards the little man said, "As you have such a kind heart, and share what you have so willingly, I will bestow good luck upon you. Yonder stands an old tree; cut it down, and at its roots you will find something," and thereupon the little man took his departure.
  The Simpleton went there, and hewed away at the tree, and when it fell he saw, sitting among the roots, a goose with feathers of pure gold. He lifted it out and took it with him to an inn where he intended to stay the night.
  The landlord had three daughters who, when they saw the goose, were curious to know what wonderful kind of bird it was, and ended by longing for one of its golden feathers. The eldest thought, "I will wait for a good opportunity, and then I will pull out one of its feathers for myself"; and so, when the Simpleton was gone out, she seized the goose by its wing - but there her finger and hand had to stay, held fast. Soon after came the second sister with the same idea of plucking out one of the golden feathers for herself; but scarcely had she touched her sister than she also was obliged to stay, held fast. Lastly came the third with the same intentions; but the others screamed out, "Stay away! For heaven's sake stay away!" But she did not see why she should stay away, and thought, "If they do so, why should not I?" and went towards them. But when she reached her sisters there she stopped, hanging on with them. And so they had to stay, all night.

  The next morning the Simpleton took the goose under his arm and went away, unmindful of the three girls that hung on to it. The three had to run after him, left and right, wherever his legs carried him. In the midst of the fields they met the parson, who, when he saw the procession, said, "Shame on you, girls, running after a young fellow through the fields like this," and forthwith he seized hold of the youngest by the hand to drag her away, but hardly had he touched her when he too was obliged to run after them himself.
  Not long after the sexton came that way, and seeing the respected parson following at the heels of the three girls, he called out, "Ho, your reverence, whither away so quickly? You forget that we have another christening today"; and he seized hold of him by his gown; but no sooner had he touched him than he was obliged to follow on too. As the five tramped on, one after another, two peasants with their hoes came up from the fields, and the parson cried out to them, and begged them to come and set him and the sexton free, but no sooner had they touched the sexton than they had to follow on too; and now there were seven following the Simpleton and the goose.
  By and by they came to a town where a King reigned, who had an only daughter who was so serious that no one could make her laugh; therefore the King had given out that whoever should make her laugh should have her in marriage. The Simpleton, when he heard this, went with his goose and his hangers-on into the presence of the King's daughter, and as soon as she saw the seven people following always one after the other, she burst out laughing, and seemed as if she could never stop. And so the Simpleton earned a right to her as his bride; but the King did not like him for a son-in-law and made all kinds of objections, and said he must first bring a man who could drink up a whole cellar of wine.
  The Simpleton thought that the little gray man would be able to help him, and went out into the forest, and there, on the very spot where he felled the tree, he saw a man sitting with a very sad countenance. The Simpleton asked him what was the matter, and he answered, "I have a great thirst, which I cannot quench: cold water does not agree with me; I have indeed drunk up a whole cask of wine, but what good is a drop like that?"
  Then said the Simpleton, "I can help you; only come with me, and you shall have enough."
  He took him straight to the King's cellar, and the man sat himself down before the big vats, and drank, and drank, and before a day was over he had drunk up the whole cellar-full. The Simpleton again asked for his bride, but the King was annoyed that a wretched fellow, called the Simpleton by everybody, should carry off his daughter, and so he made new conditions. He was to produce a man who could eat up a mountain of bread. The Simpleton did not hesitate long, but ran quickly off to the forest, and there in the same place sat a man who had fastened a strap round his body, making a very piteous face, and saying, "I have eaten a whole bakehouse full of rolls, but what is the use of that when one is so hungry as I am? My stomach feels quite empty, and I am obliged to strap myself together, that I may not die of hunger."
  The Simpleton was quite glad of this, and said, "Get up quickly, and come along with me, and you shall have enough to eat."
  He led him straight to the King's courtyard, where all the meal in the kingdom had been collected and baked into a mountain of bread. The man out of the forest settled himself down before it and hastened to eat, and in one day the whole mountain had disappeared.
  Then the Simpleton asked for his bride the third time. The King, however, found one more excuse, and said he must have a ship that should be able to sail on land or on water. "So soon," said he, "as you come sailing along with it, you shall have my daughter for your wife."
  The Simpleton went straight to the forest, and there sat the little old gray man with whom he had shared his cake, and he said, "I have eaten for you, and I have drunk for you, I will also give you the ship; and all because you were kind to me at the first."
  Then he gave him the ship that could sail on land and on water, and when the King saw it he knew he could no longer withhold his daughter. The marriage took place immediately, and at the death of the King the Simpleton possessed the kingdom, and lived long and happily with his wife.

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In the forest there was a clearing where all the animals gathered each evening after going to the river to drink. The tortoise was usually the last to arrive, and the other animals would laugh at him as he plodded into the clearing.

"Come on, Slowcoach", they would call out as he came through the grass towards them. The tortoise would blink at them and continue slowly on his way until he reached the spot where he wanted to settle down.

The liveliest of all the animals in the forest was the hare. He ran so fast that he was always the first to arrive at the clearing. "Just look at me", he was boasting one evening. "I can run faster than any of you".

The tortoise ambled into the clearing, last as usual. To everyone's surprise, he went slowly across to the hare.



"Since you run so fast, could you beat me in a race?" he asked.

"I, beat you, in a race!" exclaimed the hare, and he fell on the ground laughing. "Of course I would beat you. You name the distance, Tortoise, but don't make it too far for your short little legs", and he roared with laughter again.

Most of the other animals laughed too. It did seem a very comic idea. The fox said, "Come on then, Tortoise, name the distance and the time and then we will all come to watch".

"Let us stall tomorrow morning, at sunrise", suggested the tortoise. "Well run from this clearing to the edge of the forest and return along the bank of the river to this spot again".

"Why, it will take you all day to go so far, Tortoise. Are you sure you want to go ahead with it?" asked the hare. He grinned at the thought of the easy victory he would have.

"I am sure", replied the tortoise. "The first one back to this clearing will be the winner".

"Agreed!" said the hare, as the tortoise settled down in some long grass to sleep for the night.

The next morning the clearing was full of animals who had come to see the start of the great race. Some ran along to the edge of the forest, others chose good places to watch along the way.

The hare and the tortoise stood side by side. As the sun rose, the fox called,

"Ready, steady, go!"

The hare jumped up and in no time at all he was far ahead of the tortoise, almost out of sight. The tortoise started off in the same direction. He plodded along, slowly picking up his feet, then slowly putting them down only a little in front of where they had been before.

"Come on, Tortoise", called his friends anxiously. But he did not lift up his foot to wave at them as the hare had done. He kept on moving slowly forwards.

In a few minutes the hare was a long way from the starting line so he slowed down. "It's going to take the tortoise all day", he thought, "so there is no need for me to hurry". He stopped to talk to friends and nibble juicy grass here and there along the path.

By the time he reached half-way the sun was high in the sky and the day became very hot. The animals who were waiting there saw the hare turn back towards the clearing. They settled down for a long wait for the tortoise.

As he returned by the river, the hot sun and the grass he had eaten made the hare feel sleepy.

"There's no need to hurry", he told himself. "Here's a nice shady spot", and he stretched himself out comfortably on the ground. With paws beneath his head, he murmured sleepily. "It won't matter if Tortoise passes me, I'm much faster than he is. I'll still get back first and win the race". He drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile the tortoise went on slowly. He reached the edge of the forest quite soon after the hare, for he had not stopped to talk to friends or eat tempting fresh grass. Before long, smiling gently, he passed the hare sleeping in the shade.

The animals in the clearing waited all day for the hare to return, but he did not arrive. The sun was setting before they saw the tortoise plodding towards them.

"Where is the hare?" they called out. The tortoise did not waste his breath in answering but came steadily towards them.

"Hurrah, Tortoise has won. Well done, Slowcoach!" the animals cheered.

Only when he knew he had won the race did Tortoise speak.

"Hare? Oh, he's asleep back there by the river".

There was a sudden flurry and at great speed the hare burst into the clearing. He had woken and, seeing how long the shadows were, realized he had slept for much longer than he intended. He raced back to the clearing but he was too late.

Tortoise smiled and said, "Slow and steady wins the race".

Read more ...…

  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 some one 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 curtsies. ‘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, 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, 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. 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, 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, 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 where 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.

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Along time ago, when impossible things were possible, there was a fisherman and his son. One day when the fisherman hauled in his net he found a huge gleaming red fish amongst the rest of his catch. For a few moments he was so excited he could only stare at it. This fish will make me famous, he thought. "Never before has a fisherman caught such a fish".

"Stay here", he said to his son, "and look after these fish, while I go and fetch the cart to take them home".

The fisherman's son, too, was amazed by the great red fish, and while he was waiting for his father, he stroked it and started to talk to it.

"It seems a shame that a beautiful creature like you should not swim free", he said, and no sooner had he spoken than he decided to put the fish back into the sea. The great red fish slipped gratefully into the water, raised its head and spoke to the boy.

"It was kind of you to save my life. Take this bone which I have pulled from my fin. If ever you need my help, hold it up, call me, and I will come at once".

The fisherman's son placed the bone carefully in his pocket just as his father reappeared with the cart. When the father saw that the great red fish was gone he was angry beyond belief.

"Get out of my sight", he shouted at his son, "and never let me set eyes on you again".

The boy went off sadly. He did not know where to go or what to do. In time he found himself in a great forest. He walked on and on, till suddenly he was startled by a stag rushing through the trees towards him. It was being chased by a pack of ferocious hounds followed by hunters, and it was clearly exhausted and could run no further. The boy felt sorry for the stag and took hold of its antlers as the hounds and then the hunters appeared.

"Shame on you", he said, "for chasing a tame stag. Go and find a wild beast to hunt for your sport".

The hunters, seeing the stag standing quietly by the boy, thought it must be a pet and so they turned and rode off to another part of the forest.

"It was kind of you to save my life", said the stag, and it pulled a fine brown hair from its coat. "Take this and if ever you need help, hold it out and call me. I will come at once".

The fisherman's son put the hair in his pocket with the fishbone. He thanked the stag which disappeared among the trees and wandered on once more.

As he walked he heard a strange flutteting sound overhead and, looking up, he saw a great bird - a crane - being attacked by an eagle. The crane was weak and could fight no more, and the eagle was about to kill it. The kind-hearted boy picked up a stick and threw it at the eagle, which flew off at once, fearful of this new enemy. The crane sank to the ground.






"It was kind of you to save my life", it said as it recovered its breath. "Take this feather and keep it safe. If ever you need help, hold it out and call me, and I will come".

As the fisherman's son walked on with the feather in his pocket, he met a fox running for its life, with the hounds and the huntsmen close behind. The boy just had time to hide the fox under his coat before the hounds were all around him.

"I think the fox went that way", he cried to the huntsmen, and they called off the hounds and went in the direction the boy was pointing.

"It was kind of you to save my life", said the fox. "Take this hair from my coat and keep it safe. If ever you need help, hold it out and call me. I will come at once".

The fisherman's son went on his way, and in time he reached the edge of the forest and found himself by a lovely castle.

"Who lives there?" he asked.

"A beautiful princess", he was told. "Are you one of her suitors? She plays a curious game of hide-and-seek with all who come, and says she will marry the first man who hides so well that she cannot find him".

The fisherman's son thought he would try, so boldly he went to the castle and asked to see the princess. She was indeed very beautiful, and he thought what a fine thing it would be if he could marry her.




"Princess, I will hide where you cannot find me", he said, "but will you give me four chances?"

The princess was intrigued by this shabby boy, and agreed, thinking she would at least have some fun looking for him. The fisherman's son went straightaway to the place where he had last seen the fish and, taking the fishbone from his pocket, he called its name.

"I am here", said the great red fish. "What can I do for you?"

"Can you take me where the princess will never find me? If you do, I shall be able to marry her".

The red fish took the boy on its back and swam deep down into the sea to some caverns where it hid him.

Now the princess had a magic mirror which she used in her games of hide-and-seek. With it she could see far and wide even through houses and hillsides. She looked in her mirror, but could not find the fisherman's son.

"What a wizard he must be", she said to herself, as she turned her mirror this way and that. Then she saw him sitting in a rocky cavern deep down in the sea and she laughed.

The next day when the boy came to the palace she smiled and said, "That was easy. You were deep down in a cavern under the sea. You will have to do better than that if you are going to marry me!"

"What an enchantress she must be", said the boy to himself, and he resolved to win this contest.

He went next to the forest and held out the stag's hair and called. When the stag came he told it that he wanted to hide and the stag took him on its back far far away to the other side of the mountains and hid him in a little cave. The stag then stood in front of the cave so that no one could see inside.

Once more the princess took out her mirror and searched far and wide for the boy. "How clever he is", she said to herself, and then the mirror picked him out hiding in the cave.

The next day she said to the boy, "Pooh! It was easy to see you in that cave".

The boy became even more determined to marry her and he set out to summon the crane. It came as soon as the boy waved the feather and called its name.

"Come with me high up into the clouds", said the crane, and took the boy on its back. All day long they hovered in the sky, while the princess searched this way and that in her mirror.

Just as she was about to give up, she spied him above her. "He is cleverer, than I thought!" she said to herself.

But the next day when the boy came to the castle, she laughed and said, "You thought I would never find you among the clouds, but I spotted you easily. You only have one more chance to outwit me!

The boy now went to the forest and, holding up the fox's hair he called the fox. When it came he explained what he wanted. "Ask her to give you fourteen days", said the fox, "and I should be able to hide you where she cannot find you".

The princess agreed, and for fourteen days the fox tunnelled and dug beneath the princess's castle until it had made a hole large enough for the boy to hide in right under the princess's room. Down he went and lay there quietly. The princess took out her mirror and searched. She looked to the north, to the south, to the east, to the west; she looked high and low, round and round, and at last, exasperated, she called out:

"I give up. Where are you, fisherman's son?"

"Here!" he called. "Just below you!" And he jumped out from the hole the fox had dug.

"You win, wizard", she said, and was happy to marry the fisherman's son.

He was delighted to marry such a beautiful princess. They had a great wedding in the castle, and the celebrations went on for many days.

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