What makes ‘The Happy Prince’ worth reading?

          ‘The Happy Prince’ is a fantasy short story for children by the Irish author Oscar Wilde. It was first published in a collection called ‘The Happy Prince and Other Tales’ in 1888. It contains five stories: ‘The Happy Prince’, ‘The Nightingale and the Rose’, ‘The Selfish Giant’, ‘The Devoted Friend’, and ‘The Remarkable Rocket’.

          The story’s title character is a beautiful statue, covered in gold leaf and decorated with jewels. The statue represents a prince who, during his lifetime, was famous for being happy.

          However, the truth is that the prince appeared to be happy only because he knew nothing of life outside of his palace. Only after he died and became a statue did the prince learn of the suffering of the poor people in his city.

          The happy prince befriends a swallow that spends time on the statue, and asks it to offer some assistance to the people who are living in poverty.

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