00:04
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幸福な王子
Can't you be like the happy prince? Asked asensible mother of her little boy who was cryingfor the moon. The happy prince never dreams ofcrying for anything.
I am glad there is someone in the world who isquite happy, muttered a disappointed man as he gazed at the wonderful statue.
He looks just like an angel, said the charitychildren as they came out of the cathedral intheir bright scarlet cloaks and their clean whitepinafores.
How do you know? Said the mathematical master, youhave never seen one.
Ah! But we have, in our dreams, answer thechildren, and the mathematical master frowned andlooked very severe, for he did not approve ofchildren dreaming.
One night there flew over the city a littleswallow. His friends had gone away to Egypt sixweeks before, but he had stayed behind, for he wasin love with the most beautiful reed.
He had met her early in the spring as he wasflying down the river after a big yellow moth, andhad been so attracted by her slender waist that hehad stopped to talk to her.
Shall I love you? said the swallow who liked tocome to the point at once, and the reed made him alow bow.
So he flew round and round her, touching the waterwith his wings, and making silver ripples. Thiswas his courtship, and it lasted all through thesummer.
It is a ridiculous attachment, twittered the otherswallows, she has no money, and far too manyrelations, and indeed the river was quite full ofreeds.
Then, when the autumn came they all flew away.After they had gone he felt lonely, and began totire of his lady love.
She has no conversation, he said, and I am afraidthat she is a coquette, for she is always flirtingwith the wind.
And certainly, whenever the wind blew reed madethe most graceful courtesies.
I admit that she is domestic, he continued, but Ilove travelling, and my wife, consequently, shouldlove travelling also.
Will you come away with me? he said finally toher, but the reed shook her head, she was soattached to her home.
You have been trifling with me, he cried. I am offto the pyramids. Goodbye.
And he flew away. All day long he flew, and atnight time he arrived at the city.
03:01
Where shall I put up? he said, I hope the town hasmade preparations.
Then he saw the statue on the tall column. I willput up there, he cried, it is a fine position,with plenty of fresh air.
So he alighted just between the feet of the happyprince.
I have a golden bedroom, he said softly to himselfas he looked round, and he prepared to go tosleep,
but just as he was putting his head under his winga large drop of water fell on him. What a curiousthing.
He cried, there is not a single cloud in the sky,the stars are quite clear and bright, and yet itis raining.
The climate in the north of Europe is really dreadful. The reed used to like the rain, but that wasmerely her selfishness.
Then another drop fell. What is the use of astatue if it cannot keep the rain off? he said, Imust look for a good chimney-pot, and hedetermined to fly away.
But before he had opened his wings, a third dropfell, and he looked up, and saw, ah! what did hesee?
The eyes of the happy prince were filled withtears, and tears were running down his goldencheeks.
His face was so beautiful in the moonlight thatthe little swallow was filled with pity.
Who are you? he said. I am the happy prince.
Why are you weeping then? asked the swallow, youhave quite drenched me.
When I was alive and had a human heart, answeredthe statue, I did not know what tears were, for Ilived in the palace of Sanssouci, where sorrow isnot allowed to enter.
In the daytime I played with my companions in thegarden, and in the evening I led the dance in thegreat hall.
Round the garden ran a very lofty wall, but Inever cared to ask what lay beyond it, everythingabout me was so beautiful.
My courtiers called me the happy prince, and happyindeed I was, if pleasure be happiness. So Ilived, and so I died.
And now that I am dead they have set me up here sohigh that I can see all the ugliness and all themisery of my city, and though my heart is made oflead yet I cannot chose but weep.
What? is he not solid gold? said the swallow tohimself. He was too polite to make any personalremarks out loud.
Far away, continued the statue in a low musicalvoice, far away in a little street there is a poorhouse.
One of the windows is open, and through it I cansee a woman seated at a table.
Her face is thin and worn, and she has coarse, redhands, all pricked by the needle, for she is aseamstress.
She is embroidering passion flowers on a satingown for the loveliest of the queen's maids ofhonour to wear at the next court ball.
In a bed in the corner of the room her little boyis lying ill. He has a fever, and is asking fororanges.
His mother has nothing to give him but riverwater, so he is crying.
Swallow, swallow, little swallow, will you notbring her the ruby out of my sword hilt?
My feet are fastened to this pedestal and I cannotmove.
I am waited for in Egypt, said the swallow.
My friends are flying up and down the Nile, andtalking to the large lotus flowers.
Soon they will go to sleep in the tomb of thegreat king.
The king is there himself in his painted coffin.He is wrapped in yellow linen, and embalmed withspices.
Round his neck is a chain of pale green jade, andhis hands are like withered leaves.
06:02
Swallow, swallow, little swallow, said the prince,will you not stay with me for one night, and be mymessenger?
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 sons, whowere always throwing stones at me.
They never hit me, of course, we swallows fly fartoo well for that, and besides, I come of a familyfamous for its agility, but still, it was a markof disrespect.
But the happy prince looked so sad that the littleswallow was sorry.
It is very cold here, he said, but I will staywith you for one night, and be your messenger.
Thank you, little swallow, said the prince.
So the swallow picked out the great ruby from theprince's sword, and flew away with it in his beakover the roofs of the town.
He passed by the cathedral tower, where the whitemarble angels were sculptured.
He passed by the palace and heard the sound ofdancing.
A beautiful girl came out on the balcony with herlover.
How wonderful the stars are, he said to her, andhow wonderful is the power of love.
I hope my dress will be ready in time for thestate ball, she answered, I have ordered passionflowers to be embroidered on it, but the seamstresses are so lazy.
He passed over the river, and saw the lanternshanging to the masts of the ships.
He passed over the ghetto, and saw the old Jewsbargaining with each other, and weighing out moneyin copper scales.
At last he came to the poor house and looked in.
The boy was tossing feverishly on his bed, and themother had fallen asleep, she was so tired.
In he hopped, and laid the great ruby on the tablebeside 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 gettingbetter, 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 warmnow, although it is so cold.
That is because you have done a good action, saidthe prince.
And the little swallow began to think, and then hefell asleep.
Thinking always made him sleepy.
When day broke he flew down to the river and had abath.
What a remarkable phenomenon, said the professorof ornithology as he was passing over the bridge.
A swallow in winter.
And he wrote a long letter about it to the localnewspaper.
Everyone quoted it, it was full of so many wordsthat they could not understand.
Tonight I go to Egypt, said the swallow, and hewas in high spirits at the prospect.
He visited all the public monuments, and sat along time on top of the church steeple.
Wherever he went the sparrows chirruped, and saidto each other, what a distinguished stranger.
So he enjoyed himself very much.
When the moon rose he flew back to the happyprince.
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.
Tomorrow 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.
09:03
All night long he watches the stars, and when themorning star shines he utters one cry of joy, andthen he is silent.
At noon the yellow lions come down to the water'sedge to drink.
They have eyes like green barrels, and their roaris 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 agarret.
He is leaning over a desk covered with papers, andin a tumbler by his side there is a bunch of withered violets.
His hair is brown and crisp, and his lips are redas a pomegranate, and he has large and dreamyeyes.
He is trying to finish a play for the director ofthe theatre, but he is too cold to write any more.
There is no fire in the grate, and hunger has madehim faint.
I will wait with you one night longer, said theswallow, who really had a good heart.
Shall I take him another ruby?
Alas! I have no ruby now, said the prince, my eyesare all that I have left.
They are made of rare sapphires, which werebrought out of India a thousand years ago.
Plug out one of them and take it to him.
He will sell it to the jeweller, and buy food andfirewood, 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, andflew away to the student's garret.
It was easy enough to get in, as there was a holein the roof.
Through this he darted, and came into the room.
The young man had his head buried in his hands, sohe 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, thisis from some great admirer.
Now I can finish my play, and he looked quitehappy.
The next day the swallow flew down to the harbour.
He sat on the mast of a large vessel and watchedthe sailors hauling big chests out of the holdwith ropes.
Hee-vay-hoy! they shouted as each chest came up.
I am going to Egypt! cried the swallow, but nobodyminded,
and when the moon rose he flew back to the happyprince.
I am come to bid you goodbye, 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 chillsnow will soon be here.
In Egypt the sun is warm on the green palm trees,
and the crocodiles lie in the mud and look lazilyabout them.
My companions are building a nest in the temple ofBaalbek,
and the pink and white doves are watching them,and cooing to each other.
Dear prince, I must leave you, but I will neverforget you,
and next spring I will bring you back twobeautiful 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 greatsea.
In the square below, said the happy prince, therestands a little match-girl.
She has let her matches fall in the gutter, andthey are all spoiled.
Her father will beat her if she does not bringhome some money, and she is crying.
She has no shoes or stockings, and her little headis bare.
Plug out my other eye, and give it to her, and herfather will not beat her.
12:00
I will stay with you one night longer, said theswallow, 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 thejewel 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 withyou always.
No, little swallow, said the poor prince, you mustgo away to Egypt.
I will stay with you always, said the swallow, andhe 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 instrange lands.
He told him of the red ibises, who stand in longrows on the banks of the Nile, and catch goldfishin 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 oftheir camels, and carry amber beads in theirhands,
of the king of the mountains of the moon, who isas 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 onlarge flat leaves, and are always at war with thebutterflies.
Dear little swallow, said the prince, you tell meof marvellous things, but more marvellous thananything is the suffering of men and of women.
There is no mystery so great as misery. Fly overmy city, little swallow, and tell me what you seethere.
So the swallow flew over the great city, and sawthe rich making merry in their beautiful houses,while the beggars were sitting at the gates.
He flew into dark lanes, and saw the white facesof starving children looking out listlessly at theblack streets.
Under the archway of a bridge two little boys werelying in one another's arms to try and keepthemselves warm.
How hungry we are! they said. You must not liehere, shouted the watchman, and they wandered outinto the rain.
Then he flew back and told the prince what he hadseen.
I am covered with fine gold, said the prince, youmust take it off, leaf by leaf, and give it to mypoor, the living always think that gold can makethem happy.
Leaf after leaf of the fine gold the swallowpicked off, till the happy prince looked quitedull and grey.
Leaf after leaf of the fine gold he brought to thepoor, and the children's faces grew rosier, andthey laughed and played games in the street.
We have bread now! they cried.
Then the snow came, and after the snow came thefrost.
The streets looked as if they were made of silver,they were so bright and glistening, long icicleslike crystal daggers hung down from the eaves ofthe houses, everybody went about in furs, and thelittle boys wore scarlet caps and skated on theice.
The poor little swallow grew colder and colder,but he would not leave the prince, he loved himtoo well.
He picked up crumbs outside the baker's door whenthe baker was not looking and tried to keephimself 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'sshoulder once more.
Good-bye, dear prince! he murmured, will you letme kiss your hand?
15:02
I am glad that you are going to Egypt at last,little swallow, said the prince, you have stayedtoo long here, but you must kiss me on the lips,for I love you.
It is not to Egypt that I am going, said theswallow. I am going to the house of death. Deathis the brother of sleep, is he not?
And he kissed the happy prince on the lips andfell down dead at his feet.
At that moment a curious crack sounded inside thestatue, as if something had broken.
The fact is that the leaden heart had snappedright in two.
It certainly was a dreadfully hard frost.
Early the next morning the mayor was walking inthe square below in company with the town councillors.
As they passed the column he looked up at thestatue, dear me! how shabby the happy princelooks! he said.
How shabby indeed! cried the town councillors, whoalways agreed with the mayor, and they went up tolook at it.
The ruby has fallen out of his sword, his eyes aregone, and he's golden no longer, said the mayor infact, 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 arenot to be allowed to die here.
And the town clerk made a note of the suggestion.
So they pulled down the statue of the happyprince.
As he is no longer beautiful he is no longeruseful, said the art professor at the university.
Then they melted the statue in a furnace, and themayor held a meeting of the corporation to decidewhat 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, andthey quarrelled.
When I last heard of them they were quarrellingstill.
What a strange thing! said the overseer of theworkmen at the foundry.
This broken lead heart will not melt in thefurnace. We must throw it away.
So they threw it on a dust heap where the deadswallow was also lying.
Bring me the two most precious things in the city,said God to one of his angels,
and the angel brought him the leaden heart and thedead bird.
You have rightly chosen, said God, for in mygarden of paradise this little bird shall singforevermore,
and in my city of gold the happy prince shallpraise me.
英語聞き流し10分間 名作リスニング
英語テキストとMP3ダウンロード
その他の物語はホームページよりご利用いただけます
88thpp.com
88thpp.com
