《快乐王子》故事：快乐王子，生前在无忧的围墙之内，快快乐乐度过一生；死后铸为美丽的雕像立于高空，见遍人世困苦，便倾其所有，牺牲自己的一切去减轻别人的忧愁。而小燕子，也从起初不愿意留下到不顾冻死的威胁毅然陪伴在王子身边。整篇童话文字从单纯到略带悲凉，笔调从轻快到略显沉重。

作者简介: 奥斯卡·王尔德（Oscar Wilde，1854-1900），出生于英国统治时期的爱尔兰都柏林，唯美主义作家，毕业于牛津大学。代表作有《道林·格雷的画像(The Picture of Dorian Gray)》、《温德摩尔夫人的扇子(Lady Windermere’s Fan)》，以及童话集《快乐王子集(The Happy Prince and Other Stories)》和《石榴之家(House of Pomegranate)》。

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The Happy Prince (Excerpt)
快乐王子(节选)

245'

“Dear little Swallow,” said the Prince, “you tell me of marvelous things, but more marvelous 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.”

“亲爱的小燕子，”王子说，“你为我讲了好多不可思议的事情，可是最最不可思议的，还要算那些男男女女们所遭受的苦难。没有什么比苦难更不可思议的了。小燕子，你到我城市的上空去飞一圈吧，告诉我你在上面都看见了些什么。”


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. 

于是燕子飞过了这个大城市的上空，他看见富人们在自己漂亮的洋楼里寻欢作乐，而乞丐们却坐在大门口。


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 to keep themselves warm. 

他飞进阴暗的小巷，看见饥饿的孩子们露出苍白的小脸没精打采地望着昏暗的街道，就在一座桥的桥洞里面，两个孩子相拥取暖。


“How hungry we are!” they said. 

“我们好饿呀！”他俩说。


“You must not lie here,” shouted the Watchman, and they wandered out into the rain.

“你们不准躺在这儿，”看守高声叹道，两个孩子又跚蹒着朝雨中走去。


Then he flew back and told the Prince what he had seen.

随后他飞了回来，把所见的一切告诉给了王子。

“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.”

“我浑身贴满了上好的黄金片，”王子说，“你把它们一片片地取下来，给我的穷人们送去。活着的人都相信黄金会使他们幸福的。”


Leaf after leaf of the fine gold the Swallow picked off, till the Happy Prince looked quite dull and grey. 

燕子将足赤的黄金叶子一片一片地啄了下来，直到快乐王子变得灰暗无光。


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. 

他又把这些纯金叶片一一送给了穷人，孩子们的脸上泛起了红晕，他们在大街上欢欣无比地玩着游戏。


“We have bread now!” they cried.

“我们现在有面包了！”孩子们喊叫着。


Then the snow came, and after the snow came the frost. 

随后下起了雪，白雪过后又迎来了严寒。


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.

街道看上去白花花的，像是银子做成的，闪耀夺目；长长的冰柱如同水晶宝剑一样垂悬在屋檐下。人人都穿上了皮衣，小孩子们也戴上了红帽子去户外溜冰。


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 when the baker was not looking, and tried to keep himself warm by flapping his wings.

可怜的小燕子觉得越来越冷了，但是他却不愿离开王子，他太爱这位王子了。他只好趁面包师不注意的时候，从面包店门口弄点面包屑充饥，并扑扇着翅膀为自己取暖。


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. 

然而最后他也知道自己快要死去了。他剩下的力气只够再飞到王子的肩上一回。


“Good-bye, dear Prince!” he murmured, “will you let me kiss your hand?”

“再见了，亲爱的王子！”他喃喃地说，“你愿意让我亲吻你的手吗？”


“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.”

“我真高兴你终于要飞往埃及去了，小燕子，”王子说，“你在这儿呆得太久了。不过你得亲我的嘴唇，因为我爱你。”

“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?”

“我要去的地方不是埃及，”燕子说，“我要去‘死亡之家’。‘死亡’是‘长眠’的兄弟，对吧？”


And he kissed the Happy Prince on the lips, and fell down dead at his feet.

接着他亲吻了快乐王子的嘴唇，然后跌落在他的脚下，死去了。


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.

就在此刻，雕像体内发出一声奇怪的爆裂声，好像有什么东西破碎了。其实是王子的那颗铅做的心裂成了两半。这真是一个可怕的寒冷冬日。

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