Children love listening to stories. We all have our favorites from the past. Mine was 'The Happy Prince' by Oscar Wilde. My father had read a lot in his youth and was of in particular a fan of Russian literature, something he passed on to me. Any free time he had with my sister and I, I recall asking him to repeat the stories of The Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant, both by Oscar Wilde and The Russian folktale of Masha and the Bear.
No matter how many times I had heard it before, these stories could never exhaust me. In fact, they remind me why I believe what I do. As children these stories molded our thought patterns and our sense of morals and ethics.
Stories are seeds of lessons, morals and values of life that are sown in the hearts and minds of children that grow with them. I recently purchased the complete fairy tale collection of Hans Christan Anderson as a future investment. I confess that I am a sucker for books, and a trip to the book store means that it is going to take longer than anticipated and of course bad news for my wallet.
With no further ado let me bring to you THE HAPPY PRINCE:
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.".... Read full story.
* Find other fairy tales of Oscar Wilde
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