Doukeshi Posted August 12, 2004 Share Posted August 12, 2004 I was remeniscing with my friend tonight about all of the stories we used to know as children. I'm not talking about the stories everyone knows, such as Snow White, or Hansel and Gretel, but of the obscure ones that maybe only you remember. I remember a book I had, it was a story book and it contained lots of wonderful pictures and fabulous stories. One that sticks in my mind particularly is about a statue and a swallow. It was written by Oscar Wilde and it tells of the statue called the Happy Prince and a little swallow.They met late one cold winter European night. The swallow was six weeks late in leaving for warmer climes in Egypt. On his way south, he stopped at the town over which the Happy Prince stood and decided to sleep at the statue?s feet. As the swallow settled down to go to sleep, it started to rain. While getting ready to find a drier place to sleep, he noticed that it wasn?t rain falling upon him but tears shed by the Happy Prince. The stunned swallow asked, "Who are you?" "I am the Happy Prince," said the statue. However, the statue wasn?t happy, because he saw much misery and poverty within the city. "I see a woman seated at a table. Her face is thin and worn and she has coarse red hands all pricked by needles for she is a seamstress. And in a bed in the corner of the room, her little boy is lying ill. He has a fever. The little boy is crying for oranges, and all that the mother can give him is mere river water. Swallow, swallow, little swallow, will you not stay with me for one night and be my messenger?" So, the swallow took the great red ruby from the Happy Prince?s sword and off he flew to the poor seamstress and to her ill son. Returning from his mission, the swallow experienced a curious warmth though the night was very cold. The next day, the swallow readied himself for his flight to Egypt, but the Happy Prince implored him to stay, "Swallow, swallow, little swallow, will you not stay with me one night longer? There is a young man, a writer, who is poor and cannot write for he has no heat in his room. Swallow, take one of my eyes?they are rare sapphires?and carry it to the poor man." The swallow did as he was instructed and returned, and again he experienced that same warmth. The next day, the swallow said good-bye to the Happy Prince, but the statue responded, "Swallow, swallow, little swallow, will you not stay with me one night longer? There stands in this city a little matchgirl who has a mean father who beats her because she doesn?t bring in enough money from selling matches. She has no shoes, nor stockings, nor hat. Take my other eye and give it to her." The swallow did as he was commanded. However, upon his return, he said to the prince, "You are blind now. I will stay with you always." "No little swallow. You must go away to Egypt or else you will surely die here in the winter weather." However the swallow stayed and became the Prince?s eyes. The swallow would report cases of need to the statue. The Happy Prince would order him to remove his gold-leafed skin and to distribute it to those in need. After many trips, the Happy Prince looked quite dull. At last, the swallow said good-bye to the Prince who said, "I am glad that you are finally going to Egypt, little swallow. You have stayed here too long." The swallow?s responded, "It is not to Egypt that I am going. I am going to the House of Death. Death is a brother of sleep, is he not?" Then he kissed the Happy Prince and fell dead at his feet. At that moment, a curious crack sounded deep inside the statue. The leaden heart of the Happy Prince had snapped into two pieces. The next morning, the town fathers decided to melt down the statue of the Happy Prince because of its unpleasant appearance. However, a strange thing occurred at the foundry. The statue?s broken heart would not melt. Therefore, it was thrown away and came to rest next to the dead swallow. God, who had watched this story unfold from heaven, told an angel to bring back the two most precious things from that city where the Happy Prince once stood. When the angel returned, it brought back the leaden heart and the dead swallow. God said to the angel, "You have rightly chosen. For in my garden of paradise this little bird shall sing songs forevermore. And in my city of gold, the Happy Prince will praise my name." Take from that gem what you will. I would like to know if anyone else has any stories they would like to share, or maybe stories they can only half remember that others on the board can help you with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manic Webb Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 I remember a series of animated TV specials I used to watch back in the early 90s, each one telling a different fairytale. One of them was the story of the Wolfskin Coat-- a story I have found any information on since. Once, there was a small, wealthy kingdom in some undisclosed region of what we can only assume was Europe. In that kingdom lived the proverbial beautiful princess, who had servants waiting on her at all times. Her father, who loved to spend obscene amounts of money on his only child, bought her three dresses. One shimmered with turquoise, the next with silver, and the final was threaded with gold. All was right in the world. That is, until some nameless bandits did a horseride-by shooting and burned the entire kingdom to the ground. Yep, the entire kingdom. Among the 5 people who survived was the princess. Also, a woodsman in a wolfskin coat who found and protected her. Before the kingdom burned down, however, the princess managed to grab a small amount of food, a ring with the symbol of her royal family, and those three dresses that costed far too much to let burn. That winter, the woodsman died. In order to keep herself from freezing to death, the princess put on the woodsman's wolfskin coat. Eventually, she stumbled upon another nearby kingdom. Rather than tell them she's the princess of a kingdom that no longer exists, she got a job in the palace as a cook. Because of the wolfskin coat she wore in memory of the woodsman who protected her, nobody ever got a good look at her face or paid much attention to her. She was scolded for getting hair in the soup, punished frequently, and forced to live in a cold room in the basement, but she naturally used this experience to learn some humility. Taking on the form of a convenient plot device, the prince of the kingdom needed a wife, but couldn't decide on which noblewoman in the kingdom to marry. His father decided to give him 3 nights to decide-- by throwing a series of balls! The princess in the wolfskin coat decided this would be a good chance to marry rich and sleep on a bed again. She added her name to the ball's guest list, whipped out the golden dress, cleaned herself up, and attended the ball. She danced with the prince, and they naturally fell in love with one another. Unfortunately, it was her shift in the kitchen, and she had to hurry back to her room. She stashed away the golden dress, put the wolfskin coat back on, and went back to work for the night. The next morning, the whole palace was buzzing about a mysterious woman who attended the ball, wearing an obscenely expensive dress. The princess in the wolfskin coat was so distracted, she got hair in the soup. The head cook scolded her accordingly. That night, the princess showed up at the second ball, wearing the silver dress. While once again dancing with the prince, he got a good look at her hand and noted she was wearing a ring that belonged to a royal family. Then her shift in the kitchen came up, and the princess disappeared back into the night, sneaking back into the kitchen. Again, everyone was buzzing about the girl in the obscenely expensive dress the next morning. While cooking the prince's soup, she once again got hair in it and the head cook scolded her. That night, she showed up at the third and final ball, this time intended on telling the prince who she really was. Also, she was wearing the turquoise dress. This time, however, every jealous woman in the kingdom banded together, and kept the princess from reaching the prince. Thus, she didn't get the chance to tell the prince who she really was. The next day, she got hair in the prince's soup again. Being naturally miffed, the prince requested to see the girl who made his soup. When the princess showed up in the wolfskin coat, he noticed her ring with the royal crest, and asked her if she knew anything about the princess he had met at the ball. The princess stripped out of her wolfskin coat, revealing the turquoise dress. The prince had found his princess. Thus, they got married and live happily ever after. Although, because of the humility she learned during her service to another royal family, the princess continued to work in the kitchen in her free time. I remember this story, because it was the only fairytale I don't think anybody else has ever heard. I've been planning on adapting it into a modern-day comedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doukeshi Posted August 16, 2004 Author Share Posted August 16, 2004 You're right, I hadn't heard that one before, though it kinda sounds like something I remember hearing somewhere. It does have many of the things traditional fairytales have in them, so it really isn't surprising that it seems familiar. It's nifty and I think it would do well as a comedy, especially with all of the princess' mishaps in the kitchen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mihoruru Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 [quote name='Doukeshi']I was remeniscing with my friend tonight about all of the stories we used to know as children. I'm not talking about the stories everyone knows, such as Snow White, or Hansel and Gretel, but of the obscure ones that maybe only you remember. I remember a book I had, it was a story book and it contained lots of wonderful pictures and fabulous stories. One that sticks in my mind particularly is about a statue and a swallow. It was written by Oscar Wilde and it tells of the statue called the Happy Prince and a little swallow.They met late one cold winter European night. The swallow was six weeks late in leaving for warmer climes in Egypt. On his way south, he stopped at the town over which the Happy Prince stood and decided to sleep at the statue’s feet. [/QUOTE] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]omg i read that before...i think i hav the book... if anyone wants to read it, its full of dark but pretty tales and it's called "the Picture of Dorian Gray" and as previously said by Doukeshi its by Oscar Wilde. I loved this story!!! also i think the Birthday of the Infanta wasn't bad either xD so many sad stories...so little time to consume them...*0*""[/COLOR] [quote name='Manic Webb']I remember a series of animated TV specials I used to watch back in the early 90s, each one telling a different fairytale. One of them was the story of the Wolfskin Coat-- a story I have found any information on since. [/QUOTE] [COLOR="SeaGreen"]btw i think that's in Grimm's fairytales...but i could be wrong tho[/COLOR] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allamorph Posted March 29, 2008 Share Posted March 29, 2008 [FONT="Arial"]Hey, Mihoruru! Welcome to the Anthology. It's nice to see you getting active, but in the future, please don't pull up threads that are more than a year or two old, if that. (^_^) Chances are, the people who were posting there are already gone, or have lost interest completely. Also, instead of double posting, we encourage you to use the Edit button to add material to your post, so the thread doesn't get cluttered up with spam. I went ahead and merged them for you this time, though. (^_^) Nice to see you around. Have fun. –A [INDENT](Thread closed)[/INDENT][/FONT] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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