Question

What are the precious things mentioned in the story? Why are they precious?

Answer 1

The dead bird and the leaden heart of the happy prince are the two precious items mentioned in the story. The reason they are valuable is that the swallow and the joyful prince were both incredibly kind, giving, and selfless. The prince gave away all of his priceless jewels and riches to make his people happy because he could not stand to witness the ugliness, suffering, and unhappiness in his city.

In the same manner, the swallow gave up his journey to Egypt to serve as the prince's messenger, distributing joy by delivering gold and beautiful stones to the underprivileged. Even though winter was drawing near, the prince never left him because of his unwavering love for him despite his blindness. At last, he succumbed to the cold at the monument's feet, and the statue loved him so deeply that its leaden heart shattered in two.

Because of this, when God asked one of the angels to bring him the two priceless items from the garden, the angel brought him the dead bird and the leaden heart. God then declared that the little bird would sing forever more in his garden of paradise and that the Happy Prince would glorify God in the city of gold.