NCERT Solutions - The Happy Prince

Page No. 36

Think About It

Q1. Why do the courtiers call the prince 'the Happy Prince'? Is he really happy? What does he see all around him?

The Happy Prince

Ans: The courtiers called him the Happy Prince because, while he was alive, he always looked joyful. He had lived in a palace where sorrow was not allowed and so had never seen suffering. As a statue, however, he was able to see outside the palace and was not happy at all. He wept when he saw the suffering and poverty in the city. He noticed the misery and ugliness of his city, and his leaden heart felt deep sorrow for those who were poor, hungry or in distress. His tears ran down his gilded cheeks, showing the true sadness beneath his outward splendour.

Q2. Why does the Happy Prince send a ruby for the seamstress? What does the swallow do in the seamstress' house?
Ans: The Happy Prince sent the ruby because the seamstress was very poor and her little boy was ill with a fever; she had no money to buy food. The Prince wanted to help, so he asked the swallow to take the jewel to her. The swallow entered quietly while the seamstress slept, placed the ruby on her worktable and then hovered over the sick child. He used his wings to cool the boy's forehead and stay close until the child slept more peacefully. The arrival of the ruby meant the seamstress could sell it for money and care for her boy.

Seamstress: Person whose job involves sewing clothing

Q3. For whom does the prince send the sapphires and why?
Ans: The Prince sends his sapphires to help two needy people. One sapphire was given to a young writer who was cold and hungry and could not finish his play; after receiving the jewel he was able to sell it for food and fuel, which warmed him and encouraged him to complete his work. The other sapphire was sent to the little matchgirl who had lost all her matches in the gutter and feared punishment at home; when she received the sapphire she became joyful and ran home relieved. In both cases the Prince's gifts provided immediate relief and allowed the receivers to carry on with their lives.

Q4. What does the swallow see when it flies over the city?
Ans: As the swallow flew over the city, he saw sharp contrasts between wealth and poverty. He noticed rich people enjoying themselves in handsome houses while poor beggars sat at the gates and starving children peered from dark alleys with pale faces. He saw two boys huddled together under a bridge trying to keep warm and a watchman who chased them away. Near the cathedral he saw marble angels and heard music from a distant palace, and on a balcony a girl worried that her dress would not be ready for a state ball. The swallow also saw lanterns hanging from ships along the river. Finally he reached the poor woman's house where her sick boy lay burning with fever; there he dropped the Prince's ruby, cooled the child's forehead with his wings and watched the boy sleep more peacefully. Returning to the Happy Prince, the swallow described all he had seen, and the Prince said that doing good made him feel warm despite the cold.

Match Girl

Q5. Why did the swallow not leave the prince and go to Egypt?
Ans: The swallow did not leave the Happy Prince and go to Egypt because he had grown deeply attached to the Prince. After the Prince gave away his sapphires, he became blind, and the swallow did not want to leave him alone. Moved by the Prince's kindness and love for the poor, the swallow chose to stay with him, keep him company, and help him, even though the cold winter eventually cost him his life.

Ans: The most precious things in the tale are the Prince's leaden heart and the dead swallow. They are precious not because of their outward appearance but because of what they represent. The leaden heart is precious for its kindness: although it was heavy and once useless, it felt pity for the suffering in the city and prompted the Prince to give away his riches to help others. The dead swallow is precious for its selflessness: the bird carried the Prince's gifts to the poor and chose to stay with him through hardship, even at the cost of its life. When an angel brought these two offerings to God, He said the swallow would sing in His garden and the Happy Prince would praise Him in the city of gold, showing that their compassion and sacrifice were of the greatest value.