The Four Levels of
Happiness
The Happy Prince
(A Parable about Happiness Level 3)
High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of gold. His eyes were two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed in his sword hilt.
He was very much admired indeed. "He is as beautiful as can be," remarked the Town Councilors.
One night a little Swallow flew over the city on his way south for the winter. He was tired after having flown for so long, and stopped to rest underneath the statue of the Happy Prince.
"I have a golden resting place," he said softly to himself as he prepared to go to take a nap. But just as he was putting his head under his wing, a large drop of water fell on him. "What a curious thing!" he cried. "There's not a single cloud in the sky, the stars are quite clear and bright, and yet it is raining.
Then another drop fell. And a third.
The Swallow looked up and saw that the eyes of the Happy Prince were filled with tears which were running down his golden cheeks.
"I thought you were the Happy Prince," said the Swallow. "So why are you crying?"
"When I was alive and had a human heart," answered the statue, "I did not know what tears were, since I lived in a fine palace. In the daytime I played with my friends in the garden, and in the evening I went to parties. I didn't care what was beyond the walls of the palace. My courtiers called me the Happy Prince. And happy I was, if playing all day can be called true happiness. But now I am a statue. From way up here I can see all the poverty and sadness in the city, and there's nothing I can do to help any of the poor peasants. All I can do is cry for them."
"Far away," continued the statue, "across the city on a little street there is a tiny house. One of the windows is open, and through it I can see a woman seated at a table. Her face is thin and worn, and she has sore, red fingers, all pricked by a needle, for she is a seamstress. She is embroidering flowers on a satin ball gown. In a bed in the corner of the room her little boy is sick with a fever, and is asking for oranges. His mother has nothing to give him but river water, so he is crying. Little Swallow, will you not bring her the ruby out of my sword-hilt? I'm stuck on this pedestal and I cannot move."
"But I am going south for the winter and only stopped to rest," said the Swallow.
"Little Swallow," said the Prince, "will you stay with me for one night, and be my messenger? The boy is so thirsty, and the mother is so poor."
The Happy Prince looked so sad that the little Swallow was sorry. "It is very cold here," he said, "but I will stay with you for one night and be your messenger."
"Thank you, little Swallow," said the Prince.
So the Swallow picked out the great ruby from the Prince's sword and flew away with it in his beak over the roofs of the town. At last he came to the tiny house and looked in. The boy was tossing feverishly on his bed, and the mother had fallen asleep. He hopped in and laid the great ruby on the table beside the woman's thimble. Then he flew gently round the bed, fanning the boy's forehead with his wings. "How cool I feel," said the boy, "I must be getting better." And he fell fast asleep.
Then the Swallow flew back to the Happy Prince and told him what he had done. "It is curious," he remarked, "but I feel quite warm now, although it is so cold."
"That's because you have done a good deed and brought happiness to others," said the Prince. And the little Swallow fell happily asleep.
In the morning, the Swallow told the Prince that he was heading south.
"Little Swallow," said the Prince, "will you stay with me for one more night? Far away across the city I see a young man. He is leaning over a desk covered with papers, and he is trying to finish writing his paper. But he is too cold to write any more. There is no fire in his fireplace, and he's so very hungry."
"I will stay with you one night longer," said the Swallow, who really had a good heart. "Shall I take him a ruby, too?"
"I have no rubies left," said the Prince. "But my eyes are made of rare sapphires, which were brought out of India a thousand years ago. Pluck out one of them and take it to him. He will sell it to the jeweller and buy food and firewood."
So the Swallow plucked out one of the Prince's eyes, and flew away to the student's garret. It was easy enough to get in, as there was a hole in the roof. The young man had his head buried in his hands, so he did not hear the flutter of the bird's wings. But when he looked up he found the beautiful sapphire and immediately ran out to buy food and firewood.
And so it went. Each day the Prince asked the Swallow to stay and help him, and each day the Swallow did. Day by day they gave away all the jewels that the Prince had, and all the gold that covered him, to help the poor, sad people in the city. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't help all of the sick people, the sad people, or the lonely people in the city.
Soon the streets were covered with ice and snow. The poor little Swallow grew colder and colder, but he would not leave the Prince. 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. But one night it got too cold, and the good-hearted Swallow died.
Early the next morning, the Mayor was walking in the square below with his Town Councilors. As they passed the column he looked up at the statue. "Oh my, how shabby and run-down the statue of the Happy Prince looks!" he said. "The ruby has fallen out of his sword, his eyes are gone, and he is no longer golden. In fact, he looks like a beggar."
"Just like a beggar," said the Town Councilors. "And there is even a dead bird at his feet! We can't have such an ugly thing in our city. He is no longer beautiful and so he is no longer useful."
So they pulled down the statue of the Happy Prince and melted it in a furnace. But when they did, the heart would not burn. So the prince's heart and the dead swallow ended up side by side on a trash heap.
God looked down from Heaven and said to an angel, "Bring me the two most precious things in the city." So the angel brought him the prince's heart and the dead swallow.
"You have chosen well," said God, "for in my kingdom of heaven this little bird shall always sing, and the Happy Prince shall be truly happy with me forever."
- Based on a tale by Oscar Wilde
Life Principles Lesson: he Happy Prince and the Swallow saw that there were many people who needed help in the city. They brought happiness to others and in doing so, the Happy Prince and Swallow were happy too. Their happiness came from doing things for other people. It was focused on others, not themselves. It was hard work and it required a lot of them. But it was worth it to make a difference in other people's lives. That's Happiness Level 3!
Unfortunately, they couldn't help everyone, no matter how hard they tried. And that's the problem with Happiness Level 3. We cannot save the world all by ourselves -- we're people, not God. When we fail, we can become disappointed, depressed, and give up. We can't bring the Kingdom of Heaven to the world, God has to reach down to us and bring us to Him. And that’s why there’s another level of happiness.
Go to our Learn About It section to find out about the other types of happiness.