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Hello, I'm Cheryl. And this is Sleep Tight, Relax, a calming bedtime podcast for the young and young at heart.
It's time to get cozy in bed and listen to tonight's story.
Our sleep story tonight is the happy Prince.
In a city, a swallow stops to rest as he journeys to Egypt to meet up with his friends.
He rests at the statue of the happy Prince.
But when he feels drops, he wonders how he can protect himself from the rain.
When the sparrow looks up, he notices that it is not actually rain.
But the prince is crying at the sad things he can see.
The prince asks the swallow to help him.
Before we continue with our story, let's take a moment to relax.
We can practice our deep breathing anytime or anywhere.
But before bed, let's first turn down the lights.
get comfortable, and make sure that everything feels as it should.
Now, close your eyes if you'd like, and we'll begin with a few slow, deep belly breaths.
Each time you breathe in, breathe all the way down into your belly.
When you breathe in be sure to slowly breathe through your nose, and when you breathe out, try to push all the air out of your lungs.
Breathe in and breathe out.
Notice how you feel when you take these deep breaths, how you get more and more relaxed with each breath, how the weight of your body sinks into the bed.
Breathe in and breathe out.
Throughout this time of relaxation and our story, thoughts of the day or the day to come may enter your mind.
That's okay and normal.
When they come, just try to return your attention to your breathing, to the story, and music.
Breathe in. And breathe out.
Perfect. Let's continue with the Happy Prince.
high above the city on a tall column stood the statue of a 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 weathervane, remarked one of the town councilors, who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic tastes.
Only not quite so useful," he added, afraid people should think him unpractical, which he really was not.
Why can't you be like the Happy Prince?" asked a mother of her little boy who was crying for the moon.
The Happy Prince never dreams of crying for anything.
I am happy there is someone in the world who is quite happy," muttered a disappointed man as he gazed at the wonderful statue. He looks just like an angel, said the young children as they came out of the cathedral in their bright scarlet cloaks and their clean white dresses.
How do you know? said the teacher.
You have never seen one.
Yes, we have in our dreams answered the children.
And the teacher frowned and looked very severe.
For he did not approve of children dreaming.
One night there flew over the city a little swallow.
His friends had gone away to Egypt six weeks before but he had stayed behind for he was in love with the most beautiful reed.
He had met her early in the spring as he was flying down the river after a big yellow moth and had been so drawn to her that he had stopped to talk to her.
Shall I love you? said the swallow, who liked to come to the point at once.
And the reed made him a low bow.
So he flew round and round her, touching the water with his wings and making silver ripples.
This was his courtship, and it lasted all through the summer.
It is a ridiculous attachment, twittered the other swallows.
She has no money, and far too many relatives.
And indeed the river was quite full of reeds.
Then when the autumn came, the swallows all flew away.
After they had gone, he felt lonely and began to tire of his lady love.
She has no conversation, he said.
And I am afraid that she is not really interested in me, for she is always chatting with the wind.
And certainly, whenever the wind blew, the reed made the most graceful curtsies.
I admit that she loves this river, he continued, but I love traveling and therefore my wife should also love traveling.
Will you come away with me?
He said finally to her.
But the reed shook her head.
She was so attached to her home.
You have been playing with me, he cried.
I am off to the pyramids.
And he flew away. All day long he flew.
and at night time he arrived at the city.
Where shall I rest up, he said.
I hope the town has made preparations.
Then he saw the statue on the tall column.
I will rest up there, he cried.
It is a fine position with plenty of fresh air.
air. So he landed just between the feet of the happy prince.
I have a golden bedroom, he said softly to himself as he looked around, and he prepared to go to sleep.
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 is not a single cloud in the sky.
The stars are quite clear and bright, and yet it is raining.
The climate in the north of Europe is really dreadful.
The reed used to like the rain, but that was merely her selfishness.
Then another drop fell.
What is the use of a statue if it cannot keep the rain off, he said.
I must look for a good chimney pot.
And he decided to fly away.
But before he had opened his wings, a third drop fell.
And he looked up and saw?
Ah, what did he see?
The eyes of the happy prince were filled with tears.
And tears were running down his golden cheeks.
His face was so beautiful in the moonlight that the little swallow was filled with pity.
Who are you, he said.
I am the happy prince.
Why are you crying then, asked the swallow?
You have quite drenched me.
When I was alive and had a human heart, answered the statue, I did not know what tears were.
For I lived in the palace, where Sora was not allowed to enter.
In the daytime, I played with my companions in the garden, and in the evening I led the dance in the Great Hall.
Around the garden ran a very lofty wall, but I never cared to ask what lay beyond it.
Everything about me was so beautiful.
My courtiers called me the happy prince.
And happy indeed I was, if pleasure was happiness.
So I lived. And so I died.
And now that I am gone, they have set me up here so high, that I can see all the ugliness and the misery of my city.
me. And though my heart is made of lead, yet I cannot choose but to cry.' What?
Is he not solid gold?" said the swallow to himself.
He was too polite to make any personal remarks out loud.
Far away, continued the statue in a low musical voice.
Far away, in a little street, there is a poor 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 coarse red hands, all pricked by the needle, for she is a seamstress.
She is embroidering passion flowers on a satin gown for the loveliest of the queen's maids of honour, to wear at the next court ball.
In a bed in the corner of the room her little boy is lying sick.
He has a fever, and is asking for oranges.
His mother has nothing to give him but river water, so he is crying.
Swallow, swallow, little swallow, will you not bring her the ruby out of my sword hilt?
My feet are fastened to this pedestal and I cannot move.
I am waited for in Egypt, said the swallow.
My friends are flying up and down the Nile and taking to the large lotus flowers.
Soon they will go to sleep in the tomb of the great King.
The King is there himself in his painted coffin.
Swallow, swallow, little swallow, said the Prince.
Will you not stay with me for one night and be my messenger?
The boy is so thirsty and the mother is so sad.' I don't think I like little boys, answered the swallow.
Last summer, when I was staying on the river, there were two rude boys, the Miller's sons, who were always throwing stones at me.
They never hit me, of course.
we swallows fly far too well for that.
And besides, I come from a family famous for its agility, but still it was a mark of disrespect.
But 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.
He passed by the cathedral tower, where the white marble angels were sculptured.
He passed by the palace and heard the sound of dancing.
A beautiful girl came out on the balcony with her friend.
How wonderful the stars are, he said to her, and how wonderful is the power of love!
I hope my dress will be ready in time for the ball, she answered.
I have ordered passion flowers to be embroidered on it, but the seamstresses are so slow.
He passed over the river and saw the lanterns hanging to the mass of the ships.
He passed over another area, and saw the people bargaining with each other and weighing out money and copper scales.
At last, he came to the poor house and looked in.
The boy was tossing feverishly on his bed.
And the mother had fallen asleep.
She was so tired. In he hopped and laid the great ruby on the table beside the woman's thimble.
Then he flew gently around the bed, fanning the boy's forehead with his wings.
How cool I feel said the boy.
I must be getting better.
And he sank into a delicious slumber.
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 is because you have done a good thing, said the prince.
And the little swallow began to think, and then he fell asleep.
Thinking always made him sleepy.
When day broke, he flew down to the river and had a bath.
What a remarkable phenomena, said the professor of ornithology as he was passing over the bridge.
A swallow in winter?
And he wrote a long letter about it in the local newspaper.
Everyone quoted it.
It was full of so many words that they could not understand.
Tonight I go to Egypt, said the swallow.
And he was in high spirits at the idea.
He visited all the public monuments and sat a long time on top of the church steeple.
Wherever he went, the sparrows chirruped and said to each other, what a distinguished stranger!
So he enjoyed himself very much. When the moon rose, he flew back to the happy prince.
Have you any messages for Egypt?
He cried, I am starting.
Swallow, swallow, little swallow, said the prince.
will you not stay with me one night longer I am waited for in egypt answered the swallow tomorrow my friends will fly up to the second cataract the river horse couches there are among the bulrushes at noon the yellow lions come down to the water's edge to drink they have eyes like green burials and their roar is louder than the roar of the cataract.
Swallow, swallow, little swallow, said the Prince.
Far across the city I see a young man in a tower.
He is leaning over a desk covered with papers, and in a tumbler by his side there is a bunch of withered violets.
His hair is brown and crisp, and his lips are red as a pomegranate.
And he has large and dreamy eyes.
He is trying to finish a play for the director of the theater, but he is too cold to write any more.
There is no fire in the great, and hunger has made him faint.
I will wait with you one night longer said the Swallow who really had a good heart shall I take him another Ruby alas I have no Ruby now said the Prince my eyes are all that I have left they 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 jeweler and buy food and firewood and finish his play." "'Dear Prince,' said the swallow, I cannot do that." And he began to weep.
"'Swallow, swallow, little swallow,' said the prince.
Do as I command you." So, the swallow plucked out the Prince's eye and flew away to the student's tower.
It was easy enough to get in as there was a hole in the roof.
Through this he darted and came into the room.
The young man had his head buried in his hands so he did not hear the flutter of the birds wings.
And when he looked up, he found the beautiful sapphire lying on the withered violets.
I am beginning to be appreciated, he cried.
This is from some great admirer.
Now I can finish my play.
And he looked quite happy.
The next day, the Swallow flew down to the harbor.
He sat on the mast of a large vessel and watched the sailors hauling big chests out of the hold with ropes.
Heave ho! they shouted as each chest came up.
I am going to Egypt, cried the swallow, but nobody minded.
And when the moon rose, he flew back to the happy prince.
I have come to bid you goodbye, he cried.
Swallow, swallow, little swallow, said the prince.
Will you not stay with me one night longer?
It is winter, answered the swallow.
And the chilly snow will soon be here.
In Egypt, the sun is warm on the green palm trees And the crocodiles lie in the mud and look lazily about them.
My companions are building a nest, and the pink and white doves are watching them and cooing to each other.
Dear prince, I must leave you, but I will never forget you, and next spring I will bring you back two beautiful jewels in place of those you have given away.
the ruby shall be redder than a red rose and the sapphire shall be as blue as the great sea in the square below said the happy prince there stands a little match girl she has let her matches fall in the gutter and they are all spoiled her father will be angry with her she does not bring home some money and she is crying.
She has no shoes or stockings and her little head is bare.
Pluck out my other eye and give it to her and her father will not be angry with her.
I will stay with you one night longer said the swallow But I cannot pluck out your eye.
You will be quite blind, then." Swallow, swallow, little swallow, said the prince.
Do as I command you.
So he plucked out the prince's other eye and darted down with it.
He swooped past the match girl and slipped the jewel into the palm of her hand.
What a lovely bit of glass, cried the little girl, and she ran home laughing.
Then the swallow came back to the prince.
You are blind now, he said, so I will stay with you always.
No little swallow, said the poor prince.
You must go away to Egypt.
I will stay with you always, said the swallow.
And he slept at the prince's feet.
All the next day, he sat on the prince's shoulder and told him stories of what he had seen in strange lands.
He told him of the red ibises who stand in long rows on the banks of the Nile and catch goldfish in their beaks.
Of the Sphinx, who was as old as the world itself lives in the desert and knows everything.
Of the merchants who walk slowly by the side of their camels and carry amber beads in their hands.
Of the great green snake that sleeps in a palm tree and has 20 people to feed it with honey cakes.
Dear little Swallow said the prince, you tell me of marvelous things but more marvelous than anything is the suffering of men and of women.
There is no mystery so great as misery.
Fly over my city, little swallow, and tell me what you see there." So the swallow flew over the great city and saw the rich making merry in their beautiful houses, while the poor were sitting at the gates.
He flew into dark lanes and saw the faces of hungry children, looking out listlessly at the dark streets.
Under the archway of a bridge, two little boys were lying together to try to keep themselves warm.
How hungry we are, they said.
You must not stay here, shouted the watchman, and they wandered out into the rain.
Then the swallow flew back and told the prince what he had seen.
I am covered with fine gold, said the prince.
You must take it off leaf by leaf and give it to my poor.
The living always think that gold can make them happy.
Leaf after leaf of the fine gold, the swallow picked off till the happy prince looked quite dull and gray.
Leaf after leaf of the fine gold he brought to the poor and the children's faces grew rosier and they laughed and played games in the street.
We have bread now, they cried.
Then the snow came, and after the snow came the frost. The streets looked as if they were made of silver, they were so bright and glistening.
Long icicles like crystal daggers hung down from the eaves of the houses.
Everybody went about in furs, and the little boys wore scarlet caps and skated on the ice.
The poor little swallow grew colder and colder, but he would not leave the prince.
He loved him too well.
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 at last, he knew he was not going to make it.
He had just enough strength to fly up to the prince's shoulder once more.
Goodbye, dear prince, he murmured.
Will you let me kiss your hand?
I am glad that you are going to Egypt at last, little swallow, said the prince.
You have stayed too long here.
You must kiss my lips.
It is not to Egypt that I am going said the swallow, and he kissed the happy prince on the lips and fell down at his feet.
At that moment, a curious crack sounded inside the statue as if something had broken.
The fact is that the leaden heart had snapped right in two.
It certainly was a dreadful hard frost. Early the next morning the Mayor was walking in the square below in company with the town councillors.
As they passed the column, he looked up at the statue. Dear me, how shabby the happy Prince looks, he said.
How shabby indeed, cried the town councillors.
who always agreed with the mayor.
And they went up to look at it.
The Ruby has fallen out of his sword, his eyes are gone, and he is golden no longer, said the mayor, in fact.
He is little better than a beggar.
Little better than a beggar, said the town councillors, and here is actually a bird at his feet, continued the mayor.
We must really issue a proclamation that birds are not allowed to rest here." And, the town clerk made a note of the suggestion.
So, they pulled down the statue of the happy prince.
As he is no longer beautiful, he is no longer useful, said the art professor at the university.
Then, they melted the statue in a furnace and the mayor held a meeting of the corporation to decide what was to be done with the metal. We must have another statue of course he said and it shall be a statue of myself.
Of you said each of the town councilors and they quarreled.
When I last heard them they were quarreling still.
What a strange thing said the overseer of the workmen at the foundry this broken lead heart will not melt in the furnace.
We must throw it away." So they threw it on a dust heap where the swallow was also lying.
"'Bring me the two most precious things in the city,' said the voice to one of the angels.
And the angel brought him the leaden heart and the lifeless bird. You have chosen well, said the voice for in this garden this little bird shall sing forevermore.
And in a city of gold the happy prince shall be remembered.
And that is the end of our story.
Good night. Sleep tight.
