Round 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 be happiness . So I lived , and so I died . And now that I am dead they have set me up here so high that I can see all the ugliness and all the misery of my city , and though my heart is made of lead yet I can not chose but weep . '' `` 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 ill . 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 can not move . '' `` I am waited for in Egypt , '' said the Swallow . `` My friends are flying up and down the Nile , and talking to the large lotus - flowers . Soon they will go to sleep in the tomb of the great King .
The XXXXX is there himself in his painted coffin .
Court-ball Egypt King Prince Queen gold ruby seamstress sword-hilt wall