Oscar Wilde wrote this moving piece for his own children. Lovely music, often appropriately melancholy, can be heard throughout the story. The happy prince, which is a statue, is anything but joyful, a state that narrator Anton Lesser deftly captures. As the prince looks over his village, he sees the pain of those who live there and feels compelled to help. He's assisted by a sweet-voiced swallow who acts at the prince's emissary to help those in need. Ultimately, the spiteful townspeople, who sound as nasty as they behave, criticize the prince and the swallow. In the end, good prevails, uplifting everyone, including listeners.