And the priests and the high officers knelt down and said to him, “It was prophesied of old that on this day should come he who was to rule over us. Therefore, let our lord take this crown and this sceptre, and be in his justice and mercy our King over us.”
But he said to them, “I am not worthy, for I have denied the mother who bare me, nor may I rest till I have found her, and known her forgiveness. Therefore, let me go, for I must wander again over the world, and may not tarry here, though ye bring me the crown and the sceptre.” And as he spake he turned his face from them towards the street that led to the gate of the city, and lo! amongst the crowd that pressed round the soldiers, he saw the beggar-woman who was his mother, and at her side stood the leper, who had sat by the road.
And a cry of joy broke from his lips, and he ran over, and kneeling down he kissed the wounds on his mother’s feet, and wet them with his tears. He bowed his head in the dust, and sobbing, as one whose heart might break, he said to her: “Mother, I denied thee in the hour of my pride. Accept me in the hour of my humility. Mother, I gave thee hatred. Do thou give me love. Mother, I rejected thee. Receive thy child now.” But the beggar-woman answered him not a word.
And he reached out his hands, and clasped the white feet of the leper, and said to him: “Thrice did I give thee of my mercy. Bid my mother speak to me once.” But the leper answered him not a word.
And he sobbed again and said: “Mother, my suffering is greater than I can bear. Give me thy forgiveness, and let me go back to the forest.” And the beggar-woman put her hand on his head, and said to him, “Rise,” and the leper put his hand on his head, and said to him, “Rise,” also.
And he rose up from his feet, and looked at them, and lo! they were a King and a Queen.
And the Queen said to him, “This is thy father whom thou hast succoured.”
And the King said, “This is thy mother whose feet thou hast washed with thy tears.” And they fell on his neck and kissed him, and brought him into the palace and clothed him in fair raiment, and set the crown upon his head, and the sceptre in his hand, and over the city that stood by the river he ruled, and was its lord. Much justice and mercy did he show to all, and the evil Magician he banished, and to the Woodcutter and his wife he sent many rich gifts, and to their children he gave high honour. Nor would he suffer any to be cruel to bird or beast, but taught love and loving-kindness and charity, and to the poor he gave bread, and to the naked he gave raiment, and there was peace and plenty in the land.
Yet ruled he not long, so great had been his suffering, and so bitter the fire of his testing, for after the space of three years he died. And he who came after him ruled evilly.
Colophon
Children’s Stories
was published between 1888–1891 by
Oscar Wilde.
This ebook was produced for
Standard Ebooks
by
B. Timothy Keith,
and is based on transcriptions produced in 1997 by
David Nutt, David Price, and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team
for
Project Gutenberg (The Happy Prince and Other Tales, A House of Pomegranates)
and on digital scans available at the
Internet Archive (The Happy Prince, A House of Pomegranates).
The cover page is adapted from
Pallas Athene,
a painting completed in 1898 by
Gustav Klimt.
The cover and title pages feature the
League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy
typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by
The League of Moveable Type.
The first edition of this ebook was released on
December 23, 2020, 10:45 p.m.
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Uncopyright
May you do good and not evil.
May you find forgiveness for yourself and forgive others.
May you share freely, never taking more than you give.
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