THE YOUNG KING AND OTHER STORIES (LEVEL 3 PRE-INTERMEDIATE)

When the Young King is plucked from the obscurity of the forest to take his rightful place at the palace, he is happy at first to see the beautiful things he has to wear. But after he dreams of the poor people, struggling to make the clothes and even dying to get the jewels, he does not want them any more. But the people, in turn, do not want a king who does not look like a king. When he refuses to be crowned in the normal way, it looks like he will lose his kingdom, until a shaft of light comes through the stained glass windows of the church and he is ‘crowned’ by one who is greater than the High Priest. The Infanta is a spoilt child who has everything. She laughs at the ugly dwarf who entertains her on her birthday. On a whim, she gives him a rose, which he takes as a sign of love. But when he tries to find her in the palace, he comes face to face with his own image in a mirror for the first time and realises that he is ugly and kept for the lnfanta to laugh at. He dies of a broken heart. The Happy Prince is a statue of gold and jewels which looks down on a city. But he is not as happy as the people think. When a small bird shelters under his figure, she realises that the statue is crying. She helps him put right some of the poverty in his city, with the jewels from his belt and his eyes, and the gold leaf that covers him. She then stays with him because he is blind. However, she cannot survive the winter and, when she freezes to death, the Happy Prince’s metal heart cracks. Both bird and prince are taken into heaven as the two best things in the city. I n The Fisherman and his Soul, the Fisherm a n understands why he has a heart but can see no point in having a soul. When a mermaid tells him he can only join her under the sea if he gets rid of his soul, he finds out from a witch that he can cut his soul free. He does this and lives for a while with the mermaid, but his soul returns several times to tempt him with knowledge and riches. Finally, he is persuaded to take back his soul just for a while, but the soul, without a heart, makes him do terrible things and he tries to rid himself of it again. Too late he discovers you can only send your soul away once. He can never go back to live with his mermaid. When the mermaid dies, her body is washed onto the shore. His heart breaks and his soul can enter his body fully again. In The Nightingale and the Rose, a lovesick student needs a red rose for his lady. A nightingale, impres