[Nettime-bold] [ot] [!nt] \n2+0\ letz read

[integer@www.god-emil.dk]

letz read

nn openz 01 ov her prezentz


prologue:

"i can resist everything except temptation"
"we are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars"

when they made fun of languid aesthetes who worshipped beauty and paraded in the
streets in velvet clothes carrying a single lily they thought of him.

he was one of the wittiest men that ever lived and one of the vainest.
even casual conversation dropped from his lips in beautifully balanced perfect sentences.

his son vyvyan: "when he grew tired of playing he would keep us quiet by telling fairy stories"

beneath the the dazzling rippled surface of these stories is a powerful
undertone of sadness. they were written at the height of his wordly success.

"the only people i would care to be with now are artists and people
who have suffered: those who know what beauty is, and those who know what sorrow is:
no one other interests me. [...] there are times when sorrow seems to me the singular truth.
others things may be illusions of the eye or the appetite made to blind the one and cloy
the other, but out of sorrow have the worlds been built. at the birth of a child
and that of a star there is pain"







the happy prince

high above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the 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 weathercock,' remarked one of the
town councillors who wished to gain a reputation for having artistic tastes; `only not quite so
useful,' he added, fearing lest people should think him unpractical, which he really was not.
`why can't you be like the happy prince?' asked a sensible mother of her little boy who was crying
for the moon. `the happy prince never dreams of crying for anything.'

`i am glad there is some one 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 charity children as they came out of the cathedral in their
bright scarlet cloaks, and their clean white pinafores.

`how do you know?' said the mathematical master, `you have never seen one.'

`ah! but we have, in our dreams,' answered the children; and the mathematical master 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
attracted by her slender waist 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
relations;' and indeed the river was quite full of reeds. then, when the autumn came, they 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 a coquette, for she is always flirting with the wind.' and certainly,
whenever the wind blew, the reed made the most graceful curtsies. `i admit that she is domestic,'
he continued, `but i love travelling, and my wife, consequently, should love travelling also.'

`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 trifling with me,' he cried, `i am off to the pyramids. good-bye!' and he flew away.

all day long he flew, and at night-time he arrived at the city. `where shall i put up?' he said; `i hope
the town has made preparations.'

then he saw the statue on the tall column. `i will put up there,' he cried; `it is a fine position with
plenty of fresh air.' so he alighted just between the feet of the happy prince.

`i have a golden bedroom,' he said softly to himself as he looked round, 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 determined 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 weeping 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 of sans-souci, where sorrow is 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. 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
cannot choose 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 cannot 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 king is there
himself in his painted coffin. he is wrapped in yellow linen, and embalmed with spices. round his
neck is a chain of pale green jade, and his hands are like withered leaves.'

`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 so sad.'

`i don't think i like 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 of 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 lover.
`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 state-ball,' she answered; `i have ordered
passion-flowers to be embroidered on it; but the seamstresses are so lazy.'

he passed over the river, and saw the lanterns hanging to the masts of the ships. he passed over
the ghetto, and saw the old jews bargaining with each other, and weighing out money in 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 round 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 action,' 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 phenomenon,' said
the professor of ornithology as he was passing over the bridge. `a swallow in winter!' and he wrote
a long letter about it to the local newspaper. every one 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 prospect. 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 commissions for egypt?' he
cried; `i am just 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. `to-morrow my friends will fly up to the second
cataract. the river-horse couches there among the bulrushes, and on a great granite throne sits
the god memnon. all night long he watches the stars, and when the morning star shines he utters
one cry of joy, and then he is silent. at noon the yellow lions come down to the water's edge to drink.
they have eyes like green beryls, and their roar is louder than the roar of the cataract.'

`swallow, swallow, little swallow,' said the prince, `far away across the city i see a young man in a
garret. 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 theatre, but he is too cold
to write any more. there is no fire in the grate, 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 jeweller, 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 garret. 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 bird's 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 harbour. he sat on the mast of a large vessel and
watched the sailors hauling big chests out of the hold with ropes. `heave a-hoy!' 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 am come to bid you good-bye,' 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 chill 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 in the temple of baalbec, 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 beat her if 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 beat her.'

`i will stay with you one night longer,' said the swallow, `but i cannot pluck out your eye. you would
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
gold fish in their beaks; of the sphinx, who is as old as the world itself and 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 king of the mountains of the moon, who is as black as ebony, and
worships a large crystal; of the great green snake that sleeps in a palm-tree, and has twenty
priests to feed it with honey-cakes; and of the pygmies who sail over a big lake on large flat leaves,
and are always at war with the butterflies.

`dear little swallow,' said the prince, `you tell me of marvellous things, but more marvellous 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 beggars were sitting at the gates. he flew into dark lanes, and saw the white faces of
starving children looking out listlessly at the black streets. under the archway of a bridge two little
boys were lying in one another's arms to try and keep themselves warm. `how hungry we are!' they
said. `you must not lie here,' shouted the watchman, and they wandered out into the rain.

then he 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
grey. 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 where the baker was not looking, and tried to
keep himself warm by flapping his wings.

but at last he knew that he was going to die. he had just strength to fly up to the prince's shoulder
once more. `good-bye, 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; but you must kiss me on the lips, for i love you.'













`it is not to egypt that i am going,' said the swallow. `i am going to the house of death. death is the
brother of sleep, is he not?'

and he kissed the happy prince on the lips, and fell down dead 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 dreadfully 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 dead bird at his feet!' continued the mayor. `we must really issue a
proclamation that birds are not to be allowed to die 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 myself,' said each of the town councillors, and they quarrelled. when i last heard of them they
were quarrelling 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 dead
swallow was also lying.

`bring me the two most precious things in the city,' said god to one of his angels; and the angel
brought him the leaden heart and the dead bird.

`you have rightly chosen,' said god, `for in my garden of paradise this little bird shall sing for
evermore, and in my city of gold the happy prince shall praise me.'








she ur!tez; someday perhaps you shall read these to my children when we visit
            you .....








-
as per exhibit 242. all goddesses are modular.

to extend
   to suppress
      to emerge
         to colonize
            to understand
               to komfort
                  to destroy
      to emerge
         to colonize
            to understand

           -O 43      /  
      |             | \   |        /
  
 
                  netochka nezvanova  - volume 4 number 7
        [c]ccp 0+00 irena sabine czubera. memes pre:served
                         - kop!eren verboten : http://www.membank.org




_______________________________________________
Nettime-bold mailing list
Nettime-bold@nettime.org
http://www.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold