The Happy Prince, and other Tales. By Oscar Wilde. (David
Nutt.)—This is a clever book by a clever man, who has not yet altogether done justice to himself. Mr. Wilde can scarcely have intended these five tales, which (notably the first) arc illustrated by Mr. Walter Crane and Mr. Jacomb Hood in a style which may be described as impressionism tempered by elegance, for boys and girls. Their note is melancholy, and a subtle sarcasm pervades them which will puzzle young readers. Take, as a specimen of this sarcasm, these two sentences from the first page of the first and best of the stories, "The Happy Prince :"—" He [the statue of the Prince] 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." Mr. Wilde's sarcasm occasionally seems akin to cynicism, as in "The Nightingale and the Rose," which is a story of self-sacrifice wasted. The teaching conveyed in most of the tales, particularly in"The Happy Prince," "The Selfish Giant," and "The Re- markable Rocket," is essentially sound, being to the effect that unselfishness is moral beauty, and that vain display is moral ugliness. In the literature of fable, there has probably appeared nothing so pathetic as the story of the little swallow which is in- cluded in that of "The Happy Prince." The public will look forward with much interest to Mr. Oscar Wilde's giving them a second instalment of his dainty wisdom.
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