快乐王子的雕像高高矗立在一根柱子上。一天晚上，一只燕子来到他的脚下过夜。突然，一滴、两滴、三滴水珠掉下来，打湿了燕子的翅膀，燕子抬头一看，原来是快乐王子的雕像正在流泪。快乐王子以前生活在快乐的花园里，从不知忧愁悲伤的滋味，这是他头一次看到穷苦人民的生活多么艰难。 在快乐王子的请求下，燕子啄下王子宝石做的眼睛和身上覆盖的黄金叶片，飞过城市上空，把宝物分送给了小巷子里的裁缝、阁楼上穷苦的作家、卖不掉火柴的小女孩…
In a town where a lot of poor people suffer and where there are a lot of miseries, a swallow who was left behind after his flock flew off to Egypt for the winter, meets the statue of the late 'Happy Prince', who in reality has never experienced true sorrow, for he lived in a palace where sorrow isn't allowed to enter. Viewing various scenes of people suffering in poverty from his tall monument, the Happy Prince asks the swallow to take the ruby from his hilt, the sapphires from his eyes, and the golden leaf covering his body to give to the poor.
As the winter comes and the Happy Prince is stripped of all of his beauty, his lead heart breaks when the swallow dies as a result of his selfless deeds and severe cold. The statue is then brought down from the pillar and melted in a furnace leaving behind the broken heart and the dead swallow and they are thrown in a dust heap. These are taken up to heaven by an angel that has deemed them the two most precious things in the city. This is affirmed by God and they live forever in his city of gold and garden of paradise.
