Who knew the Oscar Wilde wrote fairy tales? I saw volume five on the new book cart, and had to check it out. My library had volume four as well, but I may have to ILL the remaining volumes.
Wilde's fairy tales remind me strongly of Hans Christen Anderson's stories: beautiful and poetic, but sad (as opposed to what I think of as the more organic fairy tales--those by the Brothers Grimm). In volume four, we get a story about true friendship, in which a kind soul is taken advantage of by a greedy neighbor who claims to be his friend. It's the second story in this volume, "The Nightingale and the Rose," though, that is the tear-jerker: a nightingale slowly kills herself to give a lovesick student a red rose for his beloved. The fifth volume builds from here: the statue of the Happy Prince begs a passing swallow to carry his jeweled eyes and gold leaf to the poor of the city, until the Price is so plain-looking that he is melted down and tossed away.
Russell's adaptations are perfect, and I look forward to reading more of these.
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