A statue of a privileged prince develops a social conscience and a swallow intends to pause just a moment to assist him. Together they conspire to bring a modicum of contentment, financial security, and compassion to the beleaguered poor of a nameless city in northern Europe and both receive their rewards in a heavenly paradise. In this morality tale originally intended for the childlike rather than the child, Wilde addresses issues of social injustice, the loss of innocence, and the redemptive power of love. The otherwise verbatim retelling of the original contains two omissions: reference to Jewish merchants in the ghetto and part of a descriptive passage of life on the Nile that included pygmies and strange religious practices. The watercolor illustrations, varying in size and irregular in shape, are literal extensions of the text.