Class 9 English Moments Chapter 5 – The Happy Prince – All Textual Solutions | ASSEB Assam (English Medium)
Class 9 English Moments Chapter 5 – The Happy Prince Complete Textual Question Answers and Solutions (ASSEB / SEBA Assam – English Medium)
The fifth chapter of the Class 9 English Supplementary Reader (Moments) syllabus, ‘The Happy Prince’, written by the famous playwright and poet Oscar Wilde, is a beautiful and heart-wrenching story. Based on the latest guidelines of the new ASSEB (Assam State School Education Board) syllabus and the New Education Policy (NEP), comprehensive textual question answers for this chapter have been carefully prepared. This special compilation includes very short answer type questions (VSA), short questions, long answers, and thorough vocabulary solutions. At Ospin Academy, these solutions are made available in a simple, accurate, and completely exam-oriented format.
‘The Happy Prince’ is a symbolic story that highlights the virtues of compassion, sacrifice, and true charity. It tells the story of a magnificent statue of a Prince and a little Swallow. Seeing the misery and poverty of the city dwellers, the Happy Prince sacrifices his gold leaves, rubies, and sapphire eyes to help the needy, with the Swallow acting as his faithful messenger. For students preparing for their exams, understanding the character of the Prince and the Swallow, the social criticism of the city officials, and the ultimate moral of the story is highly essential. In our textual solutions, we have covered not only the textbook exercise questions but also additional important question-answers that may appear in the board exams, ensuring students can prepare thoroughly.
What you will learn and get from this textual solution:
- Detailed summary and analysis of the sacrifices made by the Prince and the Swallow for humanity.
- Perfect answers for word meanings, 1-mark very short questions (VSA objective type), and 2-3 mark short questions.
- Standard solutions for character sketches (The Happy Prince and the Swallow) and 4-5 mark long questions.
- Proper knowledge of the themes of internal beauty vs. external appearance highlighted in the story.
- Solutions for extra important questions as well as the latest pattern MCQ questions according to the new syllabus.
Special benefits of these Ospin Academy Question-Answers:
- Complete textual solutions prepared strictly on the basis of the latest ASSEB new syllabus.
- 100% accurate and high-quality notes written in simple English so that students can easily understand and memorize (Class 9 English Notes).
- Specially curated simple answers for quick revision before the final exams.
- A special collection of additional important questions from ‘The Happy Prince’ that frequently appear in exams.
Keeping the educational upliftment of students in mind, Ospin Academy presents this special textual solution. Start your exam preparation now and step forward towards securing the highest marks in English.
Class 9 English (Beehive & Moments) PDF Solutions 2026-27 | SEBA Assam
Download Class 9 English (Beehive & Moments) PDF with textbook solutions, MCQs, and additional exercises for SEBA Assam 2025-26.
Chapter 5
The Happy Prince
Think about it
Question 1. Why do the courtiers call the prince ‘the Happy Prince’? Is he really happy? What does he see all around him?
Answer: The courtiers used to call the prince ‘the Happy Prince’ because when he was alive, he did not know what tears were, for he lived in the Palace, where sorrow was not allowed to enter.
No, he was not happy anymore. When he died, he was made into a statue and placed at a height from where he could see the ugliness and poverty in the city.
Question 2. Why does the Happy Prince send a ruby for the seamstress? What does the swallow do in the seamstress’ house?
Answer: The Happy Prince sends a ruby for the seamstress because she was poor and her son was ill with fever. Her son asks her to give him oranges but all she has is river water.
The swallow was requested by the Happy Prince to visit and give the ruby to the seamstress. When the swallow reached her house, she was asleep and the little boy was tossing feverishly. The swallow kept the ruby on the table beside her thimble. He then gently went around the boy’s bed,
fanning the boy’s forehead with his wings. The boy felt better and went into a deep sleep.
Question 3. For whom does the prince send the sapphires and why?
Answer: The prince sends the two sapphires of his eyes for a young writer and a matchgirl each.
The young writer was trying to finish a play for the Director of the Theatre, but he was too cold to write any more. There was no fire in the grate, and hunger had made him faint.
The Happy Prince sent one of the sapphires of his eyes to him so that he could sell it to the jeweler, buy firewood and finish his play.
The matchgirl’s matches fell in the gutter and got spoiled. She was crying as her father would beat her for this mistake.
The Happy Prince sent the other sapphire to her so that she would not get beaten up when her father sees the gem she has got.
Question 4. What does the swallow see when it flies over the city?
Answer: When the swallow flies over the city, it sees the sharp difference between the lives of the rich and the poor. He sees the rich making merry in their beautiful houses, while the beggars were sitting at the gates. He flies into dark lanes and sees the white faces of starving children looking out listlessly at the black streets.
Question 5. Why did the swallow not leave the prince and go to Egypt?
Answer: The swallow did not leave the prince and go to Egypt. The prince had become blind after giving away his sapphires to the needy. The swallow decided to stay with the prince as he was so touched by his kindness.
Question 6. What are the precious things mentioned in the story? Why are they precious?
Answer: The precious things mentioned in the story are: the leaden heart of the Happy Prince and the dead bird.
They are precious because they are generous and kind. The Happy Prince sacrificed the ruby of his sword so that the poor seamstress could get her son’s fever treated. He even went on to sacrifice his sapphire eyes and became blind. He kept giving away the gold leaves of his statue to be helpful to the poor and needy.
The bird sacrificed his wish of going to Egypt with his friends and stayed with the Happy Prince instead. He ultimately sacrificed his life to stay with the prince and help people.
Thus, when God asked one of his angels to bring two most precious things, the angel brought the leaden heart of the Happy Prince and the dead bird.
The God said that the angel had rightly chosen them, as in his garden of Paradise, the little bird shall sing for ever and in his city of gold, the Happy Prince shall praise him.
