The Birthday of the Infanta by Oscar Wilde. Short summary

5 seconds

A dwarf was brought to entertain Infanta on her birthday. He danced in front of her and received a rose from the hands of the princess. But when he saw himself in the mirror, he realized that everyone was making fun of him and didn’t dance anymore.

1 minute

The Spanish Infanta was twelve years old. Her father loved his daughter very much, because she reminded him of his beloved wife, who died when the little girl was only six months old. Normally the Infanta was not allowed to play with children below her in rank, but today they made an exception: children of noble families were invited to the palace.

Infanta and guests were shown a theatrical bullfight, a performance by an Indian fakir, a tightrope walker, a puppet theater from Italy, gypsies with a bear and Berberian monkeys.

But most of all, Infante enjoyed the dance of the «forest» dwarf. Hunters stumbled upon the freak in a thicket, and the kid’s pauper father sold him for a few pennies. The dwarf’s ridiculous leaps caused the Infanta to laugh, and she took a rose out of her hair and tossed it to the dancer.

The guests were led to the table, and the dwarf ran into the garden. He was infinitely happy and dreamed of taking the princess to the forest and dancing in front of her every day. But he found himself in a hall with mirrors. Seeing how ugly he was, the dwarf fell backwards. The Infanta ordered him to dance, but he did not move.

The chamberlain said that the boy’s heart broke. The Infanta ordered that henceforth only those without a heart be admitted to her.