When I was six years old, I saw a very beautiful painting in a book about the virgin forest, called "The True Story". There is a big python in the painting about to devour the beast. Here is a copy of that painting:

The book reads: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole without chewing it. Then they become unable to move and spend six months sleeping and digesting it."

So my mind flew to the jungle to explore, and finally I drew my debut work with colored crayons. My number one piece. It goes like this:

I showed my masterpiece to the adults and asked them if they were afraid. But they replied, "What's there to be afraid of about hats?"

What I drew was not a hat. I drew a python digesting an elephant. Then I drew the inside of the boa constrictor so adults could understand it. They always need explanation. My second piece is here:

The adults suggested that I should stop drawing boa constrictors, whether with their bellies open or with their bellies closed, and that I should concentrate on studying geography, history, mathematics and Chinese. In this way, at the age of six, I gave up my ambition to become a great painter. I was very discouraged by the failure of works No. 1 and No. 2. Adults themselves don’t understand anything, and they always have to ask children to explain things to them. This makes me feel very tired.

So I had to choose another career and learned to fly a plane. I fly all over the world. Geography is really helpful to me. I can tell China and Arizona apart at a glance. This is useful if you get lost at night.

Later, I had many interactions with many important people at work. Most of my life I live among adults. I watched them very carefully. It doesn't change my opinion of them.

Whenever I met someone who seemed to me to be reasonably clear-headed, I would test him with the No. 1 piece I had with me. I wonder if anyone can really understand this painting. But the answer is always: "This is a hat." If the other person answers like this, then I will not mention the boa constrictor, the virgin forest and the stars again. I'll humor him. I would talk to him about bridge, golf, politics or ties. These adults will be happy and think that the person they have met is really reasonable.

So I was used to being alone and had no friends to talk to, until my plane made an emergency landing in the Sahara Desert, that was six years ago. There was something wrong with the plane's engine. There were no mechanics or passengers on board, so I had to try to complete the difficult repair job alone. I was really at a critical moment: I only had enough water left for a week at most.

That first night I slept on the sand, surrounded by no man's land for thousands of miles. I was more helpless than a shipwrecked sailor in the middle of the ocean. So you can imagine my surprise when a slight, strange noise woke me up at dawn. The voice said: "Please... help me draw a sheep." "What?" "Please help me draw a sheep..."

I stood up immediately as if struck by lightning. I rubbed my eyes. I looked carefully. I saw a very strange child standing next to me and looking at me seriously. This is the portrait I tried to paint of him later. But of course my painting is not as cute as him in person. This is not my fault. When I was six years old, my ambition to be a painter was already dissuaded by adults. I never drew anything except a boa constrictor with its belly closed and a boa constrictor with its belly open.

My eyes widened and I looked at the sudden appearance of the ghost in surprise. I am thousands of miles away from any human habitation. But the little guy didn't look like he was lost, or exhausted, or hungry, thirsty, or scared. He looked nothing like a child lost in a desert surrounded by thousands of miles of no-man's land. After I calmed down a little, I said, "But, what are you doing here?" He just slowly repeated what he just said, as if it was a very important thing. "Please...please help me draw a sheep..."

When you are possessed by something mysterious, you dare not disobey. Even though it seemed absurd to me that there was no man's land for thousands of miles around me and that I was in danger of death, I took a piece of paper and a ballpoint pen from my pocket. Then I remembered that I had only studied geography, history, mathematics and Chinese in school, so I told the little guy (sounding a little impatiently) that I didn't know how to draw. He replied: "It doesn't matter. Just draw me a sheep."

I've never drawn a sheep. So I painted him one of the first two paintings. The python with its belly closed. I was surprised to hear this little guy say:

"No! No! I don't want a boa constrictor that swallows an elephant. Boas are very dangerous and elephants are very heavy. I live in a small place. I need sheep. Please draw me a sheep."

So I painted it for him.

He looked at it carefully and then said, "No! This sheep is very sick. Repaint it for me."

I painted. My friend chuckled innocently. "Look...this is not a sheep, this is a ram. It has two horns..."

So I started painting again.

But like the previous two, it was rejected. "This one is too old. I want a sheep that will live a long time." I was impatient and anxious to remove the engine, so I scribbled this picture.

I threw it to him casually and said: "This is a box. The sheep you want is inside." But to my great surprise, the little judge seemed very happy. "This is exactly what I want! Do you think sheep need to eat a lot of grass?" "What's wrong?" "Because the place I live is very small..." "It should be big enough. The sheep I gave you is also very small. Small." He looked down at the painting. "He's not very young... Come and see! He's asleep..." In this way, I got to know the little prince.

It took me a long time to figure out where he was coming from. The little prince asked me many questions, but he seemed not to hear the ones I asked him. My understanding of him was slowly accumulated piecemeal while chatting. For example, when seeing my airplane for the first time (I didn't draw it, it was too complicated for me), he asked me: "What is that?" "It's not a thing. It flies. It's a plane. It's my plane." I proudly told him I could fly. After hearing this, he loudly said: "Really! Then did you fall from the sky?" "Yes," I replied, a little ashamed. "Oh! How interesting..."

The little prince laughed so cutely that it made me angry. Because I don't want others to take pleasure in my misfortune. He went on to say: "So you came from the sky too! Which planet are you from?" At this moment, I suddenly understood why he appeared here mysteriously, so I couldn’t wait to ask: "Are you from another planet?" But he didn't answer. He just shook his head slightly and stared at my plane. "Indeed, you can't fly that far on this thing..." He fell into deep thought for a long time. Then he took out my painting from his pocket and looked at his treasure intently.

As you can imagine, I was very curious about the words "other planets" at that time. So I asked a few more questions. "Where do you come from, little one? Where is that 'place where I live' you just mentioned? Where do you want to take my sheep?" He thought silently for a moment and then said: "The good thing about you giving me this box is that he can use it as his home at night."

"Of course. If you obey, I will give you a rope so you can tie him up during the day. And I can give you another post." This proposal seemed to surprise the little prince.

"Tie him up? This is such a weird idea!" "But if you don't leash him, he might wander around and get lost."

My friend laughed again. "Where can he go?" "Go everywhere. Keep moving forward." Upon hearing this, the little prince said solemnly: "That's okay. I live in a small place." Then he added sadly: "Even if he keeps moving forward, he can't go very far..."

From this I learned the second very important thing: the planet he lives on is only the size of a house!

I don't think this is strange. I know that some planets are very large, such as the Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, etc., and these have names, but there are also many planets that are very small, so small that they cannot be seen even with a telescope. If an astronomer discovers such a small planet, he will not give it a name, but a number. For example, he might call it "Asteroid 3251."

I have enough reasons to believe that the planet where the little prince lives is asteroid B612. The asteroid was observed with a telescope only once, in 1909, by a Turkish astronomer.

He subsequently presented his findings in detail at the International Astronomical Congress. But no one believed him because he was wearing Turkish clothes. That's how adults are.

Fortunately, the Turkish dictator later ordered his citizens to wear European clothes, under penalty of death. In 1920, the astronomer dressed very elegantly and told the conference about his discovery. This time everyone accepted his evidence.

I tell you so much about asteroid B612 and let you know its number because of your honour. Adults love numbers. If you tell them you've met someone new, they never ask you important questions. They never say, "What does his voice sound like? What's his favorite game? Does he collect butterflies?" They ask, "How old is he? How many brothers does he have? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?" ? “Only then will they feel they understand him. If you say to an adult, "I saw a beautiful red brick house with pots of geraniums on the windowsill and many doves on the roof..." they won't be able to imagine what the house looks like. You have to say, "I saw a house worth a hundred thousand francs." They will exclaim, "Wow, what a beautiful house!"

Likewise, if you say to them: "The proof that the little prince exists is that he is charming, smiles, and wants a sheep. If anyone wants a sheep, that proves that this person exists." Your Excellency I won't take it seriously and treat you like a child! But if you tell them: "He comes from asteroid B612." They will believe it and won't ask you any more questions. That's how they are. Don't blame them. Children should be tolerant to adults.

But of course for those of us who know how to live, numbers are irrelevant! I would rather tell this story with the beginning of a fairy tale. I want to say this:

"Once upon a time, there was a little prince. The planet he lived on was not much bigger than him. He wanted to find a friend..." For those who know how to live, this will appear more true.

Because I don't want people to read this book carelessly. I write these memories with great sadness. It’s been six years since my friend left with the sheep. I try to picture him here so as not to forget him. It is sad to forget a friend. Not everyone has had friends. Maybe I will become like adults and be more interested in numbers. So I bought a box of paints and some pencils. It is very difficult for me to pick up a paintbrush again because I have only painted pythons with closed bellies and pythons with open bellies, and that was only when I was six years old! Of course, I will try to draw it as realistically as possible. But I can't guarantee success. Some paintings are very similar, some paintings are not. Sometimes I get the proportions wrong and make the little prince either too big or too small. I'm not sure what color his clothes are. Anyway, I just drew clumsily like this. I also got some important details wrong. But you have to forgive me. My friends never explain. Maybe he thought I was like him. But unfortunately, I can't see the sheep in the box. Maybe I'm a bit of an adult. I've definitely gotten older.

Every day I learn something new about the Little Prince's planet, his departure, and his journey. This information was revealed inadvertently during the conversation. In this way, on the third day after meeting him, I heard about the scourge of baobab trees.

This time I had to thank the sheep again, because the little prince suddenly asked me worriedly: “Can sheep really eat short shrubs?” "Yes. It's true." "Okay! I'm so happy!" I don't see what the big deal is about sheep eating short shrubs. But the little prince asked again: "So it can also eat baobab trees?" I told the little prince that the baobab tree was not a short shrub, but a tree as big as a church. Even if he brought a whole herd of elephants, he probably wouldn't be able to eat a single baobab tree. The idea of ​​bringing a whole herd of elephants with him made the little prince laugh. "Then you have to stack them up..."

But he also said something very smart: "The baobab tree is still a sapling before it grows up." "That's true! But why do you want the sheep to eat the baby baobabs?" His answer was: "Do you need to say more?" It seemed that the truth behind this was obvious. I had to rack my brains and figure it out myself.

It turns out that like all planets, there are good plants and bad plants on the little prince's planet. So there are good seeds of good plants and bad seeds of bad plants. But the seeds are invisible. They sleep secretly in the soil until some seeds suddenly decide to wake up. Then it will sprout, first shyly facing the sun and growing lovely twigs. If this is a radish or rose shoot, you can leave it to grow. But if it is a bad plant, pull it out as soon as you recognize it. There are some terrible seeds on the little prince's planet...the seeds of the baobab tree. They invaded the land of that planet. If you discover it too late, you will never be able to remove the baobab tree. It will cover the entire planet. It will grow many roots. If the planet is too small and there are too many baobabs, the planet will eventually burst.

"The rules over there are," the little prince said to me later, "after washing up every morning, you must carefully clean and dress up your planet. You must force yourself to often pull out the baobab tree. When it was young, it followed the rose. The seedlings look alike, and if you can identify it, you have to pull it out immediately. It’s very tedious work, but it’s also very simple.”

One day he suggested that I might as well draw a beautiful picture so that the children on my planet could understand this. "When they travel in the future," he told me, "your painting will be helpful to them. Sometimes it's harmless to delay work for a few days. But when it comes to baobabs, delay can spell disaster." I know of a lazy guy who neglected three baobab seedlings on a certain planet..."

Under the guidance of the little prince, I drew the planet. I don't want to adopt the tone of a moralist. But few people know about the dangers of baobab trees, and the possibility of people getting lost and setting foot on an asteroid is very high, so I plan to no longer remain silent, but make an exception and call: "Children! Beware of baobab trees!" I I drew this picture carefully to remind my friends that they, like myself, have stayed on the edge of danger for too long. It’s worth taking the trouble to teach everyone this lesson. You may ask: "Why are the other pictures in this book not as beautiful as this picture of the baobab tree?" The answer is very simple: I also wanted to draw such a beautiful picture, but I failed. When painting the baobab tree, I am driven by a sense of urgency.

Little prince, this is how I gradually understand your sad little life! It turns out that for a long time, your only pastime was to watch the sunset silently. I learned this new detail on the morning of the fourth day, when you said: "I like sunsets. Let's go watch them..." "But we have to wait..." "What are you waiting for?" "Wait for sunset." You looked surprised at first, then laughed heartily. Then you say: "I thought I was still on my own planet!"

Indeed. Everyone knows that if it's noon in the United States, it's dusk in France. If you can get to France in one minute, you can see the sunset. Unfortunately France is too far away. But your planet is so small that you only need to move the chair a few steps. You can see the dusk scene at any time.

"One day," you say, "I watched the sunset forty-four times!" After a while you said again: "You know, people fall in love with sunsets when they are sad." "Are you sad that day when you watched the forty-fourth sunset?" But the little prince didn't answer.

On the fifth day, thanks again to the sheep, I discovered the secret of the little prince's life. At that time, he suddenly asked me a question without any warning, as if he had been thinking about this question silently for a long time.

“If sheep eat dwarf shrubs, do they also eat flowers?” “Sheep eat whatever they see.” "You even eat flowers with thorns?" "Yes. Even flowers with thorns are eaten." "So, what are those thorns for?"

I have no idea. I was trying to get a screw out of the engine. I was worried because I noticed serious problems with the plane, and what frightened me the most was that there was less and less drinking water.

"What are those thorns for?" The little prince asked a question and always had to get an answer. I was annoyed by that screw, so I said casually: "Those thorns serve no purpose at all, they are just there to express the malicious intent of the flowers."

"oh!" But after a while, he said with a bit of resentment: "I don't believe you! Flowers are very weak. They are innocent. They will try their best to protect themselves. They think those thorns are terrible weapons..."

I didn't answer. At this time I was thinking: "If I can't turn this screw, I will knock it out with a hammer." The little prince interrupted my thinking: "Do you really think flowers..." "Don't bother! I don't think anything of it! I just said it casually. I have serious things to do!" He looked at me in surprise. "Serious business!" He stared at me as I held a hammer in my hand and my fingers were smeared with black grease as I bent over what he considered an ugly piece of machinery. "You sound like an adult!" This makes me feel a little ashamed. But he continued relentlessly: "You're confusing everything...you're confusing everything!" He was really angry. Her golden curls swayed in the wind.

"I know of a planet where there lives a certain red-faced gentleman. He has never smelled the fragrance of a flower. He has never seen a star. He loves no one. He does nothing but add. He spends his days It's like you're saying to yourself: 'I'm a decent guy! I'm a decent guy! ' But he's not a human being - he's a mushroom!" "What is he?" "It's a mushroom!" At this time, the little prince turned pale with anger.

"Flowers have been growing thorns for millions of years. Sheep have been eating flowers for millions of years. Isn't it serious business to try to understand why flowers work so hard to grow useless thorns? Don't sheep and Isn’t the war between flowers more important and more serious than the addition of the red-faced fat gentleman? Suppose I personally know a unique flower in the world, and she only appears on my planet, but in a certain One morning, a little sheep accidentally bit her and destroyed her. I guess it doesn’t matter at all!”

His face turned red and he continued: "If someone falls in love with a flower, there are billions of stars in the sky, and this flower only grows on one of them, which is enough to make him feel happy when he looks up at the night sky. He will tell himself: 'In the starry sky There is my flower somewhere. 'But if the sheep eats the flower, it doesn't matter to him that all the stars suddenly go out!"

He could say no more. He burst into tears. Night has fallen. I dropped my tools. I can't care less about hammers, screws, thirst, and death. On a certain planet, on a certain planet, on this planet, on the earth, there is a little prince who needs me to comfort him! I hugged him tight. I held him and rocked him slowly. I said: "The flower you love will not be in danger... I will draw a muzzle for your sheep... I will draw a railing for you to surround the flower... I..." I didn't know what to do. say what. I feel very embarrassed. I don't know how to approach and reach... This is a mysterious place, this land of tears.

I quickly learned more about the flower. There were always some ordinary flowers on the little prince's planet, with only a circle of petals, which did not take up space or cause any trouble. They bloom in the grass in the morning and fade in the evening. But one day, this flower sprouted and developed from a seed that floated from nowhere. The little prince observed this seedling very closely. It looked different from other seedlings. It may be a new species of baobab tree. But the shrub soon stopped growing and sprouted flower buds. Seeing the buds growing so big, the little prince believed that the flower would be surprisingly beautiful; but she hid in the calyx and refused to reveal her beautiful face. She chooses the colors carefully. She slowly put on her clothes and adjusted the petals one by one. She didn't want to appear crumpled like a poppy. She wants to fully shine with her beautiful light. Yes, she is so beautiful! She dressed herself up mysteriously for many days. Then one morning, at sunrise, she suddenly revealed her true face.

She had dressed up so carefully, but now she yawned and said: "Oops! I just got up...I'm sorry...I haven't washed up yet." The little prince couldn't help but said: "You are so beautiful!" "Really?" the flower replied softly, "and the sun was just right when I was born..." The little prince soon saw that she was not very modest, but she was so charming! "I think it's time for breakfast," she added quickly, "could you..."

The little prince blushed and quickly brought a watering can filled with water to serve the flower. In this way, this sensitive and vain flower began to torture the little prince. For example, one day, when the topic of her four thorns came up, she said to the little prince: "If the tiger comes, let it come. I'm not afraid of its claws!" "There are no tigers on my planet," the little prince said. "Besides, tigers don't eat grass."

"We are not grass," the flower said delicately. "sorry……" "I'm not afraid of tigers anyway, but I hate the wind. Don't you have a partition to block the wind?"

"It's so unfortunate for the plant that it's afraid of the wind," the little prince thought to himself, "it's so hard to understand what's going on in this flower." "In the evening you have to put me in a glass dome. It's too cold here. It's very inconvenient for me to live there. Over there in my hometown..."

She stopped at this point. She developed from a seed. She was not familiar with other places. Such an innocent lie was almost exposed on the spot. She felt a little ashamed, so she pretended to cough two or three times and blamed the little prince: "Where's the wind screen?" "I wanted to get it, but you have to talk to me!" She pretended to cough a few more times, just to make the little prince feel guilty. So although the little prince was very willing to love and protect her, he soon became suspicious. The little prince always took her words seriously, but many of the words she said were just casual remarks, which made the little prince very unhappy.

"I shouldn't take her words seriously," he told me one day. "You must not take what the flowers say seriously. All we have to do is look at their faces and smell their fragrance. My flowers fill the entire planet. Fragrance, but I don't know how to be happy about it. Those nonsense words about tiger claws made me very angry, but she was actually being coquettish and hoped that I could pity her..."

He continued to speak from his heart: "It's a pity that I didn't understand anything before! I should have watched her actions instead of listening to her words! She spread fragrance for me and lit up my life. I shouldn't have left her, I should have seen the things hidden in her The tenderness behind the tricks is so elusive! I was too young to understand what love was."

I believe he left with the migrating birds. The morning before he left, he tidied up his planet. He carefully cleaned the active volcano. It has two active volcanoes. They are convenient for heating breakfast. It also has an extinct volcano. But as he said: "Who knows what will happen in the future!" So he also cleaned up the extinct volcano. If it is cleaned up, the volcano will burn slowly and steadily without sudden eruptions. A volcanic eruption is similar to a chimney fire. Apparently, on Earth, we are too small to clean up volcanoes. So they cause a lot of trouble.

The little prince pulled out the last few baobab seedlings a little sadly. He felt that he would never come back. But these familiar labors seemed particularly sweet that morning. He watered the flower for the last time and was about to put her in the glass dome, when he found that he wanted to cry. "Goodbye," he said to the flower. But she didn't answer. "Goodbye," he said again. Hua'er coughed. But it wasn't because she caught a cold. "I was stupid before," she finally said, "I'm sorry. I wish you happiness." He was surprised that Hua'er didn't blame him. He was stunned, and the glass cover stopped in mid-air. He couldn't understand the sweetness of this peace. "Yes, I love you," said the flower, "but you don't know anything. It's my fault. It doesn't matter. But you are as stupid as me. I wish you happiness... take away the glass cover, I don't want it anymore." "But it will be windy..." "My cold isn't that bad...the cool night air is good for me. I'm a flower." "But there will be insects and beasts..." "I am willing to put up with two or three caterpillars because I want to get to know butterflies. I heard butterflies are very beautiful. Otherwise, who will come to visit me? You will have to go far away. As for big animals, I am not afraid, I have claws." She innocently exposed the four thorns. Then she said: "Stop dawdling, it makes me uncomfortable. Since you have decided to leave, then go." Because she didn't want the little prince to see her cry. This flower is really proud...

The closest ones are asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329 and 330. He began visiting these asteroids, both to find a suitable career and to learn knowledge.

The first asteroid was inhabited by a king. The king wore purple robes decorated with ermine and sat on a simple but majestic throne. "Some people are coming!" the king said in surprise when he saw the little prince. Hearing these words, the little prince thought to himself: "How does he know me? I've never seen him!" He didn't know that for the king, the world was simple. All people are his people. "Come closer so I can see what you look like," the king said, proud to finally be someone's king. The little prince looked around, trying to find a seat to sit down, but the entire planet was covered by luxurious mink robes. So he could only continue to stand; because he was very tired, he yawned. "It is against etiquette to yawn in the presence of the king," the monarch said, "and I forbid you to yawn." "I couldn't help it," the little prince said very embarrassedly, "I walked a long way and didn't sleep in the middle..." At this time the king said: "Then I order you to yawn. I haven't seen anyone yawn for many years. I really want to see people yawn. Hurry up! Yawn a few more. This is an order." "You scared me...I can't fight..." the little prince said with a blush. "Yes! Yes!" the king replied, "Then I...I order you to fight sometimes and not to fight sometimes..."

He spoke stumblingly and seemed angry. Because what a king cares about most is that his authority be respected. He could not tolerate resistance. He is an absolute monarch. But he is a very kind man, so the orders he issues are always reasonable. "If I order," he often said, "if I order some general to turn into a seabird, and the general doesn't obey, that's not the general's fault. That's my fault." "Can I sit down?" the little prince asked timidly. "I command you to sit down," replied the king, drawing his ermine robe inward with great authority. But the little prince was very curious. The planet is small. What can a king rule? "Your Majesty," said the little prince, "I have a question to ask you..." "I command you to ask me," said the king hastily. "Your Majesty, what do you rule?" "Everything," the king replied very simply. "What?" The king did not speak, but waved his hand to indicate that everything he said included his planet, the other planets, and the stars. "Do you rule all this?" asked the little prince. "Yes," answered the king. It seems that he is not only an absolute monarch, he is also the king of the universe. "Do the stars also listen to you?" "Of course," said the king, "they are very obedient. I will not tolerate rebellion."

This power surprised the little prince. If he himself had this power, he would not only be able to watch the sunset forty-four times a day, but seventy-two, or even a hundred or two hundred times a day, without having to move a chair! Saddened by the thought of the planet he had abandoned, the little prince summoned up the courage to ask the king for a favor. "I want to see the sunset...please help me...please order the sun to go down..." "If I order a general to fly like a butterfly among the flowers, or to compose a tragedy, or to turn into a seabird, and the general does not carry out my order, then whose fault is it?" "It's your fault," the little prince said firmly. "That's right. You can't order someone to do something they can't do," the king said. "Authority is first based on a reasonable basis. If you order your people to jump into the sea, they will rise up and rebel. I I have the authority to ask everyone to obey, because my orders are reasonable.” "What about my sunset?" the little prince reminded the king, because he never forgot after asking the question. "You will have your sunset. I will command the sun to set. But I will wait until the right time to give the command, in accordance with the scientific way of governing." "When is that?" asked the little prince. "Yeah! Yeah!" the king replied while flipping through a thick almanac, "Yeah! Yeah! It's probably at... It's at... The right time today is probably at seven forty! Then you will Found my orders well obeyed.” The little prince yawned. He regretted not being able to see the sunset. Then he got a little bored

"I have nothing to do here," he said to the king, "I am leaving." "Don't go," said the king, who was very proud to finally have a subject. "Don't go. I'll make you a minister!" "What minister?" "Uh... Attorney General!" "But there's no one here who can judge!" "That's not certain," said the king. "I have not yet made a thorough tour of my kingdom. I am very old, and there is no room here for a carriage. Walking is very tiring." "Oh! But I have already seen it." The little prince bent down again and looked at the other side of the planet. "There is no one over there..." "Then you can judge yourself," replied the king. "That is the hardest. It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you can judge yourself correctly, then you are a truly wise man." "I," said the little prince, "I want to judge myself anywhere. It doesn't have to be on this planet." "Well! Well!" said the King, "I believe there is a rat somewhere on my planet. I can hear it at night. You can judge the rat. You can sentence it to death once in a while. Then its life It's up to you. But you have to spare him every time. There's only one mouse here." "I," said the little prince, "I don't like the death penalty. I think I should go..." "Don't leave," said the king. Although the little prince was ready to leave, he did not want to make the old monarch sad.

"Your Majesty, if you want your orders to be obeyed, then you can give me reasonable orders. For example, you can order me to leave within one minute. I think the right time has arrived..." The king didn't answer. The little prince hesitated for a moment, then sighed and set off. "I appoint you as my ambassador," the king shouted hastily. He assumed a condescending air. "My lord, how strange it is," thought the little prince, and continued on his journey.

The second planet was inhabited by a vain man. "Ah! Ah! An admirer has come to visit me," the man shouted when he saw the little prince coming from a distance. Because in the eyes of a vain man, everyone is his admirer. "Hello," said the little prince, "your hat is very funny." "This is for waving," said the vain man. "When the crowd cheers me, I use it to express my gratitude. It's a pity that no one has ever been here."

"Really?" the little prince asked, not fully understanding. "Clap your hands," the vain man pointed at him. The little prince clapped his hands. The vain man picks up his hat and expresses his gratitude humbly. "This is much more fun than just visiting the king," the little prince thought to himself. He clapped his hands again. The vain man raised his hat again. After five minutes of practice, the little prince got tired of this monotonous game. "If I want you to take off your hat," the little prince asked, "what should you do?" But the vain man cannot hear him. Vain people only hear praise. "Do you really admire me?" he asked the little prince. "What does worship mean?" "To worship me is to acknowledge that I am the best, best-dressed, richest and smartest person in the world." "But you are the only one on your planet." "Help me. Please worship me!" "I admire you," the little prince shrugged lightly and said disapprovingly, "but why do you think this is so funny?" The little prince left. "My lord, this is very strange," thought the little prince, and continued on his journey.

Then that planet was inhabited by people who loved to drink. This visit was very short, but it made the little prince sad for a long time. "What are you doing?" he said to the drinker, who sat silently beside many empty bottles and many filled bottles.

"I'm drinking," the drinker says, a little sadly. "Why do you drink?" asked the little prince. "To forget," replied the drinker. "What have you forgotten?" asked the little prince, who was already beginning to feel sorry for this man. "Forget my shame," said the drinker, his head lowered. "What are you ashamed of?" the little prince asked, he wanted to help this person. "You are ashamed to drink!" After saying this, the drinker refused to speak again. The little prince walked away, confused. "My lord, this is very, very strange," thought the little prince, as he continued on his journey.

The fourth planet belongs to people who do business. This man was so busy that when the little prince arrived, he didn't even raise his head.

"Hello," said the little prince, "your cigarette has been put out." "Three plus two equals five. Five plus seven equals twelve. Twelve plus three equals fifteen. Hello. Fifteen plus seven equals twenty-two. Twenty-two plus six equals twenty-eight. I don't have time to relight it . Twenty-six plus five equals thirty-one. Wow! The total is five hundred and one thousand six hundred and twenty-two thousand seven hundred and thirty-one." "What's five hundred million?" "Eh? Why are you still here? Five hundred and one hundred...I don't know. I have a lot of things to do! I am a serious person and have no time to talk nonsense! Two plus five equals seven..." "What is more than five hundred and one million?" the little prince asked again. After he asked a question, he always had to get an answer. The businessman raised his head.

"I have lived on this planet for fifty-four years, and I have only been disturbed three times. The first time was twenty-two years ago, when a scarab fell from God knows where. It made such a loud noise that it caused harm. I made four mistakes. The second time was eleven years ago, when I had arthritis. I didn't have time to move around. The third time was... this time. ! I just mentioned five hundred and one hundred..."

"What's five hundred and one million?" The business man knows that he can never find peace again. "More than 501 million little things that people sometimes see in the sky." "Flies?" "No, it's a glowing little thing." "bee?" "No. Those little things are golden and make you daydream. But I'm serious! I don't have time to daydream." "Oh! Is it a star?" "That's right. It's a star." "What do you want more than 500 million stars for?" "It's 501,622,731 stars. I'm a serious person and I pay attention to accuracy." "What do you want these stars for?" "What are you doing with them?" "yes." "Do nothing. I own them." "You have so many stars?" "Yes." "But I have seen a king who..." "Kings don't own. They just rule. It's very different." "What good will having a star do you?" "It will make me rich." “What good does becoming wealthy do to you?” "If someone discovers more stars, I can buy them." "This guy," the little prince thought to himself, "thinks a bit like the man who loves to drink." But he still had many questions.

“How can you own the stars?” "Then who do you think they belong to?" the businessman replied angrily. "I don't know. It doesn't belong to anyone." "Then they belong to me, because I was the first to think of them." "This is possible too?" "Of course. If you find a diamond that doesn't belong to anyone, it's yours. If you find an island that doesn't belong to anyone, it's yours. If you're the first to think of an idea and register it If you get a patent, it's yours. I own the stars because no one before me thought of owning them." "That's true," said the little prince, "what do you do with these stars?" "I manage them. I count them," says the businessman. "It's a hard thing to do. But I'm a serious man!" The little prince was still not satisfied. "If I had a scarf, I could put it around my neck and take it with me. If I had a flower, I could pluck the flower and take it with me. But you can't pluck the star!" "Yeah, but I can put them in the bank." "What does this mean?" "That means I'll write the number of the star on a piece of paper. Then I'll put this important piece of paper in a drawer." "that's all?" "that's all!" "This is very funny," the little prince thought to himself, "and even a little poetic. But it is not very serious." The little prince's views on what is serious are very different from those of adults.

"Let me tell you again, I own a flower and I water it every day. I own three volcanoes and I clean them every week. Because I even clean the extinct volcano. Who knows when it will erupt. Yes! I am useful to the volcanoes and flowers I have, but you are completely useless to the stars..." The businessman opened his mouth, but could not answer, so the little prince left. "My lord is very strange," he thought to himself, and continued on his journey.

The fifth planet is very strange. It is the smallest of all planets. There was just enough room for a street lamp and a lampbearer. The little prince could not explain the use of street lamps and the people holding them in the vast space, on a planet with neither houses nor inhabitants. But he said to himself: "This man may be absurd. However, he is certainly not as absurd as kings, vain people, businessmen, and drinkers. At least his work is meaningful. When he lights up the street lights, it seems to have brought new life. The star or the flower. When he turns off the street light, it's like letting the star or the flower go to sleep. It's a beautiful occupation because it's beautiful."

After arriving on the planet, he respectfully greeted the person holding the lamp. "Hello. Why did you turn out the street lights?" "That's the rule," said the man holding the lamp. "Good morning." "What's the rule?" "Lights out rule. Good evening." He turned on the street lamp again. "But why did you light it again?" "This is the rule," said the lamplighter. "I don't understand," said the little prince. "No need to understand," said the lamp-holder, "rules are rules. Good morning." He put out the street light. Then he wiped his forehead with a red handkerchief.

"My job is hard. It used to be more rational. I turned off the lights in the morning and turned them on at night. The rest of the day I could rest, the rest of the night I could sleep..." "What happened next? Did the rules change?" "The rules haven't changed," said the man holding the lamp. "That's the tragedy! The planet is spinning faster and faster every year, but the rules haven't changed!" "So what?" asked the little prince. "So now it's spinning once a minute, and I don't even have a second to rest. I'm turning it on and off once a minute!" "It's so fun! You only have one minute a day here!" "It's not fun at all," said the man holding the lamp. "We've been talking about this for a month." "A month?" "Yeah. Thirty minutes. Thirty days! Good evening."

He lit the street lamp. The little prince looked at him, and he fell in love with this devoted lamplighter. He remembered how he could watch the sunset just by moving his chair a few steps. He wanted to help his friend. "You know... I know a way to let you rest when you want to..." "I have been meaning to rest," said the lamp-holder. Because people can be loyal to their duties and want to be lazy at the same time. The little prince continued: "Your planet is so small that you can circle it in just three steps. As long as you walk slowly enough, the sun will always be above your head... The day can last as long as you want it to." " "It's no use to me," said the man holding the lamp, "I want to sleep." "Then there is nothing we can do," said the little prince. "There is no way," said the man holding the lamp. "Good morning." He put out the street light.

"This fellow," thought the little prince as he continued on his journey, "will be laughed at by several others, by kings, vain people, drinkers, and businessmen. But in my opinion, He's the only one who's not ridiculous. Maybe it's because he's so busy but not for himself." He sighed regretfully, and then said: "This is the only person I want to be friends with. But his planet is too small. It can't accommodate two people..." What the little prince dared not admit was that he felt sorry for leaving this planet. The most important reason was that on this planet, he could see one thousand four hundred and forty sunsets every twenty-four hours!

The sixth planet is ten times larger than the fifth planet. The man who lives above is an old man who has written many thick books.

"Wow! An explorer is here!" he exclaimed when he saw the little prince. The little prince sat down at the table, panting a little. He has come a long way! "Where are you from?" the old gentleman asked. "What is this big book about?" asked the little prince. "What do you do here?" "I am a geographer," said the old gentleman. “What is a geographer?” "It is a learned man who knows the locations of oceans, rivers, towns, mountains and deserts." "This is very interesting," said the little prince, "this is the real profession!" He looked around at the geographer's planet. He had never seen anything so majestic and beautiful.

"It's so beautiful, your planet. Is there an ocean here?" "I don't know," said the geographer. "Ah! (The little prince was disappointed) Are there any mountains?" "I don't know," said the geographer. "What about towns, rivers and deserts?" "I don't know either," said the geographer. "But you are a geographer!" "Yes," said the geographer, "but I'm not an explorer. I need explorers. It's not the geographer's job to go out and figure out how many towns and rivers and mountains and oceans and deserts there are out there. The geographer is very Importantly, he couldn't leave his office, but he could ask questions of explorers and write down their memories. To investigate the moral character of the explorer.” "why?" "Because an explorer who lies can bring disaster to geography books. So can an explorer who drinks too much." "Why?" asked the little prince. "Because drunk people see double images. Then geographers will label one mountain as two." "I know someone," said the little prince, "who would be very bad at becoming an explorer." "Perhaps. When an explorer's moral character is proven to be sound, people will investigate his findings." "Would you like to go see it on site?" "No. That would be too troublesome. People will ask the explorer to provide evidence. For example, if he discovers a big mountain, we will ask him to bring back a few big rocks."

The geographer suddenly became very excited. "But you come from far away! You are an explorer! Tell me about your planet!" The geographer had opened the register and sharpened his pencil. People first wrote the explorer's story in pencil. Wait until the explorer provides evidence, then write in pen instead. "Speak," said the geographer. "Oh! My planet," said the little prince, "is not very interesting. It is very small. I have three volcanoes. Two active volcanoes and one extinct volcano. But it is difficult to say whether it will erupt in the future." "It's hard to say," the geographer said. "I have another flower." "We don't include flowers," the geographer said. "Why? This flower is the most beautiful!" "Because flowers are fleeting." “What does ‘ephemeral’ mean?” "Geography books," said the geographer, "are the most precious of books. They never become out of date. Mountains rarely change their position. Oceans rarely become dry. We write about eternal things." "But extinct volcanoes may come back to life," the little prince interjected. "What does 'ephemeral' mean?" "Whether a volcano is dead or alive, it looks the same to us," the geographer said. "What matters to us is the mountain. It doesn't change." "But what does 'ephemeral' mean?" asked the little prince, for he always had to get an answer after asking a question. "It means 'in danger of rapid destruction'."

“My flowers are in danger of dying quickly?” "certainly." "My flower is fleeting," said the little prince. "She has only four thorns to protect herself from the outside world! And I left her alone on my planet!" This was the first time he felt regretful. But he took courage. “Where should I visit next?” "The earth," said the geographer, "I heard that the earth is very good..." So the little prince left, thinking about the flower.

Of course, this was six years ago...I have never told this story before. My friends were happy to see me alive. I looked very sad, but I told them: "This is because of exhaustion..."

My sadness has subsided a bit now. In other words...it hasn't completely subsided yet. I know he returned to his planet because I didn't find his body at daybreak. In fact, his body is not very heavy... I like to listen to the laughter of the stars at night. They are like half a billion little bells.

There is something very important. When I drew the muzzle for the little prince, I forgot to add the leash! It cannot be muzzled into a sheep. So I thought: "What will happen to his planet? Maybe the sheep will have eaten that flower..." Sometimes I tell myself: "Absolutely not! The little prince puts flowers in the glass dome every night, and he will take good care of his sheep..." Then I will be very happy. All the stars also smiled warmly.

Sometimes I tell myself: "People will inevitably be distracted, once is enough! One night he forgot to cover the glass cover, or the sheep ran out quietly in the middle of the night..." Then all the little bells turned into tears... This is a great puzzle. Because somewhere we don’t know, there is a sheep that we have never met before. Whether it eats a rose will affect the way you and I, who also love the little prince, view the entire universe... Just look at the night sky. Ask yourself: Has the sheep eaten that flower? You will find that everything will be different... No adult will understand how important this is!

In my opinion, this is the most beautiful and saddest sight in the whole world. It's the same view as the previous page, but I've drawn it again to impress you. This is where the little prince appears and disappears on earth.

Please look carefully and remember this place, because in the future you may travel to the deserts of Africa. If you happen to pass by here, I beg you, don't walk too fast, please stay under that star for a moment! If a child comes up to you, if he is smiling, if he has curly blond hair, if he never answers your questions, you should easily guess who he is. Please help me then! Don't make me so sad: please write to me quickly and tell me he is back...

Near the well, there is an ancient stone wall that has collapsed. The next evening, when I went back after finishing my work, I saw the little prince sitting on the stone wall from a distance, with his legs dangling. I heard him say: "Don't you remember? It's not here!" A voice must have answered him, for he added: "Yes! That's right! The day is right, but not this place!" I continued walking towards the stone wall. I couldn't see anyone or hear anyone. But the little prince replied: "...Of course, you will see the footprints I left on the sand by then. Just wait for me over there. I will go there tonight." I was only twenty meters away from the stone wall, but still saw nothing. After a moment of silence, the little prince said again: "Is your venom powerful? You won't make me suffer for a long time, right?" I stopped with a heavy heart, but still couldn't understand. "You go now," he said, "...I'm coming down!" So I looked towards the corner and was immediately shocked! There was a snake looking up at the little prince. It was the kind of yellow snake that can kill a person in less than thirty seconds. I quickly reached for the revolver in my pocket and rushed forward at the same time; but the snake heard the sound I made, lay down like a water column on the ground, and paraded smoothly on the sand with a slight friction of metal. The sound calmly disappeared among the many stones.

I rushed to the wall and just reached out to catch the little prince. His face was as pale as snowflakes. "What's going on! Why are you talking to the snake?" I untied the golden scarf that he always tied around his neck. I rubbed his temples with water and made him drink some water. Now I don't dare ask him any more questions. He looked at me solemnly and put his arms around my neck. I felt his heart beating like a dying bird after being shot. He said: "I'm glad you finally fixed your machine. You can go home..." "how do you know!" I was about to tell him that I had overcome all difficulties and fixed the plane! He didn't answer my question, but said: "I, I also want to go home today..." Then he said sadly: "It's just that the journey is longer...and the road is more difficult..."

I had a distinct feeling that something unusual was about to happen. I hugged him tightly like a child, as if he was about to fall into the abyss, head and feet, and I couldn't hold him back at all... His eyes were serious and far away. "I have the sheep you gave me. I have a box for the sheep. I have a muzzle..." He smiled sadly. I've been waiting for a long time. I felt that his body was gradually gaining vitality again. "Little guy, you looked very scared just now..." Of course he was scared! But he smiled softly. "I'll be even more scared tonight..."

I was once again frozen with the feeling that something irreversible was about to happen. It makes me sad to think that I will never hear his laughter again. To me, his laughter was like a spring in the desert. "Little one, I want to hear your laughter again..." But he said: "It's one year tonight. My planet will appear directly above where I landed last year." "Boy, these stories about snakes and dates and stars are just a nightmare, right?" But he didn't answer my question. He said: "Important things are invisible to the eyes..." "certainly……" "Just like that flower, if you fall in love with a flower growing on a certain planet, when you look up at the night sky, you will feel very sweet. It is as if all the stars are full of flowers." "certainly……" "Like the spring water. The water you gave me to drink was like music because of the windlass and the rope... Do you remember... the spring water was sweet." "certainly……" "In the future you can look at the stars at night. My planet is too small to point to you. It's better this way. To you, my star is just one of many. This way you see them all. The stars will like it... they will become your friends. And, I am going to give you a gift..." He laughed again. "Little one, little one, I love hearing your laughter!" "This is the gift I want to give you...it is like the spring water we drank from..."

"What do you mean by this?" "Stars mean different things to different people. To travelers, they are guides that show the way. To some, they are tiny gleams of light. To scholars, they are subjects of study. Yes To the man I met doing business, they were wealth, but to all these people, the stars were silent. Only your stars were different from others." "What do you mean by this?" "When you look up at the night sky, because I live on a certain star, because I will laugh on a certain star, it will seem to you that all the stars are laughing. Then you will have Laughing stars!" He laughed again. "When your sorrow subsides (it always does), you will be glad you got to know me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. Sometimes, you will because Open the window for this reason...and your friends will be surprised to see you smiling at the stars. And you'll say, 'Yeah, I want to smile when I see the stars!' And they'll think you're crazy. You've fallen into a bad trap..." He laughed again. "It seems that what I gave you is not stars, but many laughing bells..." He laughed again. Then he said seriously: "Tonight...you know...don't come." "I won't leave you."

"I'm going to look miserable later...a little bit like I'm about to die. It's like death. Don't look at it. There's no need..." "I won't leave you." But he looked worried. "I'm telling you this... because of that snake. Don't let it bite you... Snakes are very bad. They bite people just for fun..." "I won't leave you." But he remembered something again and seemed relieved. "The second bite they take should be no longer poisonous..." I didn't see him move that night. He left quietly. When I finally caught up with him, he was walking steadily and very quickly. He just said to me: "Ah! You're here..." He took my hand. But he was still worried. "You're not doing this right. You'll be sad. I'll look like I'm dead, but that's not true..." I don't say anything. "You understand. The journey is too long. I can't carry this body with me. It's too heavy." I don't say anything. "But it's like old bark that's been abandoned. Don't be sad about old bark..." I don't say anything. He was a little discouraged. But he tried to persuade me again: "Everything will be fine, you know. I will also look up at the stars. All the stars will turn into wells with rusty windlass. All the stars will pour water for me to drink..." I don't say anything.

"That's so fun! You will have 500 million little bells, and I will have 500 million wells..." He didn't say anything because he started crying... "Here it is. Let me take the last step myself." He sat down because he was scared. He said: "You know...my flower...I am responsible for her! She is so fragile! She is so innocent. She only has four thorns to protect herself..." I sat down because I couldn't stand. He said: "Okay...that's it..." Still hesitant, he stood up. He takes the final step. I didn't move. I saw a flash of yellow lightning passing by his feet. He stood motionless for a moment. He didn't yell. He fell slowly, like a tree being felled. There wasn't even a sound because the ground was all sand.

"Those people," said the little prince, "they sit in the express train, but they don't know what they are looking for. So they are very irritable and keep going in circles..." He added: "Actually, there's no need to go to such trouble..." The wells we found were different from those in the Sahara. Wells in the Sahara are just holes dug in the sand. This well looks like one from a village. But there was no village here and I thought I must be dreaming. "How strange," I said to the little prince, "there is everything here: windlass, buckets and ropes..." He smiled, then took hold of the rope and turned the windlass. The windlass creaked like an ancient weather vane long forgotten by the wind. "Listen," said the little prince, "we woke up the well, and it is singing..." I don't want to tire him out. "Let me do it," I said, "this is too heavy for you."

I slowly raised the bucket to the wellhead. I carefully put the bucket away. The song of the windlass rang in my ears, and I could see the sunlight rippling on the water. "I really want to drink this water," the little prince said, "Give me a drink..." I finally understood what he had been looking for!

I raised the bucket to his mouth. He drank the water with his eyes closed. It's as sweet as the holidays. This water is indeed no ordinary drink. It comes from trekking under the stars, the singing of the windlass and the strength of my hands. It is like a gift, good for the soul. When I was a child, it was the lights of the Christmas tree, the music of Midnight Mass, and those warm smiling faces that filled the gifts I received with brilliance.

"You have people here," said the little prince, "who plant five thousand roses in their gardens...and never find what they want." "They're not looking for it," I replied... "However, what they are looking for may be hidden in a rose or a little water..." "Yeah," I replied. The little prince said again: "But it's invisible to the eye. It should be looked for with the heart." I drank water. My breathing became easier. The rising sun turned the sand into the color of honey. I also love this golden honey color. But why do I feel so sad... "You must fulfill your promise," the little prince said softly, and he sat down next to me again. "What promise?" "You know...muzzle my sheep...I'm responsible for my flowers!" I took the sketches from my pocket. After seeing it, the little prince laughed and said: "Your baobab - painted like a cabbage..." "ah!" I originally thought my baobab tree was pretty good! "Your fox...his ears...look a bit like sheep's horns...and they are too long!" He said and laughed again. "You're not being fair, little one. I've never drawn anything except a boa constrictor with an open belly and a boa constrictor with a closed belly." "Oh! You can draw quite well," he said, "children can understand it." So I drew a muzzle with a pencil. But when I handed it to him, my heart was heavy. "What are you hiding from me..." But he didn't answer me. He said: "You know, the day I landed on earth...will be one year old tomorrow..."

He was silent for a moment, and then said: "I landed near this place..." He blushed. I don't know why, but I feel something is wrong. However, a question suddenly occurred to me. "It seems that the morning I met you, a week ago, you were walking alone in the desert far away from human habitation. It was not an accident. Are you going back to the place where you landed?" The little prince blushed again. I asked hesitantly: "Maybe it's because the anniversary is coming?..." The little prince blushed again. He always doesn't answer questions - but doesn't blushing mean "that's right"? "Ah!" I said to him, "I'm a little scared..." But he stopped me: "It's time for you to do your work. You should go back to your machine. I'll wait here. Come back tomorrow evening..." But I am worried, and I think of the fox: if you allow yourself to be tamed, you will inevitably shed tears...

It's now eight days since my plane crashed in the desert, and I'm drinking every last drop of water while listening to this businessman's story. "Oh!" I said to the little prince, "the stories you told are very touching, but I haven't repaired the plane yet; I have no water to drink. If I can slowly walk towards a sweet spring, I will be very happy. of!" "My fox friend..." he said. "Little one, stop mentioning the fox!" "Why?" "Because we will soon die of thirst..." He didn't understand what I meant and replied: "Even if you're going to die soon, it's good to make friends. I'm glad I became friends with the fox..." "He doesn't know how dangerous it is," I thought to myself. "He's never hungry or thirsty. He just needs some sunshine..." But he looked at me and read my thoughts. "I'm thirsty too... let's go find a well..." I shrugged helplessly: it was absurd to aimlessly search for a well in the vast desert. But we set off anyway.

We trudged in silence for a few hours, then night fell and the many stars began to twinkle. I looked at them as if in a dream, for I was thirsty and a little feverish. The little prince's words echoed in my mind. "Are you thirsty too?" I asked. But he didn't answer my question. He just said: "Water is also good for the soul..." I didn't understand what it meant, but said nothing...I knew better than to ask him the question. He is tired. He sat down. I sat next to him. After a moment, he said: "These stars are so beautiful because there is a flower that we cannot see..." I answered "Of course" and then looked silently at the undulating sand under the moonlight. "The desert is also beautiful," he added... Indeed. I've always loved the desert. We sat on the dunes. We can see nothing and hear nothing. Yet something glows in the silence... "The desert is so beautiful," said the little prince, "because it hides a well somewhere..."

I suddenly realized what the mysterious light in the sand meant, and I was amazed. When I was a child, I lived in an old house that was said to have treasure buried beneath it. Of course, no one found it, maybe no one ever looked for it at all. But it adds a magical charm to that house. My house has a secret, buried deep in its soul... "Yes," I said to the little prince, "whether it is a house, a star or a desert, they are all beautiful because of something invisible!" "I'm glad," he said, "that you and my fox share the same opinion." The little prince fell asleep, so I hugged him and started walking again. I am very touched. I felt like I was holding a fragile treasure. I don't think there's anything more fragile on earth than he is. In the moonlight, looking at his pale forehead, closed eyes and curly hair flying in the wind, I thought to myself: "What I see is just a body. The most important thing is invisible..." Seeing his mouth open slightly, as if he was smiling, I thought again: "What impressed me most about this sleeping little prince was his loyalty to a flower, even when he was sleeping, the rose The appearance of him shines like a light in his heart..." I felt that he became more fragile. The light needs to be protected because a gust of wind can blow it out... I kept walking and finally found the well at dawn.

"Hello," said the little prince. "Hello," the businessman said. This businessman sells thirst-quenching pills. As long as people take one pill a week, they no longer need to drink water. "Why do you sell thirst-quenching pills?" asked the little prince. "It saves a lot of time," said the businessman. "Experts have done the math. Taking these pills will save you fifty-three minutes a week." "What are you doing with these fifty-three minutes?" "You can use it for whatever you want..." "Me," the little prince said, "if I had fifty-three minutes, I would rather walk slowly towards a sweet spring..."

"Hello," said the little prince. "Hello," said the switchman. "What are you doing here?" asked the little prince. "I'm distributing passengers in batches of a thousand people," said the switchman. "I arrange the passenger trains, sometimes making them go to the right, sometimes making them go to the left." At this moment, a brightly lit express train rumbled past, shaking the switchman's cabin. "They are in a hurry," said the little prince. "What are they looking for?" "Even the man who drives the train doesn't know," said the switchman. A second brightly lit train roared in from the opposite direction. "They are back so soon?" the little prince asked... "It's not those people just now," the switchman said, "This one is coming from the opposite direction." “Are they unhappy with where they are?” "People are always dissatisfied with where they are," said the switchman. They heard the roar of a third brightly lit train. "Are they chasing the first passengers?" asked the little prince. "They're not chasing anything," said the switchman. "They're either sleeping or yawning. There are only children with their noses pressed against the glass windows and looking out." "Only children know what they need," the little prince said. "They will spend time on the dolls, so they feel that the dolls are very important. If someone takes the doll away, they will cry..." "They're so lucky," said the switchman.

Just then, the fox appeared.

"Hello," said the fox. "Hello," the little prince replied politely. He turned around, but saw nothing. "Here I am," said the voice, "under the apple tree." "Who are you?" the little prince said, "You are very beautiful..." "I am a fox," said the fox. "Come and play with me," the little prince suggested, "I'm so sad..." "I can't play with you," said the fox, "I'm not tame." "Ah! I'm sorry," said the little prince. After thinking for a moment, he asked again: "What does 'domestication' mean?" "You are not from here," said the fox. "What are you looking for?" "I'm looking for humans," said the little prince. "What does 'domestication' mean?" "People," said the fox, "they have guns and they hunt. It's so annoying! They also raise chickens. That's the only good thing about them. Are you looking for chickens?"

"No," said the little prince, "I am looking for friends. What does 'taming' mean?" "This is something that is often forgotten," said Fox, "it means 'creating relationships.'" “Creating relationships?”

"Yes," said the fox, "to me, you are nothing more than a child, no different from thousands of other children. I don't need you. You don't need me. To you, I am nothing more than a child." A fox, no different from thousands of other foxes, but if you tame me, then we will need each other. You are unique to me, and I am unique to you..." "I kind of understand," the little prince said, "There is a flower... I believe she has tamed me..." "That's possible," said the fox. "Everything on earth can happen..." "Oh! she is not on earth," said the little prince. The fox looked interested. "Is it on another planet?" "yes." "Are there hunters on that planet?" "No." "That's great! Do you have any chickens?" "No." "Nothing is perfect after all," the fox sighed.

But he picked up the topic again. "My life is monotonous. I hunt chickens, and people hunt me. All chickens are the same, and so are all the people. I'm a little tired of it. But if you tame me, my life will be full of sunshine .I will be able to recognize a different sound. The sound of other people's footsteps will make me hide in the ground. And the sound of your footsteps will make me come out of the cave. And, you see. To that wheat field? I don't eat bread. Wheat fields don't remind me of anything. But your hair is golden. Thing! The wheat is also golden, and it will remind me of you. I like the sound of the wind blowing through the ears of wheat..." The fox stared at the little prince for a long time. "Please...please tame me!" he said. "No problem," the little prince replied, "but I don't have much time. I still have many friends to make and many things to know." "You can only understand what you tame," said the fox. "Humans no longer have time to understand anything. Whatever they need, they go to the store and buy it ready-made. But the store doesn't sell friends, so humans can no longer make friends. No friends. If you want a friend, please tame me!” "What should I do?" asked the little prince. "You have to be very patient," said the fox. "First of all, you have to sit down a little away from me, like this, on the grass. I will look at you secretly and you don't speak. Words are misunderstood. The root. But you have to sit closer to me every day..."

The little prince came back the next day. "You'd better come at the same time every day," said the fox. "For example, if you come at four o'clock in the afternoon, then I will start to be very happy at three o'clock. The closer the time is, the happier I will be. Wait until four o'clock ” "What is the ceremony?" said the little prince. "This is something that is often forgotten," said the fox. "It makes one day different from other days, and one moment different from other moments. For example, those hunters have a ritual. Every Thursday, they meet with the villagers Girls dance. So Thursday is a great day! But if the hunter doesn't dance on a fixed day, then I don't have a day off." So the little prince tamed the fox. Soon they will be separated from each other. "Oh!" said the fox, "...I will cry." "It's your fault," said the little prince. "I don't want you to be sad, but you want me to tame you..." "That's right," said the fox. "Then you are still crying!" said the little prince. "Yes," said the fox. "So you get nothing!" "I got the advantage," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat." Then he said: "Go and look at those roses again. Then you will understand that your roses are unique. Then come back and say goodbye to me, and I will give you a secret as a gift."

The little prince went to look at the roses again. "You are nothing like my roses. You are nothing now," he said. "No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are just like the fox before. He was just an ordinary fox, and other adults There is no difference among thousands of foxes, but I made friends with him and now he is unique in the world." Those roses were very uncomfortable to hear. "You are very beautiful, but also very empty," he added, "no one will die for you. Of course, ordinary passers-by will think that my rose is about the same as yours. But she is more important than all of you put together, because I watered her. Because I covered her with a glass cover. Because I killed her caterpillars (but left two or three alive so that they could turn into butterflies). I listened to her complaints and boasts, and even listened to her silence sometimes because she was my rose.”

He went back to find the fox. "Goodbye," he said... "Goodbye," said the fox, "this is my secret. It's simple: you can only see clearly with your heart. Important things are invisible to your eyes." "Important things are invisible to the eye," the little prince continued, so that he could remember this sentence. “It’s the time you put into your roses that makes your roses so important.” "Exactly the time I paid for my rose..." the little prince continued, so that he could remember this sentence. "Humanity has forgotten this truth," said the fox, "but you must not forget it. You are always responsible for the things you tame. You are responsible for your roses..." "I am responsible for my rose..." the little prince continued, so that he could remember this sentence.

But after walking for a long time among the sand, stones and snowflakes, the little prince finally came to the road. All roads lead to human settlements. "Hello," he said. This is a garden with roses in full bloom. "Hello," Rose said. The little prince looked at them. They looked a lot like his flowers.

"Who are you?" he asked in surprise. "We are the Roses," said the Roses. "Ah!" the little prince cried... He felt very unhappy. His flower once told him that she was the only rose in the universe. And there are five thousand flowers exactly like hers in one garden here! "If she sees this scene," he thought to himself, "she will be very angry... She will cough desperately again and pretend to be dying, so as not to be unable to step down. Then I will have to pretend to take care of her, because otherwise , in order to make me feel guilty, she would really let herself die..." Then he thought: "I thought I was rich and had a unique flower, but it was just a rose. This flower, plus three volcanoes that were only as high as my knees, and one of them was very big. It may never erupt again, and these are not enough to make me a very great prince..." He lay on the grass and cried.

The little prince climbed a high mountain. He had only seen three mountains before, those three volcanoes, only as high as his knees. He often sits on top of an extinct volcano. "Standing on such a high mountain," he thought, "I can see the whole earth and all the people at a glance..." But he only saw the tops of many stone mountains, as pointed as iron needles.

"Hello," he said politely. "Hello...Hello...Hello..." said the echo. "Who are you?" said the little prince. "Who are you...who are you...who are you..." said the echo. "Be my friend, I'm lonely," he said. "I'm lonely...I'm lonely...I'm lonely..." said the echo.

"This planet is so strange!" he thought to himself. "It's extremely dry, the terrain is extremely difficult, and the air is extremely salty. The people here have no imagination. They just repeat what you tell them... On my planet, I There is a flower: she always speaks first..."

The little prince met only one flower while crossing the desert. A flower with three petals, an insignificant flower... "Hello," said the little prince. "Hello," said the flower.

"Excuse me, where is the person?" the little prince asked politely. This flower once saw a passing caravan. "Humans? I saw six or seven a few years ago. But you don't know where to find them. The wind blows them here. They have no roots, and that makes them miserable." "Goodbye," said the little prince. "Goodbye," said the flower.

To appear smart, people sometimes tell lies. I'm not very honest when it comes to people who hold lamps. I may have given the wrong impression to those who do not understand our planet. In fact, humans occupy a very small space on the earth. If the two billion people who inhabit the earth stood upright, crowding one another, as at a public gathering, a square twenty miles long and twenty miles wide could easily accommodate them. The smallest island in the Pacific can accommodate all mankind.

Of course, adults will not believe this. They think they take up a lot of space. They imagine themselves to be as important as the baobab tree. You can suggest that they do the math themselves. They worship numbers and will happily calculate them. But don't waste your time doing this boring thing. It's meaningless. Please trust me.

After arriving on the earth, the little prince was surprised because he could not see anyone. He was a little worried that he had come to the wrong planet, when a moon-white ring twisted out of the sand.

"Good evening," said the little prince politely. "Good evening," said the snake. "Which planet have I landed on?" asked the little prince. "Earth, this is Africa," said the snake. "Oh...isn't there anyone on earth?" "This is a desert. There are no people in the desert. The earth is huge," said the snake. The little prince sat on the stone and looked up at the sky. "I wonder," he said, "are the stars so bright so that everyone can one day return to their own planet? Look at my planet. It's right above us...but it's so far away La!" "It's beautiful," said the snake. "Why did you come here?"

"I can't get along with a flower," said the little prince. "Ah!" said the snake. They were silent for a moment. "Where are the people?" The little prince spoke first, "It's a bit lonely in the desert..." "You can be lonely in a crowd," said the snake. The little prince looked at it carefully for a long time. "You are such a strange animal," said the little prince. "You are only about the size of a finger..." "But I am stronger than the king's finger," said the snake. The little prince smiled. "You're not very powerful...you don't even have legs...you can't even travel..." "I can take you farther than you can go by ship," said the snake. It went around the little prince's ankle and looked like a golden anklet. "Whoever I touch will be sent back to where he came from," the snake continued, "but you are very pure and you came from a star..." The little prince did not answer. "I think you are quite pitiful. You look very fragile on this hard earth. If you are particularly homesick in the future, I can help you. I can..." "Okay! I can understand what you mean," said the little prince, "but why do your words always sound like riddles?" "Because I have all the answers," said the snake. Silence fell upon them.

So the seventh planet is the earth.

The earth is no ordinary planet! There are 111 kings here (including the kings of Africa, of course), 7,000 geographers, 900,000 businessmen, 7.5 million drinkers, 311 Millions of vain people...that is, about two billion adults.

To give you an idea of ​​the size of the earth, let me tell you that before the invention of the electric light, six continents had to maintain an army of 462,511 people to man the streetlights.

If viewed from a distance, this would be a spectacular sight. The movement of this unit was as orderly as a ballet. The first to appear were the lampbearers from New Zealand and Australia. They lighted the street lamps and then went to bed. Then came the dancing lamplighters from China and Siberia. They too soon receded into the background. Next up are the Russian and Indian lampbearers. Then came the African and European ones. Then came South America. Finally, there is North America. They take turns and you can't go wrong. This is quite a spectacular scene.

Only the man holding the lamp at the North Pole and his colleague holding the lamp at the South Pole can live a carefree life: they only have to work twice a year.