He then drew the inside of the boa constrictor in another picture, Drawing Number Two, where the elephant could be seen clearly. But the grown-ups advised the narrator to give up drawing and pursue geography, arithmetic andgrammar. Disheartened by his failure to become a painter, he realizes how difficult it is for children to always be explaining something to grown-ups. So the narrator learned to be a pilot, noting that the geography he learned did prove to be useful but that his opinion of adults did not improve: whenever one would see Drawing Number One, they would think it was a hat. Consequently, he could no longer talk about boa constrictors or stars with anybody.
This continued until six years earlier when his plane had crashed in the Sahara desert. He was thousand miles from home and faced with a life or death situation. The narrator was shocked to hear an odd little voice asking him to draw a sheep. He turns to see the little prince, who is examining the narrator, looking nothing like a child lost in the middle of the desert. The narrator doesn't know how to draw a sheep so he shows Drawing Number One to the little prince instead. The little prince examines the drawing and says that he doesn't want a picture of an elephant inside a boa constrictor. Finally after a couple of attempts he is able to draw a box with a sheep inside it, and the little prince is very happy.
The narrator and the little prince become friends and he tries to find out where the little prince comes from, but the little prince is more concerned with the pilot's plane, laughing at its broken parts. The little prince is comforted by the fact that the narrator also comes from the sky, asking him what planet he comes from. The pilot is surprised at this question and in turn tries to find out what planet the little prince comes from. The little prince ignores the question and admires the pilot's drawing of the sheep in a box. The pilot offers to draw a string to tie to the sheep so he won't get lost, but the little prince laughs. The sheep will not get lost he says, because on the planet where he lives everything is very small.
The narrator is surprised to discover that the planet the little prince comes from is very small and only the size of a house. In fact, it is an Asteroid called B-612, which is only visible through a telescope. The narrator claims that a Turkish astronomer had sighted the little prince's asteroid in 1909, but that no one would seriously believe anybody wearingtraditional Turkish clothes. After a Turkish dictator ordered all his subjects to change to European clothing, the astronomer successfully presented his report again in 1920.
The narrator insists that these details are not a concession to his grown-up readers. He says that grown-ups can only understand facts and figures, without ever wondering about other essential qualities, such as beauty and love. Instead they only care about how old someone is or how much a house costs in order to decide what is beautiful. For example, he notes that a child would accept the little prince's existence based solely on the fact that he wanted a sheep, while an adult would care only that the little prince came from Asteroid B-612.
The narrator is worried that now he has grown too old to properly remember how the little prince had looked. Instead of relying on figures like an adult, he has decided to draw pictures of him. Even though he can no longer see sheep through the walls of boxes, he hopes that he can bring the little prince back to life.
As the days pass in the desert, the pilot learns more about the little prince's planet. He finds out that the little prince wants the sheep to eat the baobabs that grow on his planet. Baobabs are large tree-like weeds whose roots can secretly grow underground and split a planet into pieces. They can become so big that even a herd of elephants would not be able to eat all of them. The little prince exclaims that one must be very careful to take care of one's planet just as they would take care of themselves. It is hard to distinguish between good and bad seeds, so it is very important to watch out for baobabs. Lazy men often let small bushes grow, not realizing that they are baobabs until it is too late. The narrator feels that this is such an important lesson to be learned that he takes extra special care with a drawing of baobabs destroying a small planet.
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On the fourth day, the pilot learns just how small the little prince's planet really is. The little prince wants to see a sunset, and is surprised to learn that on Earth he must wait till evening to see one. The narrator notes that on a large planet like the Earth, when it is noon in America, the sun is setting in France, while on a small asteroid, someone can see the end of the day whenever they like. He can hardly believe that the little prince once saw forty-four sunsets in one day.
On the fifth day, the pilot had discovered the secret of the little prince's life. Without any reason in particular, the little prince wonders if his new sheep will eat both bushes and flowers. The pilot tells him that sheep eat anything, but the little prince does not believe him: he says that flowers with thorns can protect themselves. The two get into a heated argument and the pilot asks not to be disturbed from rebuilding his plane, while the little prince reprimands him for behaving like an adult. The little prince exclaims that if someone knows of a rare flower that exists only on his planet out of the millions and millions of others then it is perfectly rational to wonder if a sheep will eat it. Ashamed of his attitude, the pilot tries to comfort the little prince by offering to draw a muzzle for the sheep so that he may not eat the flower.
The flower that the little prince mentions turns out to have been one of the most important parts of his life. One day, a seed mysteriously blew onto his planet and produced a flower different from any other the little prince had ever seen. The flower turns out to be a rose, a beautiful but vain creature who constantly demands that the little prince take care of her. He loves her very much and is thus happy to water her, protect her with a screen by day, and cover her with a glass globe by night. But the little prince soon doubts that the rose loves him, believing that her words are not sincere. He grows so unhappy that he decides to leave, later lamenting his failure to judge by deeds and not words. It is only after he leaves that he understands how she expressed affection, realizing that he was too young to know how to love her.
The narrator is of the opinion that that the little prince used a flock of migrating birds to escape from his planet. On the day of his departure he put everything in order, cleaned out all of his three volcanoes, including even the extinct one. The rose ignores his good-byes at first but soon asks for forgiveness, admitting that she loves him. But she is too proud to ask the little prince to stay with her and claims that she will get along fine without him. She urges him to leave and turns away so that he will not see her cry.
The little prince reaches the earth by traveling with a flock of migrating birds. Some time later he comes across a king living on a neighboring asteroid. The king starts to order the little prince around and even calls him his subject. The little prince is puzzled as to why the king feels that he is in control of everything in the universe. He marvels at the king's supposed power to order sunsets, but soon realizes that the king is actually a lonely creature who is only fooling himself about his powers. He pleads with the little prince not to leave but the little prince does so because he is only used to taking orders from himself and not from others. Then he comes across two men, one who is very conceited and the other who is drunk. The conceited man orders the little prince to first salute him and then to admire him. The little prince is amused at first, but doesn't quite understand what the word admire means. The conceited man wants the little prince to continually praise him all the time but the prince gets bored very soon and leaves. Next he meets a drunk who tells the little prince that he drinks so that he might forget.The little prince is confused by this sort of behavior and inquires what it is that the drunk is trying to forget. The drunk replies that he is trying to forget the fact that he is ashamed of drinking. The little prince carries on with his journey but is confused by what the drunk has told him.
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Then, on yet another fourth planet the little prince meets a businessman, who is very engrossed in all his numerical calculations and hardly even notices that the little prince is around. He informs the little prince that he is very busy in counting all the stars in the sky as this is a matter of great consequence to him. The little prince is even more confused when the businessman claims that he owns all the stars. He does not see how it is possible to own an object when one is of no use to that object. He remarks that by taking care of his rose and his three volcanoes, his ownership of them was at least useful. From this he realizes that things which are of consequence to him are different from the things which the businessman thinks are of great importance. With this newly acquired knowledge, he
carries on with his journey.
Next the little prince meets a lamplighter and is even more confused because he lights a lamp and then puts it out the very next minute. He feels sorry for someone doing such an absurd job, but realizes that, unlike the previous adults he has met, the lamplighter is doing something useful. Hoping to become his friend he tries to help the lamplighter, but the planet is too small to accommodate two people. He is quite sad to leave a planet, which has a 1440 sunsets.
On the sixth planet he meets a geographer. The little prince is thrilled to at last meet someone who has a real profession, and even more so when the geographer asks him to describe his planet. The little prince tells him about his dear rose but the geographer refuses to record this saying that he cannot record things which don't last forever. The little prince is surprised to learn that his rose will not last forever and feels regretful about leaving her. Even though he is still thinking about his flower he soon takes courage as the geographer advises him to visit the planet Earth.
Upon arriving on Earth, the little prince is surprised to find such a large planet. The narrator marks that there are a great number of kings, geographers, businessmen, and a whole army of international lamplighters who are required to work around the clock on this planet. However, he does admit that humanity is neither as important nor as large as it shows itself to be. The little prince wonders why he still hasn't met any humans though the planet is so big. He meets a snake, who tells him that he is in the Sahara Desert and there are hardly any humans there. He finds that the snake is a curious creature who is not as dangerous as he appears. Before parting, the snake promises that he will help the little prince return to his planet if he grows too homesick.
The little prince continues searching for human beings, but only encounters a few roses and desolation. The roses tell him that only seven humans exist on the planet and are very difficult to find as they have no roots. The prince climbs to the top of a mountain and calls out to someone to be his friend but all he hears is the echo of his own question. But he believes that his echo is a reply from another human and concludes that human beings are most unimaginative since they can only repeat what they are asked. He begins to think about his rose upon discovering a large rose garden. When he realizes that his flower was not unique, but just a common rose, he begins to cry.
Next he meets a fox, who asks the little prince to tame him. The prince does not understand what the word tame means. The fox says the word tame means to establish ties with each other. He explains that by themselves, neither of them are very important, but if the little prince tames the fox, they shall both need each other. The little prince is hesitant in the beginning, saying that he does not have much time since he is looking for friends. But the fox says that the only way he will he will find a friend is if he tames someone saying that the reason men don't have friends is because they try to buy them in shops. Since the little prince still understands very little in the ways of the world, the fox must teach him how to properly tame a fox.
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Soon it is time for the little prince to leave and he is sad to see the fox cry. When the fox says that he is happy because the little prince is now unique in all the world to him, the little prince then realizes that even though his flower is a common rose, it is his rose and thus unique in all the world. Before parting, the fox tells him a secret. He says only the heart can see clearly what seems invisible to the eye. He also tells him that it is because of the time he has spent on the rose that it has become so important to him. He warns the little prince that one is responsible for what they have tamed.
The prince continues his journey and he meets a railway switchman and a merchant, each of who try to advise the prince to save time by taking the train and buying a pill that quenches thirst. He remembers the fox's advice and declines their respective offers, declaring that wasted time is the most important kind of time.
The narrative returns to eight days after the pilot's accident in the desert. He is worried that he will die of thirst and refuses to find comfort in the little prince's story about the fox. He continues to tell the pilot that it is good to have a friend, even if one is about to die of thirst, and soon admits that he is thirsty as well. He suggests that they search for a well and despite the futility of such an endeavor, the pilot agrees. They begin to look for beauty within the desert: not what they can actually see, but what they can feel. Deeply moved, the pilot carries the little prince, realizing the most important part of his fragile little body is the part, which is invisible.
At daybreak they finally find a well. While they remove water from the well they agree that men have lost sight of what is important in life. A little water can also be appreciated like a Christmas present, just as a single rose out of a whole garden is all that is really needed. This conversation makes the little prince homesick and he tells the narrator that it is the anniversary of his descent to the Earth and that he has returned to the place he landed. The pilot is afraid for the little prince but can't find out what the little prince plans to do next. On returning the next day, the pilot returns to find the little prince talking to the same poisonous snake which he had met on his first day on Earth. The little prince is asking the snake to bite him later that night so that he can finally return home. The pilot has finished repairing his plane but is very sad to see the little prince looking so upset. He begs him to stay on but the little prince comforts him with a present. He tells the pilot that whenever he looks up at the stars he will hear the little prince's laughter, like five hundred million bells. Just as the little prince's rose is unique for him, he tells the pilot that the stars will also now be unique to him. He says that time heals all wounds and that soon he will look up to the stars and laugh with the little prince. The pilot insists on accompanying him to his meeting with the snake. The little prince insists that there is no reason to be sad because his body is nothing but an empty shell and that only the invisible part of his body is what is important. He also reminds the pilot that he feels responsible for his rose. The snake bites him quickly and the little prince falls softly in the sand.
Although six years have passed, the pilot still misses his friend. He does hear the bells at night but worries that the sheep he drew might somehow find a way to eat the rose. The narrator remarks that it is a shame that adults cannot realize that this question of the sheep eating the rose is a matter of great importance. The little prince's body actually did disappear, so the narrator tells the reader to watch out for a particular landscape in the Sahara Desert. If they should meet a little man with golden hair who laughs, the narrator wants them to send him word that the little prince has finally returned.
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