The Little Prince (or Princess, to be precise)
April 26, 2008
catesbool
It was now eight days since I had broken down in the desert and I listened to the story of the merchant while drinking the last drop of my water supply.
"Ah!" I said to the little prince, "these memories of yours are quite delightful, but I haven’t yet succeeded in repairing my plane. I have no water left to drink and I too would be happy if I could walk slowly towards a spring of fresh water!"
"My friend the fox said to me…"
"My dear little chap, this has nothing to do with a fox!"
"Why?"
"Because we are going to die of thirst…"
He didn’t follow my reasoning and replied: "It is good to have had a friend, even if one is going to die. I am very happy to have had a fox as a friend…"
‘He does not realise the danger, ‘ I said to myself. ‘He is never hungry or thirsty. All he needs is a little sunshine…’
But he looked at me and responded to my thoughts.
"I too am thirsty… Let’s go and look for a well…"
I made a gesture of weariness; it is absurd to look for a well, at random, in the immensity of the desert. None the less we started walking.
We walked for hours in silence; darkness fell and the stars began to come out. Due to my thirst I was slightly feverish and saw them as in a dream. The little prince’s last words came dancing back into my mind.
"So you are thirsty, too?" I asked him.
But he did not reply to my question and said simply: "Water may also be good for the heart…"
I didn’t understand his answer but he remained silent. I knew only too well that there was no point in questioning him.
He was tired and sat down. i sat down beside him. After a short silence he spoke again: "The stars are beautiful because of a flower one cannot see…"
I replied ‘of course’ and I looked at the sand dunes under the moonlight in silence.
"The desert is beautiful," he added…
And it was true. I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet one can feel a silent radiation…
"What makes the desert so beautiful," said the little prince, "is that it hides a well, somewhere…"
(Excerpt from Chapter Twenty-Four, The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery)
Look very carefull
y at the landscape so as to be sure to recognise it… And if you should happen to come upon this spot, please do not hurry on. Wait a little, exactly under the star. Then, if a child comes towards you, if he laughs… and if he refuses to answer questions, you will surely guess who he is. So be kind! Do not leave me grieving. Write to me quickly to tell me that he has come back…
Entry Filed under: Uncategorized
1 Comment Add your own
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Subscribe to comments via RSS Feed
1. Zilli | October 28, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Good words.