▶️ To Leon Werth
I apologize to the children for dedicating this book to a grown-up. I have a good excuse: this grown-up is the best friend I have in the world. I have another good excuse: this grown-up can understand everything, even children’s books. I have a third good excuse: this grown-up lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs to be comforted. If all these excuses are not enough, I will then dedicate this book to the child who became that grown-up. All grown-ups were first children. (But few of them remember it.) So I correct my dedication:
To Leon Werth when he was a little boy.
I
▶️ When I was six years old, I once saw a magnificent picture in a book on the virgin forest called Stories of Life. It was a boa constrictor that had swallowed a wild beast. Here is a copy of the drawing. It was written in the book, Boa constrictors swallow their whole prey without chewing. Then they can not move and they sleep during the six months of their digestion. I then thought a lot about the adventures of the jungle and, in turn, succeeded, with a colored pencil, in drawing my very first drawing. It was like this:
I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups and asked them if my drawing frightened them. They said, Why would a hat be scary?
▶️ My drawing was not of a hat. It was a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. I then drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could understand. They always required more explanation. My second drawing was like this:
The grown-ups advised me to leave aside the drawings of boa constrictors from the outside or the inside, and to interest myself instead in geography, history, calculation, and grammar. Thus, at the age of six, I abandoned a magnificent career as a painter. I had been discouraged by the failure of my first drawing and my second drawing. Grown-ups never understand anything on their own, and it is tiring for children to always have to give them explanations.
▶️ So I had to choose another profession. I learned to fly planes. I flew all over the world. And geography, that’s right, served me well. I knew how to recognize, at first glance, China, or Arizona. It is useful if you have gone astray during the night.
I have had, in the course of my life, a lot of contact with many serious people. I have lived among the grown-ups. I saw them up close. It did not really improve my opinion of them.
When I met one that seemed to me a little lucid, I had them experience my drawing number 1, which I had preserved. I wanted to know if they could come to a real understanding. But they always replied: It’s a hat. After that I spoke to them neither of boa constrictors, nor of virgin forests, nor of stars. I put myself within their reach. I talked about bridge, golf, politics, and ties. And the grown-ups were glad to know such a reasonable man.
II
▶️ So I lived alone, with no one to talk to, until a breakdown in the Sahara desert six years ago. Something had broken in my engine. And since I had neither a mechanic nor a passenger with me, I prepared to try, by myself, to make a difficult reprieve. It was a matter of life and death. I had hardly any water to drink for a week.
The first night I fell asleep on the sand a thousand miles from any inhabited land. I was much more isolated than a castaway on a raft in the middle of the ocean. Then you imagine my surprise, at dawn, when a funny little voice woke me up.
▶️ – Please draw me a sheep. Draw me a sheep…
I jumped on my feet as if I had been struck by lightning. I rubbed my eyes well. I watched. And I saw a very extraordinary little man who looked at me gravely. This is the best portrait I later managed to make of him.
But my drawing, of course, is much less ravishing than the model. It is not my fault. I had been discouraged in my career as a painter by the grown-ups at the age of six, and I had learned nothing to draw, except closed boas and open boas.
▶️ I looked at this apparition with eyes full of astonishment. Do not forget that I was a thousand miles from any inhabited region. Now my little fellow seemed to me neither astray, nor dead of fatigue, nor dead of hunger, nor death of thirst, nor dead of fear. He had not the appearance of a child lost in the middle of the desert, a thousand miles from any inhabited region. When I finally succeeded in speaking, I said to him: ”What are you doing here?“
And he repeated to me, very gently, as a very serious thing: ” Please draw me a sheep… “
▶️ When the mystery is too impressive, we do not dare to disobey. As absurd as it seemed to me a thousand miles from all inhabited places and in danger of death, I took out of my pocket a sheet of paper and a pen. But I remembered that I had studied geography, history, calculation and grammar, and I told the little fellow (with a little bad humor) that I did not know how to draw. He replied,
”It does not matter. Draw me a sheep.“
As I had never drawn a sheep, I thought of him as one of the only two drawings of which I was capable. That of the boa closed. And I was astounded to hear the little fellow reply:
”No ! No ! I do not want an elephant in a boa. A boa is very dangerous, and an elephant is very cumbersome. My place is tight. I need a sheep. Draw me a sheep.”
▶️ I drew then. He looked attentively, then said, “No, that one, is already very ill. Do another one.”
I drew. My friend smiled gently, indulgently. “You see … it’s not a sheep, it’s a ram, It has horns.”
So I redid my drawing again. But it was refused like the preceding ones. “This one is too old. I want a long-lived sheep.”
Then, for lack of patience, as I was anxious to begin the dismantling of my engine, I scribbled this drawing. Then I said. “That’s the box. The sheep you want is in it.”
But I was much surprised to see the face of my young judge illuminated. “That’s exactly how I wanted it! Do you think this sheep needs a lot of grass?” “Why?” “Because my place is very small.” “Surely that will suffice. I gave you a tiny sheep.” He leaned his head, toward the drawing. “Not so small as that. Look, it’s fallen asleep!”
And so I made the acquaintance of the little prince.
III
▶️ It took me a long time to understand where he came from. The little prince, who asked me many questions, never seemed to hear mine. These are words spoken by chance that, little by little, have revealed all to me. So when he saw my plane for the first time (I will not draw my plane, it is a drawing too complicated for me), he asked me:
“What is that thing?”
“It’s not a thing. It flies. It’s a plane. This is my plane.”
And I was proud to tell him I was flying. Then he exclaimed:
“Really! You have fallen from heaven!”
“Yes,” I said modestly.
“Ah! Now that’s funny…”
And the little prince had a very pretty burst of laughter, which irritated me very much. I wish to take my misfortunes seriously. Then he added:
“Then you too come from heaven! What planet are you from?”
I caught a glimpse in the mystery of his presence, and I suddenly questioned:
“So you’re from another planet?”
▶️ But he did not answer me. He nodded softly as he looked at my plane: “It’s true that you cannot come very far from it.”
And he sank into a reverie that lasted for a long time. Then, taking my sheep out of his pocket, he plunged into the contemplation of his treasure.
You can imagine how intrigued I was by this half-confidence about “the other planets.” I therefore endeavored to learn more: “Where do you come from, my little fellow? Where is ‘at home’? Where do you want to take my sheep?”
He replied after a meditative silence: “What is good, with the box you gave me, is that, at night, it will serve him as a house.”
“Of course. And if you are kind, I will also give you a rope to tie it up during the day. And a picket.”
The proposal seemed to shock the little prince: “Attach it? What a funny idea!”
“But if you do not tie him, he’ll go anywhere, and he’ll get lost.” And my friend burst into laughter again: “But where do you want him to go?”
“Anywhere. Right in front of him…” Then the little prince gravely remarked:
“It does not matter; it’s so small, at home!” And, with a little melancholy perhaps, he added: “Straight ahead, you cannot go far…”
IV
▶️ I learned a second very important thing: that his original planet was scarcely larger than a house!
It did not surprise me much. I knew that besides the big planets like Earth, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus, which have been given names, there are hundreds of others that are sometimes so small that it is very hard to see them in the telescope. When an astronomer discovers one of them, he names it as a number. He calls it, for example,’the asteroid 325.’
I have serious reasons to believe that the planet from which the little prince came is the asteroid B-612. This asteroid was seen only once, in 1909, by a Turkish astronomer, through a telescope.
▶️ He had then made a great demonstration of his discovery at an International Astronomy Congress. But nobody believed him because of his costume. Big people are like that.
Fortunately for the reputation of the asteroid B 612, a Turkish dictator imposed on his people, under penalty of death, to dress European. The astronomer resumed his demonstration in 1920, in a very elegant dress. And this time everyone was of his opinion.
▶️ If I have told you these details about the asteroid B 612 and if I have given you its number, it is because of the big people. Big people like the numbers. When you tell them about a new friend, they never question you about the basics. They never tell you, “What is the sound of his voice? What games does he prefer? Does he collect butterflies?” They ask, “How old is he?” How many brothers? How much does he weigh ? How much does his father earn?” Only then they think they know him. If you say to the grown-ups: “I saw a beautiful pink brick house, with geraniums on the windows and doves on the roof …” they can not imagine this house. We must say to them: “I have seen a house of one hundred thousand francs. Then they cried: “How pretty it is! “
▶️ So if you say to them: “The proof that the little prince existed is that he was delightful, that he laughed, and that he wanted a sheep. When you want a sheep, it is proof that you exist,“ they will shrug their shoulders and treat you as a child! But if you tell them, “The planet where he came from is asteroid B 612” then they will be convinced, and they will leave you alone with their questions. They’re like that. We must not blame them. Children should be very lenient towards adults.
But, of course, we who understand life, we make fun of the numbers! I would like to start this story like fairy tales. I would like to say: “Once upon a time there was a little prince who lived on a planet hardly larger than himself, and who needed a friend …” For those who understand life, it would have seemed much more true.
▶️ Because I do not like to read my book lightly. I feel so sorry to recount these memories. It’s six years since my friend went away with his sheep. If I try to describe it here, it is so as not to forget it. It’s sad to forget a friend. Not everyone has had a friend. And I can become like the grown-ups who are interested only in numbers. So that’s why I bought a box of colored pencils. It’s hard to go back to drawing, at my age, when no other attempt has ever been made than that of a closed boa and that of an open boa at the age of six! I will try, of course, to make portraits as resembling as possible. But I’m not quite sure I’m going to succeed. One drawing is similar, but the other one is not. I make some errors, also on the size. Here the little prince is too big. There he is too small. I also hesitate about the color of his costume. Then I fumbled like this and that, as best as I could. At last I shall be mistaken about certain more important details. But that will have to be forgiven. My friend never gave an explanation. He thought I might be like him. But I, unfortunately, I do not know how to see the sheep through the crates. I may be a bit like grown-ups. I must have got older.
V
▶️ Each day, I learned something new about the planet, the departure, and the journey. These lessons came gently, through moments of reflection. By the third day, I had come to understand the significance of the baobabs.
This time again it was thanks to the sheep. The Little Prince suddenly asked me, as if struck by a serious doubt:
“It’s true, isn’t it, that sheep eat shrubs?”
“Yes, that’s true.”
“Oh, I’m glad!”
I didn’t quite understand why it was so important for the sheep to eat shrubs. But then the Little Prince asked:
“So, they also eat baobabs?”
I explained that baobabs are not shrubs but trees as large as churches, and even if one had a whole herd of elephants, it would still not be enough to deal with a single baobab.
The idea of a herd of elephants made the Little Prince laugh: “We should stack them on top of each other…”
▶️ But he wisely noted: “Baobabs start off small before they grow.”
“That’s true! But why do you want your sheep to eat the little baobabs?”
He replied, “Well, come on!” as if it were completely obvious. It took quite an effort for me to grasp the significance of this problem.
Indeed, on the Little Prince’s planet, as on all planets, there were good plants and bad plants. So, there were good seeds from good plants and bad seeds from bad plants. But the seeds are invisible. They lie dormant in the earth until one of them decides to wake up. Then it stretches and timidly pushes a charming little shoot toward the sun. If it’s the shoot of a radish or a rose bush, you can let it grow as it likes. But if it’s a harmful plant, you must pull it up right away, as soon as you recognize it.
Now, on the Little Prince’s planet, there were terrible seeds—the seeds of baobabs. The soil was infested with them. And if you don’t catch a baobab in time, you can never get rid of it. It will take over the whole planet. Its roots will burrow through, and if the planet is too small and the baobabs too many, they will cause it to burst.
▶️ “It’s a matter of discipline,” the Little Prince later told me. “After you’ve finished your morning routine, you must carefully tend to the planet as well. You have to pull up the baobabs regularly, as soon as you can distinguish them from the rose bushes, which they closely resemble when they’re very young. It’s a tedious job, but quite simple.”
One day, he advised me to work on a detailed drawing to help convey this lesson to the children of my own world. “If they ever travel,” he said, “it could be useful to them. It’s easy to put off your work, but when it comes to baobabs, postponing is always disastrous. I once knew a planet inhabited by a lazy man. He had neglected three little shrubs…”
▶️ Following the Little Prince’s advice, I drew this planet. I don’t like to sound moralistic, but the danger of baobabs is so little known, and the risks faced by those wandering among the asteroids are so immense, that for once I made an exception. I said, “Children, watch out for the baobabs!” It was to warn my friends—who, like me, had been unaware of the danger for far too long—that I worked so hard on this drawing. The lesson was worth the effort.
You might ask: Why aren’t there other drawings in this book as grand as the one of the baobabs? The answer is simple: I tried, but I couldn’t succeed. When I drew the baobabs, I was driven by a sense of urgency.
▶️ Ah, little prince, I slowly came to understand your quiet, melancholic life. Your only real distraction for a long time had been the sweetness of sunsets. I discovered this detail on the morning of the fourth day, when you said to me:
“I love sunsets. Let’s watch one…”
“But we’ll have to wait,” I replied.
“Wait? Wait for what?”
“Wait for the sun to set.”
At first, you looked surprised. Then you laughed at yourself and said, “I always forget I’m not at home!”
Indeed, on Earth, when it’s noon in the United States, the sun is already setting in France, as everyone knows. If only you could get to France in a minute, you’d catch the sunset. But France is much too far. On your little planet, though, all you had to do was move your chair a few steps, and you could watch the twilight whenever you wanted.
“One day,” you told me, “I watched the sunset forty-four times!”
And a little later, you added softly:
“You know… when you’re really sad, you love watching sunsets.”
“So, on the day you saw the sun set forty-four times, were you really that sad?”
But the little prince didn’t answer.
