There are works that can be read and re-read many times. Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince is one of those books. Since its first edition in 1943, it has been among the most widely read books in the world. Its author, a French pilot and writer, is an adult who has remained a child in his soul. The book "The Little Prince" tells about the unusual meeting of the pilot (due to a malfunction in the engine, the pilot had to land the plane in the desert) with the Little Prince, a guest from another planet. This book is included in the 6th grade curriculum.

“The Little Prince” is a story in form and a fairy tale in plot, a narrative in an understandable language about serious and eternal issues: love, friendship, loyalty and responsibility for loved ones. In order to represent the meaning and main idea of ​​the story, we suggest reading the summary of The Little Prince chapter by chapter online.

main characters

The narrator- a pilot who made an emergency landing in the Sahara, an adult who remained a child in his soul.

The little Prince- a boy who lives on a small planet and once went on a journey. He meets different adults who seem so strange - he himself sees the world in a completely different way.

Other characters

Rose- the favorite flower of the Little Prince, a capricious and proud creature.

King- a ruler for whom the main thing in life is power. He considers all people to be his subjects.

ambitious- an inhabitant of one of the planets, who considers himself the best, smartest and richest, and all people - his admirers.

Drunkard- an adult who drinks, trying to forget that he is ashamed of what he drinks.

business man- a person who constantly counts the stars. He thinks that it is enough to be the first to call himself the owner of the stars to really be one.

Lamplighter- a resident of the smallest planet visited by the Little Prince, every second lights and extinguishes his lantern.

Geographer- a scientist who knows nothing about his beautiful planet, because he never leaves the office. Writes stories of travelers.

Snake- the first living creature seen by the Little Prince on Earth. It seems to him that the snake speaks in riddles. Offers to help the boy when he misses his home.

fox- a friend who revealed to the Little Prince many secrets of life. The fox teaches him friendship and love.

Chapter 1

As a child, the narrator drew his first picture: a boa constrictor that swallowed an elephant. Adults who saw the drawing decided that it depicted a hat, and advised the boy to take up geography and other sciences instead of drawing. Because of this, the child lost faith in himself.

He chose the profession of a pilot, and flew around almost the whole world. He dated different adults. As soon as it seemed that a person spoke “the same language” with him, he showed him his children's drawing - the same one with a boa constrictor and an elephant - but everyone, without exception, saw only a hat in the drawing. And then the narrator had no choice but to talk to them about politics, ties and other things that they lived by. There was no one to talk to heart to heart.

Chapter 2

So the narrator lived alone, until one day a breakdown in the engine forced him to land the plane in the desert. At dawn, the sleeping pilot was awakened from nowhere by a little man who came from nowhere. He asked me to draw him a lamb. The hero drew the only picture he could. What was his astonishment when the boy exclaimed that he did not need an elephant in a boa constrictor!

Trying over and over again to draw such a lamb that the kid was waiting for, the pilot lost his patience and drew a box. The kid was very pleased - because he was able to see his lamb there.

Such was the acquaintance of the narrator with the Little Prince.

Chapters 3-4

The kid asked a lot of questions, but when the pilot asked about himself, he pretended not to hear. From the scraps of information received, it became clear that the child was from another planet, and this planet is very small. After thinking, the pilot decided that his home was the asteroid B612, seen through a telescope only once - it was so small.

Chapter 5

Little by little the pilot learned something about the life of the Little Prince. So, once it became known that there are troubles in the baby’s house too. Among plants, baobabs are often found. If you do not distinguish their sprouts from others in time and do not weed them out, they will quickly destroy the planet, tearing it apart with their roots.

To prevent this from happening, the Little Prince had a firm rule: “I got up in the morning, washed myself, put myself in order - and immediately put your planet in order.”

Chapter 6

Gradually it became clear that the baby was often sad on his planet. If “it becomes very sad, it’s good to see how the sun sets,” said the Little Prince. There was a day when the boy looked at the sky more than forty times...

Chapter 7

On the fifth day of their acquaintance, the pilot learned the secret of the Little Prince. On his planet lived an extraordinary flower that no one else in the world had. He was afraid that someday, the lamb that destroys the sprouts of baobabs will eat his favorite plant.

Chapter 8

Soon the narrator learned more about the flower. The Little Prince once had a tiny sprout, not like other flowers. Over time, a bud grew on it, which did not open for a long time. When all the petals opened, the baby saw with admiration a real beauty. She turned out to be a difficult character: the guest was a subtle and proud nature. The boy, who took to heart everything that the beauty said, felt unhappy and decided to run away, setting off on a journey.

Telling the story of the flower, the Kid already understood that “it was necessary to judge not by words, but by deeds”, - after all, the beauty gave the planet a scent, but he did not know how to rejoice at this and “did not know how to love”.

Chapter 9

Before the journey, the boy carefully cleaned his planet. When he said goodbye to a beautiful guest, she suddenly asked for forgiveness, wished him happiness and admitted that she loved the Little Prince.

Chapters 10-11

Very close to the baby's planet were several asteroids, he decided to go there and learn something.

The king lived on the first planet. The monarch gave only feasible orders. For this reason, one had to wait for the exact time to see the sunset. The little prince became bored - he needed to see the sunset when he wanted, at the call of his heart.

On the second planet lived an ambitious man who thought that everyone admired him. The desire of an ambitious man to be smarter, more beautiful and richer than everyone else seemed strange to the boy.

Chapters 12-13

The third planet belonged to the drunkard. The little prince was at a loss when he heard that he was drinking in order to forget how ashamed he was because he was drinking.

The owner of the fourth planet was a business man. He was always busy: counting the stars in the certainty that he owns them. From him, according to the hero, there was no use.

Chapters 14-15

On the smallest planet there lived a lamplighter who lit and extinguished the lantern every moment. His occupation was useful, in the opinion of the kid, because the lamplighter thought not only about himself.

The hero also visited the geographer's planet. The scientist wrote down the stories of travelers, but he himself never saw the seas, deserts and cities.

Chapters 16-17

The seventh planet on which the Little Prince ended up was Earth, and it was huge.

At first, the baby did not see anyone on the planet, except for the snake. From her, he learned that not only in the desert, but also among people, it is also lonely. The snake promised to help him on the day when the boy would be sad about his home.

Chapter 18

Wandering in the desert, the hero came across a small unattractive flower. The flower did not know where to look for people - in his whole life he saw only a few of them and thought that they were carried by the wind, because people did not have roots.

Chapter 19

Climbing a mountain that got in the way, the Little Prince hoped to see the whole Earth and all people. But instead he saw only rocks and heard an echo. "Strange planet!" - the kid decided, and he became sad.

Chapter 20

Once a little hero saw a garden with many roses. They looked like his beauty, and the kid stopped, amazed. It turned out that his flower is not the only one in the world and not at all special. It hurt to think about it, he sat down in the grass and wept.

Chapter 21

At that moment, Fox appeared. The little prince was going to make friends, but it turned out that the animal must first be tamed. Then “we will need each other ... My life will light up like a sun,” said the Fox.

The fox taught the baby that “you can only learn those things that you tame”, and “to tame, you need to be patient”. He revealed to the boy an important secret: “Only the heart is vigilant. You can’t see the main thing with your eyes ”and asked to remember the law:“ you are forever responsible for everyone you tamed. The little prince understood: the beautiful rose is the most precious thing, he gave her all his time and energy, and he is responsible for the rose - after all, he tamed it.

Chapter 22

Moving on, the Little Prince met a switchman who was sorting passengers. The kid asked him where and why people go, what are they looking for? Nobody knew the answer, and the hero decided that "only children know what they are looking for."

Chapter 23

Then the boy saw a merchant who was selling improved pills. Thanks to this, you could save almost an hour a week, take one pill - and you don’t have to drink for a week. If the kid had so many free minutes, he would just go to a living spring ...

Chapter 24

The pilot drank the last remaining water. Together, a boy and an adult set off on a journey in search of a well. When the baby was tired, he was consoled by the thought that somewhere there is his flower, and the desert is beautiful because springs are hidden in it. After the kid’s words about the desert, the narrator realized what kind of mysterious light he saw above the sands: “Be it a house, stars or a desert, the most beautiful thing about them is what you cannot see with your eyes.”

At dawn, the pilot with the boy in his arms reached the well.

Chapter 25

The pilot gave the baby a drink. Water was "like a gift to the heart"; it "was born from a long journey under the stars, from the creaking of the gate, from the efforts of the hands."

Now the friends spoke the same language and both knew that very little was needed to be happy.

The main character realized that the baby wants to return home.

Chapter 26

Having fixed the motor, the pilot returned to the well the next evening and saw that the Little Prince was talking to a snake. The pilot was very scared for the baby. After being told that he could return home at night and protect the rose, the boy became very serious. He promised to give his adult friend special stars. “Every person has his own stars” - the stars of the pilot will be able to laugh.

Very soon, a snake flashed near the Little Prince, biting him, and he fell silently and slowly.

Chapter 27

The pilot never told anyone about the Little Prince. He knew - the baby returned to his house, because the next morning he was not on the sand. And now the narrator loves to watch and listen to the stars, they either laugh quietly or cry.

Conclusion

Talking about the hero's journey, the author speaks to us about eternal human values, about the importance of preserving childish purity and naivety in life, about a real perception of the world. Having studied a brief retelling of The Little Prince, getting acquainted with the plot and characters, you can move on: read the full text and feel the life-affirming beginning of the fairy tale, where the adult hero began to hear the stars and see the world in a new way.

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Information for parents: The Little Prince is a long fairy tale by the famous writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery. It tells how a boy at the age of six read about how a boa constrictor swallows his prey, and drew a snake that swallowed an elephant. He showed the drawing to adults, however, they recommended the boy to leave this business. Thus, the boy abandoned drawing and became a pilot. He lived alone until he met the Little Prince. The fairy tale "The Little Prince" is very exciting, it is recommended for reading to children aged 6 to 12 years. Happy reading.

Read The Little Prince

dedication

I ask the children to forgive me for dedicating this book to an adult. I'll justify it: this adult is my best friend. And one more thing: he understands everything in the world, even children's books. And, finally, he lives in France, and there is now hungry and cold. And he really needs comfort. If all this does not justify me, I will dedicate my book to the boy that my adult friend once was. After all, all adults were children at first, only few of them remember this. So I fix the dedication:

LEON VERT when he was little

Chapter 1

When I was six years old, in a book called "True Stories", which told about virgin forests, I once saw an amazing picture. In the picture, a huge snake - a boa constrictor - was swallowing a predatory beast. Here's how it was drawn:

The book said: “A boa constrictor swallows its prey whole without chewing. After that, he can no longer move and sleeps for six months in a row until he digests food.

I thought a lot about the adventurous life of the jungle and also drew my first picture with colored pencil. This was my drawing #1. Here is what I drew:

I showed my creation to adults and asked if they were afraid.

Is the hat scary? they objected to me. And it wasn't a hat at all. It was a boa constrictor that swallowed an elephant. Then I drew a boa constrictor from the inside, so that adults could understand it better. After all, they always need to explain everything. Here is my drawing #2:

Adults advised me not to draw snakes either from the outside or from the inside, but to be more interested in geography, history, arithmetic and spelling. That's how it happened that from the age of six I gave up a brilliant career as an artist. Having failed with drawings #1 and #2, I lost faith in myself. Adults never understand anything themselves, and for children it is very tiring to endlessly explain and interpret everything to them.

So, I had to choose another profession, and I trained as a pilot. I flew around almost the whole world. And geography, to tell the truth, was very useful to me. I could tell China from Arizona at a glance. This is very useful if you go astray at night.

In my life I have met many different serious people. I have lived among adults for a long time. I saw them very close. And from this, I confess, I did not begin to think about them better.

When I met an adult who seemed to me more intelligent and understanding than others, I showed him my drawing No. 1 - I saved it and always carried it with me. I wanted to know if this man really understood something. But they all answered me: "It's a hat." And I no longer spoke to them about boas, or the jungle, or the stars. I applied to their concepts. I talked to them about bridge and golf, politics and ties. And adults were very pleased that they met such a sane person.

Chapter 2

So, I lived alone, and I had no one to talk heart to heart with. And six years ago I had to make an emergency landing in the Sahara. Something broke in the engine of my plane. There was no mechanic or passengers with me, and I decided that I would try to fix everything myself, although it is very difficult. I had to fix the motor or die. I barely had enough water for a week.

So, the first night I fell asleep on the sand in the desert, where there was no habitation for thousands of miles around. A man shipwrecked and lost on a raft in the middle of the ocean, and he would not be so alone. Imagine my surprise when at dawn I was awakened by someone's thin voice. He said:

“Please… draw me a lamb!”

Draw me a lamb...

I jumped up, as if thunder had thundered over me. Rubbed his eyes. Started looking around. And I see - some unusual baby is standing and seriously looking at me.

Here is the best portrait of him that I have been able to draw since. But in my drawing, he, of course, is far from being as good as he really was. It is not my fault. When I was six years old, adults inspired me that I would not be an artist, and I learned nothing to draw, except for boas - inside and out.

So, I looked with all my eyes at this extraordinary phenomenon. Remember, I was thousands of miles away from human habitation. And yet it didn't look like the little one was lost, or tired and frightened to death, or dying of hunger and thirst. By his appearance, it was impossible to tell that this was a child lost in an uninhabited desert, far from any habitation.

Finally, the power of speech returned to me, and I asked:

“But… what are you doing here?”

And he again asked quietly and very seriously:

“Please… draw me a lamb…”

All this was so mysterious and incomprehensible that I did not dare to refuse. Although it was absurd here in the desert, on the verge of death, I nevertheless took out a sheet of paper and an eternal pen from my pocket. But then I remembered that I studied more than geography, history, arithmetic and spelling, and told the kid (he even said a little angrily) that I couldn’t draw. He replied:

- Doesn't matter. Draw a lamb.

Since I had never drawn a ram in my life, I repeated for him one of the two old pictures that I only know how to draw - a boa constrictor outside. And he was very surprised when the baby exclaimed:

- No no! I don't need an elephant in a boa constrictor! The boa is too dangerous and the elephant is too big. Everything in my house is very small. I need a lamb. Draw a lamb.

And I drew.

He looked at my drawing carefully and said:

- No, this lamb is already quite frail. Draw another.

I drew.

My new friend smiled softly, indulgently.

“You see for yourself,” he said, “this is not a lamb. This is a big ram. He has horns...

I drew again in a different way.

But he refused this drawing.

This one is too old. I need such a lamb to live a long time.

Here I lost my patience - after all, it was necessary to disassemble the motor as soon as possible - and scrawled this:

And said to the child:

- Here's a box. And your lamb sits in it.

But how surprised I was when my strict judge suddenly beamed:

- That's what I need! Do you think he eats a lot of herbs?

“After all, I have very little at home ...

- He's had enough. I give you a very small lamb.

“Not so small…” he said, tilting his head and looking at the drawing. - Check this out! My lamb fell asleep...

So, I met the Little Prince.

Chapter 3

It didn't take long for me to realize where he came from. The little prince bombarded me with questions, but when I asked about something, he seemed not to hear. Only little by little, from random, casually dropped words, everything was revealed to me. So, when he first saw my plane (I won’t draw an airplane, I still can’t cope), he asked:

— What is this thing?

- It's not a thing. This is a plane. My plane. He is flying.

And I proudly explained that I could fly. Then the child exclaimed:

- How! Have you fallen from the sky?

“Yes,” I replied modestly.

- That's funny!

And the Little Prince laughed loudly, so that I was annoyed: I like my misadventures to be taken seriously. Then he added:

“So you also came from the sky. And from what planet?

“So this is the clue to his mysterious appearance here in the desert!” - I thought and asked bluntly:

So you came here from another planet?

But he didn't answer. He quietly shook his head, looking at the plane.

“Well, you couldn’t fly from afar on this…

And I thought about something for a long time. Then he took out a lamb from his pocket and plunged into the contemplation of this treasure.

You can imagine how my curiosity was kindled by the strange half-confession about "other planets". And I tried to find out more:

"Where did you come from, kid?" Where is your home? Where do you want to take the lamb?

He paused for a moment, then said:

“It’s very good that you gave me the box: the lamb will sleep there at night.”

- Well, of course. And if you're smart, I'll give you a rope to tie him down during the day. And a peg.

The little prince frowned.

- Bind? What is this for?

“But if you don’t tie him up, he will wander into no one knows where and get lost.

Here my friend laughed merrily again:

— Where will he go?

- Is there anywhere? Everything is straight, straight where the eyes look.

Then the little prince said seriously:

— It's nothing, because I have very little space there.

And he added, not without sadness:

If you go straight and straight, you won't get far...

Chapter 4

So, I made another important discovery: his home planet is the size of a house!

However, this didn't surprise me too much. I knew that, besides such large planets as Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, there are hundreds of others that have not even been given names, and among them are so small that it is difficult to see them even with a telescope. When an astronomer discovers such a planet, he does not give it a name, but simply a number. For example, asteroid 3251.

I have good reason to believe that the Little Prince came from a planet called Asteroid B-612. This asteroid was seen through a telescope only once, in 1909, by a Turkish astronomer.

The astronomer then reported on his remarkable discovery at the International Astronomical Congress. But no one believed him, and all because he was dressed in Turkish. Such people these adults!

Luckily for the reputation of asteroid B-612, the ruler of Turkey ordered his subjects, on pain of death, to wear European dress. In 1920, that astronomer again reported his discovery. This time he was dressed in the latest fashion - and everyone agreed with him.

I told you in such detail about the asteroid B-612 and even gave its number only because of the adults. Adults are very fond of numbers. When you tell them that you have a new friend, they will never ask about the most important thing. They will never say: “What kind of voice does he have? What games does he like to play? Does he catch butterflies? They ask: “How old is he? How many brothers does he have? How much does he weigh? How much does his father earn? And after that they imagine that they recognized the person. When you say to adults: “I saw a beautiful house made of pink brick, it has geraniums in the windows, and pigeons on the roof,” they cannot imagine this house in any way. They need to be told: “I saw a house for a hundred thousand francs,” and then they exclaim: “What a beauty!”

In the same way, if you tell them: “Here is evidence that the Little Prince really existed - he was very, very nice, he laughed, and he wanted to have a lamb. And whoever wants a lamb, of course, exists, ”to put it this way, they will only shrug their shoulders and look at you like an unintelligent baby. But if you tell them: “He came from a planet called the asteroid B-612,” this will convince them, and they will not bother you with questions. Such people are these adults. You shouldn't be angry with them. Children should be very lenient towards adults.

But we, those who understand what life is - we, of course, laugh at numbers and numbers! I would gladly begin this story as a fairy tale. I would like to start like this:

“There was a Little Prince. He lived on a planet that was a little bigger than himself, and he really missed a friend ... "Those who understand what life is, would immediately see that this is much more like the truth.

For I do not at all want my book to be read simply for fun. My heart shrinks painfully when I remember my little friend, and it is not easy for me to talk about him. It has been six years since my friend left me with the lamb. And I try to tell about it in order not to forget it. It's very sad when friends are forgotten. Not everyone had a friend. And I'm afraid to become like adults who are not interested in anything but numbers. That's also why I bought a box of paints and colored pencils. It's not so easy - at my age to start drawing again, if in my whole life I only drew that a boa constrictor inside and out, and even then at six years old! Of course, I try to convey the likeness as best as possible. But I'm not sure if I can do it. One portrait comes out well, and the other is not a bit different. It’s the same with growth: in one drawing, my prince is too big, in the other, too small. And I don't remember what color his clothes were. I try to draw this way and that, at random, with a sin in half. Finally, I may be mistaken in some important details. But you don't ask. My friend never explained anything to me. Maybe he thought I was just like him. But, unfortunately, I cannot see the lamb through the walls of the box. Maybe I'm a bit like adults. I must be getting old.

Chapter 5

Every day I learned something new about his planet, about how he left it and how he traveled. He talked about it little by little, when it came to the word. So, on the third day, I learned about the tragedy with the baobabs.

This also came from the lamb. The little prince seemed suddenly seized with grave doubts, and he asked:

“Tell me, do lambs really eat bushes?”

- Yes, truth.

- That's good!

I did not understand why it is so important that lambs eat bushes. But the little prince added: “So they eat baobabs too?”

I objected that baobabs are not bushes, but huge trees, as high as a bell tower, and even if he brings a whole herd of elephants, they will not eat even one baobab.

Hearing about the elephants, the Little Prince laughed:

“They would have to be stacked on top of each other…

And then he said wisely:

- Baobabs at first, until they grow up, are quite small.

- It's right. But why does your lamb eat little baobabs?

— But how! - he exclaimed, as if it was about the most simple, elementary truths.

And I had to rack my brains until I figured out what was the matter.

On the planet of the Little Prince, like on any other planet, useful and harmful herbs grow. This means that there are good seeds of good, useful herbs and harmful seeds of bad, weed grass. But the seeds are invisible. They sleep deep underground until one of them decides to wake up. Then it sprouts; he straightens up and reaches for the sun, at first so sweet, harmless. If this is a future radish or rose bush, let it grow in good health. But if it is some kind of bad herb, you must uproot it as soon as you recognize it. And on the planet of the Little Prince there are terrible, evil seeds ... These are the seeds of baobabs. The soil of the planet is all infected with them. And if the baobab is not recognized in time, then you will not get rid of it. He will take over the entire planet. He will pierce it through with his roots. And if the planet is very small and there are many baobabs, they will tear it to pieces.

“There is such a firm rule,” the Little Prince told me afterwards. - You got up in the morning, washed yourself, put yourself in order - and immediately put your planet in order. It is imperative to weed out the baobabs every day, as soon as they can already be distinguished from rose bushes: their young sprouts are almost the same. This is a very boring job, but not at all difficult.

Once he advised me to try and draw such a picture so that our children would understand it well.

“If they ever have to travel,” he said, “this will come in handy. Other work can wait a little - there will be no harm. But if you give free rein to the baobabs, troubles cannot be avoided. I knew one planet, a lazy person lived on it. He did not weed three bushes in time ...

The little prince described everything to me in detail, and I drew this planet. I can't stand preaching to people. But few people know what the baobabs threaten, and the danger that anyone who gets on the asteroid is exposed to is very great; that is why this time I dare to change my usual reserve. "Children! I say. “Beware of the baobabs!” I want to warn my friends about the danger that has been waiting for them for a long time, and they do not even suspect about it, just as I did not suspect before. That is why I worked so hard on this drawing, and I do not regret the labor spent. Perhaps you ask: why in my book there are no more such impressive drawings as this one with baobabs? The answer is very simple: I tried, but nothing came of it. And when I painted baobabs, I was inspired by the realization that this is terribly important and urgent.

Chapter 6

Oh Little Prince! Little by little I also realized how sad and monotonous your life was. For a long time you had only one entertainment - you admired the sunset. I found out about it on the morning of the fourth day when you said:

— I really like the sunset. Let's go watch the sun go down.

- Well, you'll have to wait.

- What to expect?

- For the sun to go down.

At first you were very surprised, but then you laughed at yourself and said:

“I feel like I’m at home!”

And indeed. Everyone knows that when it is noon in America, the sun is already setting in France. And if one minute to be transported to France, one could admire the sunset. Unfortunately, France is very, very far away. And on your planet, it was enough for you to move the chair a few steps. And you again and again looked at the sunset sky, you only had to want to ...

“I once saw the sunset forty-three times in one day!”

And a little later you added:

“You know… when you’re really sad, it’s good to watch the sun go down…

- So, on the day when you saw forty-three sunsets, you were very sad?

But the little prince did not answer.

Chapter 7

On the fifth day, again thanks to the lamb, I learned the secret of the Little Prince. He asked unexpectedly, without preamble, as if he had come to this conclusion after long silent reflection:

- If a lamb eats bushes, does it also eat flowers?

- He eats everything he gets.

“Even flowers with thorns?”

— Yes, and those with thorns.

"Then what are the spikes for?"

I didn't know this. I was very busy: one bolt was stuck in the motor, and I tried to unscrew it. I was uneasy, the situation became serious, there was almost no water left, and I began to fear that my forced landing would end badly.

Why do you need spikes?

Having asked a question, the Little Prince did not back down until he received an answer. The unyielding bolt made me impatient, and I answered at random:

- The thorns are not needed for anything, the flowers release them just out of anger.

— That's how!

There was silence. Then he said almost angrily:

- I don't believe you! Flowers are weak. And simple-minded. And they try to give themselves courage. They think: if they have thorns, everyone is afraid of them ...

I didn't answer. At that moment I said to myself: "If this bolt does not give way even now, I will hit it with a hammer so hard that it will shatter into smithereens." The little prince interrupted my thoughts again:

Do you think flowers...

- No! I don't think anything! I answered you the first thing that came to mind. You see, I'm busy with a serious matter.

He looked at me in amazement.

- Serious business?

He kept looking at me: smeared with lubricating oil, with a hammer in my hands, I bent over an incomprehensible object that seemed so ugly to him.

You talk like adults! - he said.

I became ashamed. And he mercilessly added:

“You’re all confusing… you don’t understand anything!”

Yes, he was really angry. He shook his head, and the wind tousled his golden hair.

- I know one planet, there lives such a gentleman with a purple face. He never smelled a flower in his entire life. I never looked at a star. He never loved anyone. And never did anything. He is busy with only one thing: he adds up the numbers. And from morning to night he repeats one thing: “I am a serious person! I'm a serious person!" - just like you. And straight up puffed up with pride. In fact, he is not human. He is a mushroom.

The little prince even turned pale with anger.

“Thorns have been growing on flowers for millions of years. And for millions of years, lambs still eat flowers. So, is it really a frivolous thing to understand why they go out of their way to grow thorns if the thorns are of no use? Is it really not important that lambs and flowers are at war with each other? Isn't this more serious and more important than the arithmetic of a fat gentleman with a purple face? And if I know the only flower in the world, it grows only on my planet, and there is no other like it anywhere else, and a little lamb one fine morning will suddenly take it and eat it and will not even know what it has done? And all this, in your opinion, is not important?

He blushed deeply. Then he spoke again:

- If you love a flower - the only one that is not found on any of the many millions of stars - that is enough: look at the sky - and you are happy. And you say to yourself: “My flower lives somewhere ...” But if the lamb eats it, it’s the same as if all the stars went out at once! And it doesn't matter to you!

He could no longer speak. He suddenly burst into tears. It got dark. I quit my job. I forgot to think about the ill-fated bolt and hammer, about thirst and death. On a star, on a planet - on my planet called Earth, - the Little Prince was crying, and he had to be consoled. I took him in my arms and began to cradle. I told him: “The flower you love is not in danger… I will draw a muzzle for your lamb… I will draw armor for your flower… I…” I didn’t know what else to tell him. I felt terribly awkward and clumsy. How to call so that he hears, how to catch up with his soul, escaping from me ... After all, it is so mysterious and unknown, this country of tears ...

Chapter 8

Very soon I got to know this flower better. On the planet of the Little Prince, simple, modest flowers always grew - they had few petals, they took up very little space and did not bother anyone. They opened in the morning in the grass and withered in the evening. And this one once sprouted from a grain brought in from nowhere, and the Little Prince did not take his eyes off the tiny sprout, unlike all other sprouts and blades of grass. What if this is some new variety of baobab? But the bush quickly stopped reaching up, and a bud appeared on it. The little prince had never seen such huge buds and had a presentiment that he would see a miracle. And the unknown guest, hidden within the walls of her green room, was getting ready, all preening herself. She carefully chose the colors. She dressed up leisurely, trying on the petals one by one. She did not want to come into the world disheveled, like some kind of poppy. She wanted to show herself in all the splendor of her beauty. Yes, it was a terrible coquette! The mysterious preparations went on day after day. And then one morning, as soon as the sun rose, the petals opened.

And the beauty, who had put so much effort in preparing for this moment, said, yawning:

“Ah, I struggled to wake up… I beg your pardon… I’m still completely disheveled…”

The little prince could not contain his delight:

- How beautiful you are!

- Yes, truth? - was a quiet answer. “And mind you, I was born with the sun.

The little prince, of course, guessed that the amazing guest did not suffer from an excess of modesty, but she was so beautiful that it was breathtaking!

And she soon noticed:

Looks like it's time for breakfast. Be so kind, take care of me...

The little prince was very embarrassed, found a watering can and watered the flower with spring water.

It soon turned out that the beauty was proud and touchy, and the Little Prince was completely exhausted with her. She had four thorns, and one day she said to him:

- Let the tigers come, I'm not afraid of their claws!

“There are no tigers on my planet,” the little prince objected. And besides, tigers don't eat grass.

“I am not grass,” the flower remarked quietly.

- Forgive me…

— No, I am not afraid of tigers, but I am terribly afraid of drafts. Don't have a screen?

- A plant, but afraid of drafts ... very strange ... - thought the Little Prince. What a difficult character this flower has.

- When evening comes, cover me with a cap. It's too cold for you here. A very uncomfortable planet. Where I came from...

She didn't agree. After all, she was brought here when she was still a seed. She could not know anything about other worlds. It's stupid to lie when it's so easy to catch you! The beauty was embarrassed, then she coughed once or twice so that the Little Prince would feel how guilty he was before her:

- Where is the screen?

"I wanted to follow her, but I couldn't help but listen to you!"

Then she coughed harder: let his conscience still torment him!

Although the Little Prince fell in love with a beautiful flower, and was glad to serve him, doubts soon arose in his soul. He took empty words to heart and began to feel very unhappy.

“I shouldn’t have listened to her,” he once told me trustingly. You should never listen to what the flowers say. You just have to look at them and breathe in their scent. My flower filled my whole planet with fragrance, but I did not know how to rejoice in it. This talk about claws and tigers... They should have touched me, but I got angry...

And he also confessed:

“I didn’t understand anything at the time! It was necessary to judge not by words, but by deeds. She gave me her fragrance, lit up my life. I shouldn't have run. Behind these miserable tricks and tricks one should have guessed tenderness. The flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young, I didn't know how to love yet.

Chapter 9

As I understand it, he decided to travel with migratory birds.

On the last morning, he cleaned his planet more diligently than usual. He carefully cleaned the active volcanoes. It had two active volcanoes. They are very convenient in the morning to warm up breakfast. In addition, he had another extinct volcano. But, he said, you never know what can happen! So he cleaned up the extinct volcano too. When you carefully clean volcanoes, they burn evenly and quietly, without any eruptions. A volcanic eruption is like a fire in a chimney when soot catches fire there. Of course, we humans on Earth are too small to clean our volcanoes. That's why they give us so much trouble.

Then the little prince, not without sadness, pulled out the last sprouts of the baobabs. He thought he would never return. But that morning, the usual work gave him extraordinary pleasure. And when he watered the wonderful flower for the last time and was about to cover it with a cap, he even wanted to cry.

“Goodbye,” he said.

Beauty didn't answer.

"Goodbye," repeated the Little Prince.

She coughed. But not from a cold.

"I was stupid," she finally said. - Forgive me. And try to be happy.

And not a word of reproach. The little prince was very surprised. He froze, confused, with a glass cap in his hands. Where does this quiet tenderness come from?

“Yes, yes, I love you,” he heard. “It's my fault you didn't know that. Yes, it doesn't matter. But you were as stupid as me. Try to be happy... Leave the cap, I don't need it anymore.

But the wind...

“I don’t have a cold so much… The coolness of the night will do me good.” Because I am a flower.

But animals, insects...

- I must endure two or three caterpillars if I want to get acquainted with butterflies. They are probably lovely. And then who will visit me? You'll be far away. And I'm not afraid of big animals. I have claws too.

And she, in the simplicity of her soul, showed her four thorns. Then she added:

- Don't wait, it's unbearable! Decided to leave - so leave.

She didn't want the Little Prince to see her cry. It was a very proud flower...

Chapter 10

Closest to the planet of the Little Prince were asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329 and 330. So he decided to visit them first: you need to find something to do and learn something.

The king lived on the first asteroid. Dressed in purple and ermine, he sat on a throne, very simple and yet majestic.

"Ah, here's the slave!" - exclaimed the king, seeing the little prince.

How did he recognize me? thought the little prince. Because he sees me for the first time!

He did not know that kings look at the world in a very simplified way: for them all people are subjects.

“Come, I want to examine you,” said the king, terribly proud that he could be king for someone.

The little prince looked around to see if he could sit down somewhere, but a magnificent ermine robe covered the entire planet. I had to stand, and he was so tired ... And suddenly he yawned.

“It is not etiquette to yawn in the presence of a monarch,” said the king. - I forbid you to yawn.

“I didn’t mean it,” replied the little prince, very embarrassed. - I was on the road for a long time and did not sleep at all ...

“Well, then I command you to yawn,” said the king. “I haven't seen anyone yawn in years. I'm even curious. So, yawn! That is my order.

“But I’m shy… I can’t do it anymore…” the Little Prince said and blushed deeply.

“Hm, hm… Then… then I command you to yawn, then…”

The king was confused and, it seems, even a little angry.

After all, the most important thing for a king is to be obeyed unquestioningly. He would not tolerate disobedience. It was an absolute monarch. But he was very kind, and therefore gave only reasonable orders.

“If I order my general to turn into a sea gull,” he used to say, “and if the general does not comply with the order, it will not be his fault, but mine.”

- May I sit down? the little prince asked timidly.

- I command: sit down! - answered the king and majestically picked up one half of his ermine mantle.

But the Little Prince was perplexed. The planet is so tiny. Where is the reign?

“Your Majesty,” he began, “let me ask you…

- I command: ask! said the king hastily.

“Your Majesty… Where is your kingdom?”

“Everywhere,” the king answered simply.

The king waved his hand, modestly pointing to his planet, as well as to other planets and stars.

- And all this is yours? asked the little prince.

“Yes,” answered the king.

For he was truly a sovereign monarch and did not know any limits and restrictions.

“And the stars obey you?” asked the little prince.

“Of course,” replied the king. — The stars obey instantly. I do not tolerate disobedience.

The little prince was delighted. If only he had such power! He would then admire the sunset not forty-four times a day, but seventy-two, or even a hundred, and two hundred times, and at the same time he would not even have to move his chair from place to place! Then he became sad again, remembering his abandoned planet, and, having plucked up courage, asked the king:

“I want to look at the sunset… Please do me a favor, tell the sun to go down…”

- If I order some general to flutter like a butterfly from flower to flower, or compose a tragedy, or turn into a sea gull and the general does not comply with the order, who will be to blame for this - he or I?

"Your Majesty," the little prince replied without a moment's hesitation.

"Quite right," said the king. - Everyone should be asked what he can give. Power, above all, must be reasonable. If you command your people to throw themselves into the sea, they will start a revolution. I have the right to demand obedience because my commands are reasonable.

- What about the sunset? - reminded the Little Prince: once he asked about something, he no longer retreated until he received an answer.

- You'll have sunset. I will demand that the sun go down. But first I will wait for favorable conditions, for this is the wisdom of the ruler.

— And when will the conditions be favorable? asked the Little Prince.

“Hm, hm,” replied the king, leafing through a thick calendar. “It will be… um, um… today it will be at seven forty in the evening. And then you will see how exactly my command will be fulfilled.

The little prince yawned. It is a pity that you can not look at the sunset here when you want! And to tell the truth, he was already bored.

“I have to go,” he said to the king. “I have nothing more to do here.

— Stay! - said the king: he was very proud that he had a subject, and did not want to part with him. "Stay, I'll appoint you minister."

- Minister of what?

“Well…justice.

But there is no one to judge here!

“Who knows,” said the king. “I haven’t explored my entire kingdom yet. I am very old, I have no room for a carriage, and walking is so tiring...

The little prince leaned over and looked once more at the other side of the planet.

But I already looked! he exclaimed. “There is no one there either.

"Then judge yourself," said the king. - This is the most difficult. It is much harder to judge oneself than others. If you can judge yourself correctly, then you are truly wise.

“I can judge myself anywhere,” said the little prince. “There is no need for me to stay with you for this.

“Hm, hm…” said the king. “It seems to me that somewhere on my planet lives an old rat. I hear her scratching at night. You could judge that old rat. From time to time sentence her to death. Her life will depend on you. But then every time it will be necessary to pardon her. We must take care of the old rat: after all, we have only one.

“I don’t like to pass death sentences,” said the little prince. - And, in general, I have to go.

“No, it’s not time,” the king objected.

The little prince was already fully prepared for the journey, but he did not want to upset the old monarch.

“If your Majesty would like your orders to be obeyed without question,” he said, “you could give me a prudent order. For example, order me to set off without a moment's hesitation... It seems to me that the conditions for this are the most favorable...

The king did not answer, and the little prince hesitated for a moment in indecision, then sighed and set off.

- I appoint you as an ambassador! the king hurriedly shouted after him.

And at the same time he looked like he would not tolerate any objections.

“A strange people, these grown-ups,” the little prince said to himself as he continued on his way.

Chapter 11

On the second planet lived an ambitious man.

- Oh, here comes the admirer! he exclaimed, seeing the Little Prince from a distance.

For vain people imagine that everyone admires them.

What a funny hat you have on.

“This is to bow,” explained the ambitious man. - To bow when they greet me. Unfortunately, no one looks here.

— Is that how? - said the little prince: he did not understand anything.

“Clap your hands,” the ambitious man told him.

The little prince clapped his hands. The ambitious man raised his hat and bowed modestly.

"It's more fun here than at the old king's," thought the little prince. And again he began to clap his hands. And the ambitious man again began to bow, taking off his hat.

So, for five minutes in a row the same thing was repeated, and the Little Prince got bored.

What should be done to make the hat fall off? - he asked.

But the ambitious man did not hear. Vain people are deaf to everything but praise.

Are you really my enthusiastic admirer? he asked the Little Prince.

“Why, there is no one else on your planet!

- Well, please me, admire me anyway!

“I admire,” said the little prince, shrugging his shoulders slightly, “but what joy does this give you?

And he ran away from the ambitious.

“Really, grown-ups are very strange people,” he thought as he started on his way.

Chapter 12

On the next planet lived a drunkard. The little prince stayed with him for a very short time, but after that he became very unhappy.

When he came to this planet, the drunkard sat silently, staring at the hordes of bottles - empty and full.

— What are you doing? asked the little prince.

“I drink,” the drunkard answered gloomily.

— To forget.

- What to forget? asked the little prince. He felt sorry for the drunkard.

"I want to forget that I'm ashamed," the drunk admitted and hung his head.

- Why are you ashamed? asked the little prince. He really wanted to help the poor man.

- Feel free to drink! - explained the drunkard, and no more could be obtained from him.

“Yes, really, adults are very, very strange people,” he thought, continuing on his way.

Chapter 13

The fourth planet belonged to a business man. He was so busy that when the Little Prince appeared, he did not even raise his head.

“Good afternoon,” the little prince said to him. - Your cigarette is out.

Three and two is five. Five and seven are twelve. Twelve and three are fifteen. Good afternoon. Fifteen and seven are twenty-two. Twenty-two and six is ​​twenty-eight. Once a match strike. Twenty-six and five is thirty-one. Phew! The total, therefore, is five hundred and one million six hundred twenty-two thousand seven hundred and thirty-one.

“Five hundred million what?”

- BUT? Are you still here? Five hundred million... I don't know what... I have so much work to do! I'm a serious person, I'm not up to chatter! Two yes five - seven ...

“Five hundred million what?” - repeated the Little Prince: having asked about something, he did not back down until he received an answer.

The business man raised his head.

“For fifty-four years I have lived on this planet, and in all the time I have been disturbed only three times. For the first time, twenty-two years ago, a cockchafer flew towards me from somewhere. He made a terrible noise, and then I made four mistakes in addition. The second time, eleven years ago, I had an attack of rheumatism. From a sedentary lifestyle. I don't have time to walk around. I am a serious person. Third time... here it is! So, therefore, five hundred million ...

- Millions of what?

The business man realized that he had to answer, otherwise he would not have peace.

“Five hundred million of those little things that are sometimes visible in the air.

- What is it, flies?

- No, they are so small, shiny.

- No. So small, golden, every lazy person looks at them and starts dreaming. And I'm a serious person. I have no time to dream.

- What about the stars?

- Exactly. Stars.

“Five hundred million stars?” What are you doing with them all?

Five hundred one million six hundred twenty two thousand seven hundred thirty one. I am a serious person, I love accuracy.

What are you doing with all these stars?

— What do I do?

- I'm not doing anything. I own them.

- Do you own the stars?

“But I have already seen the king, who—”

“Kings own nothing. They only reign. It's not the same at all.

Why do you own the stars?

- To be rich.

- Why be rich?

— To buy more new stars if someone discovers them.

“He talks almost like that drunkard,” thought the little prince.

How can you own the stars?

- Whose stars? - grumpily asked the businessman.

- I do not know. Draws.

- So, mine, because I was the first to think of it.

"Is that enough?"

- Well, of course. If you find a diamond that has no owner, then it is yours. If you find an island that has no owner, it is yours. If you come up with an idea first, you take out a patent on it: it's yours. I own the stars, because before me no one guessed to take possession of them.

"That's right," said the little prince. - What do you do with them?

“I manage them,” the businessman replied. I count them and count them. It is very difficult. But I am a serious person.

However, this was not enough for the Little Prince.

“If I have a silk handkerchief, I can tie it around my neck and take it with me,” he said. - If I have a flower, I can pick it and take it with me. But you can't take the stars!

— No, but I can put them in the bank.

- Like this?

- And so: I write on a piece of paper how many stars I have. Then I put this piece of paper in a drawer and lock it with a key.

- That's enough.

— Funny! thought the little prince. And even poetic. But it's not that serious.

What is serious and what is not serious - the Little Prince understood it in his own way, not at all like adults.

“I have a flower,” he said, “and I water it every morning. I have three volcanoes, I clean them out every week. I clean all three, and the extinct one too. Few things can happen. Both my volcanoes and my flower benefit from the fact that I own them. And the stars are of no use to you ...

The business man opened his mouth, but could not find anything to answer, and the Little Prince went on.

“No, grown-ups really are amazing people,” he said to himself ingenuously, continuing on his way.

Chapter 14

The fifth planet was very interesting. She was the smallest. It only fit a lantern and a lamplighter.

The little prince could not understand why on a tiny planet lost in the sky, where there are no houses or inhabitants, a lantern and a lamplighter are needed. But he thought:

“Maybe this person is ridiculous. But he is not as absurd as a king, an ambitious man, a businessman and a drunkard. There is a point to his work, though. When he lights his lantern, it is as if another star or flower is being born. And when he extinguishes the lantern, it is as if a star or a flower falls asleep. Great job. It's really useful because it's beautiful."

And, having caught up with this planet, he respectfully bowed to the lamplighter.

“Good afternoon,” he said. "Why did you turn off the lantern now?"

“Such an agreement,” replied the lamplighter. - Good afternoon.

“And what is this agreement?”

- Turn off the lantern. Good evening.

And he lit the lantern again.

Why did you turn it on again?

"Such an arrangement," repeated the lamplighter.

“I don’t understand,” the Little Prince admitted.

“There is nothing to understand,” said the lamplighter. - A deal is a deal. Good afternoon.

And he turned off the lamp.

Then he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a red checkered handkerchief and said:

- It's a tough job for me. Once it made sense. I put out the lantern in the morning and lit it again in the evening. I had a day to rest and a night to sleep...

And then the deal changed?

“The agreement has not changed,” said the lamplighter. - That's the problem! My planet rotates faster and faster year by year, but the agreement remains the same.

- And how now? asked the little prince.

— Yes, like this. The planet makes a complete revolution in one minute, and I don't have a second to breathe. Every minute I turn off the lantern and light it again.

- That's funny! So your day only lasts one minute!

"There's nothing funny about it," said the lamplighter. We've been talking for a whole month now.

- Whole month?!

- Well, yes. Thirty minutes. Thirty days. Good evening!

And he lit the lantern again.

The little prince looked at the lamplighter, and he liked this man more and more, who was so true to his word. The little prince remembered how he once rearranged a chair from place to place in order to once again look at the sunset. And he wanted to help his friend.

“Listen,” he said to the lamplighter. - I know the remedy: you can rest whenever you want ...

“I want to rest all the time,” said the lamplighter.

After all, you can be true to your word and still be lazy.

“Your planet is so tiny,” continued the Little Prince, “you can go around it in three steps. And you just need to go at such a speed as to stay in the sun all the time. When you want to rest, you just go, go... And the day will drag on for as long as you wish.

“Well, that doesn’t do much for me,” said the lamplighter. “Most of all, I like to sleep.

“Then it’s bad for you,” the little prince sympathized.

“It’s bad for me,” the lamplighter confirmed. - Good afternoon.

And he turned off the lamp.

“Here is a man,” the little prince said to himself, continuing his journey, “here is a man whom everyone would despise - and the king, and the ambitious, and the drunkard, and the businessman. And meanwhile, of all of them, he alone, in my opinion, is not funny. Maybe because he thinks not only about himself.

The little prince sighed.

“That would be someone to make friends with,” he thought again. “But his planet is very tiny. There is no room for two…”

He did not dare to admit to himself that he regretted this wonderful planet most of all for one more reason: in twenty-four hours you can admire the sunset on it one thousand four hundred and forty times!

Chapter 15

The sixth planet was ten times the size of the previous one. It was inhabited by an old man who wrote thick books.

— Look! The traveler has arrived! he exclaimed, noticing the Little Prince.

The little prince sat down on the table to catch his breath. He has traveled so much!

- Where are you from? asked the old man.

What is this big book? asked the little prince. - What are you doing here?

“I am a geographer,” the old man answered.

What is a geographer?

“He is a scientist who knows where the seas, rivers, cities, mountains and deserts are.

- How interesting! said the little prince. - This is the real deal!

And he glanced at the geographer's planet. Never before had he seen such a majestic planet.

“Your planet is very beautiful,” he said. - Do you have oceans?

“That I do not know,” said the geographer.

“Oh…” the little prince drawled disappointedly. - Are there any mountains?

"I don't know," repeated the geographer.

What about cities, rivers, deserts?

“And I don't know that either.

But you are a geographer!

"That's right," said the old man. “I am a geographer, not a traveler. I miss travellers. After all, it is not geographers who keep count of cities, rivers, mountains, seas, oceans and deserts. The geographer is too important a person, he has no time to roam. He doesn't leave his office. But he hosts travelers and writes down their stories. And if one of them tells something interesting, the geographer makes inquiries and checks whether this traveler is a decent person.

- What for?

“Why, if a traveler begins to lie, everything will be confused in geography textbooks. And if he drinks too much, that's a problem too.

- And why?

“Because drunkards see double. And where there is actually one mountain, the geographer will mark two.

- I knew one person ... He would make a bad traveler, - said the Little Prince.

- It's very possible. So, if it turns out that the traveler is a decent person, then they check his discovery.

- How do they check? Go and watch?

- Well no. It's too difficult. They simply require the traveler to provide proof. For example, if he discovered a large mountain, let him bring large stones from it.

The geographer suddenly got excited:

But you are also a traveler! You have come from afar! Tell me about your planet!

And he opened a thick book and sharpened a pencil. Travelers' stories are first written in pencil. And only after the traveler provides evidence, you can write down his story in ink.

“I hear you,” said the geographer.

“Well, it’s not so interesting for me there,” said the Little Prince. - Everything is very small. There are three volcanoes. Two are active, and one is long gone. But few things can happen...

“Yes, anything can happen,” the geographer confirmed.

- Then, I have a flower.

“We do not celebrate flowers,” said the geographer.

- Why?! It's the most beautiful!

Because flowers are ephemeral.

- How is it - ephemeral?

“Books on geography are the most precious books in the world,” the geographer explained. “They never get old. After all, this is a very rare case for a mountain to move. Or for the ocean to dry up. We write about things eternal and unchanging.

“But an extinct volcano can wake up,” interrupted the Little Prince. What is "ephemeral"?

- Whether the volcano is extinct or active - it does not matter for us, geographers, - said the geographer. One thing is important: the mountain. She doesn't change.

What is "ephemeral"? - asked the Little Prince, because once he asked a question, he did not back down until he received an answer.

“It means: the one that should soon disappear.

“And my flower must soon disappear?”

— Of course.

“My beauty and joy are short-lived,” the Little Prince said to himself, “and she has nothing to protect herself from the world: she only has four thorns. And I left her, and she was left on my planet all alone!”

This was the first time he regretted leaving the flower. But courage immediately returned to him.

Where would you advise me to go? he asked the geographer.

“Visit the planet Earth,” answered the geographer. She has a good reputation...

And the Little Prince set off, but his thoughts were about the abandoned flower.

Chapter 16

So the seventh planet he visited was Earth. Earth is not an easy planet! There are one hundred and eleven kings (including, of course, Negro kings), seven thousand geographers, nine hundred thousand businessmen, seven and a half million drunkards, three hundred and eleven million ambitious people - a total of about two billion adults.

To give you an idea of ​​how big the Earth is, I will only say that before the invention of electricity, on all six continents it was necessary to keep a whole army of lamplighters - four hundred and sixty-two thousand five hundred and eleven people.

From the outside, it was a magnificent sight. The movements of this army obeyed the most precise rhythm, just like in ballet.

The lamplighters of New Zealand and Australia were the first to perform. Lighting their lights, they went to bed. Behind them came the turn of the Chinese lamplighters. Having performed their dance, they also hid behind the scenes. Then came the turn of lamplighters in Russia and India. Then - in Africa and Europe. Then in South America. Then in North America. And they never made a mistake, no one went on stage at the wrong time. Yes, it was brilliant.

Only the lamplighter who was supposed to light the only lantern at the North Pole, and even his colleague at the South Pole - only these two lived easily and carelessly: they had to do their job only twice a year.

Chapter 17

When you really want to be sarcastic, sometimes you involuntarily lie. Talking about the lamplighters, I have somewhat sinned against the truth. I am afraid that those who do not know our planet will have the wrong idea about it. Humans don't take up much space on Earth. If its two billion inhabitants were to converge and become a solid crowd, as at a meeting, they would all fit easily into a space measuring twenty miles long and twenty miles wide. All mankind could be made shoulder to shoulder on the smallest island in the Pacific Ocean.

Adults, of course, will not believe you. They imagine they take up a lot of space. They seem majestic to themselves, like baobabs. And you advise them to make an accurate calculation. They'll love it, they love numbers. You, do not waste time on this arithmetic. It's useless. You already believe me.

So, once on Earth, the Little Prince did not see a soul and was very surprised. He even thought that he had flown by mistake to some other planet. But then a ring of the color of a moonbeam stirred in the sand.

“Good evening,” the little prince said just in case.

“Good evening,” the snake replied.

What planet am I on?

“To Earth,” said the snake. — To Africa.

— That's how. Are there no people on earth?

- It's a desert. Nobody lives in the deserts. But the Earth is big.

The little prince sat down on a stone and raised his eyes to the sky.

“I would like to know why the stars shine,” he said thoughtfully. - Probably, so that sooner or later everyone can find their own again. Look, here is my planet - right above us ... But how far to it!

“A beautiful planet,” said the snake. What are you going to do here on Earth?

“I quarreled with my flower,” admitted the Little Prince.

“Ah, that’s what it is…

And both fell silent.

— Where are the people? The little prince finally spoke again. It's lonely in the desert...

“It’s lonely among people, too,” the snake noticed.

The little prince looked at her carefully.

“You are a strange creature,” he said. - Not thicker than a finger ...

“But I have more power than in the finger of a king,” the snake objected.

The little prince smiled.

“Well, are you really that powerful? You don't even have paws. You can't even travel...

And wrapped around the Little Prince's ankle like a golden bracelet.

"Everyone I touch, I return to the land from which they came," she said. “But you are pure and come from a star…”

The little prince did not answer.

“I feel sorry for you,” the snake continued. “You are so weak on this Earth, hard as granite. On the day when you bitterly regret your abandoned planet, I will be able to help you. I can…

“I understand perfectly,” said the little prince. "But why do you always speak in riddles?"

“I solve all riddles,” said the snake. And both fell silent.

Chapter 18

The little prince crossed the desert and met no one. For all the time he came across only one flower - a tiny, nondescript flower with three petals ...

"Hello," said the little prince.

“Hello,” answered the flower.

— Where are the people? asked the little prince politely.

The flower once saw a caravan passing by.

- People? Oh yes... There are only six or seven of them, I think. I saw them many years ago. But where to look for them is unknown. They are carried by the wind. They don't have roots - it's very inconvenient.

"Goodbye," said the little prince.

"Goodbye," said the flower.

Chapter 19

The little prince climbed a high mountain. He had never seen mountains before, except for his three volcanoes, which were up to his knees. The extinct volcano served him as a stool. And now he thought: "From such a high mountain, I can immediately see the whole planet and all people." But I saw only rocks, sharp and thin, like needles.

"Good afternoon," he said, just in case.

"Good afternoon ... day ... day ... " - responded echo.

- Who you are? asked the little prince.

“Who are you… who are you… who are you…” echoed.

"Let's be friends, I'm all alone," he said.

"One... one... one..." echoed.

What a strange planet! thought the little prince. - Completely dry, all in needles and salty. And people lack imagination. They only repeat what you tell them ... At home I had a flower, my beauty and joy, and he always spoke first.

Chapter 20

The Little Prince walked for a long time through the sands, rocks and snow, and finally came across the road. And all roads lead to people.

“Good afternoon,” he said.

In front of him was a garden full of roses.

"Good afternoon," said the roses.

And the little prince saw that they all looked like his flower.

- Who you are? he asked, startled.

“We are roses,” answered the roses.

“Is that so…” said the little prince.

And I felt very, very unhappy. His beauty told him that there was no one like her in the entire universe. And here in front of him are five thousand exactly the same flowers in one garden alone!

“How angry she would be if she saw them! thought the little prince. “She would have coughed terribly and pretended to be dying, just so as not to seem ridiculous. And I would have to follow her like a patient, otherwise she would really die, just to humiliate me too ... "

And then he thought: “I imagined that I own the only flower in the world, which no one else has anywhere else, and it was the most ordinary rose. All I had was a simple rose and three volcanoes that were knee-high to me, and then one of them went out, and, perhaps, forever ... What kind of prince am I after that? .. "

He lay down on the grass and wept.

Chapter 21

This is where Lis came in.

“Hello,” he said.

“Hello,” the little prince replied politely and looked around, but saw no one.

- Who are you? asked the little prince. - How beautiful you are!

“I am the Fox,” said the Fox.

“Play with me,” the little prince asked. - I feel so sad…

"I can't play with you," said the Fox. - I'm not tamed.

“Ah, sorry,” said the little prince.

But on reflection he asked:

- And how is it - to tame?

"You're not from here," said the Fox. What are you looking for here?

“I’m looking for people,” said the little prince. - And how is it - to tame?

“People have guns and they go hunting. It is very uncomfortable! And they also raise chickens. That's the only thing they're good at. Are you looking for chickens?

“No,” said the little prince. - I am looking for friends. And how is it to tame?

"It's a long forgotten concept," the Fox explained. “It means to create bonds.

"That's right," said the Fox. “You are still just a little boy to me, just like a hundred thousand other boys. And I don't need you. And you don't need me either. I am only a fox for you, exactly the same as a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, we will need each other. You will be the only one in the world for me. And I will be alone for you in the whole world ...

"I'm beginning to understand," said the little prince. - There is one rose ... Probably, she tamed me ...

"Very likely," Fox agreed. - There is nothing on Earth.

“That was not on Earth,” said the little prince.

Lis was very surprised:

- On another planet?

“Are there hunters on that planet?”

- How interesting! Are there chickens there?

- There is no perfection in the world! Lis sighed.

But then he spoke again about the same thing:

- My life is boring. I hunt chickens, and people hunt me. All chickens are the same and people are all the same. And my life is boring. But if you tame me, my life will be like the sun. I will distinguish your steps among thousands of others. Hearing human footsteps, I always run and hide. But your walk will call me like music, and I will come out of my shelter. And then - look! See, over there, in the fields, the wheat is ripening? I don't eat bread. I don't need spikes. Wheat fields mean nothing to me. And it's sad! But you have golden hair. And how wonderful it will be when you tame me! Golden wheat will remind me of you. And I will love the rustle of ears in the wind ...

The fox fell silent and looked at the Little Prince for a long time. Then he said:

“Please… tame me!”

“I would be glad,” replied the Little Prince, “but I have so little time. I still need to find friends and learn different things.

“You can only learn things that you tame,” said the Fox. “People don’t have enough time to learn anything anymore. They buy things ready-made in stores. But after all, there are no shops where friends would trade, and therefore people no longer have friends. If you want a friend, tame me!

— And what should be done for this? asked the little prince.

“You have to be patient,” Fox replied. “First, sit down over there, at some distance, on the grass—like this. I will look askance at you, and you keep quiet. Words only make it difficult to understand each other. But every day sit a little closer...

The next day, the Little Prince again came to the same place.

“It’s better to always come at the same hour,” the Fox asked. - For example, if you come at four o'clock, I will feel happy from three o'clock. And the closer to the appointed hour, the happier. At four o'clock I will already begin to worry and worry. I know the price of happiness! And if you come every time at a different time, I don’t know what hour to prepare your heart for ... You need to follow the rites.

- What are rituals? asked the little prince.

“That, too, is something long forgotten,” the Fox explained. “Something that makes one day different from all other days, one hour from all other hours. For example, my hunters have this ritual: on Thursdays they dance with the village girls. And what a wonderful day it is Thursday! I go for a walk and go all the way to the vineyard. And if the hunters danced when they had to, all the days would be the same, and I would never know rest.

So, the Little Prince tamed the Fox. And now it's time to say goodbye.

“I will cry for you,” the Fox sighed.

"It's your own fault," said the little prince. “I didn't want you to get hurt; you yourself wanted me to tame you ...

“Yes, of course,” said the Fox.

But you will cry!

- Oh sure.

“So you feel bad about it.

- No, - objected the Fox, - I'm fine. Remember what I said about the golden ears.

He stopped. Then he added:

— Go and look at the roses again. You will understand that your rose is the only one in the world. And when you return to say goodbye to me, I will tell you a secret. This will be my gift to you.

The little prince went to look at the roses.

“You are nothing like my rose,” he told them. “You are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have not tamed anyone. This was before my Fox. He was no different from a hundred thousand other foxes. But I made friends with him, and now he is the only one in the whole world.

The roses were very confused.

“You are beautiful, but empty,” continued the Little Prince. “I don't want to die for you. Of course, a random passerby, looking at my rose, will say that it is exactly the same as you. But she alone is dearer to me than all of you. After all, it is her, and not you, I watered every day. He covered her, not you, with a glass cap. He blocked it with a screen, protecting it from the wind. For her, he killed the caterpillars, only left two or three for the butterflies to hatch. I listened to how she complained and how she boasted, I listened to her even when she was silent. She is mine.

And the Little Prince returned to the Fox.

“Goodbye…” he said.

"Goodbye," said the Fox. - Here is my secret, it is very simple: only the heart is vigilant. You can't see the most important thing with your eyes.

“You can’t see the most important thing with your eyes,” repeated the Little Prince, in order to better remember.

“Your rose is so dear to you because you gave it all your days.

“Because I gave her all my days…” the little prince repeated, to better remember.

“People have forgotten this truth,” said the Fox, “but don’t forget: you are forever responsible for everyone you tamed. You are responsible for your rose.

“I am responsible for my rose ...” the Little Prince repeated, in order to better remember.

Chapter 22

"Good afternoon," said the little prince.

“Good afternoon,” said the switchman.

- What are you doing? asked the little prince.

“Sorting passengers,” the switchman answered. “I send them on trains of a thousand people at a time, one train to the right, the other to the left.

And the fast train, sparkling with lighted windows, rushed past with a thunder, and the switchman's booth trembled all over.

How fast they are! The little prince was surprised. - What are they looking for?

"Even the engineer himself doesn't know that," said the switchman.

And in the other direction, sparkling with lights, another fast train rushed with thunder.

Are they back already? asked the little prince.

“No, they are different,” said the switchman. - This is a counter.

Were they not well where they were before?

“It's good where we are not,” said the switchman.

And thundered, sparkling, the third fast train.

“They want to catch up with those first ones?” asked the little prince.

"They don't want anything," said the switchman. “They sleep in the carriages or just sit and yawn. Only the children press their noses against the windows.

“Only children know what they are looking for,” said the Little Prince. “They give all their days to a rag doll, and it becomes very, very dear to them, and if it is taken from them, the children cry ...

"Their happiness," said the switchman.

Chapter 23

"Good afternoon," said the little prince.

“Good afternoon,” the merchant replied.

He traded in the latest pills that quench thirst. You swallow such a pill - and then you don’t want to drink for a whole week.

Why are you selling them? asked the little prince.

“They save a lot of time,” the merchant replied. - According to experts, you can save fifty-three minutes a week.

“And what to do in those fifty-three minutes?”

- Yes, whatever you want.

“If I had fifty-three minutes free,” thought the Little Prince, “I would simply go to the spring ...”

Chapter 24

It's been a week since my accident, and hearing about the pill dealer, I took my last sip of water.

“Yes,” I said to the Little Prince, “everything you tell is very interesting, but I haven’t fixed the plane yet, I don’t have a drop of water left, and I would also be happy if I could just go to the spring .

“The fox I made friends with…

- My dear, I'm not up to the Fox now!

- Why?

“Because you have to die of thirst…”

He didn't understand the connection. He objected:

- Well, if you once had a friend, even if you have to die. So I am very glad that I was friends with Lis ...

“He does not understand how great the danger is. He never experienced hunger or thirst. He has enough sunshine ... "

I didn't say it out loud, I just thought. But the Little Prince looked at me and said:

“I’m thirsty too… Let’s go look for a well…”

I spread my hands wearily: what's the point of looking for wells at random in the endless desert? But still, we hit the road.

We walked in silence for hours. Finally, it got dark and the stars began to shine in the sky. I was a little feverish from thirst, and I saw them as if in a dream. I kept remembering the words of the Little Prince, and I asked:

“So you also know what thirst is?”

But he didn't answer. He said simply:

“Water is also necessary for the heart…

I didn't understand, but I didn't say anything. I knew not to ask him.

He is tired. Fell down on the sand. I sat next to him. They were silent. Then he said:

- The stars are very beautiful, because somewhere there is a flower, although it is not visible ...

“Yes, of course,” I said, only looking at the wavy sand, illuminated by the moon.

“And the desert is beautiful…” added the little prince.

It's true. I've always liked the desert. You sit on a sand dune. I can not see anything. Can not hear anything. And yet the silence seems to radiate ...

Do you know why the desert is good? - he said. - Somewhere in it springs are hidden ...

I was amazed. Suddenly I realized why the sand mysteriously radiates. Once, as a little boy, I lived in an old, old house - they said that a treasure was hidden in it. Of course, no one ever discovered it, and maybe no one ever looked for it. But because of him, the house was as if bewitched: in his heart he hid a secret ...

“Yes,” I said. “Whether it be a house, stars or a desert, the most beautiful thing about them is what you cannot see with your eyes.

“I am very glad that you agree with my friend the Fox,” said the Little Prince.

Then he fell asleep, I took him in my arms and went on. I was excited. I felt like I was carrying a fragile treasure. It seemed to me that there is nothing more fragile on our Earth. By the light of the moon, I looked at his pale forehead, at his closed eyelashes, at the golden strands of hair that the wind picked through, and said to myself: all this is just a shell. The most important thing is what you can't see with your eyes...

His half-open lips twitched in a smile, and I said to myself: the most touching thing about this sleeping Little Prince is his fidelity to a flower, the image of a rose that radiates in him like a flame of a lamp, even when he sleeps ... And I realized that he is even more fragile than seems. Lamps must be protected: a gust of wind can extinguish them ...

So, I walked... and at dawn I came to the well.

Chapter 25

“People get on fast trains, but they themselves don’t understand what they are looking for,” said the Little Prince. “Therefore, they do not know peace and rush first in one direction, then in the other ...

- Then he added:

- And all in vain ...

The well we came to was not like all the wells in the Sahara. Usually a well here is just a hole in the sand. And it was a real village well. But there was no village anywhere, and I thought it was a dream.

“How strange,” I said to the Little Prince, “everything is ready here: the collar, the bucket, and the rope…

He laughed, touched the rope, began to unwind the collar. And the gate creaked like an old weather vane that had been rusting for a long time in the stillness.

Do you hear? said the little prince. “We woke up the well, and it began to sing…

I was afraid he would get tired.

“I’ll draw water myself,” I said, “you can’t do it.

Slowly I pulled out a full bucket and placed it securely on the stone edge of the well. The singing of the creaking gate still resounded in my ears, the water in the bucket still trembled, and sunbeams played in it.

“I want to take a sip of this water,” said the little prince. - Give me a drink...

And I realized what he was looking for!

I brought the bucket to his lips. He drank with his eyes closed. It was like the most beautiful feast. This water was difficult. She was born from a long journey under the stars, from the creaking of the gate, from the efforts of my hands. She was like a gift to my heart. When I was little, Christmas presents shone for me like that: with the glow of candles on the Christmas tree, with the singing of the organ at the hour of midnight mass, with gentle smiles.

- On your planet, - said the Little Prince, - people grow five thousand roses in one garden ... and do not find what they are looking for ...

"They don't," I agreed.

“But what they are looking for can be found in a single rose, in a sip of water ...

“Yes, of course,” I agreed.

And the little prince said:

But the eyes are blind. You have to search with your heart.

I drank some water. It was easy to breathe. At dawn, the sand becomes golden as honey. And that made me happy too. Why would I be sad?

“You must keep your word,” the little prince said softly, sitting down next to me again.

- What word?

- Remember, you promised ... a muzzle for my lamb ... I'm responsible for that flower.

I took my drawings out of my pocket. The little prince looked at them and laughed:

Your baobabs look like cabbages...

And I was proud of my baobabs!

- And your fox has ears ... like horns! And how long!

And he laughed again.

You are unfair, my friend. After all, I never knew how to draw - except for boas from the outside and from the inside.

“Nothing,” he reassured me. “Children will understand.

And I drew a muzzle for a lamb. I gave the drawing to the Little Prince and my heart sank.

"You're up to something and you're not telling me..."

But he didn't answer.

“You know,” he said, “tomorrow it will be a year since I came to you on Earth…” And he fell silent. Then he added: - I fell very close to here ... - And blushed.

And again, God knows why, it became heavy in my soul. Anyway, I asked:

“So, a week ago, on the morning when we met, it was not by chance that you wandered here all alone, a thousand miles from human habitation? Did you return to the place where you fell then?

The little prince blushed even more.

And I added hesitantly:

“Maybe it’s because it’s a year old?”

And again he blushed. He didn't answer any of my questions, but blushing means yes, doesn't it?

“I’m restless…” I began.

But he said:

"It's time for you to get to work." Go to your car. I will wait for you here. Come back tomorrow night...

However, I did not become calmer. I remembered Lisa. When you let yourself be tamed, then it happens to cry.

Chapter 26

Not far from the well, the ruins of an ancient stone wall have been preserved. The next evening, having finished my work, I returned there and from a distance I saw that the Little Prince was sitting on the edge of the wall, his legs dangling. And I heard his voice.

- Do not you remember? he said. “It wasn't here at all.

Probably someone answered him, because he objected:

- Well, yes, it was exactly a year ago, to the day, but only in a different place ...

I walked faster. But nowhere near the wall I saw or heard anyone else. Meanwhile, the Little Prince again answered someone:

- Well, of course. You will find my footprints in the sand. And then wait. I'll be there tonight.

There were twenty meters to the wall, and I still couldn't see anything.

After a short silence, the Little Prince asked:

“Do you have good poison?” Won't you make me suffer for a long time?

I stopped and my heart sank, but I still didn't understand.

"Now go away," said the little prince. - I want to jump down.

Then I lowered my eyes and jumped up! At the foot of the wall, raising its head to the Little Prince, a yellow snake coiled up, one of those whose bite kills in half a minute.

Fumbling for the revolver in my pocket, I rushed to her, but at the sound of footsteps, the snake quietly streamed along the sand, like a dying stream, and with a barely audible metallic ring, slowly disappeared between the stones.

I ran up to the wall just in time and grabbed my little prince. He was whiter than snow.

"What do you want, baby!" I exclaimed. “Why are you talking to snakes?”

I untied his invariable golden scarf. Wetted his whiskey and made him drink water. But he didn't dare to ask any more questions. He looked at me seriously and wrapped his arms around my neck. I heard his heart beating like a shot bird. He said:

I'm glad you found out what was wrong with your car. Now you can go home...

- How do you know?!

I was just about to tell him that, contrary to all expectations, I managed to fix the plane!

He didn't answer, he just said:

And I'll be home today too.

Then he added sadly:

Everything was somehow strange. I hugged him tightly, like a small child, and, however, it seemed to me that he was slipping away, he was being sucked into the abyss, and I was unable to hold him back ...

He looked thoughtfully into the distance.

- I will have your lamb. And a lamb box. And a muzzle...

He smiled sadly.

I've been waiting a long time. He seemed to come to his senses.

"You're scared, baby...

Well, don't be afraid! But he laughed softly.

“I’m going to be much more scared tonight…

And again I was frozen with a presentiment of irreparable trouble. Do, do I never hear him laugh again? This laughter for me is like a spring in the desert.

“Baby, I want to hear more of you laughing…”

But he said:

- It's a year old tonight. My star will be just above the place where I fell a year ago ...

“Listen, baby, after all, all this - both the snake and the date with the star - is just a bad dream, right?

But he didn't answer.

“The most important thing is what you can’t see with your eyes…” he said.

- Oh sure…

- It's like a flower. If you love a flower that grows somewhere on a distant star, it is good to look at the sky at night. All stars are blooming.

- Oh sure…

- It's like water. When you gave me a drink, that water was like music, and all because of the collar and the rope. Do you remember? She was very good.

- Oh sure…

At night you will look at the stars. My star is very small, I can't show it to you. That's better. She will be just one of the stars for you. And you will love to look at the stars ... All of them will become your friends. And then, I'll give you something...

And he laughed.

“Ah, baby, baby, how I love it when you laugh!”

- This is my gift ... It will be like with water ...

— How so?

Every person has their own stars. To one - those who wander - they show the way. For others, they are just little lights. For scientists, they are like a problem to be solved. For my business they are gold. But for all these people, the stars are dumb. And you will have very special stars ...

— How so?

- You look at the sky at night, and there will be such a star where I live, where I laugh - and you will hear that all the stars are laughing. You will have stars who know how to laugh!

And he himself laughed.

“And when you are comforted—you always are, after all—you will be glad you once knew me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. Sometimes you will open the window like this, and you will be pleased ... And your friends will be surprised that you are laughing, looking at the sky. And you will tell them: “Yes, yes, I always laugh when I look at the stars!” And they'll think you're crazy. What a cruel joke I will play with you ...

He laughed again.

“It’s like instead of stars I gave you a whole bunch of laughing bells…”

And he laughed again. Then he became serious again:

- You know ... tonight ... better not come.

- I will not leave you.

“You will think that I am in pain. It even looks like I'm dying. That's the way it happens. Don't come, don't.

- I will not leave you.

But he was concerned about something.

“You see… it’s also because of the snake. Suddenly she will sting you... After all, snakes are evil. Anyone sting for their pleasure.

- I will not leave you.

He suddenly calmed down.

- True, she does not have enough poison for two ...

That night, I didn't see him leave. He slipped away silently. When I finally caught up with him, he was walking with a quick, determined step.

“Ah, it’s you…” he only said.

And took my hand. But something was bothering him.

- You're right to go with me. It will hurt you to look at me. You will think that I'm dying, but it's not true ...

I was silent.

“You see… it’s very far away. My body is too heavy. I can't carry him.

I was silent.

“But it's like shedding an old shell. There is nothing sad here...

I was silent.

He was a little discouraged. But he made one more effort:

“You know, it will be very nice. I will also look at the stars. And all the stars will be like old wells with creaky gates. And each will give me a drink ...

I was silent.

- Think how funny! You will have five hundred million bells, and I will have five hundred million springs ...

And then he, too, fell silent, because he began to cry.

“Here we are.” Let me take one more step.

And he sat down on the sand because he was afraid.

Then he said:

- You know ... my rose ... I'm responsible for her. And she's so weak! And so simple. She only has four miserable thorns, she has nothing more to defend herself from the world.

I also sat down because my legs buckled. He said:

- That's it…

He hesitated for another minute and stood up. And he took only one step. And I couldn't move.

Like yellow lightning flashed at his feet. For a moment he remained motionless. Didn't scream. Then he fell - slowly, like a tree falls. Slowly and inaudibly, because the sand muffles all sounds.

Chapter 27

And now six years have passed ... I have never told anyone about this. When I returned, the comrades were glad to see me alive and unharmed again. I was sad, but I told them:

- I'm just tired...

And yet, little by little, I was comforted. That is, not quite ... But I know: he returned to his planet, because when it dawned, I did not find his body on the sand. It wasn't that hard. And at night I like to listen to the stars. Like five hundred million bells...

But here's what's amazing. When I drew the muzzle for the lamb, I forgot about the strap! The little prince will not be able to put it on a lamb. And I ask myself: is something being done there, on his planet? Suddenly the lamb ate a rose?

Sometimes I say to myself: no, of course not! The little prince always covers the rose with a glass cap at night, and he watches the lamb very much ... Then I am happy. And all the stars are laughing softly.

And sometimes I say to myself: sometimes you are absent-minded ... Then everything can happen! Suddenly, one evening, he forgot about the glass cap or the lamb secretly got out at night ... And then the bells cry ...

All this is mysterious and incomprehensible. You, who also fell in love with the Little Prince, like me, do not care at all: the whole world becomes different for us because somewhere in an unknown corner of the Universe a lamb, which we have never seen, perhaps ate an unfamiliar to us rose.

Take a look at the sky. And ask yourself: is that rose still alive or is it gone? Suddenly the lamb ate it? And you will see: everything will be different ...

And no adult will ever understand how important this is!

This, in my opinion, is the most beautiful and saddest place in the world. The same corner of the desert is drawn on the previous page, but I drew it again so that you can see it better. Here the Little Prince first appeared on Earth, and then disappeared.

Take a closer look to be sure to recognize this place if you ever find yourself in Africa, in the desert. If you happen to pass here, I implore you, do not hurry, hesitate a little under this star! And if a little boy with golden hair comes up to you, if he laughs loudly and does not answer your questions, you will certainly guess who he is. Then - I beg you! Don't forget to comfort me in my sadness. Hurry up and tell me that he's back...

5

Every day I learned something new about his planet, about how he left it and how he traveled. He talked about it little by little, when it came to the word. So, on the third day, I learned about the tragedy with the baobabs.
This also came from the lamb. It seemed that the little prince suddenly seized with grave doubts, and he asked:

Tell me, is it true that lambs eat bushes?
- Yes, truth.
- That's good!
I did not understand why it is so important that the lambs eat the bushes. But the little prince added:
- So they eat baobabs too?
I objected that the baobabs were not bushes, but huge trees as high as a bell tower, and even if he brought a whole herd of elephants, they would not eat even one baobab.
Hearing about the elephants, the little prince laughed:
“They would have to be stacked on top of each other…
And then he said wisely:
- Baobabs at first, until they grow up, are quite small.
- It's right. But why does your lamb eat little baobabs?
- But how! - he exclaimed, as if it was about the most simple, elementary truths.

And I had to rack my brains until I figured out what was the matter. On the planet of the little prince, like on any other planet, useful and harmful herbs grow. This means that there are good seeds of good, useful herbs and harmful seeds of bad, weed grass. But the seeds are invisible. They sleep deep underground until one of them decides to wake up. Then it sprouts a sprout, it straightens out and reaches for the sun, at first so cute, harmless. If this is a future radish or rose bush, let it grow in health. But if it is some kind of bad herb, you must uproot it as soon as you recognize it. And on the planet of the little prince there are terrible, harmful seeds ... These are the seeds of baobabs. The soil of the planet is all infected with them. And if the baobab is not recognized in time, then you will not get rid of it. He will take over the entire planet. He will pierce it through with his roots. And if the planet is very small and there are many baobabs, they will tear it to pieces.

There is such a firm rule, the little prince told me later. - Get up in the morning, wash your face, put yourself in order - and immediately put your planet in order. It is imperative to weed out the baobabs every day, as soon as they can already be distinguished from rose bushes: their young sprouts are almost the same. It's a very boring job, but not difficult at all.

Once he advised me to try and draw such a picture so that our children would understand it well.
“If they ever have to travel,” he said, “it will come in handy. Other work can wait a little, there will be no harm. But if you give free rein to the baobabs, troubles cannot be avoided. I knew one planet, a lazy person lived on it. He did not weed three bushes in time ...

The little prince described everything to me in detail, and I drew this planet. I can't stand preaching to people. But few people know what the baobabs threaten, and the danger that anyone who gets on the asteroid is exposed to is very great - that's why this time I decide to change my usual restraint. "Children!" I say. "Beware of the baobabs!" I want to warn my friends about the danger that has been waiting for them for a long time, and they do not even suspect about it, just as I did not suspect before. That is why I worked so hard on this drawing, and I do not regret the labor spent. Perhaps you ask: why in my book there are no more such impressive drawings as this one with baobabs? The answer is very simple: I tried, but nothing came of it. And when I painted baobabs, I was inspired by the realization that this is terribly important and urgent.

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“The fifth planet was very entertaining. She was the smallest. It only fit a lantern and a lamplighter ” (Chapter XIV).

Mars!

In the "row of Ptolemy" 5 planet corresponds to Mars , which in the considered horoscope is located in Aquarius.

We are looking for horoscopic correspondences in the text.

"Uranic" planet

Already the first sentences of the text more than transparently hint at the Uranian (co-ruler of Aquarius) component of the 5th planet of the Little Prince: it “was very interesting” (original, different from the others) and “turned out to be the smallest” (similarly).

But, of course, it is the “lantern and the lamplighter” that are the main significators of Mars (when a lantern is lit with fire), or Aquarius (Uranus, when a lantern is lit with electricity).

Eccentricity!

The Aquarian "eccentricity" of the 5th planet of the Little Prince and its inhabitant gives out and " The little Prince could not understand why on a tiny planet lost in the sky, where there are no houses or inhabitants need a flashlight and a lamplighter"(Chapter XIV).

"Then red (Mars again) He wiped the sweat from his forehead with a checkered handkerchief and said:

- I have a hard job. Once it made sense. I put out the lantern in the morning and lit it again in the evening. I had a day to rest and a night to sleep...

- And then the agreement changed?

- The deal hasn't changed said the lamplighter. - That's the problem! My planet is spinning faster every year but the deal remains the same» (Chapter XIV).

Fulfillment of the contract as a spiritual feat

In other words, the lamplighter, regardless of the circumstances (acceleration of the rotation speed of the planet 5 of the Little Prince around its axis), still keeps the word given to someone, his vow.

Even despite the fact that this work of his, this truly spiritual feat of his, is unlikely to be appreciated by anyone at all.

And Exupery is limiting in his assessments: “ The little prince looked at the lamplighter, and he liked this man more and more, who was so true to his word "(Chapter XIV).

Altruism

As well as: " Here is a man, - said the little prince to himself, continuing on his way, - here is a man whom everyone would despise - and the king, and the ambitious, and the drunkard, and the businessman.

Meanwhile, of all of them he is alone, to my mind, not funny. May be, because he thinks not only about himself "(Chapter XIV).

But it is altruism that is one of the cornerstones that make it possible to accurately identify Aquarius.

Mars strengths / weaknesses table is as follows:

Looking ahead, let us explain that Mars, unlike Venus, on the contrary, is the weakest planet in the horoscope. Located in Aquarius - a sign of non-multiple nature, it again shows only one inhabitant of the 5th planet of the Little Prince.

Most tragic episode

Applicable to the horoscope under consideration, it is the image of the lamplighter, perhaps the most tragic episode of the story.

It would seem that the episode of the farewell of the Little Prince to the pilot and his return home through a snakebite is the most powerful in terms of emotional intensity.

But it was Exupery's remark - " but I know: he returned to his planet, because when dawn broke, I did not find his body on the sand”(Chapter XXVII) - partially “removes” the “bitterness of loss”: nevertheless, in fact, the Little Prince survived and returned to his planet, and the snake bite was no more than a means of his transformation / teleportation.

The end is predictable...

With a lamplighter - it's more difficult ...

In general, Mars in the VIII house, especially the night Mars in the day chart in the VIII house, is a clear evidence of the tragic end of the native, evidence of the unnaturalness of his death, perhaps the violence of its onset.

It is Mars in Aquarius that is the significator of the lamplighter. What is perceived by the reader on a conscious level?

That's right, due to the increase in the rotation speed of the 5th planet of the Little Prince, sooner or later the lamplighter simply physically will not be able to fulfill the "arrangement" - he simply will stop having time to light and extinguish the lantern, not to mention the usual greeting "good afternoon - good evening".

This makes me sad on a conscious level...

What kids don't know...

But it is the adult reader (the child simply does not realize this) that has a persistent subconscious feeling of impending disaster:

the increase in the rotation speed of the 5th planet of the Little Prince is the reason not so much for the violation of the agreement by the lamplighter, but the reason for his, the lamplighter, physical death, when the centrifugal speed of rotation of the 5th planet of the Little Prince exceeds its force of attraction and simply pushes the lamplighter out of its orbit ...

This is the ultimate signification of Mars in the VIII house of the horoscope under consideration.

Leon Werth

I ask the children to forgive me for dedicating this book to an adult. I'll justify it: this adult is my best friend. And one more thing: he understands everything in the world, even children's books. And, finally, he lives in France, and there is now hungry and cold. And he really needs comfort. If all this does not justify me, I will dedicate this book to the boy that my adult friend once was. After all, all adults were children at first, only few of them remember this. So I fix the dedication:

Leon Werth,
when he was little

The little Prince

I

When I was six years old, in a book called "True Stories", which told about virgin forests, I once saw an amazing picture. In the picture, a huge snake - a boa constrictor - was swallowing a predatory beast. Here's how it was drawn:

The book said: “A boa constrictor swallows its prey whole, without chewing. After that, he can no longer move and sleeps for six months in a row until he digests food.

I thought a lot about the adventurous life of the jungle and also drew my first picture with colored pencil. This was my #1 drawing. Here's what I drew:

I showed my creation to adults and asked if they were afraid.

Is the hat scary? - objected to me.

And it wasn't a hat at all. It was a boa constrictor that swallowed an elephant. Then I drew a boa constrictor from the inside, so that adults could understand it better. After all, they always need to explain everything. This is my drawing #2:

Adults advised me not to draw snakes either from the outside or from the inside, but to be more interested in geography, history, arithmetic and spelling. That's how it happened that I gave up a brilliant career as an artist for six years. Having failed with drawings #1 and #2, I lost faith in myself. Adults never understand anything themselves, and for children it is very tiring to endlessly explain and interpret everything to them.

So, I had to choose another profession, and I trained as a pilot. I flew around almost the whole world. And geography, to tell the truth, was very useful to me. I could tell China from Arizona at a glance. This is very useful if you go astray at night.

In my life I have met many different serious people. I have lived among adults for a long time. I saw them very close. And from this, I confess, I did not begin to think about them better.

When I met an adult who seemed to me smarter and more intelligent than others, I showed him my drawing No. 1 - I kept it and always carried it with me. I wanted to know if this man really understood something. But they all answered me: "It's a hat." And I no longer spoke to them about the boas, or the jungle, or the stars. I applied to their concepts. I talked to them about bridge and golf, politics and ties. And adults were very pleased that they met such a sane person.

II

So I lived alone, and I had no one to talk heart to heart with. And six years ago I had to make an emergency landing in the Sahara. Something broke in the engine of my plane. There was no mechanic or passengers with me, and I decided that I would try to fix everything myself, although it is very difficult. I had to fix the motor or die. I barely had enough water for a week.

So, the first night I fell asleep on the sand in the desert, where there was no habitation for thousands of miles around. A man shipwrecked and lost on a raft in the middle of the ocean - and he would not be so alone. Imagine my surprise when at dawn I was awakened by someone's thin voice. He said:

Please... draw me a lamb!

Draw me a lamb...

I jumped up, as if thunder had thundered over me. Rubbed his eyes. Began to look around. And I saw a funny little man who was seriously looking at me. Here is the best portrait of him that I have been able to draw since. But in my drawing, of course, he is far from being as good as he really was. It is not my fault. When I was six years old, adults convinced me that an artist would not come out of me, and I learned nothing to draw, except for boas - inside and out.

So, I looked with all my eyes at this extraordinary phenomenon. Remember, I was thousands of miles away from human habitation. And yet it didn't look like the little one was lost, or tired and frightened to death, or dying of hunger and thirst. From his appearance it was impossible to tell that this was a child lost in an uninhabited desert, far from any habitation. At last my gift of speech returned to me, and I asked:

But... what are you doing here?

And he again asked quietly and very seriously:

Please... draw a lamb...

All this was so mysterious and incomprehensible that I did not dare to refuse. As absurd as it was here, in the desert, within a hair's breadth of death, I nevertheless took a piece of paper and an eternal pen out of my pocket. But then I remembered that I studied more than geography, history, arithmetic and spelling, and told the kid (he even said a little angrily) that I couldn’t draw. He replied:

Doesn't matter. Draw a lamb.

Since I had never drawn a sheep in my life, I repeated for him one of the two old pictures that I only know how to draw - a boa constrictor outside. And he was very surprised when the baby exclaimed:

No no! I don't need an elephant in a boa constrictor! The boa is too dangerous and the elephant is too big. Everything in my house is very small. I need a lamb. Draw a lamb.

He looked at my drawing carefully and said:

No, this lamb is already quite frail. Draw another.

My new friend smiled softly, indulgently.

You see for yourself, - he said, - this is not a lamb. This is a big ram. He has horns...

I drew again in a different way. But he also refused this drawing:

This one is too old. I need such a lamb to live a long time.

Then I lost my patience - because I had to quickly disassemble the engine - and scrawled a box.

And said to the child:

Here's a box for you. And in it sits such a lamb as you want.

But how surprised I was when my strict judge suddenly beamed:

That is good! Do you think this lamb needs a lot of grass?

Because I don't have much at home...

He's had enough. I give you a very small lamb.

He's not that small... - he said, tilting his head and looking at the drawing. - Check this out! He fell asleep...

That's how I met the Little Prince.

III

It didn't take long for me to realize where he came from. The little prince bombarded me with questions, but when I asked about something, he seemed not to hear. Only little by little, from random, casually dropped words, everything was revealed to me. So, when he first saw my plane (I won’t draw an airplane, I still can’t cope), he asked:

What is this thing?

It's not a thing. This is a plane. My plane. He is flying.

And I proudly explained to him that I can fly. Then he exclaimed:

How! Have you fallen from the sky?

Yes, I replied modestly.

That's funny!..

And the little prince laughed loudly, so that I was annoyed: I like my misfortunes to be taken seriously. Then he added:

So you too came from heaven. And from what planet?

“So this is the clue to his mysterious appearance here in the desert!” - I thought and asked bluntly:

So you came here from another planet?

But he didn't answer. He quietly shook his head, looking at my plane.

Well, on this you could not fly from afar ...

And I thought about something for a long time. Then he took out my lamb from his pocket and plunged into the contemplation of this treasure.

You can imagine how my curiosity was kindled by this half-confession about "other planets." And I tried to find out more:

Where did you come from, baby? Where is your home? Where do you want to take my lamb?

He paused for a moment, then said:

It's very good that you gave me the box: the lamb will sleep there at night.

Well, of course. And if you're smart, I'll give you a rope to tie him during the day. And a peg.

The little prince frowned.

Tie? What is this for?

But if you don't tie him up, he'll wander off into no one knows where and get lost.

Here my friend laughed merrily again:

But where will he go?

Little whether where? Everything is straight, straight where the eyes look.

Then the little prince said seriously:

It's not scary, because I have very little space there.

And he added, not without sadness:

If you go straight and straight, you won't get far...

IV

So I made another important discovery: his home planet is the size of a house!

However, this didn't surprise me too much. I knew that in addition to such large planets as Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, there are hundreds of others, and among them are so small that it is difficult to see them even with a telescope. When an astronomer discovers such a planet, he does not give it a name, but simply a number. For example: asteroid 3251.

I have good reason to believe that the Little Prince came from a planet called Asteroid B-612. This asteroid was seen through a telescope only once, in 1909, by a Turkish astronomer.

The astronomer then reported on his remarkable discovery at the International Astronomical Congress. But no one believed him, and all because he was dressed in Turkish. Such people these adults!

Fortunately for the reputation of the asteroid B-612, the Turkish Sultan ordered his subjects to wear European dress on pain of death. In 1920, that astronomer again reported his discovery. This time he was dressed in the latest fashion, and everyone agreed with him.

I told you in such detail about the asteroid B-612 and even gave its number only because of the adults. Adults are very fond of numbers. When you tell them that you have a new friend, they will never ask about the most important thing. They will never say: “What kind of voice does he have? What games does he like to play? Does he catch butterflies? They ask: “How old is he? How many brothers does he have? How much does he weigh? How much does his father earn? And after that they imagine that they recognized the person. When you say to adults: “I saw a beautiful house made of pink brick, it has geraniums in the windows, and pigeons on the roof,” they cannot imagine this house in any way. They need to be told: “I saw a house for a hundred thousand francs,” and then they exclaim: “What a beauty!”

In the same way, if you tell them: “Here is the evidence that the Little Prince really existed: he was very, very nice, he laughed, and he wanted to have a lamb. And whoever wants a lamb, he certainly exists, ”if you tell them so, they will only shrug their shoulders and look at you like an unintelligent baby. But if you tell them: "He came from a planet called asteroid B-612," this will convince them, and they will not bother you with questions. Such people are these adults. You shouldn't be angry with them. Children should be very lenient towards adults.

But we, those who understand what life is, we, of course, laugh at numbers and numbers! I would gladly begin this story as a fairy tale. I would like to start like this:

“There was a Little Prince. He lived on a planet that was slightly larger than himself, and he really lacked a friend ... ". Those who understand what life is would immediately see that all this is pure truth.

For I do not at all want my book to be read simply for fun. My heart shrinks painfully when I remember my little friend, and it is not easy for me to talk about him. It has been six years since he and his lamb left me. And I'm trying to tell about him in order not to forget him. It's very sad when friends are forgotten. Not everyone has a friend. And I'm afraid to become like adults who are not interested in anything but numbers. That's also why I bought a box of paints and colored pencils. It's not so easy - at my age to start drawing again, if in my whole life I only drew that a boa constrictor inside and out, and even then at six years old! Of course, I will try to convey the similarity as best as possible. But I'm not at all sure that I can do it. One portrait comes out well, and the other is not a bit like. So it is with growth too: in one drawing, my prince came out too big, in the other - too small. And I don't remember what color his clothes were. I try to draw this way and that, at random, with a sin in half. Finally, I may be mistaken in some important details. But you don't ask. My friend never explained anything to me. Maybe he thought I was just like him. But, unfortunately, I cannot see the lamb through the walls of the box. Maybe I'm a bit like adults. I must be getting old.

V

Every day I learned something new about his planet, about how he left it and how he traveled. He talked about it little by little, when it came to the word. So, on the third day, I learned about the tragedy with the baobabs.

This also came from the lamb. The little prince seemed suddenly seized with grave doubts, and he asked:

Tell me, is it true that lambs eat bushes?

Yes, truth.

That's good!

I did not understand why it is so important that lambs eat bushes. But the little prince added:

So they eat baobabs too?

I objected that the baobabs were not bushes, but huge trees, as high as a bell tower, and even if he brought a whole herd of elephants, they would not eat even one baobab.

Hearing about the elephants, the Little Prince laughed:

They would have to be stacked on top of each other...

And then he said wisely:

Baobabs at first, until they grow up, are quite small.

It's right. But why does your lamb eat little baobabs?

But how! - he exclaimed, as if it was about the most simple, elementary truths.

And I had to rack my brains until I figured out what was the matter.

On the planet of the Little Prince, like on any other planet, useful and harmful herbs grow. This means that there are good seeds of good, useful herbs and harmful seeds of bad, weed grass. But the seeds are invisible. They sleep deep underground until one of them decides to wake up. Then it sprouts; he straightens up and reaches for the sun, at first so sweet and harmless. If this is a future radish or rose bush, let it grow in health. But if it is some kind of bad herb, you must uproot it as soon as you recognize it. And now, on the planet of the Little Prince, there are terrible, evil seeds ... these are the seeds of baobabs. The soil of the planet is all infected with them. And if the baobab is not recognized in time, then you will not get rid of it. He will take over the entire planet. He will pierce it through with his roots. And if the planet is very small and there are many baobabs, they will tear it to pieces.

There is such a firm rule, the Little Prince told me later. - Get up in the morning, wash your face, put yourself in order - and immediately put your planet in order. It is imperative to weed out the baobabs every day, as soon as they can already be distinguished from rose bushes: their young sprouts are almost the same. It's a very boring job, but not difficult at all.

Once he advised me to try and draw such a picture so that our children would understand it well.

If they ever have to travel, he said, it will come in handy. Other work can wait a little, there will be no harm. But if you give free rein to the baobabs, troubles cannot be avoided. I knew one planet, a lazy person lived on it. He did not weed three bushes in time ...

The little prince described everything to me in detail, and I drew this planet. I can't stand preaching to people. But few people know what the baobabs threaten, and the danger that anyone who gets on the asteroid is exposed to is very great - that's why this time I decide to change my usual restraint. "Children! I say. - Watch out for the baobabs! I want to warn my friends about the danger that has been waiting for them for a long time, and they do not even suspect about it, just as I did not suspect before. That is why I worked so hard on this drawing, and I do not regret the labor spent. Perhaps you ask: why in this book there are no more such impressive drawings as this one with baobabs? The answer is very simple: I tried, but nothing came of it. And when I painted baobabs, I was inspired by the realization that this is terribly important and urgent.

VI

Oh Little Prince! Little by little I also realized how sad and monotonous your life was. For a long time you had only one entertainment: you admired the sunset. I found out about it on the morning of the fourth day when you said:

I love sunset very much. Let's go watch the sun go down.

Well, you'll have to wait.

What to expect?

For the sun to go down.

At first you were very surprised, but then you laughed at yourself and said:

I feel like I'm at home!

And indeed. Everyone knows that when it is noon in America, the sun is already setting in France. And if one minute to be transported to France, one could admire the sunset. Unfortunately, France is very, very far away. And on your planet, it was enough for you to move a chair a few steps. And you looked at the sunset sky again and again, you only had to want to ...

I once saw the sunset forty-three times in one day!

And a little later you added:

You know... when it gets really sad, it's good to watch the sun go down...

So, on the day you saw forty-three sunsets, you were very sad?

But the little prince did not answer.

VII

On the fifth day, again thanks to the lamb, I learned the secret of the Little Prince. He asked unexpectedly, without preamble, as if he had come to this conclusion after long silent reflection:

If a lamb eats bushes, does it also eat flowers?

He is everything that comes across.

Even flowers with thorns?

Yes, and those with spikes.

Then why spikes?

I didn't know this. I was very busy: one bolt was stuck in the motor, and I tried to unscrew it. I was uneasy, the situation was getting serious, there was almost no water left, and I began to fear that my forced landing would end badly.

Why are spikes needed?

Having asked a question, the Little Prince never backed down until he received an answer. The unyielding bolt made me impatient, and I answered at random:

The thorns are not needed for any reason, the flowers release them simply out of anger.

That's how!

There was silence. Then he said almost angrily:

I don't believe you! Flowers are weak. And simple-minded. And they try to give themselves courage. They think - if they have thorns, everyone is afraid of them ...

I didn't answer. At that moment I said to myself: "If this bolt does not give way even now, I will hit it with a hammer so hard that it will shatter into smithereens." The little prince interrupted my thoughts again:

Do you think flowers...

No! I don't think anything! I answered you the first thing that came to mind. You see, I'm busy with serious business.

He looked at me in amazement.

Serious business?!

He kept looking at me: smeared with lubricating oil, with a hammer in my hands, I bent over an incomprehensible object that seemed so ugly to him.

You talk like adults! - he said.

I became ashamed. And he mercilessly added:

You are confusing everything ... you don’t understand anything!

Yes, he was really angry. He shook his head, and the wind tousled his golden hair.

I know one planet, there lives such a gentleman with a purple face. He never smelled a flower in his entire life. I never looked at a star. He never loved anyone. And never did anything. He is busy with only one thing: he adds up the numbers. And from morning to night he repeats one thing: “I am a serious person! I am a serious person! - just like you. And straight up puffed up with pride. In fact, he is not human. He is a mushroom.

The little prince even turned pale with anger.

Flowers have been growing thorns for millions of years. And for millions of years, lambs still eat flowers. So isn't it a serious matter to understand why they go out of their way to grow thorns if the thorns are of no use? Is it really not important that lambs and flowers are at war with each other? Isn't this more serious and more important than the arithmetic of a fat gentleman with a purple face? And if I know the only flower in the world, it grows only on my planet, and there is no other like it anywhere else, and a little lamb one fine morning will suddenly take it and eat it and won’t even know what it has done? And all this, in your opinion, is not important?

He blushed a lot. Then he spoke again:

If you love a flower - the only one that is no longer on any of the many millions of stars, that's enough: you look at the sky and feel happy. And you say to yourself: “My flower lives somewhere ...” But if the lamb eats it, it’s the same as if all the stars went out at once! And it doesn't matter to you!

He could no longer speak. He suddenly burst into tears. It got dark. I quit my job. I laughed at the ill-fated bolt and hammer, thirst and death. On a star, on a planet - on my planet, called Earth - the Little Prince was crying, and he had to be consoled. I took him in my arms and began to cradle. I told him: “The flower that you love is not in danger… I will draw a muzzle for your lamb… I will draw armor for your flower… I…” I did not understand what I was saying. I felt terribly awkward and clumsy. I did not know how to call so that he would hear how to catch up with his soul, escaping from me ... After all, it is so mysterious and unknown, this country of tears.

VIII

Very soon I got to know this flower better. On the planet of the Little Prince, simple, modest flowers always grew - they had few petals, they took up very little space and did not bother anyone. They opened in the morning in the grass and withered in the evening. And this one once sprouted from a grain brought in from nowhere, and the Little Prince did not take his eyes off the tiny sprout, unlike all other sprouts and blades of grass. What if this is some new variety of baobab? But the bush quickly stopped reaching up, and a bud appeared on it. The little prince had never seen such huge buds and had a presentiment that he would see a miracle. And the unknown guest, still hidden within the walls of her green room, was getting ready, all preening herself. She carefully chose the colors. She dressed up leisurely, trying on the petals one by one. She did not want to come into the world disheveled, like a poppy. She wanted to show herself in all the splendor of her beauty. Yes, it was a terrible coquette! The mysterious preparations went on day after day. And finally, one morning, as soon as the sun rose, the petals opened.

And the beauty, who had put so much effort in preparing for this moment, said, yawning:

Ah, I hardly woke up ... I beg your pardon ... I'm still completely disheveled ...

The little prince could not contain his delight:

How beautiful you are!

Yes, truth? - was a quiet answer. - And mind you, I was born with the sun.

The little prince, of course, guessed that the amazing guest did not suffer from an excess of modesty, but she was so beautiful that it was breathtaking!

And she soon noticed:

Looks like it's time for breakfast. Be so kind, take care of me...

The little prince was very embarrassed, found a watering can and watered the flower with spring water.

It soon turned out that the beauty was proud and touchy, and the Little Prince was completely exhausted with her. She had four thorns and one day she said to him:

Let the tigers come, I'm not afraid of their claws!

There are no tigers on my planet, the little prince objected. - And besides, tigers don't eat grass.

I'm not grass, - the flower remarked offendedly.

Forgive me…

No, I am not afraid of tigers, but I am terribly afraid of drafts. Don't have a screen?

“A plant, but afraid of drafts ... very strange ... - thought the Little Prince. “What a difficult character this flower has.”

When evening comes, cover me with a cap. It's too cold for you here. A very uncomfortable planet. Where I came from...

She didn't agree. After all, she was brought here when she was still a grain. She could not know anything about other worlds. It's stupid to lie when it's so easy to catch you! The beauty was embarrassed, then she coughed once or twice so that the Little Prince would feel how guilty he was before her:

Where is the screen?

I wanted to follow her, but I couldn't stop listening to you!

Then she coughed harder: let his conscience still torment him!

Although the Little Prince fell in love with a beautiful flower and was glad to serve him, doubts soon arose in his soul. He took empty words to heart and began to feel very unhappy.

I should not have listened to her,” he once told me trustingly. - You should never listen to what the flowers say. You just have to look at them and breathe in their scent. My flower filled my whole planet with fragrance, but I did not know how to rejoice in it. This talk about claws and tigers... They should have touched me, but I got angry...

And he also confessed:

I did not understand anything then! It was necessary to judge not by words, but by deeds. She gave me her fragrance, lit up my life. I shouldn't have run. Behind these pathetic tricks and tricks, I should have guessed the tenderness. The flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young, I didn't know how to love yet.

IX

As I understand it, he decided to travel with migratory birds. On the last morning, he cleaned his planet more diligently than usual. He carefully cleaned the active volcanoes. It had two active volcanoes. They are very convenient in the morning to warm up breakfast. In addition, he had another extinct volcano. But, he said, you never know what can happen! So he cleaned up the extinct volcano too. When you carefully clean volcanoes, they burn evenly and quietly, without any eruptions. A volcanic eruption is like a fire in a chimney when soot catches fire there. Of course, we humans on earth are too small to clean our volcanoes. That's why they give us so much trouble.

Not without sadness, the Little Prince also tore out the last sprouts of baobabs. He thought he would never return. But this morning the usual work gave him extraordinary pleasure. And when he watered for the last time and was about to cover the wonderful flower with a cap, he even wanted to cry.

Farewell, he said.

Beauty didn't answer.

Farewell, - repeated the Little Prince.

She coughed. But not from a cold.

I was stupid, she finally said. - Forgive me. And try to be happy.

And not a word of reproach. The little prince was very surprised. He froze, embarrassed and confused, with a glass cap in his hands. Where does this quiet tenderness come from?

Yes, yes, I love you, he heard. It's my fault you didn't know that. Yes, it doesn't matter. But you were just as stupid as me. Try to be happy... Leave the cap, I don't need it anymore.

But the wind...

I don't have a cold so much... The coolness of the night will do me good. After all, I am a flower.

But animals, insects...

I must endure two or three caterpillars if I want to get acquainted with butterflies. They must be lovely. And then who will visit me? You'll be far away. And I'm not afraid of big animals. I have claws too.

And she, in the simplicity of her soul, showed her four thorns. Then she added:

Don't wait, it's unbearable! Decided to leave - so leave.

She didn't want the Little Prince to see her cry. It was a very proud flower...

X

Closest to the planet of the Little Prince were asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329 and 330. So he decided to visit them first: you need to find something to do, and learn something.

The king lived on the first asteroid. Dressed in purple and ermine, he sat on a throne - very simple and yet majestic.

Ah, here comes the servant! - exclaimed the king, seeing the little prince.

“How did he recognize me? thought the little prince. "He's seeing me for the first time!"

He did not know that kings look at the world in a very simplified way: for them all people are subjects.

Come, I want to examine you, - said the king, terribly proud that he could be king for someone.

The little prince looked around to see if he could sit down somewhere, but a magnificent ermine robe covered the entire planet. I had to stand, and he was so tired ... and suddenly he yawned.

Etiquette does not allow yawning in the presence of the monarch, said the king. - I forbid you to yawn.

I didn’t mean it,” replied the little prince, very embarrassed. - I was on the road for a long time and did not sleep at all ...

Well, then I command you to yawn, said the king. “I haven't seen anyone yawn in years. I'm even curious. So, yawn! That is my order.

But I'm shy ... I can't do it anymore ... - the little prince uttered and blushed all over.

Hm, hm... Then... Then I command you to yawn, then...

The king was confused and, it seems, even a little angry.

After all, the most important thing for a king is to be obeyed unquestioningly. He would not tolerate disobedience. It was an absolute monarch. But he was very kind, and therefore gave only reasonable orders.

“If I order my general to turn into a sea gull,” he used to say, “and if the general does not comply with the order, it will not be his fault, but mine.”

May I sit down? the little prince asked timidly.

I command: sit down! - answered the king and majestically picked up one half of his ermine mantle.

But the Little Prince was perplexed. The planet is so tiny. What rules this king?

Your Majesty,” he began, “may I ask you…

I command: ask! said the king hastily.

Your Majesty... what do you rule?

Everyone,” the king replied simply.

The king waved his hand, modestly pointing to his planet, as well as to other planets and stars.

And you're in charge of all this? asked the little prince.

Yes, the king replied.

For he was truly a sovereign monarch and did not know any limits and restrictions.

And the stars obey you? asked the little prince.

Of course, said the king. - The stars obey instantly. I do not tolerate disobedience.

The little prince was delighted. If only he had such power! He would then admire the sunset not forty-four times a day, but seventy-two, or even a hundred, and two hundred times, and at the same time he would not even have to move his chair from place to place! Then he became sad again, remembering his abandoned planet, and plucking up courage, he asked the king:

I would like to watch the sun go down… Please do me a favor, tell the sun to go down…

If I order some general to flutter like a butterfly from flower to flower, or compose a tragedy, or turn into a sea gull and the general does not comply with the order, who will be to blame for this - he or I?

You, Your Majesty, - the Little Prince answered without a moment's hesitation.

Quite right, said the king. - Everyone should be asked what he can give. Power must first of all be reasonable. If you command your people to throw themselves into the sea, they will start a revolution. I have the right to demand obedience because my commands are reasonable.

What about sunset? - reminded the Little Prince: once he asked about something, he no longer retreated until he received an answer.

You will have sunset. I will demand that the sun go down. But first I will wait for favorable conditions, for this is the wisdom of the ruler.

When will conditions be favorable? asked the Little Prince.

Hm, hm, - answered the king, leafing through a thick calendar. - It will be ... Hm, hm ... Today it will be at seven o'clock forty minutes in the evening. And then you will see how exactly my command will be fulfilled.

The little prince yawned. It is a pity that you can not look at the sunset here when you want! And to be honest, he got bored.

I have to go, he said to the king. - There's nothing more for me to do here.

Stay! - said the king: he was very proud that he had a subject, and did not want to part with him. - Stay, I'll appoint you minister.

Minister of what?

Well… justice.

But there is no one here to judge!

Who knows, said the king. “I haven’t explored my entire kingdom yet. I am very old, I have no room for a carriage, and walking is so tiring...

The little prince leaned over and looked once more at the other side of the planet.

But I already looked! he exclaimed. - There's no one there either.

Then judge yourself, said the king. - This is the most difficult. It is much harder to judge oneself than others. If you can judge yourself correctly, then you are truly wise.

I can judge myself anywhere, - said the Little Prince. “There is no need for me to stay with you for this.

Hm, hm ... - said the king. - It seems to me that somewhere on my planet lives an old rat. I hear her scratching at night. You could judge that old rat. From time to time sentence her to death. Her life will depend on you. But then every time it will be necessary to pardon her. We must take care of the old rat, because we have only one.

I do not like to pass death sentences, - said the little prince. - And I have to go.

No, it's not time, - objected the king.

The little prince was already fully prepared for the journey, but he did not want to upset the old monarch.

If it pleases your majesty that your orders be carried out unquestioningly, he said, you could give a prudent order. For example, order me to hit the road without delaying even a minute ... It seems to me that the conditions for this are the most favorable.

The king did not answer, and the little prince hesitated for a moment in indecision, then sighed and set off.

I appoint you as an ambassador! the king hurriedly shouted after him.

And at the same time he looked like he would not tolerate any objections.

“A strange people, these grown-ups,” the little prince said to himself as he continued on his way.

XI

On the second planet lived an ambitious man.

Oh, here comes the admirer! he exclaimed, seeing the Little Prince from a distance.

After all, vain people think that everyone admires them.

What a funny hat you have.

This is to bow, - explained the ambitious. - To bow when they greet me. Unfortunately, no one looks here.

Here's how? - said the little prince: he did not understand anything.

Clap your hands, said the ambitious man.

The little prince clapped his hands. The ambitious man took off his hat and bowed modestly.

"It's more fun here than at the old king's," thought the little prince. And again he began to clap his hands. And the ambitious man again began to bow, taking off his hat.

So for five minutes in a row the same thing was repeated, and the Little Prince got bored.

What needs to be done to make the hat fall? - he asked.

But the ambitious man did not hear. Vain people are deaf to everything but praise.

Are you really my enthusiastic admirer? he asked the Little Prince.

Why, there is no one else on your planet!

Well, give me pleasure, still admire me!

I admire, - said the Little Prince, slightly shrugging his shoulders, - but what kind of joy does this give you?

And he ran away from the ambitious.

“Really, grown-ups are very strange people,” he thought ingenuously, starting on his way.

XII

On the next planet lived a drunkard. The little prince stayed with him for a very short time, but after that he became very unhappy.

When he appeared on this planet, the drunkard sat silently and looked at the hordes of bottles lined up in front of him - empty and full.

What are you doing? asked the little prince.

I drink, - the drunkard answered gloomily.

To forget.

What to forget? asked the little prince; he felt sorry for the drunkard.

I want to forget that I'm ashamed, - the drunkard admitted and hung his head.

Why are you ashamed? - asked the little prince, he really wanted to help the poor fellow.

Good to drink! - explained the drunkard, and no more could be obtained from him.

“Yes, really, adults are very, very strange people,” he thought, continuing on his way.

XIII

The fourth planet belonged to a business man. He was so busy that when the Little Prince appeared, he did not even raise his head.

Good afternoon, the Little Prince said to him. - Your cigarette went out.

Three and two is five. Five yes seven - twelve. Twelve and three are fifteen. Good afternoon. Fifteen yes seven - twenty two. Twenty-two and six are twenty-eight. Once a match strike. Twenty-six yes five - thirty-one. Phew! The total, therefore, is five hundred and one million six hundred twenty-two thousand seven hundred and thirty-one.

Five hundred million what?

BUT? Are you still here? Five hundred million... I don't know what... I have so much work to do! I'm a serious person, I'm not up to chatter! Two yes five - seven ...

Five hundred million what? - repeated the Little Prince: having asked about something, he did not calm down until he received an answer.

The business man raised his head.

I have lived on this planet for fifty-four years, and in all that time I have only been interrupted three times. For the first time, twenty-two years ago, a cockchafer flew towards me from somewhere. He made a terrible noise, and then I made four mistakes in addition. The second time, eleven years ago, I had an attack of rheumatism. From a sedentary lifestyle. I don't have time to walk around. I am a serious person. Third time... here it is! So, therefore, five hundred million ...

Millions of what?

The business man realized that he had to answer, otherwise he would not have peace.

Five hundred million of those little things that are sometimes seen in the air.

What is it, flies?

No, they are so small and shiny.

No. So small, golden, every lazy person looks at them and starts dreaming. And I'm a serious person. I have no time to dream.

Ah, the stars?

Exactly. Stars.

Five hundred million stars? What are you doing with them?

Five hundred one million six hundred twenty two thousand seven hundred thirty one. I am a serious person, I love accuracy.

So what do you do with all these stars?

What do I do?

I don't do anything. I own them.

Do you own the stars?

But I have already seen the king who...

Kings own nothing. They only rule. This is a completely different matter.

And why do you own the stars?

To be rich.

Why be rich?

To buy more new stars if someone opens them.

“He talks almost like a drunkard,” thought the Little Prince.

How can you own the stars?

Whose stars? - grumpily asked the businessman.

Don't know. Draws.

So mine, because I was the first to think of it.

And is that enough?

Well, of course. If you find a diamond that has no owner, then it is yours. If you find an island that has no owner, it is yours. If any idea comes to your mind first, you take out a patent on it: it is yours. I own the stars, because before me no one thought to take possession of them.

That's right, said the little prince. - And what do you do with them?

I dispose of them, - the businessman answered. I count and count them. It is very difficult. But I am a serious person.

However, this was not enough for the Little Prince.

If I have a silk handkerchief, I can tie it around my neck and take it with me,” he said. - If I have a flower, I can pick it and take it with me. But you can't take the stars!

No, but I can put them in the bank.

Like this?

And so: I write on a piece of paper how many stars I have. Then I put this piece of paper in a drawer and lock it with a key.

That's enough.

"Funny! thought the little prince. - And even poetic. But it's not that serious."

What is serious and what is not serious, the Little Prince understood in his own way, not at all like adults.

I have a flower, he said, and I water it every morning. I have three volcanoes, I clean them out every week. I clean all three, and the extinct one too. Few things can happen. Both my volcanoes and my flower benefit from the fact that I own them. And the stars are of no use to you ...

The business man opened his mouth, but could not find anything to answer, and the Little Prince went on.

"No, grown-ups really are amazing people," he said to himself ingenuously as he continued on his way.

XIV

The fifth planet was very interesting. She was the smallest. It only fit a lantern and a lamplighter. The little prince could not understand why on a tiny planet lost in the sky, where there are no houses or inhabitants, a lantern and a lamplighter are needed. But he thought:

“Maybe this person is ridiculous. But he is not as absurd as a king, an ambitious man, a businessman and a drunkard. Still, his work makes sense. When he lights his lantern, it is as if another star or flower is being born. And when he extinguishes the lantern, it is as if a star or a flower falls asleep. Great job. It's really useful because it's beautiful."

And, having caught up with this planet, he respectfully bowed to the lamplighter.

Good afternoon, he said. - Why did you turn off the lantern now?

Such an agreement, - the lamplighter answered. - Good afternoon.

And what is this agreement?

Extinguish the lantern. Good evening.

And he lit the lantern again.

Why did you turn it on again?

Such an agreement,” repeated the lamplighter.

I don’t understand,” the Little Prince admitted.

And there is nothing to understand, - said the lamplighter, - an agreement is an agreement. Good afternoon.

And he turned off the lamp.

Then he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a red checkered handkerchief and said:

My job is hard. Once it made sense. I put out the lantern in the morning and lit it again in the evening. I had a day to rest and a night to sleep...

And then the deal changed?

The agreement has not changed,” said the lamplighter. - That's the problem! My planet rotates faster and faster every year, but the agreement remains the same.

And how now? asked the little prince.

Yes, like this. The planet makes a complete revolution in one minute, and I don't have a second to breathe. Every minute I turn off the lantern and light it again.

That's funny! So your day only lasts one minute!

There is nothing funny about it,” the lamplighter objected. We've been talking for a whole month now.

Whole month?!

Well, yes. Thirty minutes. Thirty days. Good evening!

And he lit the lantern again.

The little prince looked at the lamplighter, and he liked this man more and more, who was so true to his word. The little prince remembered how he once rearranged a chair from place to place in order to once again look at the sunset. And he wanted to help his friend.

Listen, - he said to the lamplighter, - I know the remedy: you can rest whenever you want ...

I want to rest all the time,” said the lamplighter.

After all, you can be true to your word and still be lazy.

Your planet is so tiny, - continued the Little Prince, - you can go around it in three steps. And you just need to go at such a speed as to stay in the sun all the time. When you want to rest, you just go, go… And the day will drag on for as long as you wish.

Well, that doesn't do me much good," said the lamplighter. - More than anything, I love to sleep.

Then your business is bad, - the little prince sympathized.

My business is bad, - the lamplighter confirmed. - Good afternoon.

And he turned off the lamp.

“Here is a man,” the little prince said to himself, continuing his journey, “here is a man whom everyone would despise - and the king, and the ambitious, and the drunkard, and the businessman. And meanwhile, of all of them, he alone, in my opinion, is not funny. Maybe because he thinks not only about himself.

The little prince sighed.

“That would be someone to make friends with,” he thought again. - But his planet is already very tiny. There is no room for two…”

He did not dare to admit to himself that he regretted this wonderful planet most of all for one more reason: in twenty-four hours you can admire the sunset on it one thousand four hundred and forty times!

XV

The sixth planet was ten times the size of the previous one. It was inhabited by an old man who wrote thick books.

Look! The traveler has arrived! he exclaimed, noticing the Little Prince.

The little prince sat down on the table to catch his breath. He has traveled so much!

Where are you from? the old man asked him.

What is this huge book? asked the little prince. - What are you doing here?

I am a geographer, the old man answered.

This is a scientist who knows where the seas, rivers, cities, mountains and deserts are.

How interesting! said the little prince. - This is the real deal!

And he glanced at the geographer's planet. Never before had he seen such a majestic planet!

Your planet is very beautiful, he said. - Do you have oceans?

I don't know that," said the geographer.

Oh-oh-oh ... - disappointedly drawled the Little Prince. - Are there mountains?

I don't know, repeated the geographer.

What about cities, rivers, deserts?

And I don't know this either.

But you are a geographer!

That's right, said the old man. - I am a geographer, not a traveler. I miss travellers. It is not geographers who count cities, rivers, mountains, seas, oceans and deserts. The geographer is too important a person, he has no time to roam. He doesn't leave his office. But he hosts travelers and writes down their stories. And if one of them tells something interesting, the geographer makes inquiries and checks whether this traveler is a decent person.

What for?

Why, if a traveler begins to lie, everything will be confused in geography textbooks. And if he drinks too much, that's a problem too.

And why?

Because drunkards see double. And where there is actually one mountain, the geographer will mark two.

I knew one person ... He would have made a bad traveler, ”the Little Prince remarked.

Very possible. So, if it turns out that the traveler is a decent person, then they check his discovery.

How do they check? Go and watch?

Well no. It's too difficult. They simply require the traveler to provide proof. For example, if he discovered a large mountain, let him bring large stones from it.

The geographer suddenly became agitated:

But you are also a traveler! You have come from afar! Tell me about your planet!

And he opened a thick book and sharpened a pencil. Travelers' stories are first written in pencil. And only after the traveler provides evidence, you can write down his story in ink.

I listen to you, - said the geographer.

Well, it’s not so interesting for me there, ”said the Little Prince. - Everything is very small. There are three volcanoes. Two are active, and one is long gone. But few things can happen...

Yes, anything can happen, the geographer confirmed.

Then I have a flower.

We do not celebrate flowers, - said the geographer.

Why?! It's the most beautiful!

Because flowers are ephemeral.

How is it - ephemeral?

Geography books are the most precious books in the world,” the geographer explained. - They never get old. After all, this is a very rare case for a mountain to move. Or for the ocean to dry up. We write about things eternal and unchanging.

But an extinct volcano can wake up, - interrupted the Little Prince. What is "ephemeral"?

Whether the volcano is extinct or active, it does not matter to us, geographers, - said the geographer. - One thing is important: the mountain. She doesn't change.

What is "ephemeral"? asked the Little Prince, who, once asking a question, did not rest until he received an answer.

This means: the one that should soon disappear.

And my flower should be gone soon?

Of course.

“My beauty and joy are short-lived,” the Little Prince said to himself, “and she has nothing to protect herself from the world, she only has four thorns. And I left her, and she was left on my planet all alone!”

This was the first time he regretted leaving the flower. But then his courage returned.

Where do you advise me to go? he asked the geographer.

Visit planet Earth, the geographer answered. She has a good reputation...

And the Little Prince set off, but his thoughts were about the abandoned flower.

XVI

So the seventh planet he visited was Earth.

Earth is not a simple planet! There are one hundred and eleven kings (including, of course, Negro kings), seven thousand geographers, nine hundred thousand businessmen, seven and a half million drunkards, three hundred and eleven million ambitious people, in total about two billion adults.

To give you an idea of ​​how big the Earth is, I will only say that before the invention of electricity, on all six continents it was necessary to keep a whole army of lamplighters - four hundred and sixty-two thousand five hundred and eleven people.

From the outside, it was a magnificent sight. The movements of this army obeyed the most precise rhythm, just like in ballet. The lamplighters of New Zealand and Australia were the first to perform. Lighting their lights, they went to bed. Behind them came the turn of the Chinese lamplighters. Having performed their dance, they also hid behind the scenes. Then came the turn of lamplighters in Russia and India. Then - in Africa and Europe. Then South America, then North America. And they never made a mistake, no one went on stage at the wrong time. Yes, it was brilliant.

Only the lamplighter who was supposed to light the only lantern at the north pole, and his brother at the south pole - only these two lived easily and carelessly: they had to do their job only twice a year.

XVII

When you really want to be funny, sometimes you involuntarily lie. Talking about the lamplighters, I have somewhat sinned against the truth. I am afraid that those who do not know our planet will have a false idea about it. Humans don't take up much space on Earth. If its two billion inhabitants were to converge and become a solid crowd, as at a meeting, they would all easily fit into a space twenty miles long and twenty wide. All mankind could be made shoulder to shoulder on the smallest island in the Pacific Ocean.

Adults, of course, will not believe you. They imagine they take up a lot of space. They seem majestic to themselves, like baobabs. And you advise them to make an accurate calculation. They'll love it, they love numbers. Don't waste your time on this arithmetic. It's useless. You already believe me.

So, having hit the ground, the Little Prince did not see a soul and was very surprised. He even thought that he had flown by mistake to some other planet. But then a ring of the color of a moonbeam stirred in the sand.

Good evening, - just in case, the Little Prince said.

Good evening, the snake replied.

What planet am I on?

To Earth, said the snake. - To Africa.

Here's how. Are there no people on earth?

This is a desert. Nobody lives in the deserts. But the Earth is big.

The little prince sat down on a stone and raised his eyes to the sky.

I would like to know why the stars shine, - he said thoughtfully. - Probably, so that sooner or later everyone can find their own again. Look, here is my planet - just right above us ... But how far to it!

A beautiful planet, said the snake. What are you going to do here on Earth?

I quarreled with my flower, the Little Prince admitted.

Ah, that's what it is...

And both fell silent.

Where are the people? The little prince finally spoke again. It's lonely in the desert...

It’s lonely among people, too, - the snake noticed.

The little prince looked at her carefully.

You are a strange creature,” he said. - Not thicker than a finger ...

But I have more power than in the finger of a king, the snake objected.

The little prince smiled.

Well, are you really that powerful? You don't even have paws. You can't even travel...

And wrapped around the Little Prince's ankle like a golden bracelet.

Whoever I touch, I return to the earth from which he came, she said. - But you are clean and came from the star ...

The little prince did not answer.

I feel sorry for you,” the snake continued. - You are so weak on this Earth, hard as granite. On the day when you bitterly regret your abandoned planet, I will be able to help you. I can…

I understand perfectly,” said the little prince. "But why do you always speak in riddles?"

I solve all riddles, said the snake.

And both fell silent.

XVIII

The little prince crossed the desert and met no one. For all the time he came across only one flower - a tiny, nondescript flower with three petals ...

Hello, said the little prince.

Hello, - answered the flower.

Where are the people? asked the little prince politely.

The flower once saw a caravan passing by.

People? Oh yes... There are only six or seven of them, I think. I saw them many years ago. But where to look for them is unknown. They are carried by the wind. They don't have roots, which is very inconvenient.

Farewell, said the little prince.

Farewell, said the flower.

XIX

The little prince climbed a high mountain. He had never seen mountains before, except for his three volcanoes, which were up to his knees. The extinct volcano served him as a stool. And now he thought: "From such a high mountain, I will immediately see this whole planet and all people." But I saw only rocks, sharp and thin, like needles.

Good afternoon, he said just in case.

Good afternoon ... day ... day ... - the echo answered.

Who you are? asked the little prince.

Who are you ... who are you ... who are you ... - the echo answered.

Let's be friends, I'm all alone, he said.

One…one…one…” echoed.

What a strange planet! thought the little prince. - Quite dry, all in needles and salty. And people lack imagination. They only repeat what you tell them ... At home I had a flower, my beauty and joy, and he always spoke first.

XX

The Little Prince walked for a long time through the sands, rocks and snow, and finally came across the road. And all roads lead to people.

Good afternoon, he said.

In front of him was a garden full of roses.

Good afternoon, said the roses.

And the little prince saw that they all looked like his flower.

Who you are? he asked, startled.

We are roses, answered the roses.

That's how ... - said the little prince.

And I felt very, very unhappy. His beauty told him that there was no one like her in the whole universe. And here in front of him are five thousand exactly the same flowers in one garden alone!

“How angry she would be if she saw them! thought the little prince. She would have coughed terribly and pretended to be dying so as not to appear ridiculous. And I would have to follow her like a patient, because otherwise she would really die, just to humiliate me too ... "

And then he thought: “I imagined that I own the only flower in the world, which no one else has anywhere else, and it was the most ordinary rose. All I had was a simple rose and three volcanoes that were knee-deep in height, and then one of them died out and, perhaps, forever ... what kind of prince am I after that ... "

He lay down on the grass and wept.

XXI

This is where Lis came in.

Hello, he said.

Hello, - the little prince politely replied and looked around, but did not see anyone.

Who are you? asked the little prince. - How handsome you are!

I am the Fox, said the Fox.

Play with me, - asked the Little Prince. - I feel so sad…

I can't play with you, - said the Fox. - I'm not tamed.

Ah, I'm sorry, said the little prince.

But on reflection he asked:

And how is it to tame?

You're not from here, - said the Fox. - What are you looking for here?

I'm looking for people, - said the little prince. - And how is it - to tame?

People have guns and they go hunting. It is very uncomfortable! And they also raise chickens. That's the only thing they're good at. Are you looking for chickens?

No, said the little prince. - I am looking for friends. And how is it to tame?

It's a long forgotten concept," Fox explained. - It means: to create bonds.

That's right," Liz said. “You are still just a little boy for me, exactly the same as a hundred thousand other boys. And I don't need you. And you don't need me either. I am only a fox for you, exactly the same as a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, we will need each other. You will be the only one in the world for me. And I will be alone for you in the whole world ...

I'm beginning to understand," said the little prince. - There was one rose ... probably, she tamed me ...

It is very possible, - agreed the Fox. - Nothing happens on Earth.

It was not on Earth, - said the little prince.

Lis was very surprised:

On another planet?

Are there hunters on that planet?

How interesting! Are there chickens?

There is no perfection in the world! Lis sighed.

But then he spoke again about the same:

My life is boring. I hunt chickens, and people hunt me. All chickens are the same and people are all the same. And my life is boring. But if you tame me, my life will be like the sun. I will distinguish your steps among thousands of others. Hearing human footsteps, I always run and hide. But your walk will call me like music, and I will come out of my shelter. And then - look! See, over there, in the fields, the wheat is ripening? I don't eat bread. I don't need spikes. Wheat fields mean nothing to me. And it's sad! But you have golden hair. And how wonderful it will be when you tame me! Golden wheat will remind me of you. And I will love the rustle of ears in the wind ...

The fox fell silent and looked at the Little Prince for a long time. Then he said:

Please... tame me!

I would be glad, - answered the Little Prince, - but I have so little time. I still have to find friends and learn different things.

You can learn only those things that you tame, - said the Fox. “People don’t have enough time to learn anything. They buy things ready-made in stores. But after all, there are no shops where friends would trade, and therefore people no longer have friends. If you want a friend, tame me!

And what should be done for this? asked the little prince.

We must be patient, - said the Fox. “First, sit over there, at some distance, on the grass—like this. I will look askance at you, and you keep quiet. Words only make it difficult to understand each other. But every day sit a little closer...

The next day, the Little Prince again came to the same place.

Better always come at the same hour, - asked the Fox. - For example, if you come at four o'clock, I will feel happy from three o'clock. And the closer to the appointed hour, the happier. At four o'clock I will already begin to worry and worry. I know the price of happiness! And if you come every time at a different time, I don’t know what hour to prepare your heart for ... You need to follow the rites.

What are rites? asked the little prince.

This, too, is something long forgotten,” the Fox explained. - Something that makes one day different from all other days, one hour - from all other hours. For example, my hunters have this ritual: on Thursdays they dance with the village girls. And what a wonderful day it is Thursday! I go for a walk and go all the way to the vineyard. And if the hunters danced when they had to, all the days would be the same and I would never know rest.

So the Little Prince tamed the Fox. And now it's time to say goodbye.

I will cry for you, - the Fox sighed.

You yourself are to blame, - said the little prince. - I didn’t want you to be hurt, you yourself wished me to tame you ...

Yes, of course, - said the Fox.

But you will cry!

Oh sure.

So you feel bad about it.

No, - objected the Fox, - I'm fine. Remember what I said about the golden ears.

He stopped. Then he added:

Go and look at the roses again. You will understand that your rose is the only one in the world. And when you return to say goodbye to me, I will tell you a secret. This will be my gift to you.

The little prince went to look at the roses.

You are nothing like my rose, he told them. - You're nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have not tamed anyone. This was before my Fox. He was no different from a hundred thousand other foxes. But I made friends with him, and now he is the only one in the whole world.

The roses were very confused.

You are beautiful, but empty, - continued the Little Prince. - I don't want to die for you. Of course, a random passerby, looking at my rose, will say that it is exactly the same as you. But she alone is dearer to me than all of you. After all, it is her, and not you, I watered every day. He covered her, and not you, with a glass cap. He blocked it with a screen, protecting it from the wind. For her, he killed the caterpillars, only left two or three for the butterflies to hatch. I listened to how she complained and how she boasted, I listened to her even when she was silent. She is mine.

And the Little Prince returned to the Fox.

Farewell… - he said.

Farewell, said the Fox. - Here is my secret, it is very simple: only the heart is vigilant. You can't see the most important thing with your eyes.

You can’t see the most important thing with your eyes, ”the Little Prince repeated, in order to better remember.

Your rose is so dear to you because you gave it your whole soul.

Because I gave her all my soul ... - repeated the Little Prince, in order to better remember.

People have forgotten this truth, - said the Fox, - but don't forget: you are forever responsible for everyone you tamed. You are responsible for your rose.

I am responsible for my rose ... - repeated the Little Prince, in order to better remember.

XXII

Good afternoon, said the little prince.

Good afternoon, said the switchman.

What are you doing here? asked the little prince.

Sorting passengers, - answered the switchman. “I send them on trains of a thousand people at a time—one train to the right, the other to the left.

And the fast train, flashing with lighted windows, rushed past with a thunder, and the switchman's booth trembled all over.

How they hurry, - the little prince was surprised. - What are they looking for?

Even the driver himself does not know this, - said the switchman.

And in the other direction, sparkling with lights, another fast train rushed with thunder.

Are they already back? asked the little prince.

No, they are different, - said the switchman. - It's a counter.

Were they not well where they were before?

It's good where we are not, - said the switchman.

And thundered, sparkling, the third fast train.

They want to catch up with those first? asked the little prince.

They don't want anything, said the switchman. - They sleep in the cars or just sit and yawn. Only the children press their noses against the windows.

Only children know what they are looking for,” said the Little Prince. - They give their whole soul to a rag doll, and it becomes very, very dear to them, and if it is taken away from them, the children cry ...

Their happiness, - said the switchman.

XXIII

Good afternoon, said the little prince.

Good afternoon, the merchant replied.

He traded in improved pills that quench thirst. You swallow such a pill - and then you don’t want to drink for a whole week.

Why are you selling them? asked the little prince.

They save a lot of time, - the merchant answered. - According to experts, you can save fifty-three minutes a week.

And what to do in these fifty-three minutes?

“If I had fifty-three minutes free,” thought the Little Prince, “I would simply go to the spring ...”

XXIV

It's been a week since my accident, and hearing about the pill dealer, I took my last sip of water.

Yes,” I said to the Little Prince, “everything you tell is very interesting, but I haven’t fixed my plane yet, I don’t have a drop of water left, and I would also be happy if I could just go to the spring .

The fox I made friends with...

My dear, I'm not up to Fox now!

Yes, because you have to die of thirst ...

He didn't understand the connection. He objected:

It's good to have a friend, even if you have to die. So I am very glad that I was friends with Lis ...

“He does not understand how great the danger is. He never experienced hunger or thirst. He has enough sunshine ... "

I didn't say it out loud, I just thought. But the Little Prince looked at me - and said:

I'm thirsty too... let's go look for a well...

I spread my hands wearily: what's the point of looking for wells at random in the endless desert? But still, we hit the road.

For long hours we walked in silence; At last it was dark, and the stars began to light up in the sky. I was a little feverish from thirst, and I saw them as if in a dream. I kept remembering the words of the Little Prince, and I asked:

So you also know what thirst is?

But he didn't answer. He said simply:

Water is also necessary for the heart ...

I didn't understand, but I didn't say anything. I knew not to ask him.

He is tired. Fell down on the sand. I sat next to him. They were silent. Then he said:

The stars are very beautiful, because somewhere there is a flower, although it is not visible ...

Yes, of course, - I said only, looking at the wavy sand, illuminated by the moon.

And the desert is beautiful ... - added the Little Prince.

It's true. I've always liked the desert. You sit on a sand dune. I can not see anything. Can not hear anything. And yet something shines in the silence...

Do you know why the desert is good? - he said. - Somewhere in it springs are hidden ...

I was amazed, suddenly I understood what the mysterious light emanating from the sands meant. Once, as a little boy, I lived in an old, old house - they said that a treasure was hidden in it. Of course, no one ever discovered it, and maybe no one ever looked for it. But because of him, the house was as if bewitched: in his heart he hid a secret ...

Yes, I said. - Whether it's a house, the stars or the desert - the most beautiful thing in them is what you can't see with your eyes.

I am very glad that you agree with my friend the Fox, the Little Prince replied.

Then he fell asleep, I took him in my arms and went on. I was excited. It seemed to me that I was carrying a fragile treasure. It even seemed to me that there is nothing more fragile on our Earth. By the light of the moon, I looked at his pale forehead, at his closed eyelashes, at the golden strands of hair that the wind picked through, and said to myself: all this is just a shell. The most important thing is what you can't see with your eyes...

His half-open lips trembled in a smile, and I said to myself: the most touching thing about this sleeping Little Prince is his fidelity to a flower, the image of a rose that shines in him like a flame of a lamp, even when he sleeps ... And I realized that he is even more fragile than it seems. Lamps must be protected: a gust of wind can extinguish them ...

So I walked - and at dawn I reached the well.

XXV

People get into fast trains, but they themselves don’t understand what they are looking for, - said the Little Prince. - Therefore, they do not know peace and rush in one direction, then in the other ...

Then he added:

And all in vain...

The well we came to was not like all the wells in the Sahara. Usually a well here is just a hole in the sand. And it was a real village well. But there was no village nearby, and I thought it was a dream.

How strange, - I said to the Little Prince, - everything is ready here: the collar, the bucket, and the rope ...

I'll draw water myself, - I said, - you can't do it.

Slowly I pulled out the full bucket and placed it securely on the stone edge of the well. The singing of the creaking gate still resounded in my ears, the water in the pail still trembled, and the sunbeams trembled in it.

I want to take a sip of this water,” said the Little Prince. - Give me a drink...

And I realized what he was looking for!

I raised the bucket to his lips. He drank with his eyes closed. It was like the most beautiful feast. This water was not easy. She was born from a long journey under the stars, from the creaking of the gate, from the efforts of my hands. She was like a gift to my heart. When I was little, Christmas presents shone for me like that: the glow of candles on the tree, the singing of the organ at the hour of midnight mass, affectionate smiles.

On your planet, - said the Little Prince, - people grow five thousand roses in one garden ... and do not find what they are looking for ...

They don't, I agreed.

But what they are looking for can be found in a single rose, in a sip of water ...

Yes, of course, I agreed.

And the little prince said:

But the eyes are blind. You have to search with your heart.

I drank some water. It was easy to breathe. At dawn, the sand turns golden as honey. And that made me happy too. Why would I be sad?

You must keep your word,” the little prince said softly, sitting down next to me again.

What word?

Remember, you promised... a muzzle for my lamb... I'm responsible for that flower.

I took my drawings out of my pocket. The little prince looked at them and laughed:

Your baobabs look like cabbages...

And I was so proud of my baobabs!

And your fox has ears ... like horns! And how long!

And he laughed again.

You are unfair, my friend. After all, I never knew how to draw - except for boas from the outside and from the inside.

Nothing, he reassured me. “Children will understand.

And I drew a muzzle for a lamb. I gave the drawing to the Little Prince and my heart sank.

You're up to something and you don't tell me...

But he didn't answer.

You know, - he said, - tomorrow it will be a year since I came to you on Earth ...

And shut up. Then he added:

I fell very close to here...

And blushed.

And again, God knows why, it became heavy in my soul.

Still, I asked:

So, a week ago, on the morning when we met, it was not by chance that you wandered here all alone, a thousand miles from human habitation? Did you return to the place where you fell then?

The little prince blushed even more.

And I added hesitantly:

Maybe it's because it's a year old?..

And again he blushed. He didn't answer any of my questions, but blushing means yes, doesn't it?

I'm scared ... - I began with a sigh.

But he said:

It's time for you to get to work. Go to your car. I will wait for you here. Come back tomorrow night...

However, I did not become calmer. I remembered Lisa. When you let yourself be tamed, then it happens to cry.

XXVI

Not far from the well, the ruins of an ancient stone wall have been preserved. The next evening, having finished my work, I returned there and from a distance I saw that the Little Prince was sitting on the edge of the wall, his legs dangling. And I heard his voice:

Do not you remember? he said. - It wasn't here at all.

Probably someone answered him, because he objected:

Well, yes, it was exactly a year ago, to the day, but only in a different place ...

I walked faster. But nowhere near the wall I saw or heard anyone else. Meanwhile, the Little Prince again answered someone:

Well, of course. You will find my footprints in the sand. And then wait. I'll be there tonight.

There were twenty meters to the wall, and I still couldn't see anything.

After a short silence, the Little Prince asked:

Do you have good poison? Won't you make me suffer for a long time?

I stopped and my heart sank, but I still didn't understand.

Now go away, said the little prince. - I want to jump down.

Then I lowered my eyes, and so I jumped! At the foot of the wall, raising its head to the Little Prince, coiled a yellow snake, one of those whose bite kills in half a minute. Fumbling for the revolver in my pocket, I rushed to her, but at the sound of footsteps, the snake quietly began to flow along the sand, like a dying stream, and with a barely audible metallic ring, slowly disappeared between the stones.

I ran up to the wall just in time to grab my little prince. He was whiter than snow.

What do you want, baby! I exclaimed. - Why are you talking to snakes?

I untied his invariable golden scarf. Wetted his whiskey and made him drink water. But I didn't dare ask any more questions. He looked at me seriously and wrapped his arms around my neck. I heard his heart beating like a shot bird. He said:

I'm glad you found what was wrong with your car. Now you can go home...

How do you know?!

I was just about to tell him that, against all odds, I managed to fix the plane!

He didn't answer, he just said:

And I'll be home today too.

Then he added sadly:

Everything was somehow strange. I hugged him tightly, like a small child, and, however, it seemed to me that he was slipping away, falling into the abyss, and I was unable to hold him ...

He looked thoughtfully into the distance.

I will have your lamb. And a lamb box. And a muzzle...

And he smiled sadly.

I've been waiting a long time. He seemed to come to his senses.

Are you scared baby...

Well, don't be afraid! But he laughed softly.

Tonight I'm going to be much more scared...

And again I was frozen with a presentiment of irreparable trouble. Do, do I never hear him laugh again? This laughter for me is like a spring in the desert.

Baby, I want to hear you laugh more...

But he said:

It will be a year old tonight. My star will be just above the place where I fell a year ago ...

Listen, baby, all this - and a snake, and a date with a star - just a bad dream, right?

But he didn't answer.

The most important thing is what you can’t see with your eyes ... - he said.

Oh sure…

It's like a flower. If you love a flower that grows somewhere on a distant star, it is good to look at the sky at night. All stars are blooming.

Oh sure…

It's like water. When you let me drink, that water was like music, and all because of the collar and the rope ... Remember? She was very good.

Oh sure…

At night you will look at the stars. My star is very small, I can't show it to you. That's better. She will be just one of the stars for you. And you will love to look at the stars ... All of them will become your friends. And then, I'll give you something...

And he laughed.

Oh baby, baby, how I love it when you laugh!

This is my gift… it will be like with water…

How so?

Each person has their own stars. To one - those who wander - they show the way. For others, they are just little lights. For scientists, they are like a problem to be solved. To my business they are gold. But for all these people, the stars are dumb. And you will have very special stars ...

How so?

You look at the sky at night, and there will be such a star where I live, where I laugh, and you will hear that all the stars are laughing. You will have stars who know how to laugh!

And he himself laughed.

And when you are consoled (you always console yourself in the end), you will be glad that you knew me once. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. Sometimes you will open the window like this, and you will be pleased ... And your friends will be surprised that you are laughing, looking at the sky. And you will tell them: “Yes, yes, I always laugh when I look at the stars!” And they'll think you're crazy. That's the cruel joke I'll play on you.

And he laughed again.

As if instead of stars, I gave you a whole bunch of laughing bells ...

He laughed again. Then he became serious again:

You know... tonight... you better not come.

I will not leave you.

It will seem to you that I am in pain ... it will even seem that I am dying. That's the way it happens. Don't come, don't.

I will not leave you.

But he was concerned about something.

You see... it's also because of the snake. Suddenly she will sting you... After all, snakes are evil. Anyone sting for their pleasure.

I will not leave you.

He suddenly calmed down.

True, she does not have enough poison for two ...

That night I didn't notice him leaving. He slipped away silently. When I finally overtook him, he was walking with a quick, determined step.

Ah, it's you... - he said only.

And took my hand. But something was bothering him.

You are right to go with me. It will hurt you to look at me. You will think that I'm dying, but it's not true ...

I was silent.

You see... it's very far away. My body is too heavy. I can't carry him.

I was silent.

But it's like dropping the old shell. There is nothing sad here...

I was silent.

He was a little discouraged. But still he made one more effort:

You know, it will be very nice. I will also look at the stars. And all the stars will be like old wells with creaky gates. And each will give me a drink ...

I was silent.

Think how funny! You will have five hundred million bells, and I will have five hundred million springs ...

And then he also fell silent, because he began to cry ...

Here we come. Let me take one more step.

And he sat down on the sand because he was afraid.

Then he said:

You know... my rose... I'm responsible for it. And she's so weak! And so simple. She only has four miserable thorns, she has nothing more to defend herself from the world ...

I also sat down because my legs buckled. He said:

That's it…

He hesitated for another minute and stood up. And he took only one step. And I couldn't move.

Like yellow lightning flashed at his feet. For a moment he remained motionless. Didn't scream. Then he fell - slowly, like a tree falls. Slowly and inaudibly, because the sand muffles all sounds.

XXVII

And now six years have passed ... I have never told anyone about this. When I returned, the comrades were glad to see me alive and unharmed again. I was sad, but I told them:

I'm just tired...

And yet, little by little, I was comforted. I mean… not exactly. But I know he returned to his planet, because when dawn broke, I did not find his body on the sand. It wasn't that hard. And at night I like to listen to the stars. Like five hundred million bells...

But here's what's amazing. When I drew the muzzle for the lamb, I forgot about the strap! The little prince will not be able to put it on a lamb. And I ask myself: is something being done there, on his planet? Suddenly the lamb ate a rose?

Sometimes I say to myself: “No, of course not! The little prince always covers the rose with a glass cap at night, and he watches the lamb very much ... ”Then I am happy. And all the stars are laughing softly.

And sometimes I say to myself: “Sometimes you are absent-minded ... then everything can happen! Suddenly, one evening, he forgot about the glass cap or the lamb quietly got out at night ... "And then all the bells cry ...

All this is mysterious and incomprehensible. You, who also fell in love with the Little Prince, like me, do not care at all: the whole world becomes different for us because somewhere in an unknown corner of the universe a lamb, which we have never seen, perhaps ate an unfamiliar us a rose.

Take a look at the sky. And ask yourself, “Is that rose still alive, or is it gone? Suddenly the lamb ate it? And you will see: everything will be different ...

And no adult will ever understand how important this is!

This, in my opinion, is the most beautiful and saddest place in the world. The same corner of the desert is drawn on the previous page, but I drew it again so that you can see it better. Here the Little Prince first appeared on Earth, and then disappeared.

Take a closer look to be sure to recognize this place if you ever find yourself in Africa, in the desert. If you happen to pass here, I implore you, do not hurry, hesitate a little under this star! And if a little boy with golden hair comes up to you, if he laughs loudly and does not answer your questions, you will certainly guess who he is. Then - I beg you! - do not forget to comfort me in my sadness, write to me as soon as possible that he has returned...

Leon Werth.