The Little Prince

 

55 

Chapter 18   

  the little prince goes looking for men and meets a 

flower 

　

   

 

The little prince crossed the desert and met with only one flower. It was a 

flower with three petals, a flower of no account at all.   

"Good morning," said the little prince.   

"Good morning," said the flower.   

"Where are the men?" the little prince asked, politely.   

The flower had once seen a caravan passing.   

"Men?" she echoed. "I think there are six or seven of them in existence. I saw 

them, several years ago. But one never knows where to find them. The wind 

blows them away. They have no roots, and that makes their life very difficult."   

"Goodbye," said the little prince.   

"Goodbye," said the flower. 

 

 

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56 

 Chapter 19   

  the little prince climbs a mountain range 

　

   

After that, the little prince climbed a high mountain. The only mountains he 

had ever known were the three volcanoes, which came up to his knees. And 

he used the extinct volcano as a footstool. "From a mountain as high as this 

one," he said to himself, "I shall be able to see the whole planet at one glance, 

and all the people..."   

 

But he saw nothing, save peaks of rock that were sharpened like needles.   

"Good morning," he said courteously.   

"Good morning--Good morning--Good morning," answered the echo.   

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"Who are you?" said the little prince.   

"Who are you--Who are you--Who are you?" answered the echo.   

"Be my friends. I am all alone," he said.   

"I am all alone--all alone--all alone," answered the echo.   

"What a queer planet!" he thought. "It is altogether dry, and altogether pointed, 

and altogether harsh and forbidding. And the people have no imagination. 

They repeat whatever one says to them... On my planet I had a flower; she 

always was the first to speak..." 

 

 

 

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58 

 Chapter 20   

  the little prince discovers a garden of roses 

　

   

But it happened that after walking for a long time through sand, and rocks, 

and snow, the little prince at last came upon a road. And all roads lead to the 

abodes of men.   

"Good morning," he said.   

 

He was standing before a garden, all a-bloom with roses.   

"Good morning," said the roses.   

The little prince gazed at them. They all looked like his flower.   

"Who are you?" he demanded, thunderstruck.   

"We are roses," the roses said.   

And he was overcome with sadness. His flower had told him that she was the 

only one of her kind in all the universe. And here were five thousand of them, 

all alike, in one single garden!   

"She would be very much annoyed," he said to himself, "if she should see 

that... she would cough most dreadfully, and she would pretend that she was 

dying, to avoid being laughed at. And I should be obliged to pretend that I was 

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59 

nursing her back to life-- for if I did not do that, to humble myself also, she 

would really allow herself to die..."   

Then he went on with his reflections: "I thought that I was rich, with a flower 

that was unique in all the world; and all I had was a common rose. A common 

rose, and three volcanoes that come up to my knees-- and one of them 

perhaps extinct forever... that doesn't make me a very great prince..."   

And he lay down in the grass and cried. 

 

 

 

 

 

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60 

 Chapter 21   

  the little prince befriends the fox 

　

   

It was then that the fox appeared.   

"Good morning," said the fox.   

"Good morning," the little prince responded politely, although when he turned 

around he saw nothing.   

"I am right here," the voice said, "under the apple tree."   

"Who are you?" asked the little prince, and added, "You are very pretty to look 

at."   

"I am a fox," said the fox.   

"Come and play with me," proposed the little prince. "I am so unhappy."   

"I cannot play with you," the fox said. "I am not tamed."   

"Ah! Please excuse me," said the little prince.   

But, after some thought, he added:   

"What does that mean-- 'tame'?"   

"You do not live here," said the fox. "What is it that you are looking for?"   

"I am looking for men," said the little prince. "What does that mean-- 'tame'?"   

"Men," said the fox. "They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. 

They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for 

chickens?"   

"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean-- 

'tame'?"   

"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. It means to establish ties."   

"'To establish ties'?"   

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"Just that," said the fox. "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy 

who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of 

you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more 

than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we 

shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I 

shall be unique in all the world..."   

"I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower... I 

think that she has tamed me..."   

 

"It is possible," said the fox. "On the Earth one sees all sorts of things."   

"Oh, but this is not on the Earth!" said the little prince.   

The fox seemed perplexed, and very curious.   

"On another planet?"   

"Yes."   

"Are there hunters on this planet?"   

"No."   

"Ah, that is interesting! Are there chickens?"   

"No."   

"Nothing is perfect," sighed the fox.   

But he came back to his idea.   

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