The Little Prince

 

36 

 Chapter 11   

  the little prince visits the conceited man 

　

   

The second planet was inhabited by a conceited man. 

"Ah! Ah! I am about to receive a visit from an admirer!" he exclaimed from afar, 

when he first saw the little prince coming.   

For, to conceited men, all other men are admirers.   

 

"Good morning," said the little prince. "That is a queer hat you are wearing."   

"It is a hat for salutes," the conceited man replied. "It is to raise in salute when 

people acclaim me. Unfortunately, nobody at all ever passes this way."   

"Yes?" said the little prince, who did not understand what the conceited man 

was talking about.   

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"Clap your hands, one against the other," the conceited man now directed 

him.   

The little prince clapped his hands. The conceited man raised his hat in a 

modest salute.   

"This is more entertaining than the visit to the king," the little prince said to 

himself. And he began again to clap his hands, one against the other. The 

conceited man against raised his hat in salute.   

After five minutes of this exercise the little prince grew tired of the game's 

monotony.   

"And what should one do to make the hat come down?" he asked.   

But the conceited man did not hear him. Conceited people never hear 

anything but praise.   

"Do you really admire me very much?" he demanded of the little prince.   

"What does that mean-- 'admire'?"   

"To admire mean that you regard me as the handsomest, the best-dressed, 

the richest, and the most intelligent man on this planet."   

"But you are the only man on your planet!"   

"Do me this kindness. Admire me just the same."   

"I admire you," said the little prince, shrugging his shoulders slightly, "but 

what is there in that to interest you so much?"   

And the little prince went away.   

"The grown-ups are certainly very odd," he said to himself, as he continued 

on his journey. 

 

 

 

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38 

 Chapter 12   

  the little prince visits the tippler 

　

   

The next planet was inhabited by a tippler. This was a very short visit, but it 

plunged the little prince into deep dejection.   

"What are you doing there?" he said to the tippler, whom he found settled 

down in silence before a collection of empty bottles and also a collection of 

full bottles.   

"I am drinking," replied the tippler, with a lugubrious air.   

"Why are you drinking?" demanded the little prince.   

"So that I may forget," replied the tippler.   

"Forget what?" inquired the little prince, who already was sorry for him.   

 

"Forget that I am ashamed," the tippler confessed, hanging his head.   

"Ashamed of what?" insisted the little prince, who wanted to help him.   

"Ashamed of drinking!" The tippler brought his speech to an end, and shut 

himself up in an impregnable silence.   

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39 

And the little prince went away, puzzled.   

"The grown-ups are certainly very, very odd," he said to himself, as he 

continued on his journey. 

 

 

 

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40 

 Chapter 13   

  the little prince visits the businessman 

　

   

The fourth planet belonged to a businessman. This man was so much 

occupied that he did not even raise his head at the little prince's arrival.   

"Good morning," the little prince said to him. "Your cigarette has gone out."   

"Three and two make five. Five and seven make twelve. Twelve and three 

make fifteen. Good morning. Fifteen and seven make twenty-two. Twenty-two 

and six make twenty-eight. I haven't time to light it again. Twenty-six and five 

make thirty-one. Phew! Then that makes five-hundred-and-one-million, 

six-hundred-twenty-two-thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one."   

"Five hundred million what?" asked the little prince.   

"Eh? Are you still there? Five-hundred-and-one million-- I can't stop... I have 

so much to do! I am concerned with matters of consequence. I don't amuse 

myself with balderdash. Two and five make seven..."   

 

"Five-hundred-and-one million what?" repeated the little prince, who never in 

his life had let go of a question once he had asked it. 

The businessman raised his head.   

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41 

"During the fifty-four years that I have inhabited this planet, I have been 

disturbed only three times. The first time was twenty-two years ago, when 

some giddy goose fell from goodness knows where. He made the most 

frightful noise that resounded all over the place, and I made four mistakes in 

my addition. The second time, eleven years ago, I was disturbed by an attack 

of rheumatism. I don't get enough exercise. I have no time for loafing. The 

third time-- well, this is it! I was saying, then, five -hundred-and-one millions--"   

"Millions of what?"   

The businessman suddenly realized that there was no hope of being left in 

peace until he answered this question.   

"Millions of those little objects," he said, "which one sometimes sees in the 

sky."   

"Flies?"   

"Oh, no. Little glittering objects."   

"Bees?"   

"Oh, no. Little golden objects that set lazy men to idle dreaming. As for me, I 

am concerned with matters of consequence. There is no time for idle 

dreaming in my life."   

"Ah! You mean the stars?"   

"Yes, that's it. The stars."   

"And what do you do with five-hundred millions of stars?"   

"Five-hundred-and-one million, six-hundred-twenty-two thousand, 

seven-hundred-thirty-one. I am concerned with matters of consequence: I am 

accurate."   

"And what do you do with these stars?"   

"What do I do with them?"   

"Yes."   

"Nothing. I own them."   

"You own the stars?"   

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