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thenarratorspeculatesastowhichasteroidfromwhichthelittleprincecame
Ihadthuslearnedasecondfactofgreatimportance:thiswasthattheplanetthelittleprincecamefromwasscarcelyanylargerthanahouse!
Butthatdidnotreallysurprisememuch.Iknewverywellthatinadditiontothegreatplanets--suchastheEarth,Jupiter,Mars,Venus--towhichwehavegivennames,therearealsohundredsofothers,someofwhicharesosmallthatonehasahardtimeseeingthemthroughthetelescope.Whenanastronomerdiscoversoneofthesehedoesnotgiveitaname,butonlyanumber.Hemightcallit,forexample,"Asteroid325."
IhaveseriousreasontobelievethattheplanetfromwhichthelittleprincecameistheasteroidknownasB-612.
Thisasteroidhasonlyoncebeenseenthroughthetelescope.ThatwasbyaTurkishastronomer,in1909.
Onmakinghisdiscovery,theastronomerhadpresentedittotheInternationalAstronomicalCongress,inagreatdemonstration.ButhewasinTurkishcostume,andsonobodywouldbelievewhathesaid.
Grown-upsarelikethat...
Fortunately,however,forthereputationofAsteroidB-612,aTurkishdictatormadealawthathissubjects,underpainofdeath,shouldchangetoEuropeancostume.Soin1920theastronomergavehisdemonstrationalloveragain,dressedwithimpressivestyleandelegance.Andthistimeeverybodyacceptedhisreport.
IfIhavetoldyouthesedetailsabouttheasteroid,andmadeanoteofitsnumberforyou,itisonaccountofthegrown-upsandtheirways.Whenyoutellthemthatyouhavemadeanewfriend,theyneveraskyouanyquestionsaboutessentialmatters.Theyneversaytoyou,"Whatdoeshisvoicesoundlike?Whatgamesdoeshelovebest?Doeshecollectbutterflies?"Instead,theydemand:"Howoldishe?Howmanybrothershashe?Howmuchdoesheweigh?Howmuchmoneydoeshisfathermake?"Onlyfromthesefiguresdotheythinktheyhavelearnedanythingabouthim.
Ifyouweretosaytothegrown-ups:"Isawabeautifulhousemadeofrosybrick,withgeraniumsinthewindowsanddovesontheroof,"theywouldnotbeabletogetanyideaofthathouseatall.Youwouldhavetosaytothem:"Isawahousethatcost$20,000."Thentheywouldexclaim:"Oh,whataprettyhousethatis!"
Justso,youmightsaytothem:"Theproofthatthelittleprinceexistedisthathewascharming,thathelaughed,andthathewaslookingforasheep.Ifanybodywantsasheep,thatisaproofthatheexists."Andwhatgoodwoulditdototellthemthat?Theywouldshrugtheirshoulders,andtreatyoulikeachild.Butifyousaidtothem:"TheplanethecamefromisAsteroidB-612,"thentheywouldbeconvinced,andleaveyouinpeacefromtheirquestions.Theyarelikethat.Onemustnotholditagainstthem.Childrenshouldalwaysshowgreatforbearancetowardgrown-uppeople.
Butcertainly,foruswhounderstandlife,figuresareamatterofindifference.Ishouldhavelikedtobeginthisstoryinthefashionofthefairy-tales.Ishouldhaveliketosay:"Onceuponatimetherewasalittleprincewholivedonaplanetthatwasscarcelyanybiggerthanhimself,andwhohadneedofasheep..."
Tothosewhounderstandlife,thatwouldhavegivenamuchgreaterairoftruthtomystory.
ForIdonotwantanyonetoreadmybookcarelessly.Ihavesufferedtoomuchgriefinsettingdownthesememories.Sixyearshavealreadypassedsincemyfriendwentawayfromme,withhissheep.IfItrytodescribehimhere,itistomakesurethatIshallnotforgethim.Toforgetafriendissad.Noteveryonehashadafriend.AndifIforgethim,Imaybecomelikethegrown-upswhoarenolongerinterestedinanythingbutfigures...
Itisforthatpurpose,again,thatIhaveboughtaboxofpaintsandsomepencils.Itishardtotakeupdrawingagainatmyage,whenIhavenevermadeanypicturesexceptthoseoftheboaconstrictorfromtheoutsideandtheboaconstrictorfromtheinside,sinceIwassix.Ishallcertainlytrytomakemyportraitsastruetolifeaspossible.ButIamnotatallsureofsuccess.Onedrawinggoesalongallright,andanotherhasnoresemblancetoitssubject.Imakesomeerrors,too,inthelittleprince'sheight:inoneplaceheistootallandinanothertooshort.AndIfeelsomedoubtsaboutthecolorofhiscostume.SoIfumblealongasbestIcan,nowgood,nowbad,andIhopegenerallyfair-to-middling.
IncertainmoreimportantdetailsIshallmakemistakes,also.Butthatissomethingthatwillnotbemyfault.Myfriendneverexplainedanythingtome.Hethought,perhaps,thatIwaslikehimself.ButI,alas,donotknowhowtoseesheepthroughthewallsofboxes.PerhapsIamalittlelikethegrown-ups.Ihavehadtogrowold.
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