June 2010

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Oh, piccolo principe, ho capito a poco a poco la tua piccola vita malinconica.
Per molto tempo tu non avevi avuto per distrazione che la dolcezza sunsets.
I learned that new detail on the fourth day in the morning when you told me:
"I like sunsets so much. We're going to see a sunset ..."
"But wait ..."
"Wait?"
"May the sun sets ..."
At first you had looked very surprised, and then you laughed at yourself and you told me:
"I always believe in my home !..."
fact. When the United States is noon the whole world knows that the sun sets on
France.
would be enough to go to France in a minute to watch the sunset. Unfortunately
France is too far away.
But on your tiny planet you just move your chair a few steps.
And watched the sunset every time you wanted ...
"One day I saw the sunset forty-three times!"
And later you added:
"You know ... when you're very sad they love the sunsets ..."
"The day of the forty times were so sad?"
But the little prince made no reply.

had always been on the planet the little prince's flower very simple, adorned with a sunburst of petals
alone, which did not take place and not disturb anyone.
They appeared one morning in the grass and off the evening.
But that was erupted one day from a seed came from somewhere, and the little prince had watched
close this branch that did not resemble any other
twig.
could be a new species of baobab.
But the shrub soon stopped growing and began to prepare a flower.
The little prince who was present at a huge bud, felt that it would
miraculous apparition must emerge, but the flower was not prepared to be more than
beauty in the shelter of her green room.
carefully selecting her colors, she dressed slowly adjusted her petals one by one.
He would not leave crumpled like a poppy.
did not want to appear in the full splendor of her beauty.
Oh, yes, there was a coquettish creature! His
mysterious adornment lasted for days and days.
And then, behold, one morning, exactly at sunrise, it was shown.
And he, who had worked with such precision, she yawned and said:
"Oh, I wake up now. ... I'm sorry they are still my hair ..."
The little prince could not restrain his admiration:
"How beautiful you are!"
"True," the flower replied softly, "and I was born with the sun ..." The Little Prince
guessed that it was very modest, but it was so touching!
"I think it is time for coffee and milk," he added, "would you think of me ..."
And the little prince, all confused, went to look for a watering can of water and served with fresh flower
her breakfast. So he had
soon tormented by his vanity a little shady.
For example, one day, speaking of her four thorns, she said:
"Let the tigers come with their claws!"
"There are no tigers on my planet," he objected the little prince, "and then not
tigers eat grass."
"I am not a weed," she softly replied the flower.
"Sorry ..."
"I'm not afraid of tigers, but I have a horror of drafts ... You would not by chance
a screen?"
"Horror of the draft?"
"It's a bit serious for a plant," he observed the little prince. "It's very complicated
this flower ..."
"At night I want you to put under a glass bell. It's very cold where you
... It is not an arrangement that satisfies me. Where I come from ..."
But it was interrupted. He had come in the form of seed.
could not have known anything about the other worlds.
Embarrassed over having been caught in a lie to say so naive, she coughed two or three times
, to put the little prince in the wrong ...
"This is a screen ?..."
"I went looking for him, but you do not speak to me!"
Then she forced her cough him should suffer from remorse.
So the little prince, for all the good will of his love,
had begun to doubt him.
had taken seriously the words of no importance that had made him unhappy.
"I should not listen," he told me one day, "you should never listen to the flowers.
Just look at them and breathe. My, my perfume on the planet, but I could not rejoice.
That story of the claws, which I had so frozen, would soften. "
And he told me again:
"I could not understand anything then! I should have judged by deeds, not by words.
I smelled and I lit up.
venirmene I never had to go!
I had to guess his tenderness on the small ruses. Flowers
are so contradictory! But I was too young to know love. "

At that the fox appeared.
" Good morning, "said the fox.
" Good morning, "the little prince responded politely, turned around, but saw no one.
"I'm here," the voice said, "under the apple tree ..."
"Who are you?" asked the little prince, "You are very pretty ..."
"I am a fox," said fox.
"Come play with me," proposed the little prince, I'm so sad ... "
"I can not play with you," said the fox, "are not tame."
"Oh, excuse me," said the little prince.
But after a moment's reflection he added:
" What does that mean?"
"You're not from these parts, thou," said the fox, "What are you looking?"
"I am looking for men," said the little prince.
" What does that mean?"
"Men," the fox said, "They have guns and hunt. It's very boring!
also raise chickens. It is their sole interest. You looking for chickens?"
"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What do you mean tame?"
"It's long forgotten. ... It means to establish ties"
"To establish ties?"
"Sure," said the fox. "You, so far, for me, you are not a
boy like a hundred thousand kids. And I need you. And you have no need of me. I'm not for you that
a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, we shall need each other
. You will be unique in the world to me, and I shall be unique to you. "
" beginning to understand, "said the little prince." There is a flower ... I think I have
tamed ... "
" It's possible, "said the fox." all sorts of things on earth ... "
" Oh! is not on Earth, "said the little prince.
The fox seemed perplexed
" On another planet? "
" Yes ".
" Are there hunters on this planet? "
" No ".
" This I'm interested. Are there chickens? "
" No ".
" Nothing is perfect, "sighed the fox. But the fox returned to his idea
" My life is monotonous. I hunt chickens, and men hunt me.
all the chickens are just alike, and all men are alike. And I'm so bored.
But if you tame me, my life will be illuminated. Know the sound of footsteps
will be different from everyone else. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me out
burrow like music. And then, look! See, down there, the wheat fields?
I do not eat bread and wheat, for me is useless. Fields Wheat I do not remember anything.
This is sad! But you have hair the color of gold. Then it will be wonderful when I have
tamed. The wheat, which is also golden, will remind me of you. And love the sound of wind in the wheat
... "
The fox paused and looked long at the little prince
" Please ... tame, "he said.
" Willingly, "said the little prince," but do not have much time, though. I have to find the
friends, and learn many things. "
" We know that the things that one tames, "said the fox."
Men do not have time to learn anything. They buy things already made. But since there are no
merchants of friends, men no longer have friends. If you want a friend
tame me! "
" What should I do? "Asked the little prince.
" We must be very patient, "said the fox." In the beginning you will sit a little away from
me, so, in 'grass. I will keep you out of the corner of the eye and you will say nothing.
Words are the source of misunderstandings. But every day you will sit a little closer ... "
The little prince came back the next day.
" It would be better to return at the same time, "said the fox.
" If you come, for example, every afternoon at four o'clock, three o'clock I shall begin to be happy
. Over time increase my happiness. At four, I'll start
agitated and worried; find out the price of happiness! But if you come you do not know when,
I'll never know what time to prepare my heart ... It takes the rites. "
" What is a rite? "Said the little prince.
" Even this is something often neglected, "said the fox." That's what makes one day different from other days
, one hour from other hours. There is a rite, for example, among my hunters
. Every Thursday they dance with girls of the village. So Thursday is a day
wonderful! I far as the vineyards. If the hunters danced at just any day,
the day would be like everyone, and I would never vacation.
So the little prince tamed the fox.
And when the hour of departure drew near:
"Ah," said the fox, "... cry. "
" It's your fault, "said the little prince," I never wanted to hurt you, but you wanted me to tame you ...
"
" It's true, "said the fox.
" But weep, "said the little prince.
" Certainly, "said the fox.
" But then we gain? "
" It has done, "said the fox," the color of wheat. "
Then he added:
"Go again at the roses. You will understand that yours is unique. When you return to say goodbye,
'll give you a secret. "
The little prince went away again at the roses.
" You are not at all like my rose, yet you are nothing, "he said." No one has tamed
and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox.
He was only a fox like a hundred thousand others. But I have made my friend and now he is
unique in the world. "
And the roses were very uncomfortable.
" You are beautiful, but you are empty, "she said again." One can not die for you. Certainly, a
ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you, but she, she alone is the most important of all
you because it is she that I have watered. Why is she that I put under the glass of
. Why is she that I have sheltered behind the screen. Because for her that I killed the caterpillars (except
two or three for butterflies). Why is she that I have heard complaining or bragging, or even a few
when she said nothing. Why is my rose. "
And he went back to the fox.
" Goodbye, "he said.
" Goodbye, "said the fox." Here's my secret. It is very simple: One sees clearly only with the heart
. What is essential is invisible to the eye. "
" What is essential is invisible to the eyes, "repeated the little prince, to remember.
" It's the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important ".
" It's the time I have wasted for my rose ... "said the little prince to remember.
" Men have forgotten this truth. But you must not forget it.
You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose ...
"
" I am responsible for my rose ... "repeated the little prince to remember.

There was an old well next to the wall ruined stone.
When I returned from my work, the next evening, I saw from afar
my little prince, who was sitting up there, legs dangling. I heard him say.
"Do not you remember more? "he said," is not right here! "
Another voice must have replied, for he replied:
" Yes! Yes! That's the day, but this is not the place ...
continued my walk toward the wall.
I could not see, or hear yet another person. However, the little prince replied again:
... Sure. You'll begin where my tracks in the sand. You have only to wait for
there. I'll be there tonight. "
I was twenty yards from the wall and I had not seen anything yet.
the little prince spoke again, after a silence:
" You have good poison? Are you sure you do not make me suffer too long? "
I stopped, the heart narrow, but still did not understand.
"Now go away," he said, "I want to go down. Then I looked down at the foot of the wall and took a leap
!
was there, straightening up to the little prince, one of those yellow snakes that kill you in
thirty seconds. While rummaging in his pocket for his revolver, I began to run, but the noise did
, the snake slid gently into the sand like a jet that is dying, and without too much hurry
slipped between the stones with a light rattling noise.
reached the wall just in time to receive the arms my little man, pale as snow
.
"What this story! Now you talk with the snakes. "
I defeated her scarf of gold.
I had wet my temples and I did drink. And now I no longer dared to ask anything.
He looked at me gravely and shook my arms around his neck. I felt his heart beat
as that of a bird that dies when hit with the gun. He said,
"I'm glad you found what was missing in your engine.
you can go home ..."
"How do you know?"
I was just to announce that, unexpectedly, I was successful in my work!
did not answer my question, but added:
"Me too, now, back home ..."
Then, sadly:
"It's very far away ... is much more difficult ... "
I felt that something extraordinary was happening. The holding in my arms
as a small child, yet I felt that vertical slip into an abyss, without
that I could do nothing to keep him ... He had the
serious look, lost far:
"I have your sheep. And I have the box for the sheep. And I have the muzzle ... "And she smiled with melancholy
.
waited a long time. I felt that gradually heats up
" Ometto dear, you were afraid ... "He was definitely afraid
!
But laughed sweetness:
"I'll have much more afraid this evening ..." I froze
again by the sense of. And I knew that I could not bear the thought
of no longer hearing that laugh. It was for me like a fountain in the desert.
"Little man, I still want to hear you laugh ..."
But he said
"It will be a year tonight. My star will be right above the place where I fell
last year ..."
"Little man, is not it a bad dream that is the story of the serpent, and the appointment of the star
?..."
But I do not answer. He said:
"What is important, do not see it ..."
"Sure ..."
"It is like the flower. If you love a flower that is in a star, is sweet, the night
look at the sky. All the stars are blooming."
"Sure ..."
"It's like water. What you gave me drink was like music, there was
pulley and the rope ... Do you remember ... was good. "
" Sure ... "
" Watch the stars at night. It is too small because you can show me where is my star
. It is better that way. My star will be one of the stars for you. Then, all the stars, you look like
... All will be your friends. And then you want to make a present ... "He laughed again
.
" Ah! Little man, my little man, I feel like this rice! "
" It is just that my gift ... will be like water ... "
" What do you mean? "
" People have stars that are not the same. For some, those who travel, the
stars are guides. For others are but tiny lights. For others, who are
wise, are problems. For my businessman they were gold. But all these stars are silent
. You, you'll have the stars as no one has ... "
" What do you mean? "
" When you look at the sky at night, because I will dwell in them, because I laugh at one of them
, then it will be for you as if all the stars were laughing. Thou shalt, thou alone, of
stars that can laugh! "
And he laughed again.
" And when you've consulate (there is always comforting), you'll be glad to have known me.
'll always be my friend. You'll want to laugh with me. And sometimes you open the window, so
for the pleasure ... And your friends will be amazed to see you laugh watching the sky.
Then you say: "Yes, the stars always make me laugh!" and believe you crazy.
"T'avrò made a bad joke ..."
And he laughed again.
"It's like if you had thee up, instead of the stars of little bells that can laugh ..."
And he laughed again. Then he became serious.
"Tonight ... you know, do not come."
"I will not leave."
"It may seem that I should feel bad ... seems a little that I die. That's it. Do not come to see
not worth it ..."
"I will not leave."
But he was worried.
"I tell you ... Also for the snake. He must not bite you ... The snakes are bad.
can bite you for the pleasure of ..."
"I will not leave."
"But something assured him
" It is true that no more poison for a second bite ... "
That night I saw him get in the way.
He got away without a sound. When I could get was walking along with
a rapid pace. I only said:
"Ah! You are here ... "And
took my hand. But he was still worrying
" You were wrong. You'll regret. It will look dead and will not be true ... "
I said nothing.
" Do you understand? It's too far. I can not carry my body. You too heavy. "
I said nothing.
" But it will be abandoned like an old skin. I'm not sad old bark ... "
I said nothing.
is a little discouraged. But he made one more effort:
" It will be nice, you know. I also watch the stars. All the stars will be wells with a rusty pulley
. All the stars will pay me to drink ... "
I said nothing.
" It will be so much fun! You will have five hundred million little bells, I will have five hundred million
fountains ... "
It was silent because he was crying.
" It's there. Let me take a step alone.
He sat down because she was afraid.
And he said:
"You know ... my flower ... I am responsible! And it is so weak and so naive.
has four thorns to protect me from anything the world ...".
I sat down because I could no longer stand.
He said: "There ... this is here ... "
hesitated a little, then stood up. He took a step. I could not move.
There was a flash of yellow close to his ankle.
He stood for a moment.
not cried. He fell as gently as a tree falls.
He did not even sound on the sand.

Antoine De Saint-Exupery, author and aviator, was born on 29 June 1900 in Lyon, France, and died July 31, 1944 in the Tyrrhenian Sea
falling with his plane hit by a German fighter.