The Little Prince
Adapted from the work of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

　One day/I made a crash landing/in the Sahara Desert.// I was all alone.// I knew/that I had to fix my plane by myself/without any help.// For me,/it was a matter of life or death:/I had only enough drinking water/for eight days.//

　The first night,/I met a boy.// He was a little prince/from a far-off planet.// The prince had golden hair,/a lovable laugh,/and kept asking the same questions/until they were answered.// He was very persistent.//
　The prince told me his story.//

　The little prince lived alone/on an exceedingly small planet.// There were three volcanoes/and some baobab shoots there.// One day,/a mysterious rose/sprouted on the planet.// It could communicate,/and the prince talked with it/every day.// He fell in love with the rose/and took good care of it.// However,/when he caught the rose in a lie,/the little prince quarreled with it.// He decided to set out on a journey/to explore other planets.//



　On the first planet/lived a king/who always gave commands.// On the second planet/lived a man/who was very vain.// On the third planet/lived a man/who drank alcohol/to forget his drinking habit.// On the fourth planet/lived a cunning businessman/who counted planets/to own them all.// On the fifth planet/lived a man/who was busy lighting and extinguishing a lamp,/because his planet rotated/every minute.// On the sixth planet/lived a geographer/who drew detailed maps,/but he never traveled/farther than his front porch.//
　The last planet he visited/was the earth.// The prince landed in a desert/and could not find any humans.// Instead,/he encountered a yellow snake/that claimed to have the power/to return him to his home,/if he ever wished to return.//
　Then,/the prince saw some tall mountains/and many roses.// He was sad to realize/that the volcanoes and the rose/on his planet/were not so special.//


　Then/a fox appeared.// The prince wanted to play with him,/but the fox said,/“I’m not tamed.”//
　The little prince asked,/“What does ‘tame’ mean?”//
　The fox answered,/“I suppose/it means/to make some kind of relationship.”//
　“Relationship?”//
　“Yes.// I will explain.// To me,/you are just a little boy/like any other,/like a hundred thousand other little boys.// I have no need of you,/and you have no need of me.// But if you tame me,/you and I/will create a relationship.// Then/you will be special for me,/and I will be special for you.// So/we will need one another.”//
　The little prince listened intently.// He spent time with the fox,/and they finally became friends/with each other.//
　The little prince learned a valuable lesson/from the fox.// There were thousands of roses/in the universe.// Yet/now he knew/that his rose was special/because of the time/he had spent with it.// The fox said,/“Sometimes/the most important things are invisible.// We can see them clearly/only with our hearts.// And then/we become responsible forever/for the things/we have tamed.”// The prince realized/that he was responsible/for his rose.//



　It was now the eighth day/since my crash landing in the desert.// The prince and I/were dying of thirst.// We started to search/for a well.// At night,/looking up at the sky,/the prince said,/“The stars are beautiful/because each star has a flower/even though you cannot see it.// And what makes the desert beautiful/is that it hides a well somewhere ....”// I understood/what he meant.// I said,/“What makes things beautiful/cannot be seen/with the eyes,/right?”// The prince responded,/“I’m glad/that you agreed with my friend,/the fox.”// After a while,/we found a well/and drank the water.// It was like a gift.//

　The next day,/I returned to my damaged plane/to repair it.// When I came back from my work,/I saw the prince/talking to the yellow snake.// He was asking the snake/if he could go back to his planet/with its power.// I realized/that the prince was trying to return/by letting the snake bite him.//



　That night,/the prince left/without making a sound.// I managed to catch up with him.// The prince said,/“Don’t follow me,/or you will be sad.”// I did not say a word.// “It will look/as if I were dead,/but that won’t be true.// My planet is too far.// I cannot take this body/with me.// It’s too heavy.”// I kept silent.// Then,/the prince took a step,/and I saw a yellow flash/close to his ankle.// He fell gently,/the way a tree falls.// He did not even make a sound/because of the sand.//

　Now,/six years have already gone by.// I have never told this story before.// When I returned home,/my friends were glad/that I was alive.// I was sad/to lose the little prince,/but I said to them/that I was only tired.//
　Now/the sadness is not so big.// I know/that he has returned to his planet/because I did not find his body/at sunrise.// And at night,/I love to listen to the stars.// It is/like five hundred million little bells.//