The Little Prince

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called Real-life stories, about the primeval forest. It showed a boa constrictor swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing:

The book stated: “Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole without chewing it. Then they can no longer move and they sleep for the six months that their digestion requires.”

I thought a lot about jungle adventures and, in turn, I succeeded in sketching out in colored pencil my first drawing : My drawing Number One. It looked like this :

I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing was frightening.

But they answered: “Why would a hat be frightening?” My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was supposed to be a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My drawing Number Two looked like this :

The grown-ups’ response, this time, was to advise me to give up my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter. I had been discouraged by the lack of success of my drawing Number One and my drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to have to explain things to them over and over. So I had to chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I've flown pretty much all over the world. It's true that geography has often served me well. I can distinguish China from Arizona at a glance, which is quite useful if you're lost in the night.

In the course of my life I have had loads of contact with loads of serious people. I have spent a lot of time in the company of grown-ups. I have seen them close up, which has not much enhanced my opinion of them.

Whenever I would meet one who seemed reasonably clear-sighted, as an experiment, I would try showing them my drawing Number One, which I've kept to this day. In so doing, I just wanted to see if the person was really capable of understanding. But the answer has always been: “That is a hat.” And so, I would stop talking to him or her about boa constrictors or primeval forests or stars. I would bring myself down to their level and talk about bridge and golf and politics and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to know such a sensible fellow.

NB: adapted translations.