The Little Prince

The little prince

I think, fairy tales encourage children’s imagination, which adults lose later on. That’s why pictures in children’s books are so necessary. The little prince is the best example. Promptly from the beginning there are comparisons between children and adults imagination. A six year old boy drew a big garrotter which was digesting an elephant and that’s why he saw another garrotter which was digesting a beast in another book. He got to know, it swallows and digests for half a year and that was what interested him. He showed that picture (his art work) to adults and asked them what they thought it was. They answered without hesitation:” It is hat of course.” To make matters worse they dressed him down and told him he should learn geography or similar subjects. Adults don’t think of those things and they look at them like they are silly and useless. While children think of and try to work out why something is like it is, adults take it as certainty and they don’t care about it.
After that, he never drew again and he even didn’t learn how to draw.
He had to find something else to occupy himself so he learned how to fly a plane. As he was flying around the world, his engine broke down when he was flying over the Sahara. He had to repair the engine and get back home, leave the desert, where no one could find him. There was no water anywhere.
He was far away from an inhabited area and he fell asleep in the middle of the desert. Later on he was woken up by a quiet voice: “can you…. can you… draw me a lamb please…. please „.? The shocked pilot couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a little boy seriously watching him and he didn’t want to answer any questions. The only thing he wanted to do was a drawing of a little lamb. Considering the only thing he could draw was his digesting elephant, he drew that. He was very surprised when the little boy recognized his artwork. (I tried this also with one five year old girl, and she told me it was an ear. That’s why not all children can see the same picture the same way but each of them can see things differently). So after a few tries (the fourth one was successful, because one lamb was ill, another one too small or not fat enough) he drew a small caddy in which, like he said, is a small lamb. Finally the prince was satisfied, but he was still afraid if there was enough grass, because his planet was very small. That was how the pilot met the small prince.

As they were talking, step by step the pilot got answers to his questions. They learned from each other. The prince was getting to know things on the earth for example how a plane works and what lambs eat… He had a very good imagination. He told the pilot fables from his travels round the universe. The little prince taught the pilot to take good care of “ baobabs “ and not to not grow too much, because then its roots could expand and kill all plants around them .He probably wanted to signify that people should take care of their duties sooner rather than later.

The little prince was telling the boy how he really likes sunsets. They are really beautiful when the yellow, orange ball with red rays slowly sets beyond the horizon. It seems like there should be a rule given by nature to be quiet during a sunset. Next he was talking about his plant, a small rose. It was the only flower on his planet, and it was so beautiful and proud of itself. Always when the sun comes up its petals opened its leaves and they absorbed the sun’s rays. I was trying to understand why he loved it so much and it was not so hard to grasp. He considered the beautiful flower to be his only real friend. He couldn´t talk much To dead. And the flower was totally different, absolutely not high and mighty. Rose thought she is unique and she wanted to be unique. She was first who started talking. (I do not understand the underlined words)
He wanted to know other planets, asteroids and life there so he left his planet and started to look for others.
On the first planet lived a king with an ermine coat. He liked to rule to everybody. He was so lonely on his planet and was very pleased to see the little prince. He had very sensible thoughts and would know if he asked for something impossible from his servants. So he didn’t have any servants so it wouldn’t be his fault when they didn’t do what he wanted .The logic of this is that this Mr. was actually excusing himself from not being able to rule all the planets and all the stars.
The second planet belonged to Bighead. He was really pleased when somebody was admiring him, he also wore a big hat, that he could do a low bow. When he was on his planet by himself, nobody could not admire him and I felt really sorry for him, because for bighead, company is very important. To be a bighead it’s not a birth gift but money makes people be like that. Where there’s money there are people. This bighead only had his hat unluckily for him
The third one belonged to Drunkard.

His small planet was completely covered by bottles full of alcohol. And why he was drinking too much??? Because he was very ashamed of his drinking. Of course it doesn’t t make any sense, but when somebody tells you something under the influence, it also doesn’t t make any sense. That is really sad.
A businessman occupied the fourth one. He was counting his fortune again and again. He was the owner of things that were the most close to him, the stars.
And as he was still counting his fortune, he seemed to be a confident man.
Business is everywhere today in this time, maybe it can seem humorous, that businessmen give their money to banks and then they take it out again and repeat this process because they like it. The lamp man shined with his lamp on the fifth planet. As the only one he looked so funny to the little prince. He was still lightening up and lightening down the lamp. At least he only cared about himself.
Otherwise it would be such a boring job, but it is a job, and it is maybe useful for somebody.
The sixth one was the biggest. The old geographer was listed his huge book there. The prince found out, that his flowers are omissible and it made him sad, he didn’t want anything happen to his flower as it was his only friend.
On all the planets, the little prince was getting to know how people are. Their behaviour seemed strange nearly selfish to him. He absolutely didn’t understand why people act like that, for him it was unreasonable.
The last planet that he had to visit was the earth, advised by the old geographer. He went to Africa, where anybody was. Only the snake crawled round his foot. He told him: “ There are so many people on the Earth but even though it’s possible to feel very lonely”. The snake was mellow and he was puzzled
As he was walking through the desert he came up to a high mountain and he wanted to make friends with people. There was an echo repeating his words. So he thought the people didn’t have any imagination. On his way he saw flowers and a fox.
The little prince was still thinking of things on earth, people see everything by their eyes, but eyes are blind. People have to search by their heart, said the little prince and he was again thinking about his flower, which he left alone on his planet. He asked a pilot if he could draw a muzzle for his little lamb; so it can’t eat his flower.

When he saw the pilot’s unsuccessful painting he criticised, but then he said: “Oh it will be good, children can understand very easily.”
The next day was supposed to be an anniversary day of his landing and the little prince wanted to spend it on exactly the same place, where he landed
He was explaining to Antonio, he had to go back home, because he was responsible for his flower, but he was asking him not to go with him not to go there, just because he would look like he was dying. But after the snake bite he didn’t die that night, he just had to leave his body there because it was too heavy for him to take to his planet as it was to far. All the pilot’s narration is remembrance for the little prince after six years. He realised he forgot to draw a lead to the lamb’s muzzle, and that’s why we can speculate what happened there on the prince’s planet.
“ Take a long look on the sky. Ask yourself: Did the lamb eat the little rose yes or no? And you will see how everything will change… And no adult will ever understand why it is so important”.
“ All adults were children first. (But hardly any can remember it.”)
Yes this is exactly what this book is all about, how humans mature slowly and how they get their knowledge, experience and become an adult and lose not only there child naivety but also child innocence. They live so fast, think rationally and realistically, constantly doing some business solving problems which are deeply cogitative which stops things being noticed around. Everything is made so complicated when things are so easy. Like when the little prince was with the pilot and found Spring and the prince said: “The people grow five thousand roses in one garden and they cannot find what they are looking for, and yet what they look for, can be found in one rose or in a drop of water”.
The little prince reminds us of our childhood, that innocent and carefree children’s thoughts, that fantasy and platitude, unique charm hidden in each of us, but people push it more and more so thoughts disappear. But they do not skip they slumber and wait to be woken up by the little prince.