French Tale

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Children books – All American fairy tales – The Little Prince – Table of contents
< < < Chapter I
Chapter III > > >

II

And so I lived alone, with no one I could really talk to, until six years ago when my plane broke down in Sahara Desert. As I did not have a mechanic with me, or any passengers, I was going to have to make a complicated engine repair on my own. My life depended on it, since I had barely enough drinking water to last for only 8 days.

The first night, I lay down on the ground and fell asleep, miles and miles from any living soul. I was more cut off than a castaway adrift in the middle of the ocean. So you can imagine my astonishment when I was awakened at daybreak by a funny little voice saying:

“Please, will you draw me a little lamb?”

“What”

“Draw me a little lamb…”

I leaped to my feet as if I had been struck by lightning.

I rubbed my eyes and stared. And I saw the most extraordinary little fellow studying me intently. This is the best picture I have managed to draw of him from memory.

But of course my drawing is not nearly as delightful as the original. That is not my fault; the grown-ups had put a stop to my artistic career when I was six and I had never drawn anything other than my two boa constrictors.

I gazed at him in amazement. I was miles and miles from any living soul, remember. But my little fellow did not look lost. Nor did he seem weak with exhaustion, or hunger, or thirst, or fright. In no way did he look like a child lost in the middle of the desert miles and miles from any living soul. When at last I found my voice, I said to him:

“What on earth are you doing here?”

And he repeated, very quietly, as if it were a matter of the utmost seriousness:

“Please, will you draw me a little lamb?”

Here I was, miles and miles from any living soul and with my life in danger, but I was so baffled that I meekly prepared to do as he asked and took a pen and paper out of my pocket. And then I remembered that I had mostly studied geography, history, arithmetic and grammar, and I told the little fellow (somewhat irritably) that I couldn’t draw.

And he replied: “It doesn’t matter. Draw me a little lamb.”

As I had never done a picture of a lamb, I presented him with one of the only two drawings I could do: a boa constrictor from the outside. And I was astounded to hear the little fellow say:

“No! No! I don’t want an elephant inside a boa. A boa’s too dangerous, and an elephant takes up too much room. My place is tiny. I need a lamb. Draw me a little lamb.”

So I drew

He scrutinized my effort and said:

“No! That one looks very sickly. Draw another one.”

I drew:

My little friend smiled indulgently:

“Can’t you see… that’s not my lamb, it’s a ram. It’s got horns.”

So I started all over again.

But again, he turned it down:

“That one’s too old. I want a lamb that will live for a long time.”

I was in a hurry to start stripping down the engine and my patience was wearing thin, so I hastily sketched this:

And I said:

“That’s the crate. The lamb you want is inside.”

And I was amazed to see my young critic’s face light up:

“That’s exactly what I wanted! Do you think this lamb will need a lot of grass?”

“Why?”

“Because my place is tiny.”

“I’m sure there’ll be enough. I’ve given you a very little lamb.”

He looked more closely at the drawing:

“Not that little… Oh look! He’s fallen asleep.”

And that is how I made the acquaintance of the little prince.

Children books – All American fairy tales – The Little Prince – Table of contents

< < < Chapter I
Chapter III > > >

If you liked this site, subscribe , put likes, write comments! Share on social networks

© 2022 Akirill.com – All Rights Reserved

Copyright holders –  Public Domain Book