The Little Prince – by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Once, a pilot crashed his plane in the middle of the Sahara Desert. With no one around and little water, he worked hard to fix his engine. On the first morning, he heard a small voice:

"Please, draw me a sheep."

Startled, he saw a little boy with golden hair. He looked like a prince. The pilot was surprised, but he drew a sheep as asked. The boy didn’t like the first few drawings, so the pilot drew a box and said, “The sheep is inside.”

"Perfect!" said the boy. That was the beginning of their friendship.

The little prince came from a faraway planet, Asteroid B-612. It was very small. He lived alone, taking care of three volcanoes and a rose. The rose was very special to him. She was proud and beautiful, but also demanding. The little prince loved her, but he didn’t understand her at first. He left his planet to learn more about life.

He visited other planets before coming to Earth. On each one, he met strange grown-ups. One man only wanted to be admired, another counted stars to feel rich. One drank to forget he was ashamed of drinking. A businessman said he owned the stars. The little prince didn’t understand these people.

"Grown-ups are very strange," he thought.

On the fifth planet, he met a lamplighter who lit and turned off a lamp every minute because his planet turned so quickly. The little prince liked him.

"He’s not selfish," he thought.

Then he met a geographer who never left his desk. He didn’t know if the land had mountains or rivers because he never explored.

"I can’t tell you about your rose," said the geographer.

The prince was sad. He realized his rose might not live forever. That made him want to return to her.

When the little prince came to Earth, he met a snake in the desert.

"I can help you go home if you miss your planet," the snake said, hinting at his deadly bite. The prince didn’t need him yet.

He walked and found a flower, then a mountain. He saw no people. Then he found a garden full of roses. His heart broke.

"My rose told me she was unique," he said. But there were thousands just like her.

Then he met a fox.

The fox asked to be tamed—this meant to build a bond, to become special to each other.

"You must be very patient," the fox said.

Every day, they sat closer and closer. In time, they became friends.

When it was time to say goodbye, the fox said,

"Here’s my secret: One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye."

The prince now understood. His rose was special, not because she was unique, but because he had loved her, cared for her, and spent time with her.

The little prince met the pilot in the desert, and they spent eight days together. The pilot learned to fix the plane, but the prince grew quiet. He missed his rose deeply.

One night, the prince said,

"Tomorrow is the anniversary of my arrival on Earth. I must go back."

He said the snake would help him. The pilot was afraid.

"It will look like I’m dying, but it’s not true," said the prince. "You must not be sad."

The next day, the little prince let the snake bite him. He fell softly to the ground. The pilot couldn’t find his body the next day.

Now, whenever the pilot looks up at the stars, he thinks of the little prince and hears his laughter.

"To someone, one of those stars is laughing," he says. That comforts him.

He asks us to do the same.

"If you ever travel to the desert and see a little boy with golden hair, please tell me. You’ll know it’s him."