Le Petit Prince / The Little Prince

Hi there!

Ever read a book that stays in your head
and in your heart..... FOREVER?

I have - in fact, it's one of my favorites!

Le Petit Prince / The Little Prince
by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

It has been translated in
over 180 languages!!!

It's the kind of book that can be read
at all ages... and could be understood
as a very simple children's story
or a very complex study of
"humans".

For example, the Little Prince has
a very special flower, on his planet.
He decides to travel to other places
and misses his "rose", terribly.

Here's what Wikipedia wrote:

Though ostensibly a children's book, The Little Prince makes several profound and idealistic observations about life and human nature. For example, Saint-Exupéry tells of a fox meeting the young prince as he exits the Sahara desert. The story's essence is contained in the lines uttered by the fox to the little prince: "On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." ("It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.") Other key thematic messages are articulated by the fox, such as: "You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed" and "It is the time you have spent with your rose that makes your rose so important."

Those famous lines,
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly.
What is essential is invisible to the eye."

And here is yet ANOTHER exerpt from this book:

"It was then that the fox appeared.

"Good morning," said the fox.

"Good morning," the little prince responded politely, although when he turned around he saw nothing.

"I am right here," the voice said, "under the apple tree."

"Who are you?" asked the little prince, and added, "You are very pretty to look at."

"I am a fox," said the fox.

"Come and play with me," proposed the little prince. "I am so unhappy."

"I cannot play with you," the fox said. "I am not tamed."

"Ah! Please excuse me," said the little prince.

But, after some thought, he added:

"What does that mean-- 'tame'?"

"You do not live here," said the fox. "What is it that you are looking for?"

"I am looking for men," said the little prince. "What does that mean-- 'tame'?"

"Men," said the fox. "They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?"

"No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean-- 'tame'?"

"It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. It means to establish ties."

"'To establish ties'?"

"Just that," said the fox. "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world..."

"I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower... I think that she has tamed me..."

And then, this exerpt,

"My life is very monotonous," the fox said. "I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the colour of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat..."

I think Elaine and her hubby have "tamed" me,
or I have "tamed" them.

*s*

I have to go to the bank, approx. once a week, for work.

Right across the street is a boutique called,
"Moosehead Country Store".

I had taken Elaine and her hubby there,
when they were in town.

I saw the store and IMMEDIATELY thought
of them, and the fun we had, that day....

:-(

I think we had our last cruise ship visit, today....

*long sigh and long pause, here....*

Okay, Okay, Okay!!!!!

I promise NOT to mention this, again.

*grin*

But I do miss them....

Thank goodness there's email and
that old fashioned thing called
"The Telephone".

Have a great week, everyone!

Rosa

P.S. Looks like I found the complete book, on this web site:
The Little Prince