CHAPTER 18 – GARDEN

“Where are the people?” the little prince continues in the conversation with the snake after some time. “I feel alone in the desert.”

“You feel alone with people too,” says the snake.

The little prince looks at him for a long time. “You are a funny animal,” he says, “You are very slim.”

The snake says, “I am slim but I am stronger than a king.”

The little prince smiles, “You are not very strong. You don’t have legs. You can’t travel very far.”

“I can take you very far,” the snake says.

He turns around the little prince’s leg. “When I touch somebody, I can send the person back to the land from which he comes,” the snake says, “but you are a good person, and you come from a star.”

The snake continues, “You are so weak on this planet. I can help you one day if you want to go back to your planet. I can bite you. And you can travel very far.”

“Oh! I understand,” says the little prince.

The little prince says goodbye to the snake. Then he is walking in the desert. He meets a flower.

“Good morning,” says the little prince.

“Good morning,” says the flower.

“Where are the people?” the little prince asks.

“People?” I believe that six or seven people live on Earth. I see them sometimes in a caravan. But you never know where they are. The life is very difficult for them because they don’t have any roots. The wind takes them away.

“Goodbye,” says the little prince.

“Goodbye,” says the flower.

The little prince sees a high mountain. The only mountains which he knows are the three volcanoes which are as high as his knees.

He thinks, “From this high mountain, I can see the whole planet and all the people.”

He goes to the top of the mountain. But he only sees other mountains around.

“Hello,” he says.

“Hello, hello, hello,” the echo answers.

“Who are you?” asks the little prince.

“Who are you? Who are you? Who are you?” the echo answers.

“Let’s be friends, I am alone,” he says.

“I am alone, I am alone, I am alone,” the echo answers.

“This is a strange planet!” he thinks. “The planet is dry and hard. And people here only repeat what you say to them. On my planet I have a flower. She always speaks first.”

The little prince is walking for a long time through sand and rocks. Then he finally sees a road. And all roads go to people.

“Good morning,” says the little prince. He is standing before a garden full of roses.

“Good morning,” say the roses.

The little prince is looking at the roses. They all look like his flower. He is surprised.

“Who are you?” he asks.

“We are roses,” the roses say.

“Ah!” says the little prince. And he is very unhappy. His flower says that she is the only flower of her kind in the whole universe. And here are five thousand roses, all the same, in one garden!

He thinks, “So my rose is not very special. I have only a normal rose. So I have a normal rose and three volcanoes which are as high as my knees. It isn’t much. I think that I am not a great prince.”

And, he is lying in the grass and he is very sad.