V V

Step by step, I start to understand the secrets of the little prince’s life. For a long time his only fun is to watch beautiful sunsets.

This information comes on the fourth day in the morning. The little prince says, “I really like sunsets. Let’s look at a sunset now.”

“But we must wait,” I say.

“Wait? Wait for what?”

“Wait for the moment when the sun is down.”

The little prince is very surprised. Then he laughs. And he says, “I am always thinking that I am at home.”

Everybody knows this. When it is noon in the United States, the sun is going down in France. If you can fly to France in one minute, you can watch the sunset.

But the little prince’s planet is very small. You only need to pull your chair four or five metres. And you can watch the sunset when you want.

The little prince tells me about a day with forty-three sunsets. He says, “When you are very sad, sunsets are great.”

“The day with forty-three sunsets must be a sad day. Is it true?” I ask. But the little prince doesn’t answer.

On the fifth day, new information about the little prince’s life comes. He asks me, “If a sheep eats little trees, does it eat flowers, too?”

“A sheep eats everything what is green,” I answer.

“Does a sheep eat flowers with thorns too?”

“Yes. The sheep eats flowers with thorns too.”

“I don’t understand,” says the little prince, “Why does the flower have thorns if a sheep can eat the flower?”

I don’t know. At that moment I am very busy. I need to repair my plane. I am scared because my situation starts to be very serious. I have so little water. I think that my death is close.

“Why does the flower have thorns?”

The little prince always wants an answer to his question. But at that moment I am angry because I can’t repair my plane. I answer without thinking, “Thorns are good for nothing. Flowers have thorns because they want to hurt others.”

“Oh!”

The little prince is thinking for a moment. I see that he is a little angry. Then he says, “I don’t believe you! Flowers are weak. The thorns give them power. Flowers believe that their thorns are big weapons.”

I say nothing. I am very busy with my plane.