V "You are ridiculous," said his sister, and walked out of the room. So, as time went on, the Doctor got more and more animals; and the people who came to see him got less and less. Till at last he had no one left—except the Cat's-meat-Man, who didn't mind any kind of animals. But the Cat's-meat Man wasn't very rich and he only got sick once a year—at Christmas-time, when he used to give the Doctor sixpence for a bottle of medicine. Sixpence a year wasn't enough to live on—even in those days, long ago; and if the Doctor hadn't had some money saved up in his money-box, no one knows what would have happened.

v Chapter I PUDDLEBY ONCE upon a time, many years ago when our grandfathers were little children—there was a doctor; and his name was Dolittle—John Dolittle, M.D. "M.D." means that he was a proper doctor and knew a whole lot. He lived in a little town called, Puddleby-on-the-Marsh. All the folks, young and old, knew him well by sight. And whenever he walked down the street in his high hat everyone would say, "There goes the Doctor!— He's a clever man." And the dogs and the children would all run up and follow behind him; and even the crows that lived in the church-tower would caw and nod their heads.

CHAPTER 28 – DEPARTURE

“Here is the place. Let me continue alone,” says the little prince.

And he sits down because he is scared.

Then he says, “My flower is on my planet. I am responsible for her. And she is so weak! She has only four thorns which can’t protect her enough.”

I sit down too because I can’t stand.

“It is all,” he says.

He waits for some time. Then he stands up. He takes one step. I can’t move.

I see something yellow which moves quickly near his leg.

CHAPTER 27 – BELLS

“I am not sure if I understand,” I say. “Your laugh is a present?”

“People look at stars, but the stars are not the same for everybody. For people who travel, the stars are guides. For other people the stars are nothing, only small lights in the sky. For scientists, they are problems. For my businessman, the stars are important because they make him rich. But all these stars are quiet stars. For you, it is different.

You have stars like nobody else. When you look at the sky at night, there is one star where I live.

I know that something strange is happening. I am holding the little prince in my arms like a little child. But I feel that he is falling down into a big hole. And I know that I can’t help him.

His face is very serious now. He says, “I have the sheep. And I have the box for the sheep. And I have the fence.” And he smiles sadly.

I wait for a long time. I see that he is feeling a little better. Then I say, “Dear little man, you are scared.”

Yes, he is scared, but he laughs a little, “I am scared of tonight.”

It is difficult for me.

CHAPTER 25 – WALL

Next to the well there is an old wall. When I come back from my work the next evening, I see the little prince from some distance. He is sitting on top of the wall. He is talking to somebody.

He says. “This is not the right place.”

Some voice must say something to him because the little prince says, “Yes, yes, this is the right day, but it is not the right place.”

I continue my walk to the wall. I still can’t see or hear anybody. But the little prince says again, “Sure.

CHAPTER 24 – WATER

When the bucket is full of water, I say, “I can pull the bucket up. The bucket is very heavy for you.”

Slowly I pull the bucket up. I leave the bucket on top of the well. I am tired but happy. The song of the well is still in my ears. When I look at the bucket, I can see the sunshine in the water.

“I am thirsty,” says the little prince. “I want to drink this water now.”

I help him hold the bucket. He drinks with his eyes closed. It is nice. It is a special moment.

CHAPTER 23 – WELL

“The desert is beautiful,“ says the little prince, “because it hides a well somewhere.”

I agree with the little prince. When I am a little boy, we live in an old house. And people say a story about the house. The story says that the house has a treasure somewhere in the floor. Of course, nobody can find the treasure. Maybe, nobody is really looking for it. But this treasure makes the house special. My home is hiding a secret.

“Yes,” I say to the little prince, “what is beautiful, we can’t see!”

“I am happy,” he says, “that you agree with my fox.”

Then the little prince starts to sleep.

CHAPTER 22 – DESERT

It is now the eighth day after my accident in the desert. I listen to the story about the businessman and I am drinking my last water.

“Your stories are very nice,” I say to the little prince, “but my plane is still broken. I have nothing to drink. I also want to walk very slowly to a fountain.”

“My friend, the fox, says that…”

“My dear little man, this has nothing to do with the fox.”

“Why not?”

“Because soon I am dead.”

But the little prince says, “It is good to have a friend.

V

CHAPTER 21 – TRAINS

“Good morning,” says the little prince.

“Good morning,” says the man who works at the railway station.

“What do you do here?” the little prince asks.

“I change the direction of the trains,” says the man. “I send some trains to the right, some trains to the left.

And at that moment a train goes around very fast.

“They hurry,” says the little prince. “What are they looking for?”

“Nobody knows what they are looking for,” says the man.

CHAPTER 20 – SECRET

The next day the little prince returns.

“It is better if you return at the same hour,” says the fox. “If you come, for example, at four in the afternoon, then at three I start to be happy. At three thirty I am more happy. At four I am very happy. I can show you how happy I am.

But if you come at different time, I don’t know when I can start to be happy. We need some rules.”

“Why do we need rules?” asks the little prince.

“The rules are important. They make one day different from other days.

CHAPTER 19 – FOX

Then the fox comes.

“Good morning,” says the fox.

“Good morning,” the little prince says. “Who are you? You are very pretty.”

“I am a fox,” says the fox.

“Play with me,” the little prince says, “I am very sad.”

“I can’t play with you. I am wild,” the fox says.

“Ah! I am sorry,” says the little prince. But after some time, he asks, “What is wild?”

“You are not from here,” says the fox. “What are you looking for?”

“I am looking for people,” says the little prince.

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.

CHAPTER 17 – EARTH

The seventh planet is the Earth. The Earth is a very big planet. There are a hundred and eleven kings on Earth. There are also seven thousand geographers, nine hundred thousand businessmen, seven and a half million drunk men, three hundred and eleven million men who need to be admired. Together two billion adults live on this planet.

The Earth is really big. I want to show you how big the planet is. I want to give you one example. Before electricity, four hundred and sixty-two thousand, five hundred and eleven lamplighters work on Earth.

CHAPTER 16 – GEOGRAPHER

The sixth planet is bigger than the last planet. The little prince sees an old gentleman. The man writes big books.

“Oh, here comes an explorer,” he says when he sees the little prince.

The little prince sits down on the table. He is tired from travelling so long and so far.

“Where are you from?” the old gentleman asks him.

“What is this big book?” asks the little prince. “What are you doing here?”

“I am a geographer,” the old gentleman answers.

The fifth planet is very interesting. It is a very small planet. There is only a lamp and a lamplighter on this planet.

The little prince doesn’t understand why there is a lamp and a lamplighter on the planet. There is enough light because the planet is under many stars. There are no other people on the planet who need a lamp.

The little prince thinks, “This man is strange. But he is less strange than the king, the businessman or the drunk man. His work makes the world more beautiful.