The Little Prince E-Book

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

• Herausgeber: Seven Books
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 91

Beschreibung

Beschreibung I ask the indulgence of the children who may read this book for dedicating it to a grown-up. I have a serious reason: he is the best friend I have in the world. I have another reason: this grown-up understands everything, even books about children. I have a third reason: he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs cheering up. If all these reasons are not enough, I will dedicate the book to the child from whom this grown-up grew. All grown-ups were once children-- although few of them remember it. And so I correct my dedication: To Leon Werth when he was a little boy Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing. In the book it said: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion."

Leseprobe

The              Little              Prince

AntoinedeSaint-Exupéry

ILLUSTRATED & PUBLISHED

BY

SEVEN BOOKS

Copyright, 2024

Aydin

ISBN: 978-368-9952-22-8

Categories: Action &Adventure

Country of Origin: France

Cover: ©Seven Books

Contact: [email protected]

©Allrightsreserved.

Exceptfortheconditionsstated in theLicense, no part of thisbookshall be reproducedortransmitted in any form orbyanymeans, electronicormechanical, includingphotocopy, recordingorbyanyinformationorretrievalsystem, withoutwrittenpermission form thepublisher.

ABOUT THE BOOK & AUTHOR

SAINT-EXUPÉRY, Antoine de(1900-44). An adventurous pilotand a lyrical poet, Antoine deSaint-Exupéry conveyed in hisbooks the solitude and mysticgrandeur of the early days offlight. He described dangerousadventuresintheskiesandalsowrote the whimsical children's fable'TheLittlePrince'.

Antoine-Saint-Exupéry was born on June29, 1900, in Lyon, France. Inthe 1920s he helped establishairmail routes overseas. DuringWorldWarIIheflewasamilitaryreconnaissance pilot.AftertheGermansoccupiedFrance in 1940, he escaped tothe United States. He rejoinedthe air force in North Africa in1943.During whatwastohavebeen his final reconnaissancemissionovertheMediterranean

Sea,hediedwhenhisplanewasshotdownonJuly31,1944.

Saint-Exupery'sfirstbook,'SouthernMail',wasaboutthelifeanddeathofanairmailpilot.It was published in French in 1929. Other books include 'Night Flight' (1931), about the firstairlinepilots,and'Wind,Sand,andStars'(1939),inwhichhedescribeshisfeelingsduringflightsoverthedesert.

'The Little Prince' (1943), which in a way is really a children's book for grown-ups, waswrittenduringSaint-Exupery'sstayintheUnitedStates.Agentleandthoughtfulbook,ittellsthe story of a boywho lives alone on a tinyplanet.

A final volume of reflections, which provides an insight into the author's views on themeaning of life, is 'The Wisdom of the Sands' (1948). This book was published after thepilot'sdeath.

ToLeonWerth

I ask the indulgence of the children who may read thisbookfordedicating itto agrown-up.Ihaveaseriousreason: he is the best friend I have in the world. I haveanother reason: this grown-up understands everything,even books about children. I have a third reason: he livesinFrancewhereheishungryandcold.Heneedscheeringup. If all these reasons are not enough, I will dedicate thebook to the child from whom this grown-up grew. Allgrown-ups were once children-- although few of themremember it.AndsoI correctmydedication:

ToLeonWerth

whenhewasalittleboy

Chapter1

weareintroducedtothenarrator,apilot,andhisideasaboutgrown-ups

Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, calledTrueStoriesfromNature,abouttheprimevalforest.Itwasapictureofaboaconstrictorintheactofswallowingananimal.Hereisacopyofthedrawing.

Inthebookitsaid:"Boaconstrictorsswallowtheirpreywhole,withoutchewingit. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six monthsthat they needfor digestion."

I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after someworkwithacoloredpencilIsucceededinmakingmyfirstdrawing.MyDrawingNumberOne.Itlookedlikethis:

Ishowedmymasterpiecetothegrown-ups,andaskedthemwhetherthedrawingfrightenedthem.

Buttheyanswered:"Frighten?Whyshouldanyonebefrightenedbyahat?"

Mydrawingwasnotapictureofahat.Itwasapictureofaboaconstrictordigesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it,I made another drawing: I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that thegrown-upscouldseeitclearly.Theyalwaysneedtohavethingsexplained.MyDrawingNumberTwo lookedlikethis:

The grown-ups' response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside mydrawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, anddevote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That iswhy,attheageofsix,Igaveupwhatmighthavebeenamagnificentcareerasa painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number Oneand my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything bythemselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explainingthingstothem.

SothenIchoseanotherprofession,andlearnedtopilotairplanes.Ihaveflowna little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been veryuseful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lostinthenight,such knowledgeisvaluable.

InthecourseofthislifeIhavehadagreatmanyencounterswithagreatmanypeople who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived agreat deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. Andthathasn'tmuchimprovedmyopinionofthem.

WheneverImetoneofthemwhoseemedtomeatallclear-sighted,Itriedtheexperiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have alwayskept.Iwouldtrytofindout,so,ifthiswasapersonoftrueunderstanding.But,whoeveritwas,he,orshe,wouldalwayssay:

"Thatisahat."

Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primevalforests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to himaboutbridge,andgolf,andpolitics,andneckties.Andthegrown-upwouldbegreatlypleased tohave metsuch asensibleman.

Chapter2

thenarratorcrashesinthedesertandmakestheacquaintanceofthelittleprince

SoIlivedmylifealone,withoutanyonethatIcouldreallytalkto,untilIhadanaccidentwithmyplaneintheDesertofSahara,sixyearsago.Something

was broken in my engine. And as I had with me neither a mechanic nor anypassengers, Iset myselfto attemptthe difficultrepairsall alone.It wasaquestionoflifeordeathforme:Ihadscarcelyenoughdrinkingwatertolastaweek.

Thefirstnight,then,Iwenttosleeponthesand,athousandmilesfromanyhumanhabitation.Iwasmoreisolatedthanashipwreckedsailoronaraftinthemiddleoftheocean.Thusyoucanimaginemyamazement,atsunrise,when Iwasawakened byanoddlittlevoice.Itsaid:

"Ifyouplease--drawmeasheep!""What!"

"Drawmeasheep!"

I jumped to my feet, completely thunderstruck. I blinked my eyes hard. Ilooked carefully all around me. And I saw a most extraordinary small person,whostoodthereexaminingmewithgreatseriousness.Hereyoumayseethebest potraitthat,later,Iwasabletomakeof him.Butmydrawingiscertainlyverymuchless charmingthanits model.

That,however,isnotmyfault.Thegrown-upsdiscouragedmeinmypainter'scareerwhenIwassixyearsold,andIneverlearnedtodrawanything,exceptboas from the outsideand boas fromthe inside.

Now I stared at this sudden apparition with my eyes fairly starting out of myhead in astonishment. Remember, I had crashed in the desert a thousandmiles from any inhabited region. And yet my little man seemed neither to bestraying uncertainly among the sands, nor to be fainting from fatigue orhunger or thirst or fear. Nothing about him gave any suggestion of a child lostinthemiddleofthedesert,athousandmilesfromanyhumanhabitation.

Whenat last Iwas able tospeak, I saidto him:

"But--whatareyoudoinghere?"

Andinanswerherepeated,veryslowly,asifhewerespeakingofamatterofgreatconsequence:"Ifyouplease--drawme asheep..."

Whenamysteryistoooverpowering,onedarenotdisobey.Absurdasitmightseemtome,athousandmilesfromanyhumanhabitationandin

dangerofdeath,Itookoutofmypocketasheetofpaperandmyfountain-pen.ButthenIrememberedhowmystudieshadbeenconcentratedongeography,history, arithmetic, and grammar, and I told the little chap (a little crossly, too)thatIdidnotknowhowtodraw.Heansweredme:

"Thatdoesn'tmatter.Drawmeasheep..."

ButIhadneverdrawnasheep.SoIdrewforhimoneofthetwopicturesIhaddrawnsooften.Itwasthatoftheboaconstrictorfromtheoutside.AndIwasastoundedtohearthelittlefellowgreetitwith,

"No, no, no! I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor. A boaconstrictor is a very dangerous creature, and an elephant is verycumbersome.WhereIlive,everythingisverysmall.WhatIneedisasheep.Drawmeasheep."

SothenImadeadrawing.

Helookedatitcarefully,thenhesaid:

"No.Thissheepisalreadyverysickly.Makemeanother."SoImadeanotherdrawing.

Myfriendsmiledgentlyandindulgenty.

"Youseeyourself,"hesaid,"thatthisisnotasheep.Thisisaram.Ithashorns."

SothenIdidmydrawingoveroncemore.

But itwasrejected too,justlike theothers.

"Thisoneistooold.Iwantasheepthatwilllivealongtime."

Bythistimemypatiencewasexhausted,becauseIwasinahurrytostarttakingmyengineapart.SoItossedoffthisdrawing.

AndIthrewoutanexplanationwithit.

"Thisisonlyhisbox.Thesheepyouaskedforisinside."

Iwasverysurprisedtoseealightbreakoverthefaceofmyyoungjudge:

"ThatisexactlythewayIwantedit!Doyouthinkthatthissheepwillhavetohave agreat dealof grass?"

"Why?"

"BecausewhereIliveeverythingisverysmall..."

"Therewillsurelybeenoughgrassforhim,"Isaid."ItisaverysmallsheepthatIhavegivenyou."

Hebenthisheadoverthedrawing:

"Notsosmallthat-- Look!Hehasgonetosleep..."

AndthatishowImadetheacquaintanceofthelittleprince.