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"So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?"Just as how the story of "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel keeps me pondering on this question, "The Little Prince" more or less has the same ending.
When I was younger, I picked up "The Little Prince" at home. With all the whimsical illustrations inside I thought the story must be meant for children (moreover it's printed by a children series publisher). The only thing was, the cover of it depicted a not so little "little prince" holding a hand of a princess bearing the title "小王子" (literally "the little prince" in english). Thinking back now, I guess the cover illustrator had a misunderstanding; not every story about a prince comes in with a princess, with exception for this book.. well.. at least. That cover didn't look too appealing to me therefore never had I wanted to read it, except flipping a few pages to have a good look at the illustrations. So it was from that book, I saw the diagrams of the hat and also the constrictor snake swallowing an elephant for the first time and they were forever etched in my mind. Why? Because I have no clue what were these all about. The beginning of the book had me confused. In addition to a few more lamb diagrams, from then I deemed this book unfathomable. And worst, boring.
Apparently until one day, I had a chance to read this book again. This time in an english version one (by then in my 20s already). I can't help but to get so engrossed in this story because it's simply too beautiful. The Little Prince is a parable and it has many allegories in the story. Yes, that means there are some hidden meanings in the story and it might take you a few reads to get them. I explored just a little about the personal life of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (whom is also a french aviator) too to get a better understanding of his inspirations.
Getting to the core of the story, the little prince lived in an asteroid named B-612. His planet is no bigger than a house. He has a few volcanoes which he has to clean almost everyday and has to pull the shoots of young baobab plant before they get enormous and which they could be catastrophic. One day he found a rather stood out plant which is apparently not a typical baobab shoot. He waters it everyday and cares for it until one day it blooms into a beautiful rose.
The little prince love the rose but one day the prince decided to leave his planet disappointed by the lies of the rose whom was vain. He took advantage of a flock of birds to visit a few planets; each planet dwelled by a single individual. These few people (the king, the conceited man, the tippler and the lamplighter) represents a certain characteristic of grown-ups which the little prince can't understand. But according to the little prince, lamplighter is the least absurd one:
"It may well be that this man is absurd. But he is not so absurd as the king, the conceited man, the businessman, and the tippler. For at least his work has some meaning. When he lights his street lamp, it is as if he brought one more star to life, or one flower. When he puts out his lamp, he sends the flower, or the star, to sleep. That is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful." -Antoine de Saint-ExupéryThe last planet the little prince arrived was the earth, at the Sahara desert where he met the narrator, a pilot who crashed his plane by accident there and requested the pilot to draw him a sheep. Baffled, the pilot drew him a few which were then rejected by the little prince with the sheeps being too weak and not at its most appropriate condition until he drew him a box with holes, saying that the lamb is inside the box. The prince was happy with the boxed sheep.
So..What does the fox say? (no pun intended)
The prince met a fox on a field and asked him to play with him because he was sad. The fox said he can't play with the little prince until he's tamed.
“I am looking for friends. What does that mean -- tame?" (the prince)
"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....”―
While playing with the fox, the little prince discovered many roses, just like his own at that field.
“You are beautiful, but you are empty,” he went on. “One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you — the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose.”
**Thoughts:Andd that was powerful. It's almost like fate. Just like a chinese saying goes, if we are not fated, even if we're just at shoulder distance close, one could still never know each other. But if one is fated with you, even across the sea and faraway, one day we will crosspath with each other. And the rose is made unique because it has grown on his own asteroid, and he has watered and take care of her. All his care and effort made the rose unique to the rest of the rose he met later which he had never "establish ties" before.
"And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
**Some personal thoughts: The truth is always deep inside. It takes the devotion of time and effort of a person to really see through a fact. We can't just make a final judgement on something based on how it is superficially.
One's truth (eg: rumour) is not based on the mouth of one or even a few. Truth reveals when the time has come. So, sometimes to defend yourself is necessary, but it is not essential where you know you don't need to explain much when your friend truly know and understand you. Sides, do the people who know really you need your explanation?
One's beauty is not based solely on the appearance. True beauty never fade. It shines from within and the people around would feel it.
"Growing up is not the problem,forgetting is." -Antoine de Saint-Exupéry**Some thoughts (which doesn't entirely represent the whole story): Perhaps when people get older, they tend to lose their innate kindness. When one pursues something in life, maybe they don't mind taking advantage, hurting and neglecting the others. I think the story didn't in a way say we shouldn't pursue our goals, but rather, we should not lose our kindness and never get too egoistic while pursuing something blindly.
“What makes the desert beautiful,” said the little prince, “is that somewhere it hides a well…” -Antoine de Saint-ExupéryI'm really moved by the words of the author so simple yet they could be really meaningful. As for the last part, it's kinda sad. The little prince made a rendezvous with a snake who said he could bring him back to his planet to take care of his rose. The pilot couldn't stop the little prince from meeting the snake, so the prince gave him a present:
“In one of those stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night. And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend...I shall not leave you.”So... do you choose to believe that the little prince had made it back to his planet to meet his rose?
This is therefore, still one of my favourite story. Humourous, adorable, warm and heart-wrenching at the same time. Reading once is never enough! And when you read it, read it not just with your eyes but also with your heart. This is not the most complete sharing that I have yet so I will still update again when I've got new inspiration aiteee. Thanks for reading and I really do hope you enjoy this little sharing :)