It was then the fox appeared.
"good evening," said the fox.
"good evening," thelittle prince responded politely.
"who are you?" asked the little prince, and added, "you are very pretty to look at."
"i am a fox," the fox said.
"come and play with me," proposed the little prince. "i am so unhappy."
"i cannot play with you," said the fox. "i am not tamed."
"ah! please excuse me," said the little prince. but after some thought he added, "what does that mean-'tame'?"
"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 for you. and you, on your part have no need for 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, you shall be unique in all the world..."
"my life is very monotonous," he said. "i hunt chickens; men hunt me. all the chckens are just alike and all the men are just alike. and, in consequence, i am a little bored. but if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. i shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others." the fox gazed at the little prince for a long time.
"please tame me!" he said.
"i want to, very much," the little prince replied. "but i have not much time. i have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand."
"one only understands the things one tames," said the fox. "men have no more time to understand anything. they buy things all ready made in the shops. but there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship and so men have no friends anymore. if you want a friend, tame me."
"what must i do to tame you?" asked the little prince.
"you must be very patient," replied the fox. "you will say nothing, words are a source of misunderstanding. but you will sit a little closer to me everyday."
the little prince went away, to look again at the roses.
"you are not like my rose," he said. "as yet you are nothing. no one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. you are like my fox when i first knew him. he was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. but i have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world."
and the roses were very much embarassed.
"you are beauitiful, 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 belonging to me. but in herself alone she is more important all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that i have watered; because it was she that i have put under the glass glove; because it is she that i have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her i hvae killed insects; because it is she that i have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even when she said nothing, because she is my rose."
and he went back to meet the fox.
"it is time you spent for your rose that makes your rose to important."
"you become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. you are responsible for your rose."
"if someone loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. he can say to himself: "somewhere...my flower is there..."
-excerpts from the little prince
"good evening," said the fox.
"good evening," thelittle prince responded politely.
"who are you?" asked the little prince, and added, "you are very pretty to look at."
"i am a fox," the fox said.
"come and play with me," proposed the little prince. "i am so unhappy."
"i cannot play with you," said the fox. "i am not tamed."
"ah! please excuse me," said the little prince. but after some thought he added, "what does that mean-'tame'?"
"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 for you. and you, on your part have no need for 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, you shall be unique in all the world..."
"my life is very monotonous," he said. "i hunt chickens; men hunt me. all the chckens are just alike and all the men are just alike. and, in consequence, i am a little bored. but if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. i shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others." the fox gazed at the little prince for a long time.
"please tame me!" he said.
"i want to, very much," the little prince replied. "but i have not much time. i have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand."
"one only understands the things one tames," said the fox. "men have no more time to understand anything. they buy things all ready made in the shops. but there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship and so men have no friends anymore. if you want a friend, tame me."
"what must i do to tame you?" asked the little prince.
"you must be very patient," replied the fox. "you will say nothing, words are a source of misunderstanding. but you will sit a little closer to me everyday."
the little prince went away, to look again at the roses.
"you are not like my rose," he said. "as yet you are nothing. no one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. you are like my fox when i first knew him. he was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. but i have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world."
and the roses were very much embarassed.
"you are beauitiful, 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 belonging to me. but in herself alone she is more important all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that i have watered; because it was she that i have put under the glass glove; because it is she that i have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her i hvae killed insects; because it is she that i have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even when she said nothing, because she is my rose."
and he went back to meet the fox.
"it is time you spent for your rose that makes your rose to important."
"you become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. you are responsible for your rose."
"if someone loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. he can say to himself: "somewhere...my flower is there..."
-excerpts from the little prince
signalnoise:
i don't think we read enough children's books. they're good for us.