12/01/2025
The fox shut up and watched the little prince for a good time:
—Please... tame me —he said.
"I would like to" replied the little prince but I don't have much time. I need to make friends and meet a lot of things.
—Only the things that are tamed are well known — said the fox —. Men don't have time to know anything anymore. They buy everything made in the shops. And since there are no stores where they sell friends, men do not have
already friends. If you want a friend, tame me!
—What should I do? —asked the little prince.
—You must have a lot of patience — replied the fox—. You will sit at the beginning
a little far from me, like this, on the ground; I will look at you with the corner of my eye and you will not tell me anything. Language is a source of misunderstanding. But every day you can sit a little closer..
Prince came back the very next day.
"It would have been better," said the fox. "If you came at the same time." If you come,
for example, at four in the afternoon; from three I would start to be happy.
The more time goes on, the happier I will be. At four o'clock I'm feeling aroused
and restless, so I'll discover what happiness is worth. But if you come anytime, I'll never know when to prepare my heart... The rites are necessary.
—What is a rite? — inquired about the little prince.
"It's also something too forgotten," said the fox. It's what makes a day not seem like another day and an hour different from another. Among hunters, for example, there is a rite. Thursday's dance with the village girls. Thursdays then are wonderful days when I get to take a walk to the vineyard. If hunters didn't dance on a fixed day, everyday would be the same and I wouldn't have a vacation.
Thus the little prince tamed the fox. And as the day of the match got closer:
— Ah! —said the fox—, I will cry.
- It's your fault - said the prince -, I didn't want to hurt you, but you've wanted me to tame you...
"Indeed," said the fox.
—And you will cry! , —said the little prince.
—Sure!
—You don't gain anything.
"I win," said the fox. "I won because of the color of the wheat."
And then he added:
—Go and see the roses; you will understand that yours is unique in the world. You'll tell me goodbye again and I'll give you a secret.
The little prince went to see the roses to which he said:
-They are nothing, they don't look like my rose at all. No one has tamed them and you have tamed anyone. They are like the fox was before, which was in no way different from another hundred thousand foxes. But I made him my friend and now he's unique in the world.
The roses were upset listening to the prince, who kept telling them:
—They are very beautiful, but they are empty and no one would give their lives for you. Anyone who sees them will undoubtedly believe that my rose is the same as any of you. But she is known more important than all, because I have watered her, because it was her whom I covered with the lantern, because I killed the worms (except two or three that became butterflies) and it is her whom I have heard complaining, praise and sometimes even shut up. Because it's my rose, anyway.
And he came back with the fox.
—Good-bye. — he said.
—Goodbye—said the fox—. Here's my secret, which can't be simpler:
it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.
-What is essential is invisible to the eye - repeated the little principle to remember.
- What makes your rose more important, is the time you've wasted on it.
—It's the time I've wasted with her... —repeat the little prince to remember him.
-Men have forgotten this truth - said the fox -, but you must not forget it. You are forever responsible for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose..
—I am responsible for my rose... —he repeated the little principle in order to remember it.
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