A Canadian in Italy

The Little Prince

28 Feb 2011 2 Comments

by eloradaphne in Books Tags: Antoine de Saint-Exupery, fox, tamed, The Little Prince

Yesterday, my friend organized the first ever meeting of her book club. I had never been part of a book club before, for as much as I studied Literature and love reading (if I don’t have a camera in my hand, there is a book!) Our first book was The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Believe it or not, among the many books I have read in my life, this had not been among them. But I knew, as soon as I picked it up, that it was something special – no children’s book here. After we had dissected it for almost over an hour and a half (!) I realized that yes indeed it has so many layers to it, and can be read on so many levels, and most of all – every single thing it says is still applicable today (it was written in 1943). So, I have decided to share with you one of my favourite parts of the story – the part where the Little Prince tames the fox. If there is one thing I have learned in life it is that we need to tame someone and we in turn need to be tamed.

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-One

That was when the fox appeared: “Hello,” said the fox.

“Hello,” replied the little prince politely. He turned around but could not see anything.

“I’m over here,” said the voice. “Under the apple tree.”

“Who are you?” said the little prince. “You’re very pretty.”

“I’m a fox,” said the fox.

“Come and play with me,” invited the little prince. “I’m so sad.”

“I can’t play with you,” said the fox. “I’m not tame.”

“Oh! I’m sorry,” said the little prince. But on reflection, he asked: “What does ‘tame’ mean?”

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

“I’m looking for people,” said the little prince. “What does ‘tame’ mean?”

“People,” said the fox, “have guns and they hunt. It’s a real nuisance! They also breed chickens. That’s all they’re interested in. Are you looking for chickens?”

“No,” said the little prince, “I’m looking for friends. What does ‘tame’ mean?”

“It’s something too readily forgotten, said the fox. “it means ‘creating a bond’.”

“Creating a bond?”

“That’s right,” said the fox. “To me, you’re just a little boy exactly like a hundred thousand other little boys. I don’t need you, and you don’t need me. To you, I’m a fox who’s exactly like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, we will need each other. To me, you’ll be absolutely unique, and to you I’ll be absolutely unique.”

“I’m beginning to see,” said the little prince. “There’s a flower…I think she tamed me.”

“It’s possible,’ said the fox. “On Earth you see all manner of things.”

“Oh! It’s not on Earth,” said the little prince.

The fox seemed greatly intrigued: “On another planet?”

“Yes.”

“Are there hunters on that planet?”

“No.”

“Very interesting! What about chickens?”

“No.”

“Nowhere’s perfect,” sighed the fox.

And the fox went on: “My life is boring. I hunt chickens, and men hunt me. All chickens are alike, and all men are alike. So I’m a little bored. But if you tame me, it will bring sunshine into my life. I’ll be able to tell your footsteps from all the others. The other footsteps drive me underground. Yours will draw me out of my lair, like music. And look! See the wheat fields over there? I don’t eat bread. Wheat is no use to me. The wheat fields don’t remind me of anything. And that’s sad! But you have hair the colour of gold. So it will be wonderful when you’ve tamed me! The golden wheat will remind me of you. And the sound of the wind rustling the wheat will make me happy.”

The fox stopped talking and gazed at the little prince for a long time. “Please, tame me!” he said.

“I’d love to,” replied the little prince, “but I don’t have much time. I’ve got friends to find and lots of things to understand.”

“You only understand the things you tame,” said the fox. “People no longer have the time to understand anything. they buy things that are ready-made from shops. But as there are no shops selling friends, people no longer have any friends. If you want a friend, tame me!”

“What do I have to do?” said the little prince.

“You must be very patient,” replied the fox. “Sit down in the grass a little way from me, like this. I’ll watch you out of the corner of my eye and you won’t say a word. Language is a source of misunderstanding. And each day you can sit a little closer.”

The next day, the prince returned.

“It would have been better if you had come back at the same time,” said the fox.” If you come at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, then from 3 o’clock I’ll start feeling happy. The later it gets, the happier I’ll feel. At 4 o’clock I’ll already be getting agitated and worried; I’ll discover the price of happiness! But if you come at any old time, I’ll never know when to feel glad in my heart…we need rituals.”

“What’s a ritual?” said the little prince.

“Something else that is too readily forgotten,”said the fox. “It is what makes one day different from another, or one hour different from the other hours. My hunters have a ritual, for example. On Thursdays, they dance with the village girls. So Thursday is a wonderful day! I go for a stroll down into the vineyard. If the hunters dance any old time, all days would be alike and I’d never have a day off.”

***

And so the little prince tamed the fox. And when it came time for him to leave: “Oh!” said the fox, “I’m going to cry.”

“It’s your own fault,” said the little prince. “I didn’t mean to cause you any sorrow, but you wanted me to tame you.”

“That’s right,” said the fox.

“But you’re going to cry!” said the little prince.

“That’s rgt,” said the fox.

“So you’ve gained nothing!”

“I have gained something – the colour of the wheat.”

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