فصل بیست و هفتم

Chapter twenty seven

And now, of course, it’s been six years already…” I’ve never told this story before. The friends who saw me again were very glad to see me alive. I was sad, but I told them, “It’s fatigue.”

Now I’m somewhat consoled. That is…not entirely. But I know he did get back to his planet because at daybreak I didn’t find his body.

It wasn’t such a heavy body… And at night I love listening to the stars. It’s like five-hundred million little bells…

But something extraordinary has happened. When I drew that muzzle for the little prince, I forgot to put in the leather strap. He could never have fastened it on his sheep.

And then I wonder, “What’s happened there on his planet? Maybe the sheep has eaten the flower…”

Sometimes I tell myself, “Of course not! The little prince puts his flower under glass, and he keeps close watch over his sheep…” Then I’m happy. And all the stars laugh sweetly.

Sometimes I tell myself, “Anyone might be distracted once in a while, and that’s all it takes!

One night he forgot to put her under glass, or else the sheep got out without making any noise, during the night…” Then the bells are all changed into tears!

It’s all a great mystery. For you, who love the little prince, too. As for me, nothing in the universe can be the same if somewhere, no one knows where, a sheep we never saw has or has not eaten a rose…

Look up at the sky. Ask yourself, “Has the sheep eaten the flower or not?”

And you’ll see how everything changes…

And no grown-up will ever understand how such a thing could be so important!

For me, this is the loveliest and the saddest landscape in the world. It’s the same landscape as the one on the preceding page,

but I’ve drawn it one more time in order to be sure you see it clearly. It’s here that the little prince appeared on Earth, then disappeared.

Look at this landscape carefully to be sure of recognizing it, if you should travel to Africa someday, in the desert.

And if you happen to pass by here, I beg you not to hurry past. Wait a little, just under the star! Then if a child comes to you, if he laughs, if he has golden hair, if he doesn’t answer your questions, you’ll know who he is.

If this should happen, be kind! Don’t let me go on being so sad: send word immediately that he’s come back…