Explore Chapter 15 of 'The Little Prince' with the original English text, English translation, detailed IELTS vocabulary and explanations, and audio of the English original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
The sixth planet was much bigger than the previous one. An old man lived there who wrote very big books.
"Oh, look! An explorer is here!" he said to himself when he saw the little prince arrive.
The little prince sat on the table and breathed heavily. He had traveled a lot and very far!
"I am a geographer," said the old man.
"A geographer is a learned person who knows where all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts are."
"That is very interesting," said the little prince. "Finally, here is someone with a real job!" He looked around at the geographer's planet. It was the most grand and impressive planet he had ever seen.
"Your planet is very beautiful," he said. "Does it have any oceans?"
"Ah!" The little prince felt sad. "And mountains?"
"I don't know," said the geographer. "What about towns, rivers, and deserts?"
"Yes," the geographer said. "But I am not an explorer. There is no explorer on my planet. It is not the geographer's job to go out and count towns, rivers, mountains, seas, oceans, and deserts. The geographer is too important to wander around. He stays at his desk. But he meets explorers in his office. He asks them questions and writes down what they remember from their travels. If someone's memories seem interesting, the geographer checks that explorer's character."
"Because if an explorer lies, it would ruin the geographer's books. The same for an explorer who drinks too much."
"Because drunk people see two of everything. Then the geographer might write down two mountains where there is only one."
"I know someone," said the little prince, "who would be a bad explorer."
"That could be. Then, if the explorer's character is good, we check his discovery."
"No. That would be too hard. But we ask the explorer to provide proof. For example, if he found a big mountain, he must bring back big stones from it."
Suddenly, the geographer got excited.
"But you—you come from far away! You are an explorer! Tell me about your planet!"
He opened his big book and sharpened his pencil. Explorers' stories are written first in pencil. We wait until the explorer gives proof before writing in ink.
"Well?" said the geographer eagerly.
"Oh, where I live," said the little prince, "is not very interesting. It's all very small. I have three volcanoes. Two are active and one is not active. But you never know."
"We don't write about flowers," said the geographer.
"Why not? The flower is the most beautiful thing on my planet!"
"We don't write about them," said the geographer, "because they are short-lived."
"Geography books," said the geographer, "are the most important books. They never go out of date. Mountains almost never move. Oceans almost never dry up. We write about things that last forever."
"But volcanoes that are not active might become active again," the little prince said. "What does 'ephemeral' mean?"
"Whether volcanoes are active or not, it's the same for us," said the geographer. "What matters is the mountain itself. It doesn't change."
"But what does 'ephemeral' mean?" repeated the little prince, who never gave up on a question once he asked it.
"It means 'likely to disappear quickly.'"
"My flower is short-lived," the little prince thought, "and she has only four thorns to protect herself. And I left her alone on my planet!"
That was the first time he felt sorry. But he became brave again.
"What place should I visit next?" he asked.