Explore Chapter 26 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.
Next to the well, there were the ruins of an old stone wall. When I came back from work the next evening, I saw from a distance my little prince sitting on a wall, with his feet hanging down. And I heard him say:
"Then you don't remember. This is not the right spot."
Another voice must have answered him, because he replied: "Yes, yes! It is the right day, but this is not the place."
I kept walking toward the wall. I never saw or heard anyone. But the little prince answered again:
"—Exactly. You will see where my path starts, in the sand. You only need to wait for me there. I will be there tonight."
I was only twenty meters from the wall, and I still saw nothing.
After a silence, the little prince spoke again:
"Do you have good poison? Are you sure it won't make me suffer too long?"
I stopped in my tracks, my heart broken; but I still did not understand.
"Now go away," said the little prince. "I want to get down from the wall."
I looked down at the bottom of the wall—and I jumped. Right in front of me, facing the little prince, was one of those yellow snakes that can kill you in just thirty seconds. Even as I was reaching into my pocket to get my gun, I took a step back. But, at the noise I made, the snake slid easily across the sand like the last spray of a fountain, and, without seeming to hurry, disappeared with a light metal sound into the stones.
I reached the wall just in time to catch my little friend in my arms; his face was white as snow.
"What does this mean?" I asked. "Why are you talking with snakes?"
I had loosened the golden scarf he always wore. I had wet his temples and given him some water to drink. And now I did not dare ask more questions. He looked at me very seriously and put his arms around my neck. I felt his heart beating like the heart of a dying bird, hit by a rifle shot ...
"I am happy that you found what was wrong with your engine," he said. "Now you can go back home—"
I was just about to tell him that my work had succeeded, more than I had hoped.
He did not answer my question, but added: "I, too, am going back home today ..."
Then, sadly— "It is much farther ... It is much harder..."
I clearly saw that something special was happening. I was holding him close in my arms as if he were a small child; and yet it seemed to me that he was rushing toward a deep hole from which I could not stop him ...
His look was very serious, like someone lost far away.
"I have your sheep. And I have the sheep's box. And I have the muzzle ..."
I waited a long time. I could see that he was getting better little by little.
"Dear little man," I said to him, "you are afraid ..."
He was afraid, no doubt about that. But he laughed softly.
Again, I felt frozen by the feeling of something that could not be fixed. And I knew that I could not stand the thought of never hearing that laugh again. For me, it was like a spring of fresh water in the desert.
"Little man," I said, "I want to hear you laugh again."
"Tonight, it will be a year ... My star can be found right above the place where I came to Earth, a year ago ..."
"Little man," I said, "tell me it is only a bad dream—this thing with the snake, and the meeting place, and the star..."
But he did not answer my request. Instead, he said: "The important thing is what you cannot see ..."
"It is like with the flower. If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are full of flowers ..."
"It is like with the water. Because of the pulley and the rope, the water you gave me to drink was like music. You remember—how good it was."
"And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live, everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is. It is better that way. For you, my star will just be one of the stars. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the sky ... they will all be your friends. And, also, I am going to give you a gift..."
"Ah, little prince, dear little prince! I love to hear that laugh!"
"That is my gift. Just that. It will be like when we drank the water ..."
"All people have the stars," he answered, "but they are not the same for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others, they are just little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman, they were wealth. But all these stars are quiet. You—only you—will have the stars like no one else—"
"I will be living on one of the stars. I will be laughing on one of them. And so it will be as if all the stars are laughing, when you look at the sky at night... You—only you—will have stars that can laugh!"
"And when your sadness is eased (time calms all sadness) you will be happy that you knew me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, like this, for that joy ... And your friends will be very surprised to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, \"Yes, the stars always make me laugh!\" And they will think you are crazy. It will be a mean trick that I played on you ..."
"It will be as if, instead of the stars, I gave you many little bells that know how to laugh ..."
And he laughed again. Then he quickly became serious: "Tonight—you know ... Do not come."
"I will look as if I am suffering. I will look a little as if I am dying. It is like that. Do not come to see that. It is not worth it ..."
"I tell you—it is also because of the snake. He must not bite you. Snakes—they are mean creatures. This one might bite you just for fun ..."
But a thought came to comfort him:
"It is true that they have no more poison for a second bite."
That night, I did not see him start his journey. He left me without a sound. When I managed to catch up with him, he was walking with a quick and firm step. He only said to me:
And he took my hand. But he was still worried.
"You should not have come. You will suffer. I will look as if I am dead; and that will not be true ..."
"You understand ... it is too far. I cannot take this body with me. It is too heavy."
"But it will be like an old empty shell. There is nothing sad about old shells ..."
He was a little discouraged. But he tried again:
"You know, it will be very nice. I, too, will look at the stars. All the stars will be wells with a rusty pulley. All the stars will give me fresh water to drink ..."
"That will be so fun! You will have five hundred million little bells, and I will have five hundred million springs of fresh water ..."
And he also said nothing more, because he was crying ...
And he sat down, because he was afraid. Then he said again:
"You know—my flower ... I am responsible for her. And she is so weak! She is so innocent! She has four thorns, useless, to protect herself from the world ..."
I also sat down, because I could not stand any longer.
He still hesitated a little; then he got up. He took one step. I could not move.
There was only a flash of yellow near his ankle. He stayed still for a moment. He did not cry out. He fell as softly as a tree falls. There was no sound, because of the sand.
And when I felt a little better the next morning, I found that I could look at the stars again. But I could not find his star. Perhaps it is just as well. I will always think of him as I saw him the first time, when he asked me to draw him a sheep. And I will always hear his laugh, like a little bell. But I am not sure if I want to hear it. Because I have grown to love that laugh.