The little prince-page 4
of boa constrictors,whether from the inside or the outside, and devote
myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That is why, at
the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter.
I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my
Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves,
and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to
them. So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I have
flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been
very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one
gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great
many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have
lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand.
And that hasn’t much improved my opinion of them.
Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried
the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always
kept. I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding.
But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say: "That is a hat." Then I
would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or
stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge,
and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased
to have met such a sensible man.