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姓  名 曾爰萁 學  校 天主教曉明女子高級中學 年  級 一 年 丙 班

 

 

The Little Prince

The Little Prince

When I was little, I read this book and considered it as an odd story with odd pictures, and had been confused about the praise and affection it has received from all over the world. However, when I read this book in the age of sixteen, which is, now, I finally realized what makes The Little Prince not only popular but also an immortal literary work.

The story began with the sudden appearance of the little prince in front of the author, who was a pilot at that time. His plane broke down accidentally in the middle of the Sahara Desert, and when he was trying to fix the plane, the little prince asked the author to draw him a sheep. This strange request aroused the author’s curiosity over the little prince. They became friends, and had established close relationship day by day. The author gradually knew about the little prince’s story. The little prince told him that he came from asteroid B-612, where everything is really small, where he could see sunset 44 times a day when he was terribly sad, and where his flower defended the world with its four thorns. He talked about his departure from his planet and his journey. He met a king who tolerated no disobedience, a conceited man, a drunkard, a business man, and a lot of kinds of people on different planets and finally came to earth. The little prince exposed the naïve lie his rose has told and tamed a fox. After accompanying the author for several days, the little prince chose to go back home in a sorrowful but beautiful way. He passed away.

Each incident in this story is meaningful, which is one of the elements that makes The Little Prince a remarkable book. The first few people he met on his journey symbolized grown-ups, they spent their lives pursuing things that were not important at all, such as obedience, conceit, contradiction, and wealth. Grown-ups are just like the travelers, according to the railway signalman’s word, they are pursuing nothing. “Only children know what they are looking for”, said the little prince after observing grown-up’s, and only children won’t misunderstand the author’s drawing of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. “They are lucky”, said the signalman. I can’t agree more and sigh with the signalman since I’m no longer a child.

Another viewpoint I’ve learnt from this book is “tame”. I like the way the author explained and demonstrated it. People nowadays forget this often, they ignore the importance of establishing ties to the world. Thus everything seems the same to us, nothing is really that special while everything can be replaced. The fox begged for taming even though it brings harm while bring joy. Taming gave the fox the color of wheat fields, the little prince a unique rose, and the author five hundred million laughing little bells at night.

“What is essential is invisible to the eye”, repeated by the little prince when he first heard this sentence from the fox. Use our hearts instead of eyes to see the world, feel it, embrace it, and treasure it. I believe this is what the author wanted to tell us. What is essential is invisible to the eye. I repeated it again and again, so as to be sure to remember.