little Prince

Chapter 15

The fifth planet to which the little prince arrives is very strange, being the smallest of these planets.There is just room on the planet for one street lamp and one person to light it.The little prince couldn't figure it out: what's the use of this street lamp on a planet with neither houses nor inhabitants?Also because this street lamp is equipped with a lamplighter.

But the little prince himself guessed: "Maybe this lamplighter's thinking is unusual. However, he is better than the king, the vain man, the industrialist and the drunkard. At least his work is a little better." significance."

"When he lights up his street lamp, it's like he lights up a star, or a flower. When he turns off the street lamp, it's like putting the star or flower to sleep. That's what really works. .”

As soon as the little prince arrived on this planet, he greeted the lamplighter respectfully: "Good morning, why did you turn off the lamp just now?"

"Good morning, for this is an order," replied the Lamplighter.

"What is the order?"

"Just turn off the street lamp. Good evening." The lamplighter finished speaking and lit the street lamp again.

"Then why are you lighting it up again now?"

"Because it is an order," replied the lamplighter.

"I don't understand," said the little prince.

"There is nothing to think about. Because this is the order. Just follow it." Then he turned off the lamp and said to the little prince, "Good morning!"

After finishing speaking, the lamplighter took a handkerchief with a red square and wiped his forehead, "What I did was a terrible thing. It was reasonable before. Turn off the lights in the morning and turn them on at night. I will rest during the day for the rest of the time. I sleep at night..."

"Then the order changed, then, did it?"

"The order has not changed, but the planet is turning faster every year. The tragedy is here, the planet is turning faster, but the order has not been changed."

"And the result?" asked the little prince.

"The result is that it turns once every minute, and I don't even have a second of rest time. I have to turn on and turn off the lights every minute!"

"Funny, the planet is only 1 minute long every day?"

"It's no fun at all," said the Lamplighter. "We've been talking together for a month."

"One month?"

"Yes. Three 10 minutes. 30 days!" Then, the lamplighter lit the lamp again, "Good evening."

He started lighting and extinguishing his street lamp again.

The little prince looked at him. He liked how the lamplighter obeyed his orders.At this time, he remembered the time when he moved his chair to watch the sunset.He wanted to help his friend.

"Let me tell you, I have a way to let you rest, and you can rest whenever you want."

"Really? But I always want to rest," said the lamplighter.

Indeed, a man can be loyal to orders and lazy at the same time.

The little prince went on to say: "Your planet is very small. You can go around it in three steps. You can walk under the sun all the time as long as you walk slowly. When you want to rest, you can walk like this." .That way, you can have as long a day as you want."

"It won't help me much, for my favorite rest is sleep," said the lamplighter.

"Unlucky," said the little prince.

"Unlucky," said the lamplighter, putting out the lamp again. "Good morning."

The lamplighter started lighting and turning off the lights again.

The little prince started his journey again. Recalling the people he met, the little prince said to himself: "This person will definitely be looked down upon by others--kings, vain people, drunkards, and industrialists. But Only what he does doesn't strike me as ridiculous. It's probably because he's concerned about something other than himself."

The little prince sighed regretfully, and said to himself: "Originally, this is the only person who made me want to be friends with him. But his planet is too small to accommodate two people."

The little prince shook his head. In fact, what he didn't have the courage to admit was that he was nostalgic for this pitifully small star because he could see 24 sunsets every 440 hours here!

(End of this chapter)