De esta manera supe una segunda cosa muy importante: su planeta de origen era apenas más grande que una casa.

Esto no podía asombrarme mucho. Sabía muy bien que aparte de los grandes planetas como la Tierra, Júpiter, Marte, Venus, a los cuales se les ha dado nombre, existen otros centenares de ellos tan pequeños a veces, que es difícil distinguirlos aun con la ayuda del telescopio. Cuando un astrónomo descubre uno de estos planetas, le da por nombre un número. Le llama, por ejemplo, "el asteroide 3251".

Tengo poderosas razones para creer que el planeta del cual venía el principito era el asteroide B 612. Este asteroide ha sido visto sólo una vez con el telescopio en 1909, por un astrónomo turco.

Este astrónomo hizo una gran demostración de su descubrimiento en un congreso Internacional de Astronomía. Pero nadie lo creyó a causa de su manera de vestir. Las personas mayores son así.

Felizmente para la reputación del asteroide B 612, un dictador turco impuso a su pueblo, bajo pena de muerte, el vestido a la europea. Entonces el astrónomo volvió a dar cuenta de su descubrimiento en 1920 y como lucía un traje muy elegante, todo el mundo aceptó su demostración.

Si les he contado de todos estos detalles sobre el asteroide B 612 y hasta les he confiado su número, es por consideración a las personas mayores. A los mayores les gustan las cifras. Cuando se les habla de un nuevo amigo, jamás preguntan sobre lo esencial del mismo. Nunca se les ocurre preguntar: "¿Qué tono tiene su voz? ¿Qué juegos prefiere? ¿Le gusta coleccionar mariposas?" Sin embargo preguntan: "¿Qué edad tiene? ¿Cuántos hermanos? ¿Cuánto pesa? ¿Cuánto gana su padre?" Solamente con estos detalles creen conocerle. Si les decimos a las personas mayores: "He visto una casa preciosa de ladrillo rosa, con geranios en las ventanas y palomas en el tejado", jamás llegarán a imaginarse cómo es esa casa. Es preciso decirles: "He visto una casa que vale cien mil francos". Entonces exclaman entusiasmados: "¡Oh, qué bonita es!"

Así, si les decimos: "La prueba de que el principito ha existido está en que era un muchachito encantador, que reía y quería un cordero. Querer un cordero es prueba de que se existe", las personas mayores se encogerán de hombros y nos dirán que somos unos niños. Pero si les decimos: "el planeta de donde venía el principito era el asteroide B 612", quedarán convencidas y no se preocuparán de hacer más preguntas. Son así. No hay por qué guardarles rencor. Los niños deben ser muy indulgentes con las personas mayores.

Pero nosotros, que sabemos comprender la vida, nos burlamos tranquilamente de los números. A mí me habría gustado más comenzar esta historia a la manera de los cuentos de hadas. Me habría gustado decir:

"Era una vez un principito que habitaba un planeta apenas más grande que él y que tenía necesidad de un amigo…" Para aquellos que comprenden la vida, ésto hubiera parecido más real.

Porque no me gusta que mi libro se lea a la ligera. Siento tanta pena al contar estos recuerdos. Hace ya seis años que mi amigo se fue con su cordero. Y si intento describirlo aquí es sólo con el fin de no olvidarlo. Es muy triste olvidar a un amigo. No todos han tenido un amigo. Y yo puedo llegar a ser como las personas mayores, que sólo se interesan por las cifras. Para evitar esto he comprado una caja de lápices de colores. ¡Es muy duro, a mi edad, ponerse a aprender a dibujar, cuando en toda la vida no se ha hecho otra tentativa que la de una boa abierta y una boa cerrada a la edad de seis años! Ciertamente que yo intentaré hacer los retratos lo más parecidos posibles, pero no estoy muy seguro de lograrlo. Uno sale bien y otro no se parece en absoluto. En las proporciones me equivoco también un poco. Aquí el principito es demasiado grande y allá es demasiado pequeño. Dudo también sobre el color de su traje. Titubeo sobre esto y lo otro y unas veces sale bien y otras mal. Es posible, en fin, que me equivoque sobre ciertos detalles muy importantes. Pero habrá que perdonármelo ya que mi amigo no me daba nunca muchas explicaciones. Creía quizás que yo era como él, pero yo, desgraciadamente, no sé ver un cordero a través de una caja. Es posible que yo sea un poco como las personas mayores. He debido envejecer.

I had thus learned a second fact of great importance: this was that the planet the little prince came from was scarcely any larger than a house!

But that did not really surprise me much. I knew very well that in addition to the great planets--such as the Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus--to which we have given names, there are also hundreds of others, some of which are so small that one has a hard time seeing them through the telescope. When an astronomer discovers one of these he does not give it a name, but only a number. He might call it, for example, "Asteroid 3251."

I have serious reason to believe that the planet from which the little prince came is the asteroid known as B-612. This asteroid has only once been seen through the telescope. That was by a Turkish astronomer, in 1909.

On making his discovery, the astronomer had presented it to the International Astronomical Congress, in a great demonstration. But he was in Turkish costume, and so nobody would believe what he said. Grown-ups are like that.

Fortunately, however, for the reputation of Asteroid B-612, a Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects, under pain of death, should change to European costume. So in 1920 the astronomer gave his demonstration all over again, dressed with impressive style and elegance. And this time everybody accepted his report.

If I have told you these details about the asteroid, and made a note of its number for you, it is on account of the grown-ups and their ways. When you tell them that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?" Instead, they demand: "How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?" Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him. If you were to say to the grown-ups: "I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof," they would not be able to get any idea of that house at all. You would have to say to them: "I saw a house that cost $20,000." Then they would exclaim: "Oh, what a pretty house that is!"

Just so, you might say to them: "The proof that the little prince existed is that he was charming, that he laughed, and that he was looking for a sheep. If anybody wants a sheep, that is a proof that he exists." And what good would it do to tell them that? They would shrug their shoulders, and treat you like a child. But if you said to them: "The planet he came from is Asteroid B-612," then they would be convinced, and leave you in peace from their questions. They are like that. One must not hold it against them. Children should always show great forbearance toward grown-up people.

But certainly, for us who understand life, figures are a matter of indifference. I should have liked to begin this story in the fashion of the fairy-tales. I should have like to say: 

"Once upon a time there was a little prince who lived on a planet that was scarcely any bigger than himself, and who had need of a sheep..."

To those who understand life, that would have given a much greater air of truth to my story.

For I do not want any one to read my book carelessly. I have suffered too much grief in setting down these memories. Six years have already passed since my friend went away from me, with his sheep. If I try to describe him here, it is to make sure that I shall not forget him. To forget a friend is sad. Not every one has had a friend. And if I forget him, I may become like the grown-ups who are no longer interested in anything but figures...

It is for that purpose, again, that I have bought a box of paints and some pencils. It is hard to take up drawing again at my age, when I have never made any pictures except those of the boa constrictor from the outside and the boa constrictor from the inside, since I was six. I shall certainly try to make my portraits as true to life as possible. But I am not at all sure of success. One drawing goes along all right, and another has no resemblance to its subject. I make some errors, too, in the little prince's height: in one place he is too tall and in another too short. And I feel some doubts about the color of his costume. So I fumble along as best I can, now good, now bad, and I hope generally fair-to-middling. In certain more important details I shall make mistakes, also. But that is something that will not be my fault. My friend never explained anything to me. He thought, perhaps, that I was like himself. But I, alas, do not know how to see sheep through the walls of boxes. Perhaps I am a little like the grown-ups. I have had to grow old.