The Little Prince: The One That Got Away

 

The Little Prince: The One That Got Away

(June 11, 2023)

The book “The Little Prince” is a novella written and illustrated by French aristocrat, writer, and military pilot Antonine de Saint-Exupery. It was first published in France and the USA in April 1943.

The story was in a narrative form by a Pilot who happened to meet the Little Prince by chance. The Pilot narrates the story of the Little Prince’s journey along which he, the Little Prince, met various personalities. The Pilot got wind of this when the Little Prince shared the story of his journey with the Pilot.

The chance encounter between the Pilot and the Little Prince happened somewhere in the Sahara Desert where the Pilot had an emergency landing due to his plane’s technical problem. While working on the plane’s engine, he was surprised to hear the voice of a child, the Little Prince, asking him to draw him a sheep. It was there that their interaction with one another began. And if I may add, their friendship was born and developed as the Little Prince opened himself up to the Pilot.

Not knowing how to draw a sheep, the Pilot drew a boa constrictor with an elephant inside. It was his “masterpiece” when he was a child that adults mistakenly said was a hat. That was a turning point to the Pilot as he dropped the idea of becoming a famous artist and became a pilot. Surprised, the Little Prince interpreted the drawing as that of a boa constrictor who had eaten an elephant. The Pilot saw in the Little Prince an exceptional personality. One who could look beyond what the eyes can see.

I will spare you with details of the story. If you have the chance, go grab yourself a copy of the book. You will not regret it. Do not be deceived if the others who thought it was a children’s book. Look beyond what your eyes can see.

Roughly though, let me sum up the various personalities that the Little Prince met on his journey. I will interject my own reflections as the summary of the story unfolds (In bold italics). 

The Little Prince lived on a tiny planet where he busied himself cleaning volcanoes and clearing out the baobabs. There also lived a rose with whom he seemed to have a special relationship. The Little Prince fell in love with the rose who was taking advantage of him. Realizing that he was falling in love with the vain rose, the Little Prince decided to leave his planet. At the time of his departure, the rose admitted that she failed to recognize and reciprocate the Little’s Prince’s love and care and was sorry for her selfishness. The rose belatedly expressed her love to the Little Prince, but it was too late. The Little Prince left and began his journey.

(Oftentimes, we fail to recognize the love and care of people around us. The ordinariness of their presence and the obvious expressions of their concern were nothing for us to be concerned about – because we know that they love us and are always there when we need them. Human nature calls for some appreciation and recognition of good deeds. If those were not regularly felt, heard, or seen, sometimes we get weary and tired. When we feel we are taken for granted, sadness develops inside of us for being unappreciated. Worst is we feel used and abused. We slowly give up and begin to let go and move on. The realization on the part of the one who was loved came in too late as the one who loved departs. In the lovers’ absence came belatedly the tears of the beloved.)

Thereafter, the Little Prince visited six other planets (including the earth) where he met the following: The Little Prince - Wikipedia

·         A king with no subjects, who only issues orders that will be followed, such as commanding the sun to set at sunset.

·         A conceited man who only wants the praise which comes from admiration and being the most admirable person on his otherwise uninhabited planet.

·         A drunkard who drinks to forget the shame of drinking.

·         A businessman who is blind to the beauty of the stars and instead endlessly counts and catalogues them in order to "own" them all (critiquing materialism).

·         A lamplighter on a planet so small, a full day lasts a minute. He wastes his life blindly following orders to extinguish and relight the lamppost every 30 seconds to correspond with his planet's day and night.

·         An elderly geographer who has never been anywhere, or seen any of the things he records, providing a caricature of specialisation in the contemporary world. 

·        A railway switchman who told him how passengers constantly rushed from one place to another aboard trains, never satisfied with where they were and not knowing what they were after; only the children among them ever bothered to look out the windows. 

·        A merchant who talked to the prince about his product, a pill that eliminated the need to drink for a week, saving people 53 minutes. 

(In our personal journey, we meet various types of people along the way who would touch our lives in a many and unique way. All of them are meant to teach us a lesson. In some we experienced pain and tears. With the others we had fun and laughter. To varying degrees, everything is meant to tell us that life is challenging but worth living. Grow with what is good. Learn from what was hurtful. Always hoping to develop further strength to courageously continue to face what lies ahead. The journey continues.)

A significant encounter by the Little Prince on planet earth was with the Fox. It was in this meeting where the Little Prince experienced an ordinary chanced encounter with the Fox had blossomed into a genuine, special, and unique friendship. But here’s the drawback, just as they are enjoying the profound joy of friendship between them, it was time for the Little Prince to go and leave the Fox. Both started to feel the sadness and longing of being apart.

(One of the most agonizing experiences we may have is when we develop a special bond of friendship with another person and then circumstances would lead both persons to part ways. The problem with hello is goodbye, as the lyrics of a song go. Sometimes physical separation is inevitable. Nothing is forever. For various reasons beyond our control, we need to part ways. Only then that we realized how much effort we should have invested while we are still together. While it’s true that left in our hearts and minds are the memories, still, there is nothing like the real thing of being able to see, touch, hear, smell the presence of our dearly beloved. But part we must, and we continue with our pilgrimage of life.)

The Little Prince also encountered the snake who “claimed to have the power to return him to his home, if ever he wished to return.” The Little Prince also met other flowers at which he realized the uniqueness of his own rose.

(Along the way, we meet people who will promise us “the moon and the stars” only to find out that they offer meaningless kind of relationship, void of true love and care that only the one of whom we neglected to appreciate can give with utmost dedication and commitment. Be aware of this reality. Do not be deceived by the external beauty and fragrant smell of deceiving people. Be vigilant. Do not be naïve. A saying goes: You are busy counting the stars while forgetting the diamonds that are at your reach.)

Finally, the time for goodbye between the Pilot and the Little Prince came. It was an emotional farewell as the Little Prince dies after having been bitten by the deceitful, malevolent snake. As a special bond was formed between the Pilot and the Little Prince, the latter’s departure was agonizingly painful for the Pilot. So concerned for the possible trauma of his departure for the Pilot, the Little Prince warned the Pilot not to watch as he leaves as it might upset him. Instead. He consoles the Pilot by saying “that he only need(s) to look at the stars to think of the prince’s loveable laughter, and that it will seem as if all the stars are laughing.”

(Regrettably, sad as it may seem, it is indeed very excruciating to feel when a devoted, loving, and committed person leaves us because we have failed to recognize the person’s true worth in our life. While we were busy “repairing our plane’s engine”, we forgot that there is someone who also needs our love, care, and deep appreciation of their presence in our lives. Late do we realized that we love them too. We never expressed the magic words “I love You” or “I do care for you”. That person who truly loved us unconditionally is gone. He is the one that got away. And how we wish we could turn back the hands of time.)