The Little Prince

The Little Prince
written and illustrated by
Antoine de Saint Exupéry
translated from the French by Katherine Woods




TO LEON WERTH
I ask the indulgence of the children who may read this book for dedicating it to a grownup.
 I have a serious reason: 
he is the best friend I have in the world. I have another
reason: this grown-up understands everything, even books about children. I have a third
reason: he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs cheering up. If all these
reasons are not enough, I will dedicate the book to the child from whom this grown-up
grew. All grown-ups were once children--although few of them remember it. And so I
correct my dedication:
TO LEON WERTH
WHEN HE WAS A LITTLE BOY

In the book it said: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not
able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion."
I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I
succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One.

I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.
But they answered: "Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?"
My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since
the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of a boa
constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained.