The sixth planet was ten times larger than the previous one. It was inhabited by an old gentleman who wrote voluminous books.

'Well, well! Here comes an explorer!' he exclaimed to himself when he caught sight of the little prince.

The little prince sat down on the table and panted a little. He had already travelled so very far!

'Where do you come from?' said the old gentleman.

'What is that big book?' said the little prince. 'What do you do here?'

'I am a geographer.' said the old gentleman.

'What is a geographer?'

'A geographer is a learned man who knows where all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains and deserts are located.'

'Now that is interesting' said the little prince. 'Here is a real profession, at last!' And he looked around him at the geographer's planet. Never before had he seen so magnificent a planet.

'It is certainly beautiful, your planet. Does it have oceans?'

'I can't tell.' said the geographer.

'Ah!' (The little prince was disappointed.) 'And mountains?'

'I can't tell,' said the geographer.

'And towns and rivers and deserts?'

'I can't tell you that either.' said the geographer.

'But you're a geographer!'

'Quite so,' said the geographer. 'But I am not an explorer. I am in dire need of explorers. It is not the geographer's job to go around counting off the towns, the rivers, the mountains, the seas, the oceans and the deserts. The geographer is far too important to go sauntering about. He does not leave his desk. But there he sits and receives the explorers. He asks them questions, and he notes down what they recollect of their travels. And if the recollections of any of them seem interesting, the geographer will order an inquiry into the moral character of the explorer concerned.'

'Why is that?'

'Because an explorer who told lies would cause havoc with the geography books. So would an explorer who drank too much.'

'Why is that?' said the little prince.

'Because drunkards see double. So the geographer would record two mountains in a place where there is only one.'

'I know somebody,' said the little prince, 'who would make a bad explorer.'

'I can well believe it. Then, when the explorer's morals are shown to be sound, we hold an inquiry into his discovery.'

'Someone goes and looks?'

'No. That would be too complicated. Instead we require the explorer to furnish proofs. For example, if the discovery in question is that of a large mountain, we require him to bring back some large stones.'

The geographer suddenly became excited.

'But you, for example, you come from far away! You are an explorer! You can describe your planet to me!'

And, opening his register, the geographer began to sharpen his pencil. For the narratives of explorers are entered first in pencil. Before they can be entered in ink the explorer must furnish proofs.

'Well?' said the geographer expectantly.

'Oh, where I come from is not very interesting.' said the little prince. 'Everything is so small. I have three volcanoes. Two are active and the third is extinct. But one never knows.'

'One never knows,' said the geographer.

'I also have a flower.'

'We do not take note of flowers.' said the geographer.

'Why ever not! They're prettier than everything else!'

'Because flowers are ephemeral.'

'What does "ephemeral" mean?'

'Geography books,' said the geographer, 'are the most precious of all books. They never go out of date. It is very rare for a mountain to change position. It is very rare for an ocean to be emptied of its water. We record what is eternal.'

'But extinct volcanoes can come back to life.' the little prince interrupted. 'What does "ephemeral” mean?'

'Whether volcanoes are dead or alive, it amounts to the same as far as we are concerned.' said the geographer. 'What counts for us is the mountain. And that does not change.'

'But what does "ephemeral" mean?' repeated the little prince, who had never in his whole life given up on a question once he had asked it.

'It means: "which is threatened with impending death".'

'My flower is threatened with impending death?'

'Certainly.'

'My flower is ephemeral,' the little prince said to himself 'and she has only four thorns to defend herself against the world! And I have left her all alone on my planet!'

It was his first impulse of regret. But he took heart again.

'What do you recommend me to visit next?'he asked.

'The planet Earth,' replied the geographer. 'It has a good reputation ...'

And the little prince went away, thinking of his flower.