And now, of course, six years have already passed . . . I have never told this story before. The friends who saw me again on my return were very happy to see me alive. I seemed sad, but I said to them: 'It's exhaustion.'

Now I have got over my loss a little. Which is to say not entirely. But at least I know that he returned safely to his planet, for at daybreak I could not find his body. It was not such a heavy body ... And at night I love listening to the stars. They are like five hundred million little bells.

Here is an extraordinary thing. When I drew the muzzle for the little prince, I forgot to add the leather strap! He will never have been able to attach the muzzle to the sheep. Then I wonder aloud to myself: 'What has happened on his planet? Perhaps the sheep has eaten the flower after all.'

Sometimes I say to myself: 'Of course not! The little prince shuts in his flower every night under her glass dome, and he keeps a close watch on his sheep.' And then I am happy. And all the stars laugh softly.

At other times I say to myself: 'Everyone's attention wanders sooner or later, and once is enough! One evening he forgot the glass dome, or else the sheep got out in the night, without any noise.' And then the little bells all turn to tears!

Here, then, is a great mystery. For you who love the little prince, as for me, nothing in the universe can be the same if somewhere —— we do not know where —— a sheep we have never met has or has not eaten a rose.

Look up at the sky. Ask yourselves: has the sheep eaten the flower or not? And you will see how everything changes...

And no grown-up will ever understand the significance of this!

This, to me, is the loveliest and saddest landscape in the world. It is the same landscape as on the preceding page, but I have drawn it one more time to show it to you properly. It was here that the little prince appeared on Earth, and then disappeared. Look closely at this landscape, so as to be sure to recognize it, should you travel one day to the African desert. And if you happen to pass this spot, I beg you not to hurry, but wait for a moment directly beneath the star! And if a child comes up to you, and laughs, and has golden hair, and does not answer your questions, you shall easily guess who it is. In which case, be a good boy or girl! Do not leave me in such a sorry state: write quickly and tell me that he has returned...

 

-THE END-