Chapter XIV

The fifth planet was very curious. It was the smallest of them all. There was just enough room to house a lamppost and a street lamp lighter. The little prince could not explain how a street lamp and a lamp-lighter could be used, somewhere in the sky, on a planet without a house or a population. However, he said to himself:

"Maybe this man is absurd. However, it is less absurd than the king, the vain, the businessman and the drinker. At least his work makes sense. When he lights his lamppost, it is as if he were creating another star, or a flower. When he turns off his lamppost, it puts the flower or the star to sleep. It is a very pretty occupation. This is really useful since it is beautiful. "

When he approached the planet he greeted the lighter respectfully:

" Hello. Why did you just turn off your street lamp?

"That is the order," replied the lighter. Hello.

"What is the deposit?"

"It is to extinguish my lamppost." Good evening. "

And he rekindled it.

"But why have you just turned it on?"

"That is the order," replied the lighter.

"I do not understand," said the little prince.

"There is nothing to understand," said the lighter. The setpoint is the setpoint. Hello."

And he put out his street lamp.

Then he wiped his forehead with a red-checked handkerchief.

"I am doing a terrible trade there. It was reasonable in the past. I switched off in the morning and switched on at night. I had the rest of the day to rest, and the rest of the night to sleep ..."

"And since that time the order has changed?"

"The order has not changed," said the lighter. That is the tragedy! The planet from year to year has turned faster and faster, and the deposit has not changed!

- So ? Said the little prince.

"So now that she is doing one turn a minute, I have no more rest." I turn on and off once a minute!

- Now that's funny ! The days at your house last a minute!

"It's not funny at all," said the lighter. It's been a month since we've been talking together.

- A month ?

- Yes. Thirty minutes. Thirty days ! Good evening. "

And he reignited his lamppost.

The little prince looked at him and he loved this lighter who was so faithful to the instructions. He remembered the sunsets that he himself once went looking for, drawing his chair. He wanted to help his friend:

"You know ... I know a way to rest when you want ..."

"I always want," said the lighter.

For one can be both faithful and lazy.

The little prince continued:

"Your planet is so small that you go around it in three strides. You only have to walk slowly to stay in the sun. When you want to rest you will walk ... and the day will last as long as you want.

"It does not help me much," said the lighter. What I like about life is sleeping.

"It's not lucky," said the little prince.

"No luck," said the lighter. Hello. "

And he put out his street lamp.

"That one," said the little prince, "as he pursued his journey further, he would be despised by all the others, by the king, by the vain, by the drinker, by the businessman." However, it is the only one that does not seem ridiculous to me. It is, perhaps, because he cares about nothing but himself. "

He sighed with regret and said to himself again:

"This is the only one I could have made my friend. But his planet is really too small. There is no room for two ... »

What the little prince did not dare to admit was that he regretted this blessed planet because, above all, of the thousand four hundred and forty sunsets in twenty-four hours!