CHAPTER 9 – GLASS

I soon learnt more about the flower. On the little prince’s planet the flowers were always very simple. They were small and they didn’t disturb anyone. They grew in the grass in the morning, and they were gone in the evening.

But it all changed one day. There was a different seed. It came from some place which nobody knew. Soon a new flower started to grow. First she was very small. The little prince watched her very carefully. The flower wasn’t like other flowers on his planet.

The flower could be a new kind of baobab. But she soon stopped growing, and she began to prepare for opening. The preparation for this moment took a long time. The flower didn’t want to show her colours fast. Then one morning, exactly at sunrise, the flower showed her colours.

And after all her preparation for this moment, she said, “Ah! I am sorry. It will take same time before I am perfect.”

But the little prince couldn’t hide his admiration, “Oh! How beautiful you are!”

“Yes, I am. Look at me,” the flower said. “And I was born at the same moment as the sun.”

“I think that it’s time for breakfast,” she said, “Could you bring me some water?”

The little prince was surprised. The situation was new for him, but soon he brought water to the flower.

The flower started to play with the little prince, but her play wasn’t always nice.

One day, for example, when she was speaking about her four thorns, she said to the little prince, “I’m ready for tigers. They can come.”

“There are no tigers on my planet,” said the little prince, “And also tigers don’t eat grass.”

“I’m not a grass,” the flower sweetly said, “I’m not scared of tigers, but I’m scared of wind. Do you have something to protect me from wind?”

“To be scared of wind isn’t good for a plant,” said the little prince, and he added to himself, “This flower is very complicated.”

“At night I want to be under glass. It’s very cold here where you live. It’s quite uncomfortable. I come for a place where…”

But she stopped talking at this moment. She came here as a seed. She knew nothing about other worlds. She was embarrassed because the little prince could see that she was ready to lie to him. She quickly coughed two or three times. She wanted to show the little prince that she was cold and that he forgot about her.

“The glass? I wanted to look for it but you were speaking to me,” said the little prince.

Then the flower started to cough a little more. She wanted to show him how bad he was.

So the little prince, even if he had a lot of love in his heart, soon stopped believing her. The way which somebody was speaking to him was very important to him.