Le Petit Prince

I think one of the saddest things about moving to Washington State when we did was that the middle school I left in Logan offered French classes much earlier than I was able to take them again in Marysville. It was one of the only classes I ever knew for sure I wanted to take each year from the moment I could up there, from 9th grade on. I collected a couple of books in French that I've kept (not like I would ever get rid of any of my books without a very good cause) through the years and I finally pulled one off the shelf yesterday.

As you could probably guess after the dead giveaway in the title of this post, that book is Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Not having really done anything involving French since I graduated from High School almost 8 years ago, I honestly had no idea how far I could possibly get. I struggled with the dedication (great for my self-esteem, I must say), but forged ahead nonetheless. I found myself laughing after only a few pages, allowing myself to be drawn into the story without fussing about each individual word I couldn't remember. I am still rather surprised at how much I do remember after not taking a French lesson since 2002. Its also a great refresher course in French grammar, where (like many other languages) nouns have a given gender. I also had to dredge a bit through vaguely remembered lessons in order to remember the difference between the present and past tenses. I think this is the part I've liked the most so far:

"...je dis au petit bonhomme (avec un peu de mauvaise humeur) que je ne savais pas dessiner. Il me repondit:

Ca ne fait rien. Dessine-moi un mouton.

Comme je n'avais jaimais dessine un mouton je refis, pour lui, l'un des deux seuls dessins dont j'etais capable. Celui de boa ferme. Et je fus stupefait d'entendre le petit bonhomme me repondre:

Non! Non! Je ne veux pas d'un elephant dans un boa. Un boa c'est tres dangereux, et un elephant c'est tres encombrant. Chez moi c'est tout petit. J'ai besoin d'un mouton. Dessine-moi un mouton."
(My apologies to those familiar with French for the lack of appropriate accents)

Essentially, after his airplane breaks down in the middle of the desert the author is approached by The Little Prince, who demands that he draw a sheep for him. Baffled, the author eventually concedes, but after having been discouraged from art at the age of 6 years old he begins by showing the strange boy a copy of his first drawing. Always mistaken by others to be a drawing of a hat, the Little Prince knows right away that it is a boa that has swallowed an elephant and demands a sheep. His first attempt is rejected as being too weak. The second one because of it's horns. His third attempt was shunned as being too old. At his wits end, the author draws a box with small air holes in the side and tells him something to the effect that 'here is a case. The sheep you want is inside.'

Excited that this may be exactly what he wanted, he asks how much it eats, concerned that his home was too small to support it. After being assured that it is a very small sheep, the Little Prince is finally satisfied.

I love this part. The exchange shows great creativity and imagination, enhanced by original illustrations of each sheep. I confess I do find it all the more endearing in French, knowing that I would most likely never have read this book in English. That being said, it is a very charming and yet thought-provoking tale that I am happy to own.