Summary: Chapter XIII
The little prince visits a fourth planet, which is occupied
by a businessman so immersed in numerical calculations that the
man hardly acknowledges the little prince. The little prince, who
never lets a question go unanswered, repeatedly asks the businessman
what he is doing. The businessman protests that he is a serious
person and has no time for the little prince’s questions. Exasperated
by the little prince’s persistence, the businessman eventually explains
that he is counting “those little golden things that make lazy people
daydream,” which the prince eventually identifies as stars. The
businessman explains he counts the stars because he owns them.
The little prince thinks that the businessman’s logic
is as absurd as the drunkard’s, but he accepts that the businessman
owns the stars because the man was the first person to think of
claiming ownership of them. The prince asks what the businessman
does with the stars, and the businessman replies that he notes their
numbers and places the numbers in a bank. The prince argues that
such actions do not deserve to be called serious matters. He owns
a rose and three volcanoes, he points out, but he takes care of
them. His ownership is therefore useful, he claims, whereas the
businessmen’s is not. The businessman is left speechless by this
remark, and the little prince moves on, observing that grown-ups
are truly “extraordinary.”
Summary: Chapter XIV
The fifth planet the prince visits is extremely small,
just big enough for a street lamp and its lamplighter. The prince
considers the lamplighter to be as absurd as the others he has met,
yet he finds that the lamplighter performs a beautiful—and therefore
useful—task. The lamplighter, who is under orders to extinguish
his lamp during the day and light it at night, frantically puts
the lamp out and then turns it back on. He explains that his orders
used to make sense, but his planet now turns so fast that a new
day occurs every minute. The prince admires the lamplighter’s sense
of duty and notes that of all the people he has met, the lamplighter
is the only one whom he could befriend. He advises the lamplighter
to walk along with the sunset in order to avoid having to extinguish
and rekindle the light continually. The lamplighter says what he
really wants is sleep. Unfortunately, the planet is too small for
two people, and the prince departs, sad to leave the lamplighter
and a planet that has 1,440 sunsets
every twenty-four hours.
Summary: Chapter XV
On the sixth planet he visits, the little prince meets
a man who writes books. The man explains that he is a geographer,
a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, mountains, cities,
and deserts. When the prince asks the geographer about his planet,
the geographer says he knows nothing about his own planet because
it is not his job to explore it. A geographer collects information
from an explorer and then investigates the explorer’s character.
If the explorer has a good character, the geographer investigates
the explorer’s discoveries.
The geographer asks about the little prince’s planet.
The little prince tells him about his three volcanoes and his flower.
The geographer says that he doesn’t record flowers because they
are “ephemeral,” which he defines as “threatened by imminent disappearance.” The
little prince is shocked to learn that his rose is in such danger, and
he begins to regret having left her. He asks the geographer where he
should go next, and the geographer tells him that Earth has a good
reputation. Thinking of his rose, the little prince departs for Earth.
Analysis: Chapters XIII–XV
Instead of shaking his head and moving on as he does at
the first three planets, the prince takes the time to express his
disapproval of the businessman’s way of life. The extra time he
devotes to chastising the businessman shows that the businessman
epitomizes the flaws of the grown-up world more than any other character.
The prince astutely likens the businessman to the drunkard. Both
are so preoccupied by meaningless pursuits that they have no time
for visitors. The businessman is so riveted by the idea of ownership
that he cannot, when pressed, even remember that his properties
are known as stars. The prince further demonstrates the shallowness
of the businessman’s enterprise by pointing out that the businessman
is of no use to his possessions.
