Chapter 2

So I lived my life alone, without anyone that I could really talk to, until I had an accident with my plane in the Desert of Sahara, six years ago. Something was broken in my

engine moteur
motor

. And as I had with me neither a mechanic nor any passengers, I set myself to attempt the difficult repairs all alone. It was a question of life or death for me:

I had scarcely enough drinking water J'avais à peine de l'eau à boire
apenas tenía agua de beber

to last a week.

The first night, then, I went to sleep

on the sand sur le sable
sobre la arena

, a thousand miles from any human habitation. I was more isolated than a

shipwrecked sailor naufragé
náufrago

on a

raft radeau
balsa

in the middle of the ocean.

Thus alors, par conséquent
así, por consiguiente, pues

you can imagine my amazement,

at sunrise au lever du jour
al amanecer

, when I was awakened by an

odd étrange, bizarre, curieux, drôle de
extraño, raro

little voice. It said:

"

If you please-- draw me a sheep S'il vous plaît...dessine-moi un mouton
por favor... dibújame un cordero/una oveja

!"

"What!"

"Draw me a sheep!"

I jumped to my feet j'ai sauté sur mes pieds
me puse de pie de un salto

, completely

thunderstruck stupéfié, effrayé
atónito, asombrado

.

I blinked my eyes j’ai frotté mes yeux
me froté los ojos

hard. I looked carefully all around me. And I saw a most extraordinary small person, who

stood se tenait debout
estaba ahí, permanecía

there examining me with great seriousness. Here you may see the best portrait that, later, I was able to make of him. But my drawing is certainly very much less

charming ravissant, charmant, séduisant
encantador, cautivador

than its model.

That, however, is not my fault. The grown-ups discouraged me in my painter's career when I was six years old, and I never learned to draw anything, except boas from the outside and boas from the inside.

Now

I stared at j’ai regardé
miré

this sudden apparition with my eyes fairly starting out of my head in

astonishment étonnement
admiración

. Remember, I had crashed in the desert a thousand miles from any inhabited region. And

yet pourtant, cependant, mais
pero, sin embargo

my little man seemed neither to be

straying perdu
extraviado, perdido

uncertainly among the sands, nor to be

fainting from mort de (figuré)
muerto de (figurado)

fatigue or hunger or thirst or fear. Nothing about him gave any suggestion of a child lost in the middle of the desert, a thousand miles from any human habitation. When at last I was able to speak, I said to him:

"But-- what are you doing here?"

And in answer he repeated, very slowly, as if he were speaking of a matter of great

consequence sérieux, important
importancia, seriedad

:

"If you please-- draw me a sheep..."

When a mystery is too

overpowering impressionnant
impresionante

, one dare not disobey. Absurd as it might seem to me, a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death,

I took out j’ai sorti
saqué

of my pocket a

sheet of paper feuille de papier
hoja de papel

and my

fountain-pen stylo
lapicero, bolígrafo

. But then I remembered how my studies had been concentrated on geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar, and I told the

little chap petit bonhomme
muchachito

(a little

crossly de mauvaise humeur, avec colère
malhumorado, con ira

, too) that I did not know how to draw. He answered me:

"

That doesn't matter ça ne fait rien
no importa

. Draw me a sheep..."

But I had never drawn a sheep. So I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn so often. It was that of the boa constrictor from the outside. And I was

astounded stupéfait
estupefacto

to hear the

little fellow petit bonhomme
hombrecito

greet it with.

"No, no, no! I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor. A boa constrictor is a very dangerous creature, and an elephant is very

cumbersome encombrant
voluminoso, que ocupa mucho espacio

. Where I live, everything is very small. What I need is a sheep. Draw me a sheep.

So then I made a drawing.

He looked at it carefully, then he said:

"No. This sheep is already very sickly. Make me another."

So I made another drawing.

My friend smiled gently and indulgently.

"

You see yourself tu vois, tu vois bien
ves, lo ves

," he said, "that this is not a sheep. This is a

ram bélier
carnero (macho)

. It has

horns cornes
cuernos

."

So then I did my drawing over once more.

But it was rejected too, just like the others.

"This one is too old. I want a sheep that will live a long time."

By this time my patience was exhausted, because

I was in a hurry to j'avais hâte de
tenía prisa por, estaba deseoso de

start taking my engine apart. So

I tossed off j’ai griffonné
garabateé (del verbo garabatear)

this drawing.

And

I threw out j’ai lancé, j’ai ajouté
lancé, agregué

an explanation with it.

"This is only his box. The sheep you asked for is inside."

I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my

young judge jeune juge
joven juez, juececito

:

"That is exactly the way I wanted it! Do you think that this sheep will have to have

a great deal of beaucoup de
muchísimo

grass?"

"Why?"

"Because where I live everything is very small..."

"There will surely be enough grass for him," I said. "It is a very small sheep that I have given you."

He bent his head over the drawing il pencha la tête vers le dessin
se inclinó hacia el dibujo, dirigió sus ojos hacia el dibujo

:

"

Not so small that pas si petit que ça
bueno, no tan pequeño

-- Look! He has gone to sleep..."

And that is how

I made the acquaintance j’ai fait la connaissance
conocí

of the little prince.

chapter 1           en anglais           chapter 3