The Little Prince - by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Dedication
TO LEON WERTH
I ask the indulgence of the children who may read this book for dedicating it to a grown-up. I have a serious reason: he is the best friend I have in the world. I have another reason: this grown-up understands everything, even books about children. I have a third reason: he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs cheering up. If all these reasons are not enough, I will dedicate the book to the child from whom this grown-up grew. All grown-ups were once children - although few of them remember it. And so I correct my dedication:
TO LEON WERTH
WHEN HE WAS A LITTLE BOY
Chapter 1
Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.
In the book it said: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion."
I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked like this:
I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.
But they answered: "Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?"
My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:
The grown-ups' response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them.
Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say:
"That is a hat."
Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.
Vocabulary
Grown-up: adulto, pessoa adulta
Even: mesmo, até mesmo
Cheer up: alegrar-se
Although: apesar de, embora, contudo
Primeval forest: Floresta primitiva
Boa constrictor: jiboia
Swallow: engolir
Drawing: desenho, esboço, ato de desenhar
Prey: presa, rapina, vítima
Chew: Mastigar
Masterpiece: Obra-prima
Whether: se
Frighten: assustar, amedrontar
Advise: aconselhar, recomendar, advertir
Lay aside: abandonar, deixar de lado
Give up: abandonar, desistir
Dishearten: desanimar, desalentar
Tiresome: cansativo, desagradável
At a glance: Imediatamente, num piscar de olhos, num relance
At a glance: Imediatamente, num piscar de olhos, num relance
Concern: interessar
Improve: melhorar
Clear-sighted: lúcido, perpicaz
Improve: melhorar
Clear-sighted: lúcido, perpicaz
Necktie: gravata
This text is the chapter 1 of the famous book called The Little Prince. It's about a man who had a dream when he was a child. He wanted to be a painter. His first drawing was a picture of a boa constrictor digenting an elephant. But, when he showed his masterpiece to the grown-ups, they advised him to chose another career. So he became an airplane pilot. The man of this story was disappointed with the grown-ups. Because of that, he dedicates the book to the children and to a friend when he was a little boy. After that, in the next chapters, he meet the little prince, a captivating boy.
I like the text. It has many new words. It isn't too difficult to read and undestand it. I think that it's a good text to help us learn English. I like the story too, because, although it seems a story for children, it's in fact a story for us, the grown-ups, who never undertand anything by ourselves.
