Explore Chapter 14 of 'The Little Prince' with the original English text, English translation, detailed IELTS vocabulary and explanations, and audio of the English original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
The fifth planet was really odd. It was the tiniest one. There was only space for a street lamp and a lamplighter. The little prince could not understand why there was a street lamp and a lamplighter on a planet in the sky with no people and no houses. But he thought to himself: "This man might be silly. But he is not as silly as the king, the vain man, the businessman, and the drinker. At least his job has meaning. When he lights his lamp, it's like he brings a star or a flower to life. When he puts it out, he puts the flower or star to sleep. That is a lovely job. And since it is lovely, it is really useful."
When he got to the planet, he greeted the lamplighter with respect.
"Good morning," said the little prince. "Why did you just turn off your lamp?"
"Those are the orders," replied the lamplighter. "Good morning."
"The orders say I must turn off my lamp. Good evening," said the lamplighter. And he lit his lamp again.
"There is nothing to understand," said the lamplighter. "Orders are orders. Good morning." And he turned off his lamp.
Then he wiped his forehead with a handkerchief that had red squares on it.
"I have a terrible job. In the past, it made sense. I turned off the lamp in the morning and lit it again in the evening. I had the rest of the day to relax and the rest of the night to sleep."
"The orders have not changed," said the lamplighter. "That is the sad part! The planet spins faster every year, but the orders have not changed!"
"Then—the planet now spins all the way around every minute, and I don't have a single second to rest. Every minute, I have to light my lamp and turn it off!"
"That is very funny! A day is only one minute long where you live!"
"It is not funny at all!" said the lamplighter. "While we have been talking, a month has passed."
"Yes, a month. Thirty minutes. Thirty days. Good evening." And he lit his lamp again.
As the little prince watched him, he felt love for this lamplighter who was so loyal to his orders. He remembered how he used to look for sunsets by just moving his chair, and he wanted to help his friend.
"You know," he said, "I can tell you how you can rest whenever you want..."
"I always want to rest," said the lamplighter. For a man can be both loyal and lazy.
The little prince continued: "Your planet is so small that three big steps will take you all around it. To stay in the sun, you just need to walk slowly. When you want to rest, you will walk—and the day will last as long as you like."
"That doesn't help me much," said the lamplighter. "The one thing I love in life is to sleep."
"Then you're unlucky," said the little prince.
"I am unlucky," said the lamplighter. "Good morning." And he turned off his lamp.
"That man," said the little prince to himself as he went on his journey, "that man would be looked down on by all the others: by the king, the vain man, the drinker, and the businessman. But he is the only one who does not seem silly to me. Maybe that is because he thinks about something other than himself."
He sighed with sadness and thought again: "That man is the only one I could have been friends with. But his planet is too small. There is no room for two people..."
What the little prince did not dare say was that he was most sad to leave this planet because it had 1440 sunsets every day!