Explore Chapter 10 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.
He was near the asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, and 330. So, he started visiting them to learn more.
The first one had a king living there. He wore royal purple and ermine and sat on a throne that was both simple and majestic.
"Ah! Here is a subject," the king exclaimed when he saw the little prince coming.
And the little prince thought to himself: "How could he know me if he never saw me before?"
He did not know that for kings, the world is made simple. To them, all people are subjects.
"Come closer so I can see you better," said the king, who felt very proud to finally have someone to rule over.
The little prince looked everywhere for a place to sit, but the whole planet was filled and blocked by the king's grand ermine robe. So he stayed standing, and since he was tired, he yawned.
"It is not polite to yawn in front of a king," the king said to him. "I forbid you to do that."
"I can't help it. I can't stop myself," replied the little prince, feeling very embarrassed. "I have been on a long journey, and I have had no sleep..."
"Ah, then," the king said. "I order you to yawn. It has been years since I saw anyone yawn. Yawns are interesting to me. Come on! Yawn again! It is an order."
"That scares me... I cannot do it anymore..." whispered the little prince, now very shy.
"Hum! Hum!" replied the king. "Then I—I order you sometimes to yawn and sometimes to—"
He stammered a little and seemed annoyed.
What the king really wanted was for his authority to be respected. He did not allow disobedience. He was a king with complete power. But, because he was a good man, he made his orders reasonable.
"If I ordered a general," he would say as an example, "if I ordered a general to turn into a sea bird, and if the general did not obey, that would not be the general's fault. It would be my fault."
"May I sit down?" the little prince asked timidly.
"I order you to sit down," the king answered, and grandly pulled his ermine cloak around him.
But the little prince was thinking... The planet was very small. What could this king really rule over?
"Sire," he said to him, "please excuse me for asking a question—"
"I order you to ask me a question," the king quickly said.
"Over everything," said the king, very simply.
The king waved his hand, including his planet, the other planets, and all the stars.
Because his rule was not only total; it was also everywhere.
"Certainly they do," the king said. "They obey right away. I do not allow disobedience."
Such power amazed the little prince. If he had that much power, he could watch the sunset not just forty-four times a day, but seventy-two, or a hundred, or even two hundred times, without moving his chair. And because he felt sad thinking about his left planet, he got brave and asked the king a favor:
"I would like to see a sunset... Please be kind... Order the sun to set..."
"If I ordered a general to fly from flower to flower like a butterfly, or to write a sad play, or to turn into a sea bird, and if the general did not do it, who would be wrong?" the king asked. "The general, or me?"
"You," said the little prince firmly.
"Exactly. One must ask from each person only what they can do," the king continued. "Authority is accepted only if it is reasonable. If you ordered your people to jump into the sea, they would rebel. I have the right to ask for obedience because my orders are reasonable."
"Then what about my sunset?" the little prince reminded him, since he never forgot a question.
"You will have your sunset. I will command it. But, following my way of ruling, I will wait until the time is right."
"When will that be?" asked the little prince.
"Hum! Hum!" replied the king; and before saying more, he looked at a big almanac. "Hum! Hum! That will be about—about—this evening at twenty minutes to eight. And you will see how well I am obeyed!"
The little prince yawned. He was sorry to miss the sunset. And also, he was starting to get bored.
"I have nothing else to do here," he said to the king. "So I will leave and continue my journey."
"Do not go," said the king, who was very proud to have a subject. "Do not go. I will make you a Minister!"
"But there is no one here to judge!"
"We do not know that," the king said to him. "I have not yet seen all of my kingdom. I am very old. There is no room here for a carriage. And walking tires me."
"Oh, but I have already looked!" said the little prince, turning to see the other side of the planet. On that side, just like this side, there was no one at all..."
"Then you will judge yourself," the king answered. "That is the hardest thing. It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you can judge yourself correctly, then you are truly wise."
"Yes," said the little prince, "but I can judge myself anywhere. I do not need to stay on this planet."
"Hum! Hum!" said the king. "I have reason to believe that somewhere on my planet there is an old rat. I hear him at night. You can judge this old rat. Sometimes you will sentence him to death. So his life will depend on your fairness. But you will forgive him each time; because we must be careful with him. He is the only one we have."
"I," replied the little prince, "do not like to sentence anyone to death. And now I think I will go on my way."
But the little prince, having finished getting ready to leave, did not want to upset the old king.
"If Your Majesty wants to be obeyed quickly," he said, "you should give me a reasonable order. For example, you could order me to leave in one minute. It seems to me that the time is right..."
As the king did not answer, the little prince waited a moment. Then, with a sigh, he said goodbye.
"I make you my Ambassador," the king called out, quickly. He looked very authoritative.