Chapter 15 🔊✎
The sixth planet was ten times as big. It was inhabited by an old gentleman who wrote huge books. 🔊✎
“Look! An explorer!” he cried when he saw the little prince. 🔊✎
The little prince sat down at the table, a bit out of breath. He had done so much travelling! 🔊✎
“Where are you from?” asked the old gentleman. 🔊✎
“What’s the big book?” asked the little prince. “What are you working on there?” 🔊✎
“I am a geographer,” said the old gentleman. 🔊✎
“What’s a geographer?” 🔊✎
“He is an expert who knows where to find the seas, the rivers, the mountains and the deserts.” 🔊✎
“That sounds pretty interesting,” said the little prince. “Finally, a proper job!” 🔊✎ And he looked around him at the geographer’s planet. It was the most impressive one he’d ever seen. 🔊✎
“You’ve got a lovely planet,” he said. “Are there any oceans?” 🔊✎
“There’s no way for me to know,” said the geographer. 🔊✎
“Ah!” (The little prince was disappointed). “And mountains?” 🔊✎
“There’s no way for me to know,” said the geographer. 🔊✎
“How about cities and rivers and deserts?” 🔊✎
“No way to know either,” said the geographer. 🔊✎
“But you’re a geographer!” 🔊✎
“Absolutely,” said the geographer. “But I am not an explorer. I have no explorers at all. 🔊✎ It’s not the geographer’s job to count up the cities and rivers and mountains and seas and oceans and deserts. 🔊✎ The geographer is too important to go around doing that. 🔊✎ He stays in his office. 🔊✎ But he gets visits from explorers. 🔊✎ He asks them questions and he writes down what they say. 🔊✎ And if something an explorer tells him sounds interesting, he checks up on the explorer’s character. 🔊✎
“Why?” 🔊✎
“Because if the explorer was a liar, he’d ruin the geographer’s books. 🔊✎ Not to mention explorers who drink too much.” 🔊✎
“Why?” 🔊✎ asked the little prince. 🔊✎
“Because drunks see double. 🔊✎ The geographer might put down two mountains where really there was only one.” 🔊✎
“I know someone,” said the little prince, “who would be a terrible explorer.” 🔊✎
“That is entirely possible. Anyway, if the explorer’s character appears adequate, one performs a further check on the nature of the discovery.” 🔊✎
“No. That’s too complicated. 🔊✎ But you require evidence from the explorer. For example, if the explorer says he’s found a large mountain, you ask him to bring back large rocks.” 🔊✎
Suddenly the geographer became excited. 🔊✎
“But wait, you’ve not from here! You’re an explorer! You have to describe your planet to me!” 🔊✎ And the geographer opened his notebook and sharpened his pencil. 🔊✎ Geographers start by writing down what explorers say in pencil. 🔊✎ They don’t use ink until they’ve got evidence.
“Well?” said the geographer. 🔊✎
“Oh!” said the little prince, “my home planet is nothing special, it’s very small. 🔊✎ I have three volcanoes. Two active volcanoes and one extinct volcano. But you never know.” 🔊✎
“You never know,” said the geographer. 🔊✎
“We don’t include flowers,” said the geographer. 🔊✎
“Why not? It’s the most beautiful thing on the planet!” 🔊✎
“Because flowers are ephemeral.” 🔊✎
“What does ‘ephemeral’ mean?” 🔊✎
“Geography books,” said the geographer, “are the most reliable books there are. They never go out of date. 🔊✎ It is extremely rare to see a mountain change its place. It is extremely rare to see an ocean dry up. 🔊✎ We write about eternal truths.” 🔊✎
“But an extinct volcano can become active again,” said the little prince. “What does, ‘ephemeral’ mean?” 🔊✎
“Whether a volcano is extinct or active doesn’t matter so much,” said the geographer. 🔊✎ “What counts for us is the mountain. It doesn’t change.” 🔊✎
“But what does ‘ephemeral’ mean?” repeated the little prince, who had never in his life let go of a question once he had asked it. 🔊✎
“It means, ‘threatened with immediate disappearance’.” 🔊✎
“My flower is threatened with immediate disappearance?” 🔊✎
“Indeed.” 🔊✎
“My flower is ephemeral,” said the little prince to himself, “and she only has four thorns to defend herself against the world! And I have left her all alone!” 🔊✎
It was the first time he had regretted his decision. But he pulled himself together. 🔊✎
“What planet would you advise me to visit next?” he asked. 🔊✎
“The Earth,” said the geographer. “It has a good reputation…” 🔊✎