Антуан де Сент-Экзюпери - Little Prince. A1 / Маленький принц

Антуан де Сент-Экзюпери

Little Prince. A1 / Маленький принц

Chapter 1

I am six years old. I see a nice picture. The picture is in a book. It is a picture of a big snake. The snake eats an animal. Here is the picture.

The book says, Snakes eat the whole animal. And they sleep for six months. I think about the life in the forest. I make my first picture. This is my picture number one.

I show my fantastic picture to one person. And I ask this person, Are you scared? This person answers, How can I be scared? It is a hat. My picture is not a picture of a hat. It is a picture of a big snake. An elephant is inside the snake. Then I make my picture number two. The picture shows the inside of the big snake. Now people understand. This is my picture number two.

People tell me what they think. They tell me that it is not good to make pictures. They tell me that it is better to study geography, history, maths and grammar. After these words, I dont want to make pictures. I dont want to make pictures because my picture number one and picture number two are not good for the people. People dont understand simple things. And now, I am not a child. I am a big person. I have a job. I am a pilot. I fly planes. I fly in many countries. And it is true that geography is good for me. Geography can help me if I am lost in the night.

In my life, I work with people every day. The people are often serious. Sometimes I meet a person who is a little normal. When I meet this person, I show him my picture number one. I always have this picture with me. I want to know if this person understands life. But the person always says, It is a hat. Then I never speak to this person about big snakes or forests or stars. And we speak about work, sport and family. And the person is happy. For him I am a normal man. I live alone. I dont know people for an open conversation. But one day it all changes. I have an accident in the Sahara Desert. Something is broken in my plane. I have nobody in the plane with me. It is not easy to repair the plane alone. But I must do it. It is a question of life or death. I have water for only a week.

Glossary

whole целый, полный

fantastic фантастический

ask спрашивать

scared испуганный

answer отвечать

hat шляпа

inside внутри

number номер

show показывать

understand понимать

tell говорить, рассказывать

think думать

better лучше

study изучать

grammar грамматика

after после

simple простой

true правда

lost потерянный

serious серьезный

fly летать

often часто

sometimes иногда

meet встречать

a little немного

never никогда

star звезда

alone один

conversation разговор

change меняться

accident несчастный случай, авария

broken сломанный

easy легко

repair чинить

must должен

question вопрос

death смерть

only только

Chapter 2

The first night, I sleep on the sand. I am a thousand miles from a land with people. I think that no people are around me. So I am shocked when somebody speaks to me in the morning.

I hear these words, Please, draw me a sheep.

What?

Draw me a sheep!

I jump up. I look around. And I see a little man.

This is the picture of the little man.

My picture is not very good. The original model is better. It is not my mistake. I know how to draw only two pictures. They are pictures of a snake from the outside and a snake from the inside.

I look at this little man. I am really surprised. Dont forget that I am a thousand miles from a land with people. Something is very interesting. This little man is not tired. He is not hungry. He is not thirsty. He is not scared. He doesntlooklost in the middle of the desert, a thousand miles from a land with people.

The little man says, very slowly, Please draw me a sheep.

It is all very strange to me. I am a thousand miles from a land with people. I am in danger of death. But I take a pen and paper from my pocket. I want to draw a picture. Then I remember that I know only geography, history, maths and grammar. And I tell the little man that I dont know how to draw.

He says, It is OK. Draw me a sheep.

But I dont know how to draw a sheep. So I draw him a picture which I can draw. It is a big snake from the outside. And I am shocked when the little man says, No, I dont want an elephant inside a big snake. A big snake is a very dangerous animal. And an elephant is very big for me. Where I live, everything is very small. I need a sheep. Draw me a sheep.

So I make this picture.

The little man looks at the picture. Then he says, No. This sheep is ill. Make me another sheep.

I draw another picture.

My friend smiles at me, You must see it too. This is not a sheep. It is a ram. It has horns.

So I make another picture.

But this picture also isnt good.

This sheep is old. I want a sheep which can live a long time.

It is not easy for me. I dont have time for this. I must start my work on the plane. So I draw this picture.

And I say, This is a box. The sheep is inside.

I am surprised when I see the light in his face, This is what I want! Do you think that this sheep needs a lot of grass?

Why?

Because where I live, everything is very small.

I think that there is enough grass for the sheep. This is a very small sheep.

The little man looks at the picture. And he says, The sheep is not very small. It is a very nice sheep.

This is my first day with the little prince.

Glossary

first первый

sand песок

thousand тысяча

mile миля

around вокруг

shocked шокированный

draw рисовать

original оригинальный, исходный

mistake ошибка

outside снаружи

really очень, действительно

surprised удивленный

forget забывать

tired уставший

hungry голодный

thirsty жаждущий, хотеть пить

middle середина

desert пустыня

slowly медленно

strange странно

danger опасность

pocket карман

remember помнить

ill больной

another другой

ram баран

horns рога

which который

light свет

face лицо

grass трава

Chapter 3

I want to know more about the little prince. I want to know where he lives. The little prince asks me many questions. I also ask him questions. But he doesnt answer my questions. But when he speaks, I slowly start to understand many things.

For example, when he looks at my plane, he asks, What is this thing?

I answer, It is a plane. It can fly. It is my plane.

And I am happy when I tell him that I can fly. Then he says, What? Are you from the sky?

Yes, I say.

It is funny!

And the little prince starts to laugh. I am angry. My situation is not good. How can somebody think that it is funny?

Then he says, So you also come from the skyline me. What is your planet?

At this moment I start to understand more about him. I ask, Do you come from another planet?

But he doesnt answer. He looks at my plane again. Then he says, On this thing, you cant come from very far.

And he starts to think. Then he takes the picture with his sheep. And he looks at his sheep.

But I want to know more. So I ask again, Where is your planet? Where do you want to take your sheep?

He is quiet. Then he says, The box is a good thing. At night, I can use the box as a house for the sheep.

Yes. And I can also give you a rope. Then you can tie the sheep during the day.

But the little prince is shocked when I say this, Tie the sheep? It is a funny idea!

But if you dont tie the sheep, the sheep can run away. You can lose the sheep.

The little prince starts to laugh again.

But where can the sheep go?

It can go to many places. It can go left. It can go right.

The little prince says, The sheep can go away on my planet. It is OK. Where I live, everything is so small. He is a little sad. Then he says, Where I live, nobody can go very far.

Now I know a second important thing. The planet of the little prince is very small. It is like a house.

But it isnt really a big surprise. I know that we dont have only big planets like Earth, Mars or Jupiter. We have also hundreds of other planets. These planet are sometimes very small. If you want to see these planets, you need a very good telescope.