“What does it mean – ‘To tame’?”
“It is a thing too often forgotten,” said the fox. “It means to establish ties.”
“To establish ties?”
“Exactly,” said the fox. “To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy, just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I don’t need you. And you don’t need me either. To you, I am nothing more than another fox, just like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we will need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. And to you, I will be unique in all the world…”
…Then he added:
“Go and look at those roses again. Now you will see that your rose is unique in all the world. Then come tell me goodbye and I will make you a gift of a secret.”
The little prince went back to see the roses again.
“You are nothing like my rose. You are nothing yet,” he told them. “No one has yet to tame you and you have tamed no one. You are as my fox once was. He was nothing but a fox, just like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world.
And the roses were embarrassed.
“You are beautiful, but you are empty,” he told them again. “One could not die for you. Of course, an ordinary passerby would believe my own rose, the rose that belongs to me, is just like you. But she alone is more important than all of you put together.
Because it is her that I have watered.
Because it is her that I have put under that glass globe.
Because it is her that I have protected with the screen.
Because it is for her that I killed the caterpillars (except for the two or three for butterflies).
Because it is her that I listened to when she complained, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing.
Because she is my rose.”
And then he came back to the fox:
“Goodbye,” he said.
“Goodbye,” said the fox. “Now here is my secret. It is very simple: It is only with the heart that one can see clearly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
“What is essential is invisible to the eye,” repeated the little prince so he would remember.
“It is the time you have devoted to your rose that makes her so important.”
“It is the time that I’ve devoted to my rose…” said the little prince so he would remember.
“People have forgotten this truth,” said the fox. “But you don’t have to forget. You are forever responsible for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose.”
“I am responsible for my rose…” repeated the little prince so he would remember.
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