A Summary

The Little Prince is a philosophical tale disguised as a children's story. It begins with a pilot who crashes his plane in the Sahara Desert. While trying to repair his aircraft, he meets a strange little boy with golden hair — the Little Prince. The Prince asks the pilot to draw him a sheep. As their friendship develops, the Prince tells the pilot about his own tiny planet, Asteroid B-612. On his planet, there are three volcanoes (two active, one dormant) and dangerous baobab trees that must be pulled out before they destroy the world. The most precious thing on his planet is a beautiful rose, proud and fragile. The Prince loves the rose deeply, but her vanity and confusing words make him unhappy. So he decides to leave. He visits six neighboring asteroids, each occupied by a foolish adult: a king with no subjects, a conceited man, a drunkard, a businessman who counts stars, a lamplighter, and a geographer who never goes anywhere. Through these characters, Saint-Exupéry criticizes adult absurdities — chasing power, wealth, and empty numbers while missing what truly matters. The geographer suggests the Prince visit Earth. On Earth, the Prince discovers a garden full of roses like his own. Heartbroken, he realizes his rose is not unique. But then he meets a wise fox who teaches him the most important lesson: "What is essential is invisible to the eye. It is only with the heart that one sees rightly." The fox explains that "taming" means creating bonds of love and responsibility. Because the Prince has spent time and care on his rose, she becomes unique in the universe. Eventually, the Prince meets the pilot in the desert. After finding a well of water, the Prince decides to return to his planet. He allows a snake to bite him, which the narrator understands as the only way for the Prince to leave his physical body behind. The next morning, the boy is gone. The pilot repairs his plane and leaves the desert. Years later, he still wonders whether the sheep he drew ate the rose. The Little Prince ends not with answers, but with a plea: if you ever meet this extraordinary little boy, please write and tell the narrator he has come back.