The fox gazed at the little prince, for a long time.
"Please-- tame me!" he said.
"I want to, very much," the little prince replied. "But Ihave not much time. I have friends to discover, and a great many things tounderstand."
"One only understands the things that one tames," said the fox."Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all readymade at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship,and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me..."
"What must I do, to tame you?" asked the little prince.
"You must be very patient," replied the fox. "First youwill sit down at a little distance from me-- like that-- in the grass. I shalllook at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words arethe source of misunderstandings. But yo u will sit a little closer to me, everyday..."
The next day the little prince came back.
"It would have been better to come back at the same hour," saidthe fox. "If, for example, you come at four o'clock in the afternoon, thenat three o'clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier asthe hour advances. At four o'clock, I shall already be worrying and jumpingabout. I shall show you how happy I am! But if you come at just any time, Ishall never know at what hour my heart is to be ready to greet you... One mustobserve the proper rites..."
"What is a rite?" asked the little prince.
"Those also are actions too often neglected," said the fox."They are what make one day different from other days, one hour from otherhours. There is a rite, for example, among my hunters. Every Thursday theydance with the village girls. So Thursday is a wonderful day for me! I can takea walk as far as the vineyards. But if the hunters danced at just any time, everyday would be like every other day, and I should never have any vacation atall."
