Have been watching too many Korean and Taiwan dramas leave my brain as dry as desert. Little knowledge was absorbed during this period of stoning.

Yesterday I dug out some old books which I have bought long time ago but yet read.

There is this particular book call "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Few years back I did try to read it. But half way through I gave up. It has simple English, yet I was completely lost to all the words.

Again I start to read it. This time I cried.

It is a good book. NO… It is a great book.

Read it yourselves. You will understand.

"
'The desert is beautiful', he added. (The Little Prince)

Which was true. I have always loved the desert. You sit down on a sand dune. You see nothing. You hear nothing. Yet all the time something is radiating through the silence.

'What makes the desert beautiful,' said the little prince, 'is that somewhere it is hiding a well.'

" - The Little Prince.

This is so true.

Sometime we can’t sees what is in front of us. Yet we still press on.

Why?

Because we believe what we are looking for is out there.
This is HOPE. It is the most beautiful believe we can have.

"
'How I long for this water,' said the little prince. 'Give me some to drink.'

And I understood what he had been looking for.

I raised the bucket to his lips. He drank, his eyes closed. This water gladdened the heart. It was something other than a mere beverage. Its sweetness was born of our march beneath the stars, of the pulley’s song and the exertion of my arms. It was good for the heart, like a present. When I was a little boy, the lights of the Christmas tree, the music at midnight mass, the tenderness of the smiling faces, all these together made up the radiance of the present I received.

" - The Little Prince.

Once again, how True!

Sometime it is not what we received at the end. It is how the people around us that give meaning to the present we receive or give. A present by itself do not mean anything. The presence of the people we loved matter most.

"
'People have forgotten this truth,' said the fox. 'But you must not forget. You become responsible, for ever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose.'

" - The Little Prince.

Never though of a relationship that way.
Never seen things through the particular angle.
But again, not seeing it does not mean that it is right to hurt or disregard others.

"
But he did not answer. He said:

'What is important cannot be seen.'

'Yes, I know.'

'It's the same as with the flower. If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look up at the night sky. All the stars are in bloom.'

'Yes, I know.'

'It's the same as with the water. What you gave me to drink was a kind of music, because of the pulley and the rope… Do you remember… how good it was?'

'Yes, I know.'

'At night, you will look up at the stars. Mine is too small to point out to you. It is better that way. For you, my star will be just one of many stars. That way, you will love watching all of them… They will all be your friends. What is more, I am going give you a present.'

He laughed once more.

'Ah! Little prince! How I love to hear your laugh!'

'And that is my present – just that… As it was when we drank the water…'

'What are you trying to say?'

'The stars men follow have different meanings. For some people – travelers – the stars are guides. For others they are merely little lights in the sky. For others still – the scientist – they are problems to be solved. For my businessman they meant gold. But for all these people, the stars are silent. For you, the stars will be as they are for no one else.'

'What are you trying to say?'

'At night, when you look up at the sky, since I shall be living on a star, and since I shall be laughing on a star, for you it will be as if all the stars are laughing. You alone will have stars that can laugh!'

And he laughed again.

'And when you have got over your loss (for we always do), you'll be happy to have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And sometimes you will open your window – just like that, for the sake of opening it – and your friends will be amazed to see you laughing as you look up at the sky. Then you'll say to them: 'Yes, it's the stars; they always make me laugh!'
And they’ll think you are crazy. I will have played a mean trick on you.'

And he laughed again.

'As if, instead of stars, I’d given you a string of little laughing bells…'

" - The Little Prince.

Tears flowed creaseless here. If you do not understand why, read the book. If after reading the book you still do not understand, try to read it many years later again.

May be you will understand.

Labels: Book Review