The Little Prince Chapter 1-9 Summary – Flashcards

When the narrator was six, he read in a book that boa constrictors swallow their prey whole. This bit of information tickled his fancy and he drew the first of his drawings. When he showed his drawing to adults, they thought it was a hat. This really disappointed the narrator. You see, what the narrator had drawn was a boa constrictor that had swallowed an elephant. To clarify matters for them, the narrator drew the second drawing—the inside of the boa constrictor that had swallowed an elephant. But the adults advised the narrator to give up drawing altogether. (Shmoop thinks these drawings are pretty fantastic, especially for a six-year-old! But clearly, the adults the narrator knew didn't share our opinion.) The narrator goes on to grow up and become a pilot. Whenever he meets another adult he thinks he might connect with, he shows him or her his old drawing. (Don't know about you guys, but that's an icebreaker Shmoop uses all the time.) Sadly, everyone he meets thinks it's a hat. No one passes his friendship test.

So the narrator had been lonely all his life. (Aww...) But six years before, he has a plane accident in the Sahara that changes all this. (Cue flashback!) At the time, the narrator's plane has a faulty engine and he is forced to land in the desert, miles away from human habitation. There, he meets a small person who asks the narrator to draw him a sheep. The narrator is shocked, and doesn't know how to react to this bizarre situation; he ends up drawing his old drawing of the boa constrictor from the outside. And the strange little fellow says he wants a drawing of a sheep, not of a boa constrictor swallowing an elephant. (Wait, what? This guy just passed the friendship test!) The narrator then draws three sheep, all of which the little guy rejects: too thin, too old, and so on. (Too bad the narrator couldn't use the Internet) So the narrator finally draws him a box and tells the boy that the sheep is inside it. Surprisingly, the kid thinks this is perfect.

When this little boy (whom the narrator begins to call the little prince) learns that the narrator dropped down from the sky in his airplane, he reveals that he, too, came from the sky. The narrator deduces that the boy is from another planet. When the narrator offers to draw him a string he can use to tie the sheep, the little prince says that the place he comes from is very small. The sheep cannot get lost there.

We learn that the little prince's planet is no bigger than a house. The narrator believes it is in fact an asteroid named B-612. Now, we get a short aside about the discovery of this asteroid by a Turkish astronomer. The first time the astronomer made a presentation about his discovery, he was in Turkish costume so the other astronomers didn't take him seriously; the next time, he wore a stylish European suit, and was immediately heeded. Then the narrator tells us that he is giving us all these details about the asteroid to please the adults, who like facts and figures and labels more than beauty and the essence of things. He wants all his readers to take this book seriously. The reason he is writing it is because he does not want to forget his friend, the little prince; and he admits that the process of telling the story is painful for him. (Hmm—why is it painful? We suppose we'll have to read on to find out...)

Over the next few days, the narrator learns more about the little prince and his planet. There are baobabs on the prince's tiny planet. They start out as little weeds and will eventually grow to become "trees as big as castles" (5.7). These baobabs can split the planet apart if they are not gotten rid of early, and the little prince hopes that the sheep will eat the tiny baobab bushes and help him keep his planet free of baobabs. It is impossible to get rid of a baobab once it has formed deep roots. All it takes is some discipline to uproot the tiny baobabs as soon as they are spotted, the little prince says. This is tedious, but easy work. He asks the narrator to draw a picture of the baobabs in order to warn the children of Earth about them. The narrator asks readers to pay attention to it, saying it is the most important drawing in the book.

On the morning of the fourth day, the little prince reveals that he loves sunsets, and says to the narrator, "Come let us go look at a sunset now" (6.1). Then, the narrator has to explain to him that on Earth, sunsets only happen in the evenings. Of course, that's not how it works where the prince is from. Because his planet is so tiny, he can see a sunset at any time—all he has to do is move a few steps. One day, says the little prince, he watched forty-four sunsets. The prince says that he loves watching sunsets when he is sad. The narrator realizes then that the prince is melancholy. When he asks him about it, though, the prince says nothing.

Finally, on the fifth day, the narrator learns about something that really matters to the prince. First, though, the two have what's probably their first fight. The prince wants to know if the sheep (you know, the one in the drawing) eats only certain types of plants or eats all plants. He seems really concerned that the sheep might eat even flowers with thorns. The narrator isn't giving the prince his full attention because he's trying to fix his plane. So, he replies carelessly that the flower's thorns will be no protection from the sheep. This really upsets the prince. The prince accuses the narrator of being like other adults who cannot distinguish between important and unimportant things. To clarify what he means, the prince talks about a guy he met who is puffed up with pride and keeps saying he's busy. This man has never loved anyone or appreciated the beauty of flowers or stars—all he's done is add up numbers. And what's important to the prince? It turns out there's a particular flower on his planet that he loves, and so the question of whether a sheep might eat that flower is extremely important to him. He cries. The narrator is upset, too, and tries to comfort the prince.

In this chapter, we get to know the prince's flower better. Here's how that goes down: The prince tells the narrator about this one flower that he really loves. This flower is unlike all the other simple flowers on his planet. It took this flower a long time to arrive at her full potential, but when she emerged from her bud, the prince was moved by her beauty. The flower is rather vain and demanding. She claims her four thorns will be ample protection against tigers. She does, however, dislike drafts, so she asks the prince to make her a screen. At night, she demands he place her under a glass globe because his planet is very cold. But the flower's sharp words make the little prince unhappy. He tells the narrator that he should have known not to pay attention to the things she said and rather focused on her deeds: on how she cast her fragrance over his planet, and her beauty over him. He realizes that the things she said grew out of her insecurity, but he was too young then to understand how to properly love her. He ended up leaving her, which he regrets.

The prince departs his planet with a pack of migrating birds. But before he leaves, he tidies up his planet: he cleans out his two active volcanoes (which he uses to heat up his breakfast) and the one extinct volcano; then he pulls out baobab shoots. However, the prince and the flower have the hardest time with parting. She apologizes to him and seems different - less proud. She says she loves him, and that she has been silly not to show it. They are both sad to separate, and don't know when they'll meet again. (Saying goodbye stinks!)

We learn that the little prince's planet is no bigger than a house. The narrator believes it is in fact an asteroid named B-612. Now, we get a short aside about the discovery of this asteroid by a Turkish astronomer. The first time the astronomer made a presentation about his discovery, he was in Turkish costume so the other astronomers didn't take him seriously; the next time, he wore a stylish European suit, and was immediately heeded. Then the narrator tells us that he is giving us all these details about the asteroid to please the adults, who like facts and figures and labels more than beauty and the essence of things. He wants all his readers to take this book seriously. The reason he is writing it is because he does not want to forget his friend, the little prince; and he admits that the process of telling the story is painful for him. (Hmm—why is it painful? We suppose we'll have to read on to find out...)

Over the next few days, the narrator learns more about the little prince and his planet. There are baobabs on the prince's tiny planet. They start out as little weeds and will eventually grow to become "trees as big as castles" (5.7). These baobabs can split the planet apart if they are not gotten rid of early, and the little prince hopes that the sheep will eat the tiny baobab bushes and help him keep his planet free of baobabs. It is impossible to get rid of a baobab once it has formed deep roots. All it takes is some discipline to uproot the tiny baobabs as soon as they are spotted, the little prince says. This is tedious, but easy work. He asks the narrator to draw a picture of the baobabs in order to warn the children of Earth about them. The narrator asks readers to pay attention to it, saying it is the most important drawing in the book.

On the morning of the fourth day, the little prince reveals that he loves sunsets, and says to the narrator, "Come let us go look at a sunset now" (6.1). Then, the narrator has to explain to him that on Earth, sunsets only happen in the evenings. Of course, that's not how it works where the prince is from. Because his planet is so tiny, he can see a sunset at any time—all he has to do is move a few steps. One day, says the little prince, he watched forty-four sunsets. The prince says that he loves watching sunsets when he is sad. The narrator realizes then that the prince is melancholy. When he asks him about it, though, the prince says nothing.

Finally, on the fifth day, the narrator learns about something that really matters to the prince. First, though, the two have what's probably their first fight. The prince wants to know if the sheep (you know, the one in the drawing) eats only certain types of plants or eats all plants. He seems really concerned that the sheep might eat even flowers with thorns. The narrator isn't giving the prince his full attention because he's trying to fix his plane. So, he replies carelessly that the flower's thorns will be no protection from the sheep. This really upsets the prince. The prince accuses the narrator of being like other adults who cannot distinguish between important and unimportant things. To clarify what he means, the prince talks about a guy he met who is puffed up with pride and keeps saying he's busy. This man has never loved anyone or appreciated the beauty of flowers or stars—all he's done is add up numbers. And what's important to the prince? It turns out there's a particular flower on his planet that he loves, and so the question of whether a sheep might eat that flower is extremely important to him. He cries. The narrator is upset, too, and tries to comfort the prince.

In this chapter, we get to know the prince's flower better. Here's how that goes down: The prince tells the narrator about this one flower that he really loves. This flower is unlike all the other simple flowers on his planet. It took this flower a long time to arrive at her full potential, but when she emerged from her bud, the prince was moved by her beauty. The flower is rather vain and demanding. She claims her four thorns will be ample protection against tigers. She does, however, dislike drafts, so she asks the prince to make her a screen. At night, she demands he place her under a glass globe because his planet is very cold. But the flower's sharp words make the little prince unhappy. He tells the narrator that he should have known not to pay attention to the things she said and rather focused on her deeds: on how she cast her fragrance over his planet, and her beauty over him. He realizes that the things she said grew out of her insecurity, but he was too young then to understand how to properly love her. He ended up leaving her, which he regrets.

The prince departs his planet with a pack of migrating birds. But before he leaves, he tidies up his planet: he cleans out his two active volcanoes (which he uses to heat up his breakfast) and the one extinct volcano; then he pulls out baobab shoots. However, the prince and the flower have the hardest time with parting. She apologizes to him and seems different - less proud. She says she loves him, and that she has been silly not to show it. They are both sad to separate, and don't know when they'll meet again. (Saying goodbye stinks!)