The fourth planet belonged to a businessman. This person was so busy that
he didn't even raise his head when the little prince arrived.
"Hello," said the little prince. "Your cigarette's gone out."
"Three and two make five. Five and seven, twelve. Twelve and three,
fifteen. Hello. Fifteen and seven, twenty-two. Twenty-two and six, twenty-eight.
No time to light it again. Twenty-six and five, thirty-one. Whew! That amounts
to five-hundred-and-one million, six hundred-twenty-two thousand, seven
hundred thirty-one."
"Five-hundred million what?"
"Hmm? You're still there? Five-hundred-and-one million... I don't
remember... I have so much work to do! I'm a serious man. I can't be bothered
with trifles! Two and five, seven..."
"Five-hundred-and-one million what?" repeated the little prince, who had
never in his life let go of a question once he had asked it.
The businessman raised his head.
"For the fifty-four years I've inhabited this planet, I've been interrupted
only three times. The first time was twenty-two years ago, when I was
interrupted by a beetle that had fallen onto my desk from god knows where. It
made a terrible noise, and I made four mistakes in my calculations. The second
time was eleven years ago, when I was interrupted by a fit of rheumatism. I don't
get enough exercise. I haven't time to take strolls. I'm a serious person. The third
time... is right now! Where was I? Five hundred-and-one million..."
"Million what?"
The businessman realized that he had no hope of being left in peace.
"Oh, of those little things you sometimes see in the sky."
"Flies?"
"No, those little shiny things."
"Bees?"
"No, those little golden things that make lazy people daydream. Now, I'm a
serious person. I have no time for daydreaming."
"Ah! You mean the stars?"
"Yes, that's it. Stars."
"And what do you do with five-hundred million stars?"
"Five-hundred-and-one million, six-hundred- twenty-two thousand, seven
hundred thirty-one. I'm a serious person, and I'm accurate."
"And what do you do with those stars?"
"What do I do with them?"
"Yes."
"Nothing. I own them."
"You own the stars?"
"Yes."
"But I've already seen a king who -"
"Kings don't own. They 'reign' over... It's quite different."
"And what good does owning the stars do you?"
"It does me the good of being rich."
"And what good does it do you to be rich?"
"It lets me buy other stars, if somebody discovers them."
The little prince said to himself, "This man argues a little like my
drunkard." Nevertheless he asked more questions. "How can someone own the
stars?"
"To whom do they belong?" retorted the businessman grumpily.
"I don't know. To nobody."
"Then they belong to me, because I thought of it first."
"And that's all it takes?"
"Of course. When you find a diamond that belongs to nobody in particular,
then it's yours. When you find an island that belongs to nobody in particular, it's
yours. When you're the first person to have an idea, you patent it and it's yours.
Now I own the stars, since no one before me ever thought of owning them."
"That's true enough," the little prince said. "And what do you do with
them?"
"I manage them. I count them and then count them again," the
businessman said. "It's difficult work. But I'm a serious person!"
The little prince was still not satisfied. "If I own a scarf, I can tie it around
my neck and take it away. If I own a flower, I can pick it and take it away. But
you can't pick the stars!"
"No, but I can put them in the bank."
"What does that mean?"
"That means that I write the number of my stars on a slip of paper. And
then I lock that slip of paper in a drawer."
"And that's all?"
"That's enough!"
"That's amusing," thought the little prince. "And even poetic. But not very
serious." The little prince had very different ideas about serious things from
those of the grown-ups. "I own a flower myself," he continued, "which I water
every day. I own three volcanoes, which I rake out every week. I even rake out
the extinct one. You never know. So it's of some use to my volcanoes, and it's
useful to my flower, that I own them. But you're not useful to the stars."
The businessman opened his mouth but found nothing to say in reply, and
the little prince went on his way.
"Grown-ups are certainly quite extraordinary," was all he said to himself as
he continued on his journey.
