
"What has brought you here?" "I have been having some trouble with a flower," said the little prince. "Ah!" said the snake. And they were both silent. "Where are the men?" the little prince at last took up the conversation again. "It is a little lonely in the desert . . ." "It is also lonely among men," the snake said. The little prince gazed at him for a long time. "You are a funny animal," he said at last. "You are no thicker than a finger . . ." "But I am more powerful than the finger of a king," said the snake. The little prince smiled. "You are not very powerful. You haven't even any feet. You cannot even travel . . ." "I can carry you farther than any ship could take you," said the snake. He twined himself around the little prince's ankle, like a golden bracelet. "Whomever I touch, I send back to the earth from whence he came," the snake spoke again. "But you are innocent and true, and you come from a star . . ." The little prince made no reply. "You move me to pity--you are so weak on this Earth made of granite," the snake said. "I can help you, some day, if you grow too homesick for your own planet. I can--" "Oh! I understand you very well," said the little prince. "But why do you always speak in riddles?" "I solve them all," said the snake. And they were both silent. |