.png)
I had thus learned a second fact of great importance: this was that the planet the little prince came from was scarcely any larger than a house!
But that did not really surprise me much. I knew very well that in addition to the great planets- such as the Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus-- to which we have given names, there are also hundreds of others, some of which are so small that one has a hard time seeing them through the telescope. When an astronomer discovers one of these he does not give it a name, but only a number. He might call it, for example, "Asteroid 325."
I have serious reason to believe that the planet from which the little prince came is the asteroid known as B-612.
This
asteroid
has only once been seen
through
the
telescope.
That was
by
a
Turkish astronomer,
in
1909.
.png)
On making
his
discovery,
the
astronomer
had presented it
to
International Astronomical Congress,
in
a
great
demonstration.
But
he was
in Turkish costume,
and so
nobody
would believe
what
he said.
.png)
Grown-ups are like that . . .
Fortunately,
however,
for
the
reputation
of
Asteroid
B-612,
a
Turkish dictator
made
a
law
that
his
subjects,
under pain of death,
should
change
to
European costume.
So
in
1920
the
astronomer
gave his demonstration all over again,
dressed
with
impressive style and elegance.
And
this time
everybody
accepted
his
report.
.png)
If I have told you these details about the asteroid, and made a note of its number for you, it is on account of the grown-ups and their ways. Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?" Instead, they demand: "How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?" Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.
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