Talk:The Little Prince

Random comments

fr:Discuter:Antoine de Saint-Exupery#Le Petit Prince Gangleri 05:43, 2004 Oct 27 (UTC)

I've never used a talk page before, so I don't know if this is where this goes or not. The article currently contains the line "It is often used as a beginner's book for foreign language students.It is interesting to note that Saint-Exupery drew all the illustrations for the Little Prince himself, with a water-color paintbrush clenched firmly between his buttocks." I'm inclined to think that this is untrue, but I don't want to remove it because, well, you never know. --Angelmnemosyne 03:23, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Should the vain also be mentioned in the list of characters? Comrade-HW 02:45, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I added the "two extra main points". I believe those are commonly seen as the three main points of the book as they are reitterated very often throughout the book and are also spoken at the same time by the fox. --Sasha Bakale 19:42, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

The article is missing an important element: the Turkish astronomer. The author lets us know of the symbolic way his story is to be understood, thus requiring the use of a specific place in space: the Asteroid B612, so as to be taken seriously. The asteroid was, according to the story, discovered by a Turkish astronomer who presented his discovery to the French Academy of Science, but was not taken seriously because of his oriental outfit. Year later the Turkish astronomer repeated the demonstration, this time in western clothing, and was praised and accepted.

It is a key element in the story: who "grown ups" require certain protocol to accept ideas. A good editor or writer should add that part of the story to the description of the plot in the article. rafvrab (talk) 17:04, 3 April 2008 (UTC) 13:03, 03 April 2008 (UTC)

Introductory section, paragraph 2 reads "To date it has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, putting it at number 3 on the most printed books list, just behind the Bible and "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell." Besides being a bit of a shocker to read, it's blatently at odds with its reference, the Wikipedia list of Best selling books.

My first post... hope it gets to somebody who feels qualified to make the edit! E2k8 (talk) 02:30, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

The Opera

The Little Prince is now performed by the New York City Opera Company. It consists of all the characters of the true book, but with 32 children added...they play stars and orphans. Outstandingly said1!! What a sweet interpretation.

The Little Prince is being performed VERY soon by the San Francisco Opera Company with Cal Performances. I think that should be added on... it is true! Go to the SF opera page for more info.

Who is the Rose?

My perception from reading this book is that it is a suicide threatening arrow of Exupery's designed to penetrate the breast of a former lover (the Rose) and break off below the fletch. Does this have any credence? Who is the Rose meant to be in Exupery's life? - Julian Assange?

This is something only an 'adult' would think. -FeralCats

St. Exupery said the Rose was his wife, with whom he had a stormy and often-absent relationship. I believe she has also written a memoir acknowledging this. Vince

His wife, Consuelo De Sant-Exupery, wrote a memoir, but it was not found until after her death. Entitled "The Tale of the Rose, The Love Story Behind the Little Prince," it is a good read and may provide insight into his fictional works. His mistress also a published a book about Exupery, but I'm not sure what it is called. Any thoughts on adding his wife to the 'inspirations' section?

Novel or novella?

Is The Little Prince long enough to be considered a novel? It's about 90 pages, which would make it a novella. I'll change it to that, unless anyone objects.-Ian Morrison

One of the main points missed

No mention of the differences between the children's view and that of the "grown-ups", which were being underlined by the author throughout the book, was in the article. I tried to introduce it into the lead section, but I didn't go far enough for the detailed description. It seems, that much more work is necessary on this issue. Cmapm 12:37, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

What the lecture of the book teaches us

Re IMPORTANT. Every reader of the article will be convinced that the authors have not only read the book but have clearly understood it. Especially, the moral at the end when the little prince says: Et aucune grande personne ne comprendra jamais que ça a tellement d'importance!
What Saint-Exupéry is telling us is that if you have a child, you should never pay attention to what IT, the child, thinks is important. Who wants to think about whether the sheep ate the flower or not? Important is only what YOU think is important. This is the right way to teach.
So far, the American Wikipedia has internalized this important lesson. Not as well as its great Forepicture, the German Wikipedia, of course, but well enough. Let us hope this will never be forgotten: It is of no importance what any reader of Wikipedia thinks. What could an outsider know about the twin horrors of POV and ORIGINAL RESEARCH? How could he be the judge of what is an excellent aticle, what is quality, what is a subject for discussion, what is the function of a commentary, etc etc? Important is only the opinion of the editing community, i.e. the Autoren and, above all, the Administratoren.--BZ(Bruno Zollinger) 08:59, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

Re MISUNDERSTANDING. Le langage est source de malentendus, the fox tells the Little Prince. And that is also what mathematics tells us. Words can always be misunderstood in a thousand different ways, but they can be correctly understood in only one way. Which means that the chances of success of any communication that relies on words are practically nil. Strange man, that Saint-Exupéry. A very long fairy tale, tens of thousands of words just to tell us precisely that words will NOT do the trick? Every child knows this. A child learns every single day that grown-ups "just don't get it". No matter what he says and how.--BZ(Bruno Zollinger) 08:57, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Important Vocabulary Translations for English readers of French version

échouer- to fail décider de faire quelquechose- to decide to do something apprendre a faire quelquechose- to learn to do something se mettre a faire quelquechose- to begin to do something essayer de faire quelquechose- to try to do something demander a quelqu'un de faire quelquechose- to ask someone to do something autrefois- formerly

Chaiptre 1 lorsque- when When I was 6 years old, I saw, once, a magnificent picture, in a book on the Virgin Forest that was called "Live History." Lorsque j'avais six ans, j'ai vu, une fois, une magifique image, dans un livre sur la Virgit Foret qui s'appellai "Live Histories"

sans + infinitive-- without doing sans parler- without speaking One said in the book, "The snake boas swallow their prey completely without chewing it" On disait dans le livre, "Les snake boas avalent leur tout entiere, sans la marcher.

J'ai beaucoup réflechi- I thought a lot I then thought a lot on the adventures of the jungle and, to my turn, I succeeded, with a color pencil, to trace my first drawing. J'ai alors beaucoup réfléchi sur les aventures de la jungle et, à mon tour, j'ai réussi, avec un crayon de couleur, à tracer mon premier dessin.

Je les ai vues de tres pres- agreement with past participle ne ni ni Je ne parle ni espagnol ni francais.

        I don't speak spanish or french.
        Then I did not speak to him or snakes boas, or of virgin forests, or of stars.  
        Alors je ne lui parlais ni de serpents boas, ni de forêts vierges, ni d'étoiles.
        Neither my father nor my mother speak french.
        Ni mon père ni ma mère parlent français. 

Chaiptre 2

à peine- hardly
      I hardly had water to drink for eight days.
      J'avais à peine de l'eau à boire pour huit jours.  
etonnement- astonishment
      I watched this apparition with eyes all round ones of astonishment.  
      Je regardai donc cette apparition avec des yeux tout ronds d'étonnement.
oser- to dare
      When the mystery is too impressive, one does not dare to disobey.  
      Quand le mystère est trop impressionnant, on n'ose pas désobéir.
tout a fait- exactly, precisely
      This is exactly how I wanted it.
      C'est tout a fait comme ça que je le voulais!

Chaiptre 3

poser une question- to ask a question
      He asked a question.
      Il a posé une question.

etre fier(e) de- to be proud of
      He is proud of the boy.
      Il est fier du garcon.

un éclat de rire/éclater- a burst of laughter, to burst

     And the small prince burst out a laugh. 
     Et le petit prince un éclat de rire

n'importe qui, (ou, quand, quoi)- anyone *anywhere, anytime, anything)

      But if you do not attach it, il will not go anywhere, and it will lose itself
     -Mais si tu ne l'attaches pas, il ira n'importe où, et il se perdra… 

le mien, la mienne (mine)

      There was on a star, a planet, mine, the Earth, a small prince to console!  
      - Il y avait une etoile, une planete, la mienne, la Terre, le petit prince consoler 

Chaiptre 4

 gràce à , à cause de, parce que-- because
       But person had not believed http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:The_Little_Prince&action=submitit because of his suit.  
       Mais personne ne l'a cru à cause de son costume.

grace a- positive feeling, followed by noun a cause de- negative feeling, followed by noun parce que- followed by subject and verb

se moquer de quelquechose (quelqu'un)- to make fun of something (someone) But, of course, we that understand life, we make fun of several numbers! Mais, bien sur, nous comprenons la vie, nous nous moquons de plusant nombres.

se souvenir de quelquechose (quelqu'un)- to remember something (someone) avoir l'air- to seem Pour ceux qui comprennent la vie, ça aurait eu l'air beaucoup plus vrai For those that understand life, that would have seemed a lot truer one.

tant de + nom- so many (tant de choses- so many things) J'éprouve tant de chagrin à raconter ces souvenirs. I feel so many sad feelings to relate these memories.

eprouver- to feel (J'eprouve tant de chagrin- I feel so much sadness.) afin de+ infinitive- so as to (afin de souvenir- so as to remember) s'interesser a quelquechose- to be interested in something

donc, ainsi- therefore, thus I had thus learned a second thing very important J'avais ainsi appris un deuxieme chose tres important.

se tromper de quelquechose (quelqu'un)- to be mistaken, wrong about something (someone) I will be mistaken at last on certain more important details. Je me tromperai enfin sur certain details plys importants.

semblable a- similar to I believed maybe similar to him. Il a cru sememble a lui.

Snake

I removed your comment about the snake for two reasons. The lesser of the two was that it was conjectural and not based off of any referenced source. The main reason I removed it was because I looked at the Cerastes and it mentioned that their venom is not particularly potent. b_cubed 20:37, 7 November 2006 (UTC)

Pop Culture

Moby has a music video for the song Natural Blues, titled The Little Idiot, named after The Little Prince. I think it should be included in the pop culture section, since it obviously is a pop culture reference. smithjacob 00:26, 9 November 2006 (UTC)

Tout petit la planète

Reviewing the lyrics to the song 'Tout petit la planète' by Plastic Bertrand (quick link: http://www.paroles.net/chansons/22797.htm), it seems very much to be about Le Petit Prince. Even at first glance it draws similarities, between the title of the song and the prince often repeating "Chez moi, c'est tout petit" (Where I come from is very small). Seeing an airplane for the first time and calling it a mushroom, meeting strange grownups that the speaker finds absurd, and possibly other parallels I've missed. (I'm only familiar with the French versions of either source, and I'm a little rusty on Le Petit Prince's vocab) Would someone more experienced than I in editing Wikipedia articles make mention of this in the Pop Culture section? Or if I've made some grave mistake in my comparison, please let me know! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 4.239.186.62 (talk) 00:13, 5 May 2007 (UTC).

Why only give Irene Testot-Ferry's version?

It is very strange that Katherine Woods' translation is not mentioned during the entire article, even though it appeared before the French original, and that the box at the top gives only Irene Testot-Ferry as the translator. Besides the famous Wood translation and that of Testot-Ferry, there are actually two other translations of this book into English (by Howard and Cuffe).

Bathrobe 08:02, 16 May 2007 (UTC)

I've changed it to Katherine Woods. The fact that the above comment has been completely ignored suggests to me that Wikipedia is dying.

Bathrobe 06:05, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

Friends becoming into sheep?!

This is how the English translation goes:

I should have liked to begin this story in the fashion of the fairy-tales. I should have like to say: "Once upon a time there was a little prince who lived on a planet that was scarcely any bigger than himself, and who had need of a sheep . . ." (Chapter 4)

The funny thing is that the French original and the German translation both write "friend" instead of "sheep":

J'aurais aimé commencer cette histoire à la façon des contes de fées. J'aurais aimé dire:

"Il était une fois un petit prince qui habitait une planète à peine plus grande que lui, et qui avait besoin d'un ami..."

Viel lieber hätte ich diese Geschichte begonnen wie ein Märchen. Am liebsten hätte ich so angefangen:

Es war einmal ein kleiner Prinz, der wohnte auf einem Planeten, der kaum größer war als er selbst, und er brauchte einen Freund...

I doubt if this change in the text is really justified... Adam78 23:01, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

This is a mistake in the translation by Katherine Wood. Other translations get it right.

Bathrobe 02:28, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

In this case the link to the English translation should be changed, I think, to a version that doesn't have this mistake. Do you know if the Testot-Ferry, the Howard, or the Cuffe translation is available online? Adam78 10:10, 29 May 2007 (UTC)

The Woods translation, despite the error that you've picked up, is accepted as the classic translation of The Little Prince, the one that everyone knows. I believe it actually appeared before the French one did. It would be fine to list the various translations, but it would be a mistake to pick out one of the other three as 'standard'. For better or for worse, Woods is the 'standard' translation. The Testot-Ferry translation is very similar (almost too similar) to Woods. The Howard translation has been criticised quite a lot for losing the poetic language of Woods' translation (for example, the translation of 'spring of water' as 'water fountain').

Bathrobe 00:13, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

"Orginial" language

Was the book originally published in English or French? DHN 05:07, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Take a look at this web page: [1]

Also this web page from the same site: [2]

This suggests that (1) the very first edition was published in the US and not in France and (2) the English version might have preceded the French -- but it is not conclusive.

Bathrobe 06:48, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Somebody has put Reynal & Hitchcock as the publisher of The Little Prince. Given that Gallimard is universally recognised as having the rights to the book, this seems to be unjustified, even if Reynal & Hitchcock did first publish the book back in 1943.

Bathrobe 02:16, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

Rachel Marsden addition

• Hi. Rachel Marsden is a controversial figure. The following edit should be referenced to a reliable source that identifies what play, what award and when it was performed. Quote: "*Political commentator Rachel Marsden composed a song about the Petit Prince which was performed in an award-winning play in Saint Jean sur Richelieu, Quebec." Canuckle 20:06, 15 June 2007 (UTC)
  • Having noticed that Wikipedia has deleted the main Rachel Marsden entry, I'm also taking this opportunity to delete the unsourced reference here, as per Canuckle's comments above. 206.248.161.214 (talk) 20:40, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating

This article was automatically assessed because at least one article was rated and this bot brought all the other ratings up to at least that level. BetacommandBot 08:13, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

External Links

I've cleaned up some external links but there are still 3 websites doing the same thing (list all the editions/translations of the book). Which one should we keep (or should we remove them all)? --antilived^{T | C | G} 10:43, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Hi, This is Patrick Tourreau (from http://www.patoche.org/lepetitprince/) The answer to your question is: it depends ;-) First, all those websites are great, usefull to the collectors' community and full of passion. Second because they are all a bit different and focus on a different aspect of the Little Prince.

Unless I am wrong, the 2 first ones (Jaume's and Gerhard, http://www.elpetitprincep.eu/index.html and http://www.petit-prince.at/collection.htm) contain the list of the books they actually have in their (impressive) collections. What I tried to do (and what I am trying to do when I can) is to update my list (http://www.patoche.org/lepetitprince/gallima.htm) with everyone's books, to get a complete list of what exists in the world.

So is my site better ? No, first because so far, it is only "synchronized" with Gerhard's site (it was up-to-date in march 2008), and I am a bit behind Jaume. Second because there will always be mistakes in it, I can't prevent it and it is always good to cross references.

A little conclusion: MICHAEL's! Once again, I may be wrong, and I exchange enough with Jaume and Gerhard for them to see no offense, but I think that the broadest online collection is Michael's : http://www.fotodesignerin.de/prinz/Le%20Petit%20Prince%20-%20langues.html. Many, Many books, Many languages.

So over all, if a choice was to be made in keeping only one link, I would put Michael's. But I think that we'll have to work a bit a set a wikipedia section for the translations!

By the way, as an answer to a few emails I get every year from students: NO, I won't read the book for you, answer your literature questions and do your homework for you. Read the book. And enjoy :)

Patrick Tourreau

Katherine Woods

Hello,

I am looking for the date of birth and death (if she died) of Katherine Woods. Any idea? Yann (talk) 11:27, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

I think the little prince is a great book... Although it is written for children, the content touches anyone of any age. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 203.125.155.3 (talk) 14:54, 19 June 2008 (UTC)