The little prince watched him and he liked more and more this lamplighter who followed the order. He wanted to help his new friend.
“I can show you how you can stop your work when you want.”
“I always want to stop my work,” said the lamplighter.
The little prince continued, “Your planet is so small that you can walk around it in three long steps. You only have to walk more slowly and you will always be in the sun. When you want to stop your work, just walk and you never have to work again.”
“How can this help me?” said the lamplighter. “The one thing which I love in life is to sleep.”
“Then you’re unlucky,” said the little prince.
“I am,” said the lamplighter. “Good morning.” And he turned off his lamp.
The little prince continued on his journey. He said to himself, “The others, the king, the drunk man, the businessman would laugh at this man, but he is better than the others. It’s because he cares about something else, not only himself.
That man is the only one of them who could be my friend. But his planet is really too small. There is no place for two people.”
What the little prince didn’t want to say was that he didn’t want to leave that planet for one even more important reason. He didn’t want to leave because the planet had one thousand four hundred and forty sunsets every twenty-four hours!
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