CHAPTER 6 – TREES

So I thought that on the planet where the little prince lived, there were, as on all planets, good plants and bad plants. And there were also good seeds of good plants and bad seeds of bad plants. But we can’t see seeds. They sleep deep in the ground until one of them wants to wake up. Then it begins to grow slowly to the sun.

When it’s very small, you don’t know if it is a carrot seed or a rose seed. And you can let it grow as it wants. But if it is a bad plant, it is necessary to destroy the plant immediately, when you can see it.

And the truth was that there were some terrible seeds on the planet of the little prince. These were the seeds of baobabs. The ground of the planet was full of them. If you see a baobab too late, you will never be able to destroy it. It will go over the whole planet. Its roots will go right through it. And if the planet is too small, and if there are many baobabs, they will tear the planet to pieces.

“It’s a question of discipline,” the little prince later told me.

“When you finish washing and you put on your clothes each morning, then it’s time to clean your planet very carefully. It’s necessary to pull the baobabs, when you can see them. Sometimes it isn’t easy because they are similar to roses when they are very young. It’s a very boring job, but very easy.”

And one day he said to me, “You should draw a beautiful picture which will show all this to the children. This information will be useful to them if they travel one day.

It’s sometimes OK to postpone your work. But when it comes to baobabs, it’s always a catastrophe. I knew a planet with a lazy man. He forgot to pull three little bushes.”

And, when the little prince described it to me, I drew this planet.

I don’t want to be a moralist. But the danger of baobabs is so little known. And there is a great possibility that if you are lost on an asteroid, you will meet such danger. So now I will tell you what you must do. I will say it in simple words.

“Children, be careful with baobabs!”

I worked so hard on this picture because I wanted to tell my friends about a danger which they didn’t know for a long time. The lesson which I am teaching you now is very important.

Maybe, you ask yourself, “Why are there no other pictures in this book as big as the picture of the baobabs?”

The answer is very simple. When I drew the baobabs, it was so important for me to give you this information.