Chapter V
Every day during our conversations, I found out more about the Little Prince’s planet, how he left it and about his journeys. The information came slowly as it accidentally emerged from his thoughts. That’s how on the third day, I learned about the danger from baobab trees.
This time, I need to thank the lamb again. Unexpectedly, the Little Prince asked me dubiously.
“Is it true that lambs eat small bushes?”
“That is true.”
“Good. I am glad.”
I couldn’t understand why it was important for the lamb to eat small bushes. But the Little Prince added.
“It means they eat baobabs as well, doesn’t it?”
I pointed out that baobabs are not small bushes, they are trees as big as a castle, and even if he takes a herd of elephants they won’t eat a single baobab tree.
My idea about the herd of elephants made the Little Prince laugh.
“We will have to put them on top of one another”, he said.
But he also commented wisely.
“Before becoming so big baobabs were small.”
“That’s absolutely true”, I said. “But why do you need lambs to eat small baobabs?”
He replied immediately.
“What do you mean why!?”
As if he was talking about obvious things. And I had to think hard to solve this riddle myself.
I found out that the planet the Little Prince lived on, as any other planet had both good and bad plants. As a result, there were good seeds from good plants and bad seeds from bad plants. But the seeds are invisible. They sleep deep below the ground until one of them decides to wake up. Then this little seed shyly at first, but later more confidently begins to push its small sprout up towards the sun. If it’s a radish or rose it is allowed to grow as it wishes. But if it turns out to be a bad plant it should be destroyed the moment you identify it.
There were awful seeds of baobab trees on the planet that was the Little Prince’s home. The ground of this planet was contaminated with them. You will never get rid of baobabs unless you catch them in time. It covers the whole planet. It penetrates the ground with its roots. And if a planet is too small and the number of baobabs is large they can break it into pieces…
“It’s all about discipline”, the Little Prince told me later. “After making yourself tidy in the morning it’s time to clean your planet very carefully. You need to make sure that baobabs are extracted in time and on a regular basis, just at the moment when you can distinguish them from the roses that they are so similar to in the early stages.”
“It’s very painstaking work”, the Little Prince added. “But it is very easy.”
Once he said to me.
“You should draw a beautiful picture so children where you live can recognise what my planet really looks like. It would be useful for them if they decide to go on a journey.”
He added.
“Sometimes there is nothing wrong in putting off some of the work for the next day. But when it comes to baobabs it always leads to a catastrophe. I used to know a planet where a lazy man lived. He neglected three small bushes…”
I did a painting of the planet according to the description of the Little Prince. I don’t want to lecture but the danger from baobabs is not fully realized, and it can be very harmful to someone who gets lost on the asteroid, so I have to explain properly.
“Children, be aware of baobabs! My friends like me, have been avoiding this problem for a long time without realising it. So for their sake, I tried hard while drawing this picture.”
The lesson I learned was worth the effort. You may ask me, “Why are there no other such beautiful pictures as of baobabs in this book?” The answer is easy. I tried. But I wasn’t so lucky with others. When I was drawing baobabs I excelled myself due to the inspiration and realisation of its importance.
