So then the seventh planet was the Earth.The Earth is not just an ordinary planet! One can count, there, 111 kings (not forgetting, to be sure, the Negro kings among them), 7000 geographers, 900,000 businessmen, 7,500,000 tipplers, 311,000,000 conceited men--that is to say, about 2,000,000,000 grown-ups.To give you an idea of the size of the Earth, I will tell you that before the invention of electricity it was necessary to maintain, over the whole of the six continents, a veritable army of 462,511 lamplighters for the street lamps.Seen from a slight distance, that would make a splendid spectacle. The movements of this army would be regulated like those of the ballet in the opera. First would come the turn of the lamplighters of New Zealand and Australia. Having set their lamps alight, these would go off to sleep. Next, the lamplighters of China and Siberia would enter for their steps in the dance, and then they too would be waved back into the wings. After that would come the turn of the lamplighters of Russia and the Indies; then those of Africa and Europe; then those of South America; then those of South America; then those of North America. And never would they make a mistake in the order of their entry upon the stage. It would be magnificent.Only the man who was in charge of the single lamp at the North Pole, and his colleague who was responsible for the single lamp at the South Pole--only these two would live free from toil and care: they would be busy twice a year.
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Thank you Ensie!
You are following the story carefully and thoughtfully.I've never thought about importance of those numbers. Maybe you are right and they are symbolic numbers. Maybe you are right and he'd been referring to some spacial important things.Maybe you are right and those six asteroids (where there are someone there with different symbolic character of ours ) are referring to distance between the little princes planet and our planet. Maybe you are right and its writer's wanted to show all reasons which had been cause of our rejection from paradise to the Earth. Maybe you are right and we could be so closer to his planet by over coming on those main problems.Maybe you are right and passing from those six stages put us at the gate of learning more about ourselves.And maybe you are right , he's been saying all of us are little princes but there are something between us as grown-ups and him as a child and we should try to think about them deeply as soon as possible.
Ensie said:
Hi Darush! I read his text but I didn't understand it completely.But I understood a little that I write here: He found himself in the neighborhood of the asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, and 330. He began, therefore,by visiting them, in order to add to his knowledge.
So then the seventh planet was the Earth.
In this story the little prince passes through a journey to know more.In his journey he passes through seven planets that the seventh is the Earth.I think these seven planets refers to seven stages that we should pass them to gain something important in our lives.As we know the number seven in most of cultures and religions is an important and maybe holy number,exactly like forty! For example like "Rostam's Seven Quests" that in this story Rostam,our national hero,passes through seven hard stages to save his sovereign.
And now you please explain more about it.
Many thanks!
Replies
You are following the story carefully and thoughtfully.I've never thought about importance of those numbers. Maybe you are right and they are symbolic numbers. Maybe you are right and he'd been referring to some spacial important things.Maybe you are right and those six asteroids (where there are someone there with different symbolic character of ours ) are referring to distance between the little princes planet and our planet. Maybe you are right and its writer's wanted to show all reasons which had been cause of our rejection from paradise to the Earth. Maybe you are right and we could be so closer to his planet by over coming on those main problems.Maybe you are right and passing from those six stages put us at the gate of learning more about ourselves.And maybe you are right , he's been saying all of us are little princes but there are something between us as grown-ups and him as a child and we should try to think about them deeply as soon as possible.
Ensie said: