The King

The little prince visited the asteroids , , , , , and , in order to add to his knowledge.

The first one was inhabited by a king. Dressed in royal purple and white fur, he was seated upon a throne that was both simple and magnificent.

"Ah! Here is a subject!" exclaimed the king when he saw the little prince.

The little prince looked everywhere for a place to sit. But the entire planet was covered by the king's magnificent fur robe. So he remained standing and, since he was tired, he yawned.

"It is against good manners to yawn in the presence of a king," the monarch told him. "I forbid you to do so."

"I can't help it," replied the little prince, thoroughly embarrassed. "I have come on a long journey, and I have had no sleep."

"Then I order you to yawn," the king said immediately. "It is years since I have seen anyone yawn. Yawns are objects of curiosity to me. Come, now! Yawn again! It is an order."

"That frightens me now," murmured the little prince. "I cannot any more."

The king was a very good man who always made his orders reasonable. "If I ordered a general to change himself into a sea bird," he would say, "and if the general did not obey me, that would not be the fault of the general. It would be my fault."

"May I sit down?" asked the little prince.

"I order you to do so," the king answered.

The little prince wondered what this king actually ruled over. The planet was tiny.

"Sire, over what do you rule?"

"Over everything," said the king, with magnificent simplicity.

"Over everything? And the stars obey you?"

"Certainly they do. They obey instantly. I do not permit disobedience."

The little prince asked if the king could order a sunset. The king consulted a large almanac and announced it would be at twenty minutes to eight. But the little prince was already bored and wanted to leave.

"I make you my Ambassador!" the king called out hastily.

"The grown-ups are very strange," the little prince said to himself as he continued on his journey.