The Businessman

The fourth planet belonged to a businessman. This man was so occupied that he did not even raise his head when the little prince arrived. He was counting stars — five hundred and one million, six hundred and twenty-two thousand, seven hundred and thirty-one of them — and he believed he owned them all.

"And what do you do with five hundred million stars?" asked the little prince.

"I administer them," replied the businessman. "I count them and recount them. It is difficult. But I am a man who is naturally interested in matters of importance."

The little prince was still not satisfied.

"I myself own a flower," he said, "which I water every day. I own three volcanoes, which I clean out every week. It is of some use to my volcanoes and of some use to my flower that I own them. But you are of no use to the stars."

The businessman opened his mouth but found nothing to say in answer. And the little prince went away.

"The grown-ups are certainly altogether extraordinary," he said simply to himself as he continued on his journey.