It was then that the fox appeared.

  "Good morning" said the fox.

  "Good morning" the little prince responded politely although when he turned around he saw nothing.

  "I am right here" the voice said, "under the apple tree."

  "Who are you?" asked the little prince, and added, "You are very pretty to look at."

  "I am a fox", the fox said.

  "Come and play with me," proposed the little prince, "I am so unhappy."

  "I cannot play with you," the fox said, "I am not tamed."

  "Ah please excuse me," said the little prince. But after some thought, he added: "what does that mean---'tame'?"

  "You do not live here," said the fox, "what is it you are looking for?"

  "I am looking for men," said the little prince.

  "What does that mean---tame?"

  "Men,"said the fox, "they have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?"

  "No," said the little prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean---tame?"

  "It is an act too often neglected," said the fox. "It means to establish ties."

  "To establish ties?"

  "Just that," said the fox. "to me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world. . ."

  "I am beginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is a flower. . .I think she has tamed me. . ."

  "It is possible," said the fox.

  "On earth one sees all sorts of things."

  "Oh but this is not on the earth!" said the little prince.

  The fox seemed perplexed, and very curious. "On another planet?"

  "Yes"

  "Are there hunters on that planet?"

  "No"

  "Ah that's interesting! Are there chickens?"

  "No"

  "Nothing is perfect," sighed the fox. But he came back to his idea.

  "My life is very monotonous. I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And in consequence, I am a little bored.

  But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow."

  "Goodbye."said the fox.

  "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye....

  It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important...

  Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose..."