The Little Prince (42)

The Little Prince (42)

  " That frightened Me. . .I cannot, any more. .  ." murmured the little prince now completely abashed.

  " Hum Hum, " replied the King.

  " Then I ー I order you sometimes to yawn and sometimes to ー "

  He sputtered a little, and seemed vexed.

  For what the King fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected.

  He tolerated no disobedience. He was an absolute monarch. But, because he was a very good man, he made his orders reasonable.

  " If I ordered a generals " he would say, by way of example, " if I ordered a general to change himself into a sea bird, 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 ? " came now a timid inquiry from the little prince.

  " I order you to do so, " the King answered him, and majestically gathered in a fold of his ermine mantle.

  But the little prince was wondering. . . The planet was tiny.

  Over what could this King really rule ?

(42)