Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Play-Sample Speech, "The Little Prince"

The Little Prince
(The Play, Advanced Speech Project #4 in the Interpretive Reading Manual, Aug.21,2008, ACT Club, Henlin, Northgate Alabang. Evaluated by Lolet Gabay, ACG/CL)


Is everybody familiar with the book The Little Prince?

We did a book review on the book The Little Prince not too long ago. And that was when I was in high school – not too long ago.

According to Wikipedia, the book has sold more than 80 million copies worldwide and has been translated in more than 180 languages and dialects. It was written by a pilot who’s also a writer by the name of Antoine du Saint-Exupery.

It's one of the best-selling books of all time. It has been adapted into a musical, into operas and plays. It has even been adapted into an animation series.

Although oftenly touted as a children’s book, The Little Prince makes many profound and idealistic points about life and human nature. The author tells of meeting an extraterrestrial prince in the middle of the Sahara desert.


The prince tells the author that he lives in a very small planet the size of house where he has 3 volcanoes and a flower. Throughout the book, the prince talks about how he cares for his small planet and his special care for his flower.

The prince cared and loved this flower very much but didn’t return his affections. Feeling very sad, the little prince decided to leave the planet. And in his journey, he managed to visit 7 planets.

The first 6 planets were very small also. He met the following in the 6 planets, a king, a conceited man, a drunkard, a businessman, a lamplighter and a geographer. The last planet he visited was the planet Earth.

Here, he realized that there were so many roses and that his flower in his planet was not unique after all. And he felt that he wasn’t really a great prince. Because of that he became very sad.

Now the segment of the play that I’ll be giving is in the later part of the book. It is the part that happens before the Little Prince finally leaves the Earth. It is the part where the Little Prince meets the fox.

The essence of the book is contained in the famous line that was uttered by the Fox to the Little Prince. So I encourage you to listen carefully for this famous line in the segment where the Little Prince meets the Fox.

FOX: "Good morning,"

LITTLE PRINCE: "Good morning,"

FOX: "I am right here, under the apple tree."

LITTLE PRINCE: "Who are you? You are very pretty to look at."

FOX: "I am a fox,"

LITTLE PRINCE: "Come and play with me. I am so unhappy."

FOX: "I cannot play with you. I am not tamed."

LITTLE PRINCE: "Ah! Please excuse me. But what does that mean — 'tame'?"

FOX: "You do not live here. What is it that you are looking for?"

LITTLE PRINCE: "I am looking for the people, the men. But what does that mean — 'tame'?"

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

LITTLE PRINCE: "No, I am looking for friends. What does that mean — 'tame'?"

FOX: "It is an act too often neglected. It means to establish ties."

LITTLE PRINCE: "'To establish ties?"


LITTLE PRINCE: "I am beginning to understand. There is a flower... I think that she has tamed me..."

FOX: "It is possible. On the Earth one sees all sorts of things."

LITTLE PRINCE: "Oh, but this is not on the Earth that I refer to!"

(The fox seemed perplexed, and very curious.)

FOX: "Oh? On another planet?"


FOX: "Are there hunters on that planet?"


FOX: "Ah, that is interesting! Are there chickens on that planet?"


FOX: "Nothing is perfect." (pause) "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 footstep that will be different from all the others. Other people’s footsteps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow.“


(The fox gazed at the little prince, for a long time.)

FOX: "Please — tame me!" he said.

LITTLE PRINCE: "I want to, very much. But I have not much time. I have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand."


LITTLE PRINCE: "What must I do, to tame you?".



LITTLE PRINCE: "What is a ritual?"

FOX: "Those also are actions too often neglected. They are what make one day different from other days, one hour from other hours. There is a ritual, for example, among my hunters. Every Thursday they dance with the village girls. So Thursday is a wonderful day for me! I can take a walk as far as the vineyards. But if the hunters danced at just any time, every day would be like every other day, and I should never have any vacation at all."

Narration: And so the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near —

FOX: "Ah… I shall cry."

LITTLE PRINCE: "It is your own fault. I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you..."

FOX: "Yes… that is so…"

LITTLE PRINCE: "But now you are going to cry!"

FOX: "Yes… that is so…"

LITTLE PRINCE: "Then it has done you no good at all!"

FOX: "It has done me good. Go and look again at the roses (points to roses). You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret."

(The little prince looks at the roses.)




(The Little Prince faced the fox.)


FOX: "Goodbye.And now here is my secret (pause) a very simple secret (pause.) It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."

(long pause)

LITTLE PRINCE: "What is essential is invisible to the eye."


LITTLE PRINCE: "It is the time I have wasted for my rose that makes my rose so important."

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

LITTLE PRINCE: "I am responsible for my rose."