There would end any talk about boa constrictors, or ancient forests, or the stars. But, no matter who it was, the answer would always be, вЂIt is a hat.вЂ™

Whenever I felt I met someone sensible, I experimented by showing him or her my Drawing Number One, which I always carried with me. However, knowing them closely hasnвЂ™t much improved my opinion of them. Through the years I have encountered many people of importance and spent a great deal of time among grown-ups. I can easily distinguish China from Arizona, and such knowledge is important if you get lost in the dark. I flew all over the world and found that geography was very useful to me. Hence, I chose a different occupation, and learned to fly airplanes. Grown-ups find it hard to understand anything on their own, and it is tiring for children to always have to explain things to them. That is why at six years of age, I gave up a promising career as an artist, disappointed by the failure of Drawing Number One and Drawing Number Two. This time, the grown-ups advised me to put away my representations of the boa constrictor, be it from the inside or the outside, and instead spend my time learning geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. So, I made another drawing showing the elephant inside the boa constrictor. But the grown-ups need explanations for everything. вЂScared? Why, it is only a hat!вЂ™Д«ut it was not a hat! It was very clearly a boa constrictor digesting an elephant.

I showed my fine work to the grown-ups, and asked if the drawing scared them.

Then, with care and a coloured pencil, I succeeded in making my first drawing. I thought deeply about the experiences of the forest. After this, it is unable to move and sleeps through the next six months вЂ“ this is needed for digestion.вЂ™ It said in the book: вЂA boa constrictor swallows its prey whole, without chewing it. The picture showed a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing a wild beast. I was six years old when I spotted a magnificent picture in a book about an ancient forest.

The little prince boa constrictor