"They are pursuing the first travelers? Asked the little prince.

"They are not pursuing anything at all," said the switchman. They sleep in it, or they yawn. The children alone crush their noses against the windows.

"Children alone know what they are looking for," said the little prince. They lose time for a rag doll, and it becomes very important, and if they are taken away, they cry ...

"They're lucky," said the switchman.

XXIII

"Good morning," said the little prince.

"Good morning," said the merchant.

He was a merchant of sophisticated pills which appeased thirst. One swallows one a week, and one no longer feels the need to drink.

"Why do you sell that?" Said the little prince.

"It's a big saving of time," said the merchant. Experts have made calculations. We save fifty-three minutes a week.

"And what do we do for fifty-three minutes?"

- We make what we want ... "

"I," said the little prince, "if I had fifty-three minutes to spend, I would walk slowly towards a fountain."