XXIV

We were on the eighth day of my breakdown in the desert, and I had listened to the merchant's story, drinking the last drop of my supply of water:

"Ah! "I said to the little prince," they are very pretty, your memories, but I have not yet repaired my plane, I have nothing more to drink, and I should also be happy if I could walk gently towards a fountain !

"My friend, the fox," he said.

"My little fellow, it's no longer the fox!"

- Why ?

"Because we're going to die of thirst ..."

He did not understand my reasoning, but he replied:

"It's nice to have a friend, even if we're going to die. I am very glad to have had a friend fox ... "

"He does not measure danger," I said. He never has neither hunger nor thirst. A little sunlight is enough ... »

But he looked at me and answered my thought:

"I'm thirsty too ... look for a well ..."

I made a gesture of weariness: it is absurd to look for a well, at random, in the immensity of the desert. Nevertheless, we set out on the march.