The Little Prince

As the pilot and prince stand by the well, the prince talks about the pointlessness of people boarding trains without knowing what they're seeking. Ignoring the pilot's confusion over finding a village well in the Sahara, the prince begins to tug at the pulley. It begins to "groan," and the prince says that the well has "awakened" and is "singing" (69).

Worried that the bucket is too heavy for the prince, the pilot takes over hauling it up. As the prince drinks, the pilot suddenly realizes what the purpose of their search was: "The water was more than merely a drink. It was born of our walk beneath the stars, of the song of the pulley, of the effort of my arms. It did the heart good, like a present" (71). The prince then remarks that humans on Earth "grow five thousand roses in one garden" without realizing that "what they're looking for could be found in a single rose, or a little water" (71). The pilot agrees, and the prince says that people need to "look with the heart" (71).

A little later, after drinking from the well himself, the pilot unexpectedly begins to feel sad.