By Wang Yuxuan

This winter vacation, I re-read the book The Little Prince, a novel written and illustrated by a French aristocrat and pilot, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The book explores various planets in the universe through the innocent but wise perspective of the little prince. I first went through the novel when I was 16.

During last semester, I had a hard time with pressure and loneliness. I lost one of my best friends. Most of the time, I think I lost myself in this large world. I spent too much time on things I didn’t like and ignored what I cared about.

As a result, I reopened this book immediately after finishing the final exam, hoping to find myself again with the little prince. At this time, I fell in love with the chapter about the sunset.

"One day," you said to me, "I saw the sunset forty-four times!" And a little later, you added: "You know, one loves the sunset when one is so sad..." "Were you so sad, then?" I asked, "On the day of the forty-four sunsets?" But the little prince made no reply.

Although the sunset is beautiful, it has a sad color because of loss. In modern society, the pace is always too fast and busy. I seldom have time to slow down and sort out my emotions.


The first time I realized I might become an adult was when I found out that I was breaking down but still had to pretend like nothing happened. The Little Prince tells me that being sad is acceptable and that we should take a break and enjoy the sunset.

This era is changing at every moment, and we are all afraid of being abandoned. While being nervous, you can re-read the book The Little Prince and look at this complex world with virgin's eyes. Just be a simple kid!