Ang Munting Prinsipe

 The Filipino version of Saint-Exupery’s 1946 classic “The Little Prince” has just arrived. I thought of buying this “Ang Munting Prinsipe” published by Claretian Publications because I was just curious how the famous line “what is essential is invisible to the eye” may be translated into Filipino.

In chapter 21 of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, this piece of in-depth advice is shared with the prince by a fox, “Goodbye,” said the fox. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Now in Filipino translation: “Paalam”, sabi ng alamid. “Narito ang lihim ko. Napakasimple nito sa pamamagitan lamang ng puso makakakitang mabuti. Hindi kita ng mata ang pinakapuso ng mga bagay."

Yes, it is the fox which gave advice to the little prince. And now I know that when translated into Filipino, fox is “alamid” pala, hehe.

Now, I am not quite sure if my CSCST-PC (now Cebu Technological University) High School Batch ’86, still remember this “The Little Prince” conversation with the fox. But I still remember this was shared in our one week Recollection by a Catholic seminarian who was also contemplating at that time to pursue a full-time mission as a priest. It was held in the Physics Room of Mrs. Helen Brigoli because may be that room was too cool or serene for contemplating. It was also that time that we were confused or unsure if we could graduate high school because the nation was in chaos due to Edsa Revolution.

The seminarian reminded us of the values that we should never abandon – the importance of friendship, family, community and compassion. That conversation, the seminarian said, suggests passion and care, which the fox experienced when the prince tamed him. I thought everybody held back their emotions and tears when we burned all our angst written in a piece of pad paper one by one. I still remember that.

That time, I thought that The Little Prince was just a short story, and ended only with the prince’s conversation with the fox. Well, we didn’t have much books in our high school library then, nor internet, Google and Yahoo that time.

Now, I know that The Little Prince is a novel – that the prince had a lot of conversations with the pilot, the rose, the snake, the kings and a lot more. “People have forgotten this truth,” the fox said. “But you mustn’t forget it. You become responsible forever for what you’ve tamed. You’re responsible for your rose.” The rose, for Saint-Exupery, represents love, the way in which we tame each other and allow ourselves to be tamed. It is this invisible virtue that makes one, single rose special. It isn’t the flower itself, after all, there are fields and fields of roses out there. By outward appearances, a rose is like any other rose. So how is it different? It is the invisible bond of love.

The Little Prince is a story about looking: about how we see only what we are prepared to see; about the narrowness that can come with our perspectives. The knowledge that somewhere up there among the myriad little planets there was one with a prince and his beloved flower, a sheep, and three volcanoes (one extinct) made all the difference. And what about us? Will we too look at the world differently once this COVID-19 pandemic has passed? Or will we return to the routines and habits that defined our worlds before? Has the sheep eaten the flower? And you will see how everything changes …

Now, the little prince has grown into a young man. I still don’t know how that was possible. An Argentinian author A.G. Roemmers, in 2016 wrote a sequel, “The Return of the Young Prince,” which I guess might have been permitted by members of the Saint-Exupery family.

In this novel, no longer content with his tiny planet, the young prince sets off once again to explore Earth for an exciting new adventure. Written in contemporary times, the novel promotes that with education, faith, courage and temperance, it is possible to beat poverty, illiteracy and cynicism – that the redemptive power of love can help us confront the erosion of values in today’s world.