But he did not reply to my question. He merely said to me: "Water may also be good for the heart . . ."
I did not understand this answer, but I said nothing.
I knew very well that it was impossible to cross-examine him.
He was tired. He sat down. I sat down beside him.
And, after a little silence, he spoke again: "The stars are beautiful, because of a flower that cannot be seen."
I replied, "Yes, that is so." And, without saying anything more, I looked across the ridges of sand that were stretched out before us in the moonlight.
"The desert is beautiful," the little prince added.
And that was true. I have always loved the desert.
One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing.
Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams . . .