About a life devoted to the love for Folklore, Mythology, Legends and.....Art

Thursday, October 29, 2009

The Little Prince Shadow Puppet; A tribute to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry



(Please, click picture for bigger and better view)

The hand-cut, shadow puppet shown above is my tribute to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the writer of 'The Little Prince'. I carry this book with me, every day, in my handbag. Even more, I treasure it like some kind of crucifix, holding on to it whenever I am in need of consolation. This book has been part of my life for such a long time that it has become a true friend to me. And thus I wished to do something back for the little prince and his creator.

To show my appreciation and admiration, I thought there could not be a better scene to depict then the scene in which the little prince meets the fox. It is a story about true friendship as the following piece will show us....

It all starts when the fox, who is at first a stranger to the little prince, asks the boy to tame him. The little prince puzzled by these words asks the fox what 'tame' means, on which the fox answers:

"It is something which is too often forgotten, it means to establish ties....

To me, you are still just a little boy like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you have no need of me, either. To you, I am just a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, we shall need one another. To me, you will be unique. And I shall be unique to you.....

If you tame me, my life will be full of sunshine. I shall recognize the sound of a step different from all others. The other steps send my hurrying underground. Yours will call me out of my burrow like the sound of music. And look yonder!Do you see the cornfields? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. Those cornfields don't remind me of anything. And I find that rather sad! But you have hair the color of gold. So it will be marvellous when you have tamed me! Wheat, which is also golden, will remind me of you.And I shall love the sound of the wind in the wheat....

The fox became silent and gazed for a long time at the little prince. I beg of you..... tame me! he said."

The little prince, not aware of the important lesson he is about to learn, tells the fox he hasn't got time to tame him. As he has many things to discover and a lot of things to understand. But then the fox replied:

"One can only understand the things one tames"

Thus the little prince is tempted and finally agrees to tame the fox. From then they meet one another every day at the same spot and at the same time and through time they become close friends until eventually the day came for the little prince's departure.

But if you would like to know how the story continues, you should read the book for yourself. Trust me you won't regret it and it is most likely you will read the book over and over again.
I know I do, I must have read it about thirty times by now.

There is just one other thing I would like to say:

Thank you Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, thank you....

(Soon, this puppet will be for sale at my Etsy shop)

6 comments:

  1. So beautiful, both the puppet and the story. I read this book a long time go, think it's time to read it again :-)

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  2. Oh my goodness, this is one of your most beautiful shadow puppets yet. I love the flow to it. Your story about how the book has effected you was also so beautiful. I guess it's time for me to give this book a read!

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  3. Hey! I found you a bit randomly by following links from a blog award :)

    I love your artwork and am excitedly following tot see what you do next!

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  4. Thank you Heather! I am glad you found me :)

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  5. Hi, Isabella, I agree with these previous comments. I think that your shadow puppet is a wonderful tribute to "The Little Prince," one of the most beloved stories of all time. It is actually the third most read book in the world! For anyone who hasn't read the book, you must read it ! It is the kind of book, where even if you have read it before, you will see something different each time that you pick it up again ! That is the magic of St. Exupéry's writing !

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