Authors

biography

Nationality of Aesop - Ethiopian or

Greek
Lifespan of Aesop - He lived
approximately 620 - 560 BC
Life of Aesop - Slave - Author of
the book of fables

Famous Works - Aesop's Fable

book
featuring:
"The Goose With the Golden
Eggs",
"The
Fisher",
"The Lion and the Mouse" and
"The Sick Lion"

The life of Aesop is a bit of a mystery.

There is even some debate if Aesop
was an actual person or just a name
used by another writer. However,
there have been mentions of Aesop
in Greek history, which has allowed
historians to piece together a
biography (if it is true that he exists).
Many of the stories about Aesop
contain mythical interventions and
legends.

Aesop is believed to have been alive from

620 to 560 BC. It was believed that he was a
slave, but was given his freedom because of
his literacy and storytelling. He is also
described with many physical deformities
and a speech impediment that was healed
by a deity. Aesop was said to have escaped
punishment many times throughout his life,
often standing up to his accusers and telling
a story that showed the irony or the
characteristics of those punishing him. His
death is just as much of a mystery as his
life. It is believed that he stole a gold or
silver cup and was violently put to death by

Although Aesop is mentioned in

Greek history, particularly by
Greek historian Herodotus and
Aristotle, many scholars do not
believe that he actually existed.
There is simply just not enough
proof to confirm that he was
alive

Aesop is credited with more than six

hundred fables.Fablesare short
stories that teach a moral or lesson
to children. The stories are often
funny and the themes are easy for
children
to
understand.
The
characters of fables are usually
animals who act and talk like
people, but still have animal traits.
The fables tell a story and end with
amoralor lesson.

Some of the more well-known morals

credited to Aesop are: 'A bird in the hand is
better than two in the bush; beauty is only
skin deep; birds of a feather flock together;
choose the lesser of two evils; every man for
himself; let well alone; necessity is the
mother of invention; once bitten, twice shy;
one good turn deserves another; slow but
steady wins the race; think before you act;
and you cannot escape your fate'. There are
many more, but these are just a few of the
ones that we still say today.

Just like his morals, Aesop's fables are still

shared with children today. In one fable 'The
Ant and the Grasshopper', an ant is
gathering food for the winter while a
grasshopper plays. He encourages the Ant
not to worry about the winter, but just think
about the summer food they already have.
The Ant continues to work, and when winter
comes, the Grasshopper dies while the Ant
has plenty of food. The lesson stated at the
end is: 'It is best to prepare for the days of
necessity'.

Summary

In most examples of Aesops fables,

each animal symbolizes a different
human virtue or vice. The fox
represents cunning, the ass stupidity,
the lion ferocity, the ant industry, the
grasshopper laziness, the crow vanity,
and so on. By placing these creatures
in different combinations, the fables
comment upon the varieties of human
nature and criticize common human
foibles.

For example, in The Ass, the Fox, and

the Lion, a fox offers to betray his
friend the ass to the lion, provided that
the lion promises never to harm the
fox. The lion agrees to this proposal,
and the ass foolishly falls into the trap
that the fox prepares. Once the ass is
safely ensnared, however, the lion
turns and attacks the fox, proving that
those who act with treachery are
themselves often betrayed.

In a similar tale, The Lion, the

Ass, and the Fox Go Hunting,
the same three animals agree
to help one another by forming
a hunting party. Since each
contributes his own particular
skills, they are very successful
and, at the end of the day,
there is a great heap of booty.

Settings

Characters

The main characters are often named

in the title (the town mouse and the
country mouse, the north wind and the
sun, etc.) and they also frequently
animals, another subtle way signalling
the fictional, fabulous nature of the
story and its serious purpose. Animal
character speak and behave like
human beings, allowing the storyteller
to make cautionary points about
human behaviour pointing the finger at
real people.

Theme

Birds of a feather flocks together

Those who cannot take

care of their own, should
not be entrusted with the
care of anothers property.
We do not always like to be
taken at our word.

Authors
Biography

Antoine Jean-Baptiste Marie

Roger de Saint-Exupry

He is both a pioneer of aviation

and a well-known French writer.

He was born in Lyon, France,

on June 29, 1900.
At an early age, he dreamed of
a life of adventure and wanted
to become a naval officer.

Unfortunately, he failed the

exam to qualify him for naval
officer training school.
As a result, he turned his
attention to the field of aviation.
Even though flying was dangerous
and risky in Saint-Exuprys time,
he joined the military and trained
to be a pilot.

After his military service, he

presented himself to the director
of an airline company and
expressed his desire to become a
commercial pilot.

The director told him he must

first
become
an
airplane
mechanic.

Finally,
in
1927,
after
serving as a mechanic
Saint-Exupry became a pilot,
Opening up new air routes over
the Mediterranean Sea, North
Africa, and the Sahara Desert.

Because of the danger of

flying, he had a number of
accidents, but he escaped
any major injuries.
Later Saint-Exupry became the
director of his own aviation
company in South America, where
he often flew dangerous routes
over the Andes Mountains.

For Saint-Exupry

Flying was not just piloting

an airplane; it was a time
for
meditation
and
reflection.

While in the air, Saint-Exupry

would think deeply about

solitude
friendship
the meaning of life

the human condition

liberty

In 1931 he also married

CONSUELO SUNCIN, a widowed
Salvadoran writer and artist.

He decided to publish his

reflections into a book,
which was successful. When
his aviation company failed,
Saint-Exupry decided to
pursue writing as a career.

He first became a journalist, traveling

to Spain, Russia, and Germany.

He also wrote two philosophical

books based on aviation:

1. Night Flight(1932)
2. Wind, Sand, and Stars(1939).

Still in love with piloting an

airplane, Saint-Exupry continued
to fly whenever he had the
opportunity.

In 1939, when France went to war

with
Germany,
Saint-Exupry
immediately enlisted in the army,
hoping to become a military pilot
in the war effort.

France, however, was soon

defeated and occupied by
Hitler's troops. Saint-Exupry
decided to leave his homeland,
settle in the United States, and
pursue his writing career.

It was in New York that he

published.
The Little Prince

His most celebrated book, in 1943

Since its first publication, more

than 25 million copies have been
sold in 75 different countries.

In 1942, when American troops

landed in North Africa, SaintExupry decided to join the U.S.
Army as a pilot. Since he was 42
years of age, he was initially
considered too old to be a pilot
and was not allowed to fly;
however, Saint-Exupry persisted
and was finally given an airplane.

He accomplished many missions

over occupied France. On July
31, 1944, Saint-Exupry left for
his last mission. His plane was
destroyed by the Germans over
the
Mediterranean.

Other works include

Letter to a Hostage (1944),
the posthumously published
Citadelle (1948),
Wartime Writings 1939-1944
(1982),
Manon, danseuse (2007),
Lettres l'inconnue (2008).

Summary

The narrator begins the tale

with an explanation of his
dislike of adults; he claims
he does not enjoy them, for
they are much too practical.
Instead, he prefers the
company of children, who
are natural and curious.

The narrator next tells of how

his plane crashed in the desert,
where he met the Little Prince,
a
mystical
creature
from
another planet. The narrator
tells why the Prince left his
planet and where he visited
before coming to Earth.

His adventures on six different

planets are recounted, including
the encounters with the king,
the conceited man, the tippler,
the
businessman,
the
lamplighter, the geographer, the
snake, the desert flower, the
garden of roses, the railway
switchman, the merchant, the
fox, and the narrator.

The narrator and the Prince

share
a
rewarding
relationship on the desert,
and when the Little Prince
departs, the narrator misses
his company. He writes the
novel in memory of the
Little Prince

Settings

The book is not set in a particular

period or in one specific place.

In the first chapter the narrator

writes
about his
childhood
experiences with drawings and
about his low opinion of adults.

In the second chapter the narrator

starts narrating a particular series
of
incidents.
He writes of the time when his plane
crashed in the desert of Sahara six
years ago. Most of the narrative after
the second chapter is set in the
desert.

The other places that function

as
settings
include
the
asteroid where the Little
Prince has his home and the
planets that the Little Prince
visits, including asteroids 325,
326, 327, 328, 329, and 330.

The last planet that he visits is

the Earth, where he meets the
narrator in the Sahara Desert.
The story is really about the
narrators friendship with the
Little Prince and about the
Princes own quest, which
takes him to seven planets
apart from his own.

Characters

Major Characters

The narrator
The narrator is really the author, Antoine de
Saint-Exupry. The reader hears his voice
throughout the book as he relates the story of
the Little Prince and of his own friendship with
him. The narrator says plainly that he is a
romantic who does not like adults, whom he
finds too practical; instead, he prefers
children, whom he finds natural and delightful.
The narrator writes this story of his encounter
with the Little Prince in order to deal with the
sorrow of losing his precious friend.

The Little Prince

The novel is named after the Little Prince,
who is a mystical and loveable person. He
is the sole inhabitant of a small planet,
which the narrator refers to as B-612. The
Prince leaves his planet to visit other places
and finally lands on Earth. In the Sahara
Desert, he meets the narrator and
befriends him. The narrator tells of his
encounter with the Prince and also relates
the adventures of the Prince on the other
asteroids that the latter has visited.

The fox
The Little Prince meets the fox in
the desert. The fox is a wise
creature, which teaches the Prince
about the essence of life. After
they become friends, the fox asks
the Little Prince to tame him,
which is what the latter does.

Minor
Characters

The Turkish Astronomer

The narrator mentions the Turkish
astronomer in the fourth chapter. The
narrator believes that the planet from
which the Little Prince has come is the
asteroid known as B-612. A Turkish
astronomer first sees this asteroid
through the telescope in 1909.

The Little Princes flower

On the Little Princes planet, the flowers
are usually very simple; but one day,
from a seed blown from afar, a new
flower comes up that is very beautiful,
but also very vain. The Prince begins to
doubt the flowers credibility and finally
leaves his planet to escape the company
of the flower.

The King
The king is the sole inhabitant of asteroid
325, which the Little Prince visits after
leaving his own planet. The king insists
upon his authority being respected and
does not tolerate disobedience; however,
since he is a very good man, he makes
his orders reasonable. Just before the
Prince leaves the kings planet, the latter
makes the former an ambassador.

The Conceited Man

He is the inhabitant of asteroid 326.
Totally conceited, he insists that
everyone else admire him. He does
not listen to anything but praise and
expects the Little Prince to praise and
admire him.

The Tippler
The tippler lives on asteroid 327.
When the Prince asks him what
he is doing, the tippler replies
that he is drinking to forget that
he is ashamed of drinking

The Businessman
The businessman sits and counts
stars on asteroid 328. He thinks
that he owns the stars, making him
rich. The Little Prince explains to
the businessman that he is of no
use at all to the stars that he owns.

The Lamplighter
The lamplighter lives on asteroid 329 and
does the job of lighting and then putting
out the lamplight. The lamplighter thinks
that his is a terrible profession, because
once every minute he has to light the
lamp, for his planet makes a complete
turn every sixty seconds. The Prince feels
that the lamplighter is the only one who
could have been his friend.

The Geographer
The geographer lives on a planet that is
ten times larger than the lamplighters
planet. He explains that he is a scholar
who knows the location of all the seas,
rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts.
He is the one who advises the Prince to
visit the planet Earth, as it has a good
reputation.

The Snake
The first living thing that the Prince
encounters on the planet Earth is a
snake. The snake tells him that it gets a
little lonely among men. The Prince
thinks that the snake is very weak, but
the snake tells him that he can kill a
person. The snake also says that he can
solve all kinds of riddles.

The Desert Flower

The Prince meets a flower in the
desert. It tells him that there are
only six or seven men in
existence and that one never
knows where to find them.
According to the flower, the wind
blows the men away.

Garden of Roses
The Prince meets a garden of roses on
the planet Earth. He is overcome with
sadness on seeing them because there
are five thousand of them in a single
garden. His flower has told him that it
was the only one of its kind in the
universe. He cries when he realizes that
his flower has lied to him.

Railway Switchman
The Prince meets the railway switchman on
Earth. The switchman tells the Prince that he
sorts out travellers and sends off the trains
that carry them. The switchman also says
that no one is ever satisfied with his position.
During his conversation with the switchman,
the Prince tells him that only the children
know what they are looking for.

Merchant
The Prince asks the merchant why he sells
pills that quench thirst. The merchant
answers that he sells them because they
save a lot of time. The Prince feels that he
would rather use that time to walk at
leisure toward a spring of fresh water.

Theme

The main theme ofThe Little Princeis

the importance of looking beneath the
surface to find the real truth and
meaning of a thing. It is the fox who
teaches the Prince to see with ones
heart instead of just with ones eyes.
Unfortunately,
most
adults
have
difficulty doing this. In the beginning of
the book, the narrator points out how
grown-ups can never see the real
meaning of a drawing; instead, they
look at the surface, failing to probe a

When the Little Prince first comes to earth, he

also suffers from looking at the surface of
things. He leaves his planet because he is
bothered by the vanity of his flower; he never
stops to think how important they are to each
other. When he sees the garden of roses, which
look just like his special flower, he is crushed.
He had imagined that his rose was unique and
valuable; now he believes it is common and
worthless. The fox, however, makes him realizes
that his flower is unique. Because the Little
Prince has loved and nurtured the flower, she is
very
special.
Finally,
the
Little
Prince
understands that he must look beneath the