Chapter 10
Alfred found himself in the neighborhood of the asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, and 330. He went to visit them so that he can learn more.
The first of them was inhabited by a king. The king looked very strange, he thought. He had white hair and red eyes that Alfred had never seen before. Clad in royal blue and ermine, he was seated upon a throne which was at the same time both simple and majestic.
"Aha! The awesome King Gilbert sees one of his subjects!" exclaimed the king, once he saw the little prince.
The little prince asked himself:
"How could he recognize me if we've never met before?"
He didn't know how the world is so simple for kings. To them, all men are subjects.
"What's your name, kid?" the king asked, his pride swelling at, finally, having someone to rule over.
"Uhhm... it's Alfred."
"Hm! Well Alfred, aren't you lucky to be in the presence of a king as awesome as me!"
"I guess so..." The little prince noticed that the planet was crammed by the king's robe. He was a little tired so he couldn't help himself from yawning.
"Hey! Y'know it's rude to yawn in the presence of a king." the king said to him. "I forbid you to do it!"
"Eh? But I can't help it." replied the little prince, a little embarrassed. "I came from a long journey and I haven't gotten any sleep since..."
"Hm... well, I grant you permission to yawn then."
"Piyo! Piyo!" Alfred heard a strange chirping sound. He saw a ball of yellow appeared from underneath the King's robe. It then flew on to the his shoulder.
"Ah! I almost forgot! You must meet Gilbird. He's my pet, and the most awesomest pet is he!"
"Piyo!" Gilbird chirped. "Come! Say hello to my pet. I order you!" The little prince went over and pet the little bird. It gave a happy chirp and flapped it's wings in glee.
For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority is to be respected. He tolerated no disobedience. He was an absolute monarch. Because he was very good, he made his orders somewhat reasonable.
For example, he would say:
"If I ordered a general to change into a sea bird, if he disobeys it then it's my fault not his. It's an impossible request after all."
"May I sit down?" came a timid inquiry from the little prince.
"I order you to." the king answered him, red eyes gleaming with pride.
But Alfred was wondering... the planet was so small, what could this king possibly rule?
"Sire," he said to him, "If you don't mind me asking, what do you rule over?"
"Everything!" said the king, with magnificent simplicity. "Piyo Piyo!" Gilbird chirped happily.
"Everything?" The king gestured to his planet, other planets, and the stars.
"Woah! All that?"
"Yes. I'm just that awesome, you see." For his rule was not only absolute: it was also universal.
"And the stars listen to you?"
"Of course!" "Piyo!" the king and his pet exclaimed. "They obey instantly. Their awesome king doesn't tolerate insubordination."
Such power was a thing for the little prince to marvel at. If he has that kind of power, he could watch the sunset as many times as he want! Not forty-four times, but seventy-two, maybe even a hundred or two, without ever having to move his chair. He felt a little sad after remembering his planet so he mustered up the courage to ask the king for a favor:
"If you don't mind... can you ask the sun to set..."
"If I ordered a general to fly from flower to flower like a butterfly, or write a tragic drama, or turn himself into a sea bird,if the general didn't carry out the order, which one of us will be wrong?" the king demanded, "Him or me?"
"You" Alfred said firmly.
"Exactly. Accepted authority rests first of all on reason. If you ordered your people to go jump into the sea, they'll rise up against you. People listen to me because my orders are reasonable."
"Then my sunset...?" the little prince reminded him.
"You'll have your sunset. I command it! But according to my science of government, I'll wait until conditions are favorable."
"When will that be?"
"Hmm..." replied the king, before saying anything else he took out a bulky almanac.
"What do you think Gilbird?" he asked the yellow bird.
"Pi piyo."
"Ah! Right! It'll be this evening, about twenty minutes to eight. That's when you'll see the sunset."
The little prince yawned. He was regretting his lost sunset, and he was starting to get bored.
"Well since there's nothing left for me to do here, I'll be leaving now." he said to the king.
"Huh? Wait- don't go!" said the king, who was very proud of having a subject. "I'll uhh... make you a... a minister!"
"Minister of what?"
"Minister of- of Justice!"
"But there's nobody here to judge!"
"You don't know that!" the king said. "I haven't showed you my entire kingdom yet."
"But I've already seen it!" said the little prince, turning around to give one more glance to the other side of the planet. He saw that there was nobody there at all...
"Then you judge yourself," he answered. "You know what they say, judge yourself first before judging others. if you can do that then you are a man of true wisdom."
"Well, yeah... but I can judge myself anywhere. I don't need to stay on this planet." Alfred said. "I'm leaving."
"No." said the king.
"If Your Majesty wished to be obeyed," he said. "then give me a good reason why I should stay. If I were to be ordered to leave then the conditions are certainly favorable." the little prince said, a little smugly. The king didn't answer so Alfred just made way to leave.
"Grown-ups are very strange..." he said to himself.