i've been tamed.

it's 4.30 pm.

as with tradition, everytime i am supposed to be studying - i get all sorts of ideas to do other
things. and i end up doing all those things till i completely run out of ideas and then there'd
be nothing left to do but study. and that's when i get my best studying then cause there's no
more restless energy keeping me distracted. so in a sense, this is a good thing. (Yeah, right...)

anyway, i've been doing a lot of reading lately (another tradition - ie when i'm supposed to be
studying i suddenly have this huge urge to pick up books i've been meaning to read for a long
time...) and one of the books i've picked up is THE LITTLE PRINCE by ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY.

this book was introduced to me by an old friend of mine with whom i've unfortunately lost contact with. her initials are C.E.L.

it's a children's book but it's oh so much more than say...PETER & JANE and the like. this book
has so many layers to it and yet it is written so simply that it begs the question, "What's the
big deal about being an adult? Kid's get the world a whole lot better than grown ups..."

anyway, it's about a LITTLE PRINCE who travels from planet to planet wanting to make new friends.

when he arrived on earth, he met a Fox. and he wanted to make friends with the Fox. this is how it basically goes...

F: i can't play with you because i am not tame.

P: oh, i'm sorry. but what does 'tame' mean?

F: it is something which is too often forgotten, it means '...to establish ties...'

P: '...to establish ties...'?

F: yes. to me, you are just a little boy like a hundred thousand other little boys. and i have no
need of you. just as you have no need of me for i am but a fox like a hundred thousand other
foxes. but if you tame me, then we shall need each other. to me, you will be unique and i will be unique to you.

P: now i am beginning to understand...

F: my life is monotonous. i hunt chickens and men hunt me. all chickens are alike and all men are alike. so i get a little bored. but if you were to tame me, then my life would be so full of sunshine. i shall recognise the sound of a step different from all the others. the sound of other footsteps would send me scurrying into my burrow but the sound of your steps shall call me out of my burrow like the sound of music...

(the Fox remained silent for awhile...thinking about it...)

F: i beg of you...tame me!

P: willingly but i am afraid i have many friends to discover and many other things to understand.

F: one can only understand the things one tames. if you want a friend, then tame me!

P: what should i do?

F: you must be very patient ... first you will sit at a distance from me. just like this. i will watch
you from the corner of my eye. you shall not speak for words are a source of misunderstanding. but everyday, you can sit a little closer to me.

the next day, the little Prince returned.

F: you should come back at the same time. for eg, if you usually come back at 4. by 3, i would start feeling happy. by 4(if you're still not here), then i'd start feeling anxious, agitated and unhappy - i shall discover the price of happiness.

thus it was that the Fox was tamed by the little Prince. when the time came for the Prince to depart.

F: oh i shall cry!

P: it's your own fault. you wanted me to tame you!

F: indeed.

P: but you are going to cry!

F: that is so.

P: then i have not helped you in any way!

F: let me tell you a secret. it is only with one's heart that one can see clearly. what is essential is invisible to the eye. it is the time you spend on another that makes that person important. men have forgotten this basic truth - for what you have tamed, you become responsible forever. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

this is of course not taken verbatim. i hope i managed to capture the essence of it. it is a truly wonderful book. but this was one part that i didn't capture proper the 1st time i read it. upon reading the book again for the 2nd time - this part just stood out to me.

but the point is, i've been 'tamed'. there are ppl i've been tamed by who will forever be unique and special to me. if i should die without accomplishing a full life - it'll be ok as long as these few ppl who have tamed me recognise me as being unique to them as well. it's like leaving my mark here on earth in this existence.

i mean - what's the point of living if when you're gone - it'll be as if you weren't even around to begin with? it'd be like becoming a king of a land with no subjects to rule over and when you die, then the land is just there. and that's that.

oh well.

signing off, the commonjack.