'Good morning,' said the little prince.

'Good morning,' said the merchant.

This was a merchant who sold pills that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need of anything to drink.

'Why are you selling those?' asked the little prince.

'Because they save a tremendous amount of time,' said the merchant. 'Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week.'

'And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?'

'Anything you like...'

'As for me,' said the little prince to himself, 'if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.'