The businessman

The businessman is another character encountered by the little prince in Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novella. He lives alone on the fourth planet that the little prince visits, asteroid 328. When the little prince arrives, the businessman doesn't notice him at first because he is so busy that he doesn't notice anything that happens around him. He makes calculations and counts without interruption and does not even have time to light his cigarette.

The businessman doesn't want to be interrupted while doing his calculations, for fear of making a mistake. He perceives visitors only as troublemakers. He has lived on the planet for 54 years and has been disturbed only twice in that time: once by a dropped giddy goose and once by an attack of rheum...