Many Americans are familiar with The Little Prince, a wonderful book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. This is a fabulous book and works as a children's story as well as a thought-provoking fable for adults. Far less are aware of Saint-Exupery's other writings, novels and short stories.
Saint-Exupery was a fighter pilot who fought against the Nazis and was killed in action. Before World War II, he fought in the Spanish Civil War against fascists. He wrote a fascinating story based on that experience entitled Le Sourire (The Smile). It is this story which I'd like to share with you now. It isn't clear whether or not he meant this to be autobiographical or fiction. I choose to believe it is autobiographical.
Antoine was captured by the enemy and thrown into a jail cell. He was sure that from the contemptuous looks and terrible treatment he received from his captors he would be executed the next day. From here, I'll tell the story as I remember it from the point of view on Antoine.
I Am Antoine
I was sure that I was to be killed. I became terribly distraught and nervous. I searched my pockets to see if there were any cigarettes which had escaped their grasp. I found one and because of my shaking hands, I could barely get it to my lips. But I had no matches, they had taken those.
I looked through the bars at my jailer. He did not make eye contact with me. After all, he does not make eye contact with a thing. I called out to him 'Have you got a light, por favor?' He looked at me, shrugged and came over to light my cigarette.
As he lit the match, his eyes locked with mine. At that moment, I smiled. I don't know why I did. Maybe I was nervous, perhaps it was because when you get very close, one to another, it is very hard not to smile. Whatever the reason, I smiled. In that instant, it was as though a spark jumped across the gap between our two hearts, our two human souls. I know he didn't want to, but my smile leaped through the bars and generated a smile on his lips, too. He lit my cigarette but stayed close, looking at me directly in the eyes and continuing his smile.
I kept smiling at him, now aware of him as a person and not just a jailer. And his look seemed to have a new dimension, too. 'Do you have kids?' he asked. 'Yes, here, here.' I took out my wallet and produced the pictures of my family.
He, took out the pictures of his children and began to talk about his plans and hopes for them. My eyes filled with tears. I told him I feared that I'd never see my family again, never have the chance to see them grow up. Tears came to his eyes, too. Suddenly, without another word, he unlocked my cell and led me out quietly. Out of the jail, silently and by back routes, out of the town. There, at the edge of town, he freed me. And without another word, he turned back toward the town.
My life was saved by a smile. The unplanned, natural connection between people.
I tell this story because I want people to consider that underneath all the layers we construct to protect ourselves, our dignity, our degrees, our titles, our status and our need to be seen in a certain way, underneath all that remains the authentic, essential self.
I'm not scared to call it the soul. I believe that if that part of you and that part of me could recognize each other, we wouldn't be enemies. We couldn't have hate or envy or fear. I sadly conclude that all those other layers, which we so carefully construct through our lives, distance and insulate us from truly contacting others. My story speaks of that magic moment when two souls recognize each other. I've had just a few moments like that. Falling in love is one example.
And looking at a baby. Why do we smile when we see a baby? Maybe it's because we see someone without all the layers, someone whose smile for us we know to be completely genuine and without guile. And that baby-soul inside us smiles wistfully in recognition.