- It must be later in the day because the prince has woken up and is talking. He compares people to the trains the switchman described.
- The narrator is kind of surprised because the well they’ve found seems unreal, like a well in a dream. It has a pulley, a rope, and a bucket, all ready for them to use, but it is in the middle of nowhere.
- The prince drinks deeply, and the narrator explains that this water is especially sweet and satisfying because they had worked hard for it and had looked forward to it.
- The prince tells the narrator that people on Earth raise five thousand roses in one garden, and yet, they do not find what they are looking for. They could find this in one rose, or in a drink of water, but it eludes them. The narrator agrees.
- (Here, the story pauses for a second.)
- After the pause, the narrator explains that he had some water too, and although he should have been full of joy, he was—you guessed it—sad.
- The prince asks the narrator to draw him a muzzle (for the sheep the narrator also drew).
- At this point, the narrator figures out that something’s wrong, even though he doesn’t know what it is. (Oh, no! We don’t want to know what’s coming…)
- The prince picks up on this and says that the following day will be the anniversary of his arrival on Earth. He says that he landed very close to the place they are currently in.
- All of this makes the narrator feel worse: both sad and scared. He realizes that it was no coincidence then that the prince was making his way back here when the narrator first met him.
- The prince doesn’t want to talk about it; he tells the narrator to go back to working on the plane, and to come back the next day. (Cue the cliffhanger music!)