《小王子》

李雨婕

《小王子》是作家安东尼·德·圣埃克苏佩里于1942年写成的著名法国儿童文学短篇小说。作者以孩子式的眼光，用浅显天真的语言揭示出成人世界中的虚荣、势利和死板教条，从而表达出对真善美的讴歌。有一位作家曾这样写道：“我每一次读《小王子》，都被这种孩子式的看待世界的态度感动，多么天真、幼稚，可又多么纯洁、真诚。时光流逝，童年远去，我们渐渐长大，岁月带走了许许多多的记忆，也消蚀了心底曾经拥有的那份童稚的纯真。但是，每次读一遍《小王子》，就好像在清水中洗了个澡一般，心又重新变得剔透明亮了。”

The narrator， an pilot， crashes1 with his airplane in the middle of the Sahara desert. While he is trying to repair his airplane， a little boy appears and asks him to draw a sheep. The pilot learns that the Little Prince comes from asteroid2 B-612 where he has left behind three volcanoes and a rose.

故事的叙述者是一个飞行员，他的飞机在撒哈拉大沙漠中坠落。当他正在想办法修理他的飞机时，一个小男孩出现了，小男孩想让他画一只绵羊。飞行员了解到这个小男孩（即小王子）来自B-612小行星，他离开了小行星上的火山和玫瑰来到了这里。

Before reaching Earth， he has visited other planets and met some very odd people： a king， a conceited man， a drunkard， a lamplighter， a geographer ... Since arriving on Earth， he has spoken to a fox who has taught him that to know someone or something， you must tame3 them， and that makes them unique. “What is essential4 is invisible5 to the eye，” says the fox.

在到达地球之前，小王子还去了其它星球，遇到了很多奇怪的人：国王、爱虚荣的人、酒鬼、点灯人、地理学家等等。来到了地球之后，小王子结识了一只狐狸，这只狐狸告诉他：如果你想要真正地懂得某个人或某样东西，你必须花时间驯服他们，只有这样才能使之成为你的唯一。“真正本质的东西，光用眼睛是看不到的。”狐狸这样说。

In order to return to his planet and his rose， the Little Prince allows himself to be bitten by a poisonous6 snake： his planet is too far away， so he cannot take his shell. The pilot， who has succeeded in repairing his plane， also quits the desert. He still hopes the Little Prince will return one day and asks us to write and tell him if ever we should meet his friend.

为了重返他的星球，回到他的玫瑰身边，小王子故意让自己被毒蛇咬了一口，因为他的星球太远了，他已经没有力气把自己的身躯带回去了。飞行员把飞机修理好后，也离开了沙漠。他希望小王子某一天还会回来，也拜托我们，如果见到他的朋友小王子，请写信告诉他。

1. “Goodbye，” said the fox. “And now here is my secret， a very simple secret： it is only with the heart that one can see rightly； what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

“再见了，”狐狸说着，“告诉你一个秘密吧，很简单：事情的本质是无法用肉眼看到的， 只有用心去看才能看得真切。”

2. “It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important. ”

正是因为你把时间都花在了你的玫瑰身上，这朵玫瑰才显得如此重要。

3. Only the children know what they are looking for. They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them； and if anybody takes it away from them， they cry.

只有孩子们才知道自己想要的是什么。他们在布娃娃身上花费大把时间，所以布娃娃对于他们来说就变得特别重要，如果有人拿走他们的布娃娃，他们就会伤心地大哭。

4. Flowers are so inconsistent7！ But I was too young to know how to love her.

花总是那么表里不一！但是我还是太年轻，不知道该如何爱护她。

5. If someone loves a flower， of which just one single blossom8 grows in all the millions and millions of stars， it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. He can say to himself， “Somewhere， my flower is there ...”

如果一个人对一朵花情有独钟，这朵花在他眼里就成为在这千千万万星球上唯一盛开的一朵。只要看一看这些星星就足以让他感到欣慰了。他可以告诉自己：我的花就在这些星球上的某个地方……

6. You know—One loves the sunset， when one is so sad.

你知道的——当人情绪低落时，往往会喜欢看日落。

7. You are beautiful， but you are empty. One could not die for you. To be sure， an ordinary passer-by would think that my rose looked just like you—the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses； because it is she that I have watered； because it is she that I have put under the glass globe； because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen； because it is she that I have killed the caterpillars； because it is she that I have listened to， when she grumbled， or boasted， or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose.

你们都很美丽，但却虚有其表。因为没人会为你们而死。当然，一般的路人，在见到我的那朵玫瑰时，也会认为她和你们一样普通。但是那朵玫瑰是属于我的。对我而言她这一朵比你们这成百上千朵玫瑰都要重要。因为我曾经为她浇水，曾经用玻璃罩和屏风为她挡风遮雨，曾经为她铲除毛毛虫；我还倾听过她的抱怨，听过她的自吹自擂，也曾在她沉默不语的时候陪伴着她——只因为，她是我的玫瑰。

[1] crash vi. 摔碎；坠落 [2] asteroid n. 小行星

[3] tame vt. 驯养；驯服 [4] essential adj. 必要的；本质的

[5] invisible adj. 无形的，看不见的 [6] poisonous adj. 有毒的

[7] inconsistent adj. 不一致的 [8] blossom n. 开花期；花开的状态