The Little Prince

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

《小王子》是法国作家安托万·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。小说的主人公是来自外星球的小王子。小说以一位飞行员作为故事叙述者，讲述了小王子从自己星球出发前往地球的过程中，所经历的各种历险。作者以小王子的孩子式的眼光，透视出成人的空虚、盲目，愚妄和死板教条，用天真简单的语言写出了人类的孤独寂寞。同时，也表达出作者对金钱关系的批判，对真善美的讴歌。

本文节选自《小王子》第十三章。

This water was indeed a different thing from ordinary nourishment.

Its sweetness was born of the walk under the stars， thesong of the pulley， the effort of my arms.

It was good for the heart， like a present.

When I was a little boy， the lights of the Christmas tree，the music of the Midnight Mass，the tenderness of smiling fac ?es， used to make up， so， the radiance of the gifts I received.

“The men where you live，”said the little prince，“raisefive thousand roses in the same garden， and they do not findin it what they are looking for.”

“They do not find it，”I replied.

“And yet what they are looking for could be found inone single rose， or in a little water.”

“Yes， that is true，”I said.

And the little prince added：“But the eyes are blind.One must look with the heart...”

I had drunk the water. I breathed easily.

At sunrise the sand is the color of honey.

And that honey color was making me happy， too.

What brought me， then， this sense of grief？

“You must keep your promise，”said the little prince，softly， as he sat down beside me once more.

What promise？

You know a muzzle for my sheep. I am responsible for

这水远不只是一种饮料，

它是披星戴月走了许多路才找到的，是在辘轳 的歌声中，经过我双臂的努力得来的。

它像是一件礼品慰藉着心田。

在我小的时候，圣诞树的灯光，午夜的弥撒的 音乐，甜蜜的微笑，这一切都使圣诞节时我收到的 礼品辉映着幸福的光彩。

“你这里的人在同一个花园中种植着五千朵玫 瑰。”小王子说：“可是，他们却不能从中找到自己所 要寻找的东西……”

“他们是找不到的。”我回答道。

“然而，他们所寻找的东西却是可以从一朵玫 瑰花或一点儿水中找到的……”

“一点不错。”我回答道。

小王子又加了一句：“眼睛是什么也看不见 的 。应该用心去寻找。”

我喝了水 。我痛快地呼吸着空气。

沙漠在晨曦中泛出蜂蜜的光泽。

这蜂蜜般的光泽也使我感到幸福。

为什么我要难过……

小王子又重新在我的身边坐下 。他温柔地对 我说：“你应该实践你的诺言。”

什么诺言？

你知道给我的小羊一个嘴套子 。我要对我的

this flower.

I took my rough drafts of drawings out of my pocket.

The little prince looked them over， and laughed as he said：“ Your baobabs— they look a little like cabbages.”

“Oh！”I had been so proud of my baobabs！

“Your fox— his ears look a little like horns；and they are too long.”And he laughed again.

“You are not fair， little prince，”I said.

I dont know how to draw anything except boa constric ? tors from the outside and boa constrictors from the inside.

“Oh， that will be all right，”he said，“children under? stand.”

So then I made a pencil sketch of a muzzle. And as I gave it to him my heart was torn.

“You have plans that I do not know about，”I said.

But he did not answer me. He said to me， instead：“You know— my descent to the earth...Tomorrow will be its anniver ? sary.”

Then， after a silence， he went on：“I came down very near here.”

And he flushed.

And once again， without understanding why， I had a queer sense of sorrow.

One question， however， occurred to me：

Then it was not by chance that on the morning when I first met you， a week ago you were strolling along like that， all alone，a thousand miles from any inhabited region？

You were on the your back to the place where you land? ed？

The little prince flushed again.

And I added， with some hesitancy：“Perhaps it was be? cause of the anniversary？”

The little prince flushed once more.

He never answered questions— but when one flushes does that not mean“Yes”？

“Ah，”I said to him，“I am a little frightened...”

But he interrupted me.“Now you must work. You must return to your engine.”

I will be waiting for you here. Come back tomorrow eve ? ning...

But I was not reassured. I remembered the fox.

One runs the risk of weeping a little， if one lets himself be tamed...

花负责的呀！

我从口袋中拿出我的画稿。

小王子瞅见了，笑着说：“你画的猴面包树，有点像白菜。”

“啊！”我还为我画的猴面包树感到骄傲呢！

“你画的狐狸……它那双耳朵……有点像犄角……而且又太长了！”这时，他又笑了。

“小家伙，你太不公正了，”我说。

我过去只会画开着肚皮和闭着肚皮的巨蟒。

“啊！这就行了。”他说：“孩子们认得出来。”

我就用铅笔勾画了一个嘴套。当我把它递给小王子时，我心里很难受：

“你的打算，我一点也不知道。”

但是，他不回答我，他对我说：“你知道，我落在地球上……到明天就一周年了……”

接着，沉默了一会儿，他又说道：“我就落在这附近……”

此时，他的面颊绯红。

我不知为什么，又感到一阵莫名其妙的心酸。

这时，我产生了一个问题：

一个星期以前，我认识你的那天早上，你单独一个人在这旷无人烟的地方走着；这么说，并不是偶然的了？

你是要回到你降落的地方去是吗！

小王子的脸又红了。

我犹豫不定地又说了一句：“可能是因为周年纪念吧？”

小王子脸又红了。

他从来也不回答这些问题，但是，脸红，就等于说“是的”，是吧？

“啊！”我对他说：“我有点怕……”

但他却回答我说：“你现在该工作了。你应该回到你的机器那里去。”

我在这里等你。你明天晚上再来……

但是，我放心不下。我想起了狐狸的话。

如果被人驯服了，就可能会要哭的……

Beside the well there was the ruin of an old stone wall.

When I came back from my work， the next evening， Isaw from some distance away my little price sitting on top ofa wall， with his feet dangling.

And I heard him say：“Then you dont remember. Thisis not the exact spot.”

Another voice must have answered him， for he replied toit：“Yes， yes！ It is the right day， but this is not the place.”

I continued my walk toward the wall. At no time did Isee or hear anyone.

The little prince， however， replied once again，

Exactly. You will see where my track begins， in the sand.

You have nothing to do but wait for me there. I shall bethere tonight.

I was only twenty metres from the wall， and I still sawnothing.

After a silence the little prince spoke again：“You havegood poison？ You are sure that it will not make me suffertoo long？”

I stopped in my tracks， my heart torn asunder；but still Idid not understand.

“Now go away，”said the little prince.“I want to getdown from the wall.”

I dropped my eyes， then， to the foot of the wall， and Ileaped into the air.

There before me， facing the little prince， was one ofthose yellow snakes that take just thirty seconds to bring yourlife to an end.

Even as I was digging into my pocked to get out my re ?volver I made a running step back.

But， at the noise I made， the snake let himself flow easi ?ly across the sand like the dying spray of a fountain，

and， in no apparent hurry， disappeared， with a light me ?tallic sound，among the stones.

I reached the wall just in time to catch my little man inmy arms；his face was white as snow.

“What does this mean？”I demanded.“Why are youtalking with snakes？”

在井旁边有一堵残缺的石墙。

第二天晚上我工作回来的时候，我远远地看见 了小王子耷拉着双腿坐在墙上。

我听见他在说话：“你怎么不记得了呢？”他说， “绝不是在这儿。”

大概还有另一个声音在回答他，因为他答着腔 说道：“没错，没错，日子是对的；但地点不是这 里……”

我继续朝墙走去 。我还是看不到，也听不见任 何别人。

可是小王子又回答道：

那当然 。你会在沙上看到我的脚印是从什么 地方开始的。

你在那里等着我就行了 。今天夜里我去那里。

我离墙约有二十米远，可我依然什么也没有看 见。

小王子沉默了一会又说：“你的毒液管用吗？ 你保证不会使我长时间的痛苦吗？”

我焦虑地赶上前去，但我仍然不明白是怎么回 事。

“现在你去吧，我要下来了！ …… ”小王子说。 于是，我也朝墙脚下看去，我吓了一跳。

就在那里，一条黄蛇直起身子冲着小王子 。这 种黄蛇半分钟就能结果你的性命。

我一面赶紧掏口袋，拔出手枪，一面跑过去。

可是一听到我的脚步声，蛇却像一股干涸了的 水柱一样，慢慢钻进沙里去。

它不慌不忙地在石头的缝隙中钻动着，发出轻 轻的金属般的响声。

我到达墙边的时候，正好把我的这位小王子接 在我的怀抱中 。他的脸色像雪一样惨白。

这是搞的什么名堂！ 你怎么竟然和蛇也谈起 心来了！