《小王子》第一章

I ask the indulgence of the children who may read this book for dedicating it to a grown-up. I have a serious reason： he is the best friend I have in the world. I have another reason： this grown-up understands everything， even books about children. I have a third reason： he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs cheering up. If all these reasons are not enough， I will dedicate the book to the child from whom this grown-up grew. All grown-ups were once children—although few of them remember it. And so I correct my dedication：

请孩子们原谅我把这本书献给了一个大人。我有一个正当的理由：他是我在世界上最好的朋友。另一个理由：这个大人什么都懂，包括儿童读物。我还有第三个理由：这个大人住在法国，他在那里忍冻挨饿。他很需要有人安慰。要是这些理由还不够充分，我就把这本书献给这个大人曾经做过的孩子。大人都是从孩子做起的。——然而，记得这事的又有几个呢？——因此，我把我的献词改为：

To Leon Werth

when he was a little boy

獻给还是小男孩时的莱翁·维尔特

Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book called True Stories from Nature， about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal.

当我还只有六岁的时候，在一本描写原始森林的名叫《真实的故事》的书中，看到了一副精彩的插画，画的是一条大蟒蛇正在吞食一只动物。

In the book it said： “Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole， without chewing it. After that they are not able to move， and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion.”

这本书中写道：“这些蟒蛇把它们的猎获物不加咀嚼地囫囵吞下，尔后就不能再动弹了；它们就在长长的六个月的睡眠中消化这些食物。”

I pondered deeply， then， over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing.

当时，我对丛林中的奇遇想得很多，于是，我也用彩色铅笔画出了我的第一张图画。

I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups， and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.

我把我的这杰作拿给大人看，我问他们我的画是不是叫他们害怕。

But they answered： “Frighten？ Why should any one be frightened by a hat？”

他们回答我说：“一顶帽子有什么可怕的？”

My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it， I made another drawing： I drew the inside of the boa constrictor， so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained.

我画的不是帽子，是一条巨蟒在消化着一头大象。于是我又把巨蟒肚子里的情况画了出来，以便让大人们能够看懂。这些大人总是需要解释。

The grown-ups’ response， this time， was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors， whether from the inside or the outside， and devote myself instead to geography， history， arithmetic and grammar. That is why， at the age of six， I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves， and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.

大人们劝我把这些开着肚皮，或闭上肚皮的蟒蛇的图画放在一边，还是把注意力放在地理、历史、算术、语法上。就这样，在六岁的那年，我就放弃了当画家这一美好的职业。我的第一号、第二号作品的不成功，使我泄了气。这些大人，靠他们自己什么也弄不懂，还得老是不断地给他们作解释。这真叫孩子们腻味。

So then I chose another profession， and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world； and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night， such knowledge is valuable.

后来，我只好选择了另外一个职业，我学会了开飞机，世界各地差不多都飞到过。地理学确实帮了我很大的忙，我一眼就能分辨出中国和亚里桑那。要是夜里迷失了航向，这些知识是很有用的。

In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately， close at hand. And that hasn’t much improved my opinion of them.

在我的生活中，我接触过许多对结果耿耿于怀的人。我在大人们中间生活过很长时间。我仔细地观察过他们，但这并没有使我对他们的看法有多大的改观。

Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted， I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One， which I have always kept. I would try to find out， so， if this was a person of true understanding. But， whoever it was， he， or she， would always say，

當我遇到一个头脑看来稍微清楚的大人时，我就拿出一直保存着的我那第一号作品来测试测试他。我想知道他是否真的有理解能力。可是，得到的回答总是：

“That is a hat.” Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors， or primeval forests， or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge， and golf， and politics， and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.

“这是顶帽子。”随之我就不和他谈巨蟒呀，原始森林呀，或者星星之类的事。我只得迁就他们的水平，和他们谈些桥牌呀，高尔夫球呀，政治呀，领带呀这些。于是大人们就十分高兴能认识我这样一个通情达理的人。

Vocabulary

indulgence n. 免罪

primeval adj. 原始的

boa constrictor 蟒蛇

ponder vt. 思索（其过去式是pondered）

encounter n. 相遇