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，透視出成人的空虚、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》第四章。

He stared at me，thunderstruck.

Matters of consequence！

He looked at me there，with my hammer in my hand，my fingers black with engine- grease，bending down over an object which seemed to him extremely ugly.

You talk just like the grown-ups！

That made me a little ashamed.

But he went on，relentlessly：“You mix everything up to- gether...You confuse everything.”

He was really very angry.

He tossed his golden curls in the breeze.

I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman.

He has never smelled a flower.

He has never looked at a star.

He has never loved any one.

He has never done anything in his life but add up figures.

And all day he says over and over，just like you ：“I am busy with matters of consequence！”

And that makes him swell up with pride.

But he is not a man—he is a mushroom！

A what？

A mushroom！

The little prince was now white with rage.

The flowers have been growing thorns for millions of years.

For millions of years the sheep have been eating them just the same.

And is it not a matter of consequence to try to understand why the flowers go to so much trouble to grow thorns which are never of any use to them？

他惊讶地看着我。

正经事？

他瞅着我手拿锤子，手指沾满了油污，伏在一个在他看来丑不可言的机件上。

你说话就和那些大人一样！

这话使我有点难堪。

可是他又尖刻无情地说道：“你什么都分不清……你把什么都混在一起！”

他着实非常恼火。

摇动着脑袋，金黄色的头发随风颤动着。

我到过一个星球，上面住着一个红脸先生。

他从来没闻过一朵花。

他从来没有看过一颗星星。

他什么人也没有喜欢过。

除了算帐以外，他什么也没有做过。

他整天同你一样老是说：“我有正经事，我是个严肃的人”。

这使他傲气十足。

他简直不像是个人，他是个蘑菇。

是个什么？

是个蘑菇！

小王子当时气得脸色发白。

几百万年以来花儿都在制造着刺，

几百万年以来羊仍然在吃花。

要搞清楚为什么花儿费那么大劲给自己制造没有什么用的刺，这难道不是正经事？

Is the warfare between the sheep and the flowers not important？

Is this not of more consequence than a fat red-faced gentleman's sums？

And if I know-I，myself-one flower which is unique in the world，which grows nowhere but on my planet，

but which one little sheep can destroy in a single bite some morning，without even noticing what he is doing- Oh！You think that is not important！

His face turned from white to red as he continued：

If some one loves a flower，of which just one single blossom 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.”

But if the sheep eats the flower，in one moment all his stars will be darkened.

And you think that is not important！

He could not say anything more. His words were choked by sobbing.

The night had fallen.

I had let my tools drop from my hands.

Of what moment now was my hammer，my bolt，or thirst，or death？

On one star，one planet，my planet，the Earth，there was a little prince to be comforted.

I took him in my arms，and rocked him.

I said to him：“The flower that you love is not in danger.”

I will draw you a muzzle for your sheep.

I will draw you a railing to put around your flower. I will.

I did not know what to say to him.

I felt awkward and blundering.

I did not know how I could reach him，where I could overtake him and go on hand in hand with him once more.

It is such a secret place，the land of tears.

I soon learned to know this flower better.

On the little prince's planet the flowers had always been very simple.

They had only one ring of petals;they took up no room at all;they were a trouble to nobody.

One morning they would appear in the grass，and by night they would have faded peacefully away.

But one day，from a seed blown from no one knew where，a new flower had come up;

and the little prince had watched very closely over this

難道羊和花之间的战争不重要？

这难道不比那个大胖子红脸先生的账目更重要？

如果我认识一朵人世间唯一的花，只有我的星球上有它，别的地方都不存在，

而一只小羊胡里胡涂就这样把它一下子毁掉了，这难道不重要？

他的脸气得发红，然后又接着说道：

如果有人爱上了在这亿万颗星星中独一无二的一株花，当他看着这些星星的时候，这就足以使他感到幸福。

他可以自言自语地说：“我的那朵花就在其中的一颗星星上”，

但是如果羊吃掉了这朵花，对他来说，好像所有的星星一下子全都熄灭了一样！

这难道也不重要吗！

他无法再说下去了，突然泣不成声。

夜幕已经降临。

我放下手中的工具。

我把锤子、螺钉、饥渴、死亡，全都抛在脑后。

在一颗星球上，在一颗行星上，在我的行星上，在地球上有一个小王子需要安慰！

我把他抱在怀里。我摇着他，

对他说：“你爱的那朵花没有危险。”

我给你的小羊画一个罩子。

我给你的花画一副盔甲……我……

我也不太知道该说些什么。

我觉得自己太笨拙。

我不知道怎样才能达到他的境界，怎样才能再进入他的境界。

唉，泪水的世界是多么神秘啊！

很快我就进一步了解了这朵花儿。

在小王子的星球上，过去一直都生长着一些只有一层花瓣的很简单的花。

这些花非常小，一点也不占地方，从来也不会去打搅任何人。

她们早晨在草丛中开放，晚上就凋谢了。

有一天，不知从哪里来了一颗种子，忽然一天这种子发了芽。

小王子特别仔细地观察着这棵与众不同的小

small sprout which was not like any other small sprouts on his planet.

It might，you see，have been a new kind of baobab.

The shrub soon stopped growing，and began to get ready to produce a flower.

The little prince，who was present at the first appearance of a huge bud，felt at once that some sort of miraculous apparition must emerge from it.

But the flower was not satisfied to complete the preparations for her beauty in the shelter of her green chamber.

She chose her colours with the greatest care. She drest her slowly.

She adjusted her petals one by one.

She did not wish to go out into the world all rumpled，like the field poppies.

It was only in the full radiance of her beauty that she wished to appear.

Oh，yes！She was a coquettish creature！

And her mysterious adornment lasted for days and days.

Then one morning，exactly at sunrise，she suddenly showed herself.

And，after working with all this painstaking precision，she yawned and said ：

Ah！I am scarcely awake. I beg that you will excuse me.

My petals are still all disarranged.

But the little prince could not restrain his admiration：“Oh！How beautiful you are！”

“Am I not？”the flower responded，sweetly. “And I was born at the same moment as the sun.”

The little prince could guess easily enough that she was not any too modest-but how moving-and exciting-she was！

“I think it is time for breakfast，”she added an instant later. “If you would have the kindness to think of my needs”.

And the little prince，completely abashed，went to look for a sprinkling-can of fresh water. So，he tended the flower.

So，too，she began very quickly to torment him with her vanity- which was，if the truth be known，a little dificult to deal with.

One day，for instance，when she was speaking of her four thorns，she said to the little prince：“Let the tigers come with their claws！”

“There are no tigers on my planet，”the little prince objected. “And，anyway，tigers do not eat weeds.”

“I am not a weed，”the flower replied，sweetly.

苗：

這玩艺说不定是一种新的猴面包树。

但是，这小苗不久就不再长了，而且开始孕育着一个花朵。

看到在这棵苗上长出了一个很大很大的花蕾，小王子感觉到从这个花苞中一定会出现一个奇迹。

然而这朵花藏在它那绿茵茵的房间中用了很长的时间来打扮自己。

她精心选择着她将来的颜色，慢慢腾腾地妆饰着，

一片片地搭配着她的花瓣，

她不愿像虞美人那样一出世就满脸皱纹。

她要让自己带着光艳夺目的美丽来到世间。

是的，她是非常爱俏的。

她用好些好些日子天仙般地梳妆打扮。

然后，在一天的早晨，恰好在太阳升起的时候，她开放了。

她已经精细地做了那么长的准备工作，却打着哈欠说道：

我刚刚睡醒，真对不起，

瞧我的头发还是乱蓬蓬的……

小王子这时再也控制不住自己的爱慕心情：

“你是多么美丽啊！”

花儿悠然自得地说：“是吧，我是与太阳同时出生的……”

小王子看出了这花儿不太谦虚，可是她确实丽姿动人。

她随后又说道：“现在该是吃早点的时候了吧，请你也想着给我准备一点……”

小王子很有些不好意思，于是就拿着喷壶，打来了一壶清清的凉水，浇灌着花儿。

于是，就这样，这朵花儿就以她那有点敏感多疑的虚荣心折磨着小王子。

例如，有一天，她向小王子讲起她身上长的四根刺：“老虎，让它张着爪子来吧！”

小王子顶了她一句：“在我这个星球上没有老虎，而且，老虎是不会吃草的”。

花儿轻声说道：“我并不是草。”

Please excuse me.

I am not at all afraid of tigers，she went on，but I have a horror of drafts.

I suppose you wouldnt have a screen for me？

“A horror of drafts- that is bad luck，for a plant，”remarked the little prince，and added to himself，“This flower is a very complex creature.”

At night I want you to put me under a glass globe.

It is very cold where you live.

In the place I came from.

But she interrupted herself at that point.

She had come in the form of a seed.

She could not have known anything of any other worlds.

Embarassed over having let herself be caught on the verge of such a naive untruth，

she coughed two or three times，in order to put the little prince in the wrong.

The screen？

I was just going to look for it when you spoke to me.

Then she forced her cough a little more so that he should suffer from remorse just the same.

So the little prince，in spite of all the good will that was inseparable from his love，had soon come to doubt her.

He had taken seriously words which were without importance，and it made him very unhappy.

“I ought not to have listened to her，”he confided to me one day. “One never ought to listen to the flowers.”

One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance.

Mine perfumed all my planet.

But I did not know how to take pleasure in all her grace.

This tale of claws，which disturbed me so much，should only have filled my heart with tenderness and pity.

And he continued his confidences：“The fact is that I did not know how to understand anything！”

I ought to have judged by deeds and not by words.

She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me.

I ought never to have run away from her.

I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little strategems.

Flowers are so inconsistent！

But I was too young to know how to love her.

真對不起。

我并不怕什么老虎，可我讨厌穿堂风。

你没有屏风？

小王子思忖着：“讨厌穿堂风……这对一株植物来说，真不走运，这朵花儿真不大好伺候……”

晚上您得把我保护好。

你这地方太冷。

在这里住得不好，我原来住的那个地方。

但她没有说下去。

她来的时候是粒种子。

她哪里见过什么别的世界。

她叫人发现她是在说一个如此不太高明的谎话，她有点羞怒，

咳嗽了两三声。她的这一招是要小王子处于有过失的地位。

屏风呢？

我这就去拿。可你刚才说的是.

于是花儿放开嗓门咳嗽了几声，依然要使小王子后悔自己的过失。

尽管小王子本来诚心诚意地喜欢这朵花，可是，这一来，却使他马上对她产生了怀疑。

小王子对一些无关紧要的话看得太认真，结果使自己很苦恼。

有一天他告诉我说：“我不该听信她的话，绝不该听信那些花儿的话，”

看看花，闻闻花香就得了。

我的那朵花使我的星球芳香四溢，

可我不会享受它。

关于老虎爪子的事，本应该使我产生同情，却反而使我恼火。

他还告诉我说：“我那时什么也不懂！”

我应该根据她的行为，而不是根据她的话来判断她。

她使我的生活芬芳多彩，

我真不该离开她跑出来。

我本应该猜出在她那令人爱怜的花招后面所隐藏的温情。

花是多么自相矛盾！

我当时太年轻，还不懂得爱她。