The Little Prince

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

《小王子》是法國作家安托萬·德·圣-?？颂K佩里于1942年寫成的著名法國兒童文學(xué)短篇小說。小說的主人公是來自外星球的小王子。小說以一位飛行員作為故事敘述者，講述了小王子從自己星球出發(fā)前往地球的過程中，所經(jīng)歷的各種歷險(xiǎn)。作者以小王子的孩子式的眼光，透視出成人的空虛、盲目、愚妄和死板教條，用天真簡單的語言寫出了人類的孤獨(dú)寂寞。同時(shí)，也表達(dá)出作者對金錢關(guān)系的批判，對真善美的謳歌。

本文節(jié)選自《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？

他驚訝地看著我。

正經(jīng)事？

他瞅著我手拿錘子，手指沾滿了油污，伏在一個(gè)在他看來丑不可言的機(jī)件上。

你說話就和那些大人一樣！

這話使我有點(diǎn)難堪。

可是他又尖刻無情地說道：“你什么都分不清……你把什么都混在一起！”

他著實(shí)非常惱火。

搖動(dòng)著腦袋，金黃色的頭發(fā)隨風(fēng)顫動(dòng)著。

我到過一個(gè)星球，上面住著一個(gè)紅臉先生。

他從來沒聞過一朵花。

他從來沒有看過一顆星星。

他什么人也沒有喜歡過。

除了算帳以外，他什么也沒有做過。

他整天同你一樣老是說：“我有正經(jīng)事，我是個(gè)嚴(yán)肅的人”。

這使他傲氣十足。

他簡直不像是個(gè)人，他是個(gè)蘑菇。

是個(gè)什么？

是個(gè)蘑菇！

小王子當(dāng)時(shí)氣得臉色發(fā)白。

幾百萬年以來花兒都在制造著刺，

幾百萬年以來羊仍然在吃花。

要搞清楚為什么花兒費(fèi)那么大勁給自己制造沒有什么用的刺，這難道不是正經(jīng)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

難道羊和花之間的戰(zhàn)爭不重要？

這難道不比那個(gè)大胖子紅臉先生的賬目更重要？

如果我認(rèn)識一朵人世間唯一的花，只有我的星球上有它，別的地方都不存在，

而一只小羊胡里胡涂就這樣把它一下子毀掉了，這難道不重要？

他的臉氣得發(fā)紅，然后又接著說道：

如果有人愛上了在這億萬顆星星中獨(dú)一無二的一株花，當(dāng)他看著這些星星的時(shí)候，這就足以使他感到幸福。

他可以自言自語地說：“我的那朵花就在其中的一顆星星上”，

但是如果羊吃掉了這朵花，對他來說，好像所有的星星一下子全都熄滅了一樣！

這難道也不重要嗎！

他無法再說下去了，突然泣不成聲。

夜幕已經(jīng)降臨。

我放下手中的工具。

我把錘子、螺釘、饑渴、死亡，全都拋在腦后。

在一顆星球上，在一顆行星上，在我的行星上，在地球上有一個(gè)小王子需要安慰！

我把他抱在懷里。我搖著他，

對他說：“你愛的那朵花沒有危險(xiǎn)?！?/p>

我給你的小羊畫一個(gè)罩子。

我給你的花畫一副盔甲……我……

我也不太知道該說些什么。

我覺得自己太笨拙。

我不知道怎樣才能達(dá)到他的境界，怎樣才能再進(jìn)入他的境界。

唉，淚水的世界是多么神秘啊！

很快我就進(jìn)一步了解了這朵花兒。

在小王子的星球上，過去一直都生長著一些只有一層花瓣的很簡單的花。

這些花非常小，一點(diǎn)也不占地方，從來也不會去打攪任何人。

她們早晨在草叢中開放，晚上就凋謝了。

有一天，不知從哪里來了一顆種子，忽然一天這種子發(fā)了芽。

小王子特別仔細(xì)地觀察著這棵與眾不同的小

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：

這玩藝說不定是一種新的猴面包樹。

但是，這小苗不久就不再長了，而且開始孕育著一個(gè)花朵。

看到在這棵苗上長出了一個(gè)很大很大的花蕾，小王子感覺到從這個(gè)花苞中一定會出現(xiàn)一個(gè)奇跡。

然而這朵花藏在它那綠茵茵的房間中用了很長的時(shí)間來打扮自己。

她精心選擇著她將來的顏色，慢慢騰騰地妝飾著，

一片片地搭配著她的花瓣，

她不愿像虞美人那樣一出世就滿臉皺紋。

她要讓自己帶著光艷奪目的美麗來到世間。

是的，她是非常愛俏的。

她用好些好些日子天仙般地梳妝打扮。

然后，在一天的早晨，恰好在太陽升起的時(shí)候，她開放了。

她已經(jīng)精細(xì)地做了那么長的準(zhǔn)備工作，卻打著哈欠說道：

我剛剛睡醒，真對不起，

瞧我的頭發(fā)還是亂蓬蓬的……

小王子這時(shí)再也控制不住自己的愛慕心情：

“你是多么美麗??！”

花兒悠然自得地說：“是吧，我是與太陽同時(shí)出生的……”

小王子看出了這花兒不太謙虛，可是她確實(shí)麗姿動(dòng)人。

她隨后又說道：“現(xiàn)在該是吃早點(diǎn)的時(shí)候了吧，請你也想著給我準(zhǔn)備一點(diǎn)……”

小王子很有些不好意思，于是就拿著噴壺，打來了一壺清清的涼水，澆灌著花兒。

于是，就這樣，這朵花兒就以她那有點(diǎn)敏感多疑的虛榮心折磨著小王子。

例如，有一天，她向小王子講起她身上長的四根刺：“老虎，讓它張著爪子來吧！”

小王子頂了她一句：“在我這個(gè)星球上沒有老虎，而且，老虎是不會吃草的”。

花兒輕聲說道：“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，可我討厭穿堂風(fēng)。

你沒有屏風(fēng)？

小王子思忖著：“討厭穿堂風(fēng)……這對一株植物來說，真不走運(yùn)，這朵花兒真不大好伺候……”

晚上您得把我保護(hù)好。

你這地方太冷。

在這里住得不好，我原來住的那個(gè)地方。

但她沒有說下去。

她來的時(shí)候是粒種子。

她哪里見過什么別的世界。

她叫人發(fā)現(xiàn)她是在說一個(gè)如此不太高明的謊話，她有點(diǎn)羞怒，

咳嗽了兩三聲。她的這一招是要小王子處于有過失的地位。

屏風(fēng)呢？

我這就去拿?？赡銊偛耪f的是.

于是花兒放開嗓門咳嗽了幾聲，依然要使小王子后悔自己的過失。

盡管小王子本來誠心誠意地喜歡這朵花，可是，這一來，卻使他馬上對她產(chǎn)生了懷疑。

小王子對一些無關(guān)緊要的話看得太認(rèn)真，結(jié)果使自己很苦惱。

有一天他告訴我說：“我不該聽信她的話，絕不該聽信那些花兒的話，”

看看花，聞聞花香就得了。

我的那朵花使我的星球芳香四溢，

可我不會享受它。

關(guān)于老虎爪子的事，本應(yīng)該使我產(chǎn)生同情，卻反而使我惱火。

他還告訴我說：“我那時(shí)什么也不懂！”

我應(yīng)該根據(jù)她的行為，而不是根據(jù)她的話來判斷她。

她使我的生活芬芳多彩，

我真不該離開她跑出來。

我本應(yīng)該猜出在她那令人愛憐的花招后面所隱藏的溫情。

花是多么自相矛盾！

我當(dāng)時(shí)太年輕，還不懂得愛她。