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(duì)金錢關(guān)系的批判，對(duì)真善美的謳歌。

本文節(jié)選自《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

這水遠(yuǎn)不只是一種飲料，

它是披星戴月走了許多路才找到的，是在轆轤 的歌聲中，經(jīng)過我雙臂的努力得來的。

它像是一件禮品慰藉著心田。

在我小的時(shí)候，圣誕樹的燈光，午夜的彌撒的 音樂，甜蜜的微笑，這一切都使圣誕節(jié)時(shí)我收到的 禮品輝映著幸福的光彩。

“你這里的人在同一個(gè)花園中種植著五千朵玫 瑰。”小王子說：“可是，他們卻不能從中找到自己所 要尋找的東西……”

“他們是找不到的?！蔽一卮鸬?。

“然而，他們所尋找的東西卻是可以從一朵玫 瑰花或一點(diǎn)兒水中找到的……”

“一點(diǎn)不錯(cuò)。”我回答道。

小王子又加了一句：“眼睛是什么也看不見 的 。應(yīng)該用心去尋找?！?/p>

我喝了水 。我痛快地呼吸著空氣。

沙漠在晨曦中泛出蜂蜜的光澤。

這蜂蜜般的光澤也使我感到幸福。

為什么我要難過……

小王子又重新在我的身邊坐下 。他溫柔地對(duì) 我說：“你應(yīng)該實(shí)踐你的諾言。”

什么諾言？

你知道給我的小羊一個(gè)嘴套子 。我要對(duì)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...

花負(fù)責(zé)的呀！

我從口袋中拿出我的畫稿。

小王子瞅見了，笑著說：“你畫的猴面包樹，有點(diǎn)像白菜?！?/p>

“啊！”我還為我畫的猴面包樹感到驕傲呢！

“你畫的狐貍……它那雙耳朵……有點(diǎn)像犄角……而且又太長了！”這時(shí)，他又笑了。

“小家伙，你太不公正了，”我說。

我過去只會(huì)畫開著肚皮和閉著肚皮的巨蟒。

“啊！這就行了?！彼f：“孩子們認(rèn)得出來?！?/p>

我就用鉛筆勾畫了一個(gè)嘴套。當(dāng)我把它遞給小王子時(shí)，我心里很難受：

“你的打算，我一點(diǎn)也不知道?！?/p>

但是，他不回答我，他對(duì)我說：“你知道，我落在地球上……到明天就一周年了……”

接著，沉默了一會(huì)兒，他又說道：“我就落在這附近……”

此時(shí)，他的面頰緋紅。

我不知為什么，又感到一陣莫名其妙的心酸。

這時(shí)，我產(chǎn)生了一個(gè)問題：

一個(gè)星期以前，我認(rèn)識(shí)你的那天早上，你單獨(dú)一個(gè)人在這曠無人煙的地方走著；這么說，并不是偶然的了？

你是要回到你降落的地方去是嗎！

小王子的臉又紅了。

我猶豫不定地又說了一句：“可能是因?yàn)橹苣昙o(jì)念吧？”

小王子臉又紅了。

他從來也不回答這些問題，但是，臉紅，就等于說“是的”，是吧？

“??！”我對(duì)他說：“我有點(diǎn)怕……”

但他卻回答我說：“你現(xiàn)在該工作了。你應(yīng)該回到你的機(jī)器那里去?！?/p>

我在這里等你。你明天晚上再來……

但是，我放心不下。我想起了狐貍的話。

如果被人馴服了，就可能會(huì)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？”

在井旁邊有一堵殘缺的石墻。

第二天晚上我工作回來的時(shí)候，我遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)地看見 了小王子耷拉著雙腿坐在墻上。

我聽見他在說話：“你怎么不記得了呢？”他說， “絕不是在這兒?！?/p>

大概還有另一個(gè)聲音在回答他，因?yàn)樗鹬?說道：“沒錯(cuò)，沒錯(cuò)，日子是對(duì)的；但地點(diǎn)不是這 里……”

我繼續(xù)朝墻走去 。我還是看不到，也聽不見任 何別人。

可是小王子又回答道：

那當(dāng)然 。你會(huì)在沙上看到我的腳印是從什么 地方開始的。

你在那里等著我就行了 。今天夜里我去那里。

我離墻約有二十米遠(yuǎn)，可我依然什么也沒有看 見。

小王子沉默了一會(huì)又說：“你的毒液管用嗎？ 你保證不會(huì)使我長時(shí)間的痛苦嗎？”

我焦慮地趕上前去，但我仍然不明白是怎么回 事。

“現(xiàn)在你去吧，我要下來了！ …… ”小王子說。 于是，我也朝墻腳下看去，我嚇了一跳。

就在那里，一條黃蛇直起身子沖著小王子 。這 種黃蛇半分鐘就能結(jié)果你的性命。

我一面趕緊掏口袋，拔出手槍，一面跑過去。

可是一聽到我的腳步聲，蛇卻像一股干涸了的 水柱一樣，慢慢鉆進(jìn)沙里去。

它不慌不忙地在石頭的縫隙中鉆動(dòng)著，發(fā)出輕 輕的金屬般的響聲。

我到達(dá)墻邊的時(shí)候，正好把我的這位小王子接 在我的懷抱中 。他的臉色像雪一樣慘白。

這是搞的什么名堂！ 你怎么竟然和蛇也談起 心來了！