1. 原文

[ Chapter 4 ] the narrator speculates as to which asteroid from which the little prince came

I had thus learned a second fact of great importance: this was that the planet the little prince came from was scarcely any larger than a house! But that did not really surprise me much. I knew very well that in addition to the great planets-- such as the Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus-- to which we have given names, there are also hundreds of others, some of which are so small that one has a hard time seeing them through the telescope. When an astronomer discovers one of these he does not give it a name, but only a number. He might call it, for example, "Asteroid 325."

I have serious reason to believe that the planet from which the little prince came is the asteroid known as B-612. This asteroid has only once been seen through the telescope. That was by a Turkish astronomer, in 1909.

On making his discovery, the astronomer had presented it to the International Astronomical Congress, in a great demonstration. But he was in Turkish costume, so nobody would believe what he said. Grown-ups are like that...

Fortunately, however, for the reputation of Asteroid B-612, a Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects, under pain of death, should change to European costume. So in 1920 the astronomer gave his demonstration all over again, dressed with impressive style and elegance. And this time everybody accepted his report.

If I have told you these details about the asteroid, and made a note of its number for you, it is on account of the grown-ups and their ways. When you tell them that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?" Instead, they demand: "How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?" Only from these figures do they think they have learned any thing about him.

If you were to say to the grown-ups:" I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof," they would not be able to get any idea of that house at all. You would have to say to them: "I saw a house that cost $20,000." Then they would exclaim:" Oh,what a pretty house that is!"

Just so, you might say to them:" The proof that the little prince existed is that he was charming, that he laughed, and that he was looking for a sheep. If anybody wants a sheep, that is a proof that he exists." And what good would it do to tell them that? They would shrug their shoulders, and treat you like a child. But if you said to them: "The planet he came from is Asteroid B-612," then they would be convinced,and leave you in peace from their questions. They are like that. One must not hold it against them. Children should always show great forbearance toward grown-up people.

But certainly, for us who understand life, figures are a matter of indifference. I should have liked to begin this story in the fashion of the fairy-tales. I should have like to say: "Once upon a time there was a little prince who lived on a planet that was scarcely any bigger than himself, and who had need of a sheep..." To those who understand life, that would have given a much greater air of truth to my story.

For I do not want any one to read my book carelessly. I have suffered too much grief in setting down these memories. Six years have already passed since my friend went away from me, with his sheep. If I try to describe him here, it is to make sure that I shall not forget him.To forget a friend is sad. Not everyone has had a friend. And if I forget him, I may become like the grown-ups who are no longer interested in anything but figures...

It is for that purpose, again, that I have bought a box of paints and some pencils. It is hard to take up drawing again at my age, when I have never made any pictures except those of the boa constrictor from the outside and the boa constrictor from the inside, since I was six. I shall certainly try to make my portraits as true to life as possible. But I am not at all sure of success. One drawing goes along all right, and another has no resemblance to its subject. I make some errors, too, in the little prince‘s height: in one place he is too tall and in another too short. And I feel some doubts about the color of his costume. So I fumble along as best I can, now good, now bad, and I hope generally fair to- middling.

In certain more important details I shall make mistakes, also. But that is something that will not be my fault. My friend never explained anything to me. He thought, perhaps, that I was like himself. But I, alas, do not know how to see sheep through the walls of boxes. Perhaps I am a little like the grown-ups.I have had to grow old.

2. 疑難詞匯

speculate：vt. 推測

asteroid：n. 小行星

scarcely：adv. 幾乎不

telescope：n. 望遠(yuǎn)鏡

astronomer：n. 天文學(xué)家

costume：n. 服裝

reputation：n. 名聲

dictator：n. 獨(dú)裁者

on account of： 因?yàn)?..

essential： adj. 關(guān)鍵的，重要的

geranium：n. 天竺葵

exclaim：v. 驚叫

convince：v. 說服

hold it against sb. ：責(zé)罰，責(zé)怪

forbearance：n. 自制，忍耐；寬容

in the fashion of：以...的方式

portrait：n. 肖像；描寫；

resemblance：n. 相似；相似之處；

fumble：vt. 摸索；笨拙地做

fair to -middling：馬馬虎虎；過得去

3. 內(nèi)容概要

作者終于弄清楚小王子是來自哪里的了。在成年人世界里，這個星球叫做B-612，是由土耳其的一位天文學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)的。這位天文學(xué)家在向國際天文學(xué)大會報告他的發(fā)現(xiàn)時，竟然因?yàn)閰R報時穿著土耳其當(dāng)?shù)氐姆b而被所有人不屑。11年以后這位天文學(xué)家在國王的命令下穿上了歐式服裝重新再做報告，這次人們才相信他。

成年人就是這樣，你跟他們說你認(rèn)識了一位新朋友，他們從不問到關(guān)鍵問題比如他的聲音是什么樣的？他最喜歡什么運(yùn)動？他收集蝴蝶嗎？而是問：他多大了？他有兄弟姐妹嗎？他多重？他爸爸掙多少錢？成年人們只能從數(shù)字里了解一個人。

諸如此類的例子還有很多。小孩子們應(yīng)該對大人們寬容一點(diǎn)。對于我們這些真正懂得生活的人，數(shù)字根本沒有意義。

作者費(fèi)盡心思的回想小王子的樣子，就是為了不要忘記他。忘記一個朋友是很悲傷的。可是這個朋友在六年前就帶著他的小羊離開了，所以在畫他的時候很多地方都畫的不逼真，但是作者已經(jīng)盡力了。

4. 碎碎念

成年人的世界就是由一串串?dāng)?shù)字組成：手機(jī)號，車牌號，房門號，財務(wù)報，營業(yè)額，利潤率，銀行存款，房屋面積大小......這些數(shù)字像精確的指令輸入大人們的腦子，指引著他們的行動。無聊的成年人哦，看不到玫瑰色的磚墻，看不到窗戶上的天竺葵，聽不出聲音的美妙。而小孩子們，才是真正的生活家。他們深諳生活的真諦藏在蝴蝶翅膀的花紋里，而不是利潤表或者房子面積；他們知道一個人的獨(dú)特在于他大笑時嘴角上揚(yáng)的角度，跟他的身高體重月薪都沒有關(guān)系。而忘記一個朋友，那真真是世界上最令人難過的事情了，無論如何，都不能允許自己忘記朋友。

謝謝你們許給世界的溫柔，謝謝你們對大人的寬容，孩子們。