By Antoine de Saint-Exupery
作者：安東尼·德·圣-?？颂K佩里
When one wishes to play the wit, he sometimes wanders a little from the truth. I have not been altogether honest in what I have told you about the lamplighters. And I realize that I run the risk of giving a false idea of our planet to those who do not k now it. Men occupy a very small place upon the Earth. If the two billion inhabitants who people its surface were all to stand upright and somewhat crowded together, as they do for some big public assembly, they could easily be put into one public square twenty miles long and twenty miles wide. All humanity could be piled up on a small Pacific islet.
The grown-ups, to be sure, will not believe you when you tell them that. They imagine that they fill a great deal of space. They fancy themselves as important as the baobabs. You should advise them, then, to make their own calculations. They adore fig ures, and that will please them. But do not waste your time on this extra task. It is unnecessary. You have, I know, confidence in me.
When the little prince arrived on the Earth, he was very much surprised not to see any people. He was beginning to be afraid he had come to the wrong planet, when a coil of gold, the color of the moonlight, flashed across the sand.
"Good evening," said the little prince courteously.
"Good evening," said the snake.
"What planet is this on which I have come down?" asked the little prince.
"This is the Earth; this is Africa," the snake answered.
"Ah! Then there are no people on the Earth?"
"This is the desert. There are no people in the desert. The Earth is large," said the snake.
The little prince sat down on a stone, and raised his eyes toward the sky.
"I wonder," he said, "whether the stars are set alight in heaven so that one day each one of us may find his own again… Look at my planet. It is right there above us. But how far away it is!"
"It is beautiful," the snake said. "What has brought you here?"
"I have been having some trouble with a flower," said the little prince.
"Ah!" said the snake.
And they were both silent.
"Where are the men?" the little prince at last took up the conversation again. "It is a little lonely in the desert…"
"It is also lonely among men," the snake said.
The little prince gazed at him for a long time.
"You are a funny animal," he said at last. "You are no thicker than a finger…"
"But I am more powerful than the finger of a king," said the snake.
The little prince smiled.
"You are not very powerful. You haven't even any feet. You cannot even travel…"
"I can carry you farther than any ship could take you," said the snake.
He twined himself around the little prince's ankle, like a golden bracelet.
"Whomever I touch, I send back to the earth from whence he came," the snake spoke again. "But you are innocent and true, and you come from a star…"
The little prince made no reply.
"You move me to pity-- you are so weak on this Earth made of granite," the snake said. "I can help you, some day, if you grow too homesick for your own planet. I can--"
"Oh! I understand you very well," said the little prince. "But why do you always speak in riddles?"
"I solve them all," said the snake.
And they were both silent.
#譯文：
小王子到了地球上感到非常奇怪，他一個(gè)人也沒(méi)有看到，他正擔(dān)心自己跑錯(cuò)了星球。這時(shí)，在沙地上有一個(gè)月光色的圓環(huán)在蠕動(dòng)。
小王子毫無(wú)把握地隨便說(shuō)了聲：「晚上好。」
「晚上好?！股哒f(shuō)道。
「我落在什么行星上？」小王子問(wèn)道。
「在地球上，在非洲。」蛇回答道。
「?。 趺?，難道說(shuō)地球上沒(méi)有人嗎？」
「這里是沙漠，沙漠中沒(méi)有人。地球是很大的?！股哒f(shuō)。
小王子坐在一塊石頭上，抬眼望著天空，說(shuō)道：
「我捉摸這些星星閃閃發(fā)亮是否為了讓每個(gè)人將來(lái)有一天都能重新找到自己的星球?？?，我那顆行星。它恰好在我們頭頂上……可是，它離我們好遠(yuǎn)喲！」
「它很美?！股哒f(shuō)，「你到這里來(lái)干什么呢？」
「我和一朵花鬧了別扭?！剐⊥踝诱f(shuō)。
「?。 股哒f(shuō)道。
于是他們都沉默下來(lái)。
「人在什么地方？」小王子終于又開(kāi)了腔?！冈谏衬希嬗悬c(diǎn)孤獨(dú)……」
「到了有人的地方，也一樣孤獨(dú)?！股哒f(shuō)。
小王子長(zhǎng)時(shí)間地看著蛇。
「你是個(gè)奇怪的動(dòng)物，細(xì)得象個(gè)手指頭……」小王子終于說(shuō)道。
「但我比一個(gè)國(guó)王的手指更有威力?！股哒f(shuō)道。
小王子微笑著說(shuō)：
「你并不那么有威力……你連腳都沒(méi)有……你甚至都不能旅行……」
「我可以把你帶到很遠(yuǎn)的地方去，比一只船能去的地方還要遠(yuǎn)?！股哒f(shuō)道。
蛇就盤(pán)結(jié)在小王子的腳腕子上，象一只金鐲子。
「被我碰觸的人，我就把他送回老家去。」蛇還說(shuō)，「可是你是純潔的，而且是從另一個(gè)星球上來(lái)的……」
小王子什么也沒(méi)有回答。
「在這個(gè)花崗石的地球上，你這么弱小，我很可憐你。如果你非常懷念你的星球，那時(shí)我可以幫助你。我可以……」
「?。∥液苊靼啄愕囊馑?。」小王子說(shuō)，「但是你為什么說(shuō)話總是象讓人猜謎語(yǔ)似的？」
「這些謎語(yǔ)我都能解開(kāi)的?！股哒f(shuō)。
