The Little Prince 小王子

To Leon Werth 獻(xiàn)給利昂·沃思。

I ask children to forgive me for dedicating this book to a grown-up. I have a serious excuse: this grown-up is the best friend I have in the world. I have another excuse: this grown-up can understand everything, even books for children. I have a third excuse: he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs to be comforted. If all these excuses are not enough, then I want to dedicate this book to the child whom this grown-up once was. AII grown-ups were children first. (But few of them remember it.) So I correct my dedication:

我請求孩子們原諒，因?yàn)槲野堰@本書獻(xiàn)給某個(gè)大人。我有非常重要的理由：這個(gè)人是我在這個(gè)世界上最好的朋友。我有另一個(gè)理由：這個(gè)人能明白一切，包括給孩子的書。我還有第三個(gè)理由，他住在法國，又餓又冷。他需要被安慰。如果所有上述理由都不足夠，我將這本書獻(xiàn)給小時(shí)候的這個(gè)人。所有的大人都是經(jīng)由兒童而來（但很少有人記得）我更正我的措辭。

To Leon Werth when he was a little boy.

致童年的利昂·沃思

Chapter 1 第一章

Once when I was six I saw a magnificent picture in a book about the jungle, called Ture Stories. It showed a boa constrictor swallowing a wild beast. Here is a copy of the picture.

當(dāng)我六歲的時(shí)候，在一本書里看到一張?bào)@奇的圖片，是關(guān)于叢林的，名字叫《真實(shí)故事》。畫著一條蟒蛇正試圖吞咽一只野獸。這是這張圖的復(fù)制品。

In the book it said: “ Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing. Afterward they are no longer able to move, and they sleep during the six months of their digestion.”

書中寫到：蟒蛇完整地吞下了整個(gè)野獸，沒有咀嚼。大蟒蛇之后一動(dòng)都不能動(dòng)，等著肚子里食物消化，睡了六個(gè)月長覺。

In those days I thought a lot about jungle adventures, and eventually managed to make my first drawing, using a colored pencil. My drawing Number One looked like this: I showed the grown-ups my masterpiece, and I asked them if my drawing scared them.

那時(shí)，我想了很多叢林冒險(xiǎn)的畫面，于是我用了彩色鉛筆，畫了人生中的第一幅作品。我的畫就像這樣。 我給大人們看我的杰作，我問他們，我的畫是否嚇到了他們。

hey answered, “ Why be scared of a hat ?”

他們答到：一只帽子有什么可怕的？

My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. Then I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so the grown-ups could understand. They always need explanations. My drawing Number Two looked like this:

我的畫作不是帽子，而是一條蟒蛇吞噬了一頭大象。我畫了蟒蛇的透視圖，大人們可以了解了。他們總是需要解釋。我的第二幅畫作像這樣。

The grown-ups advised me to put away my drawings of boa constrictors, outside or inside, and apply myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar. That is why I abandoned, at the age of six, a magnificent career as an artist. I had been discouraged by the failure of my drawing Number One and of my drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children to have to provide explanations over and over again.

大人們建議我放棄繪畫，不要畫大蟒蛇，無論外觀還是透視。我應(yīng)該花時(shí)間去學(xué)習(xí)地理，歷史，藝術(shù)和語法。這就是為什么在我六歲的時(shí)候放棄畫畫，結(jié)束了作為一個(gè)藝術(shù)家的事業(yè)。我在第一幅畫作和第二幅畫作失敗，倍受打擊。大人們從不主動(dòng)了解任何事物，并且一遍又一遍地要求小孩們解釋。

So then I had to choose another career, and I learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown almost everywhere in the world. And, as a matter of fact, geography has been a big help to me. I could tell China from Arizona at first glance, which is very useful if you get lost during the night.

所以我不得不選擇另一個(gè)職業(yè)，學(xué)習(xí)駕駛飛機(jī)。我差不多飛遍了世界各地。事實(shí)上，地理是對我最有幫助的學(xué)科。我可以掃一眼就分辨出中國和美國亞利桑那州，在夜航中迷路時(shí)非常有用。

So I have had, in the course of my life, lots of encounters with lots of serious people. I have spent lots of time with grown-ups. I have seen them at close range . . . which hasn't much improved my opinion of them.

所以，在我的生命中，遇到很多重要的人。我和他們一起渡過了很多時(shí)間，我和他們近距離接觸，但是并沒有改善我對他們的看法。

Whenever I encountered a grown-up who seemed to me at all enlightened, I would experiment on him with my drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I wanted to see if he really understood anything. But he would always answer, “ That's a hat.” Then I wouldn't talk about boa constrictors or jungles or stars. I would put myself on his level and talk about bridge and golf and politics and neckties. And my grown-up was glad to know such a reasonable person.

無論何時(shí)，只有我遇見看起來頭腦清楚的大人，我將會(huì)和他解釋我的第一幅作品，這幅作品總是隨聲攜帶。我想知道是否有人真正看得懂。如果對方說，“那是一頂帽子”，我就不會(huì)繼續(xù)和他講蟒蛇和叢林，而是調(diào)整到和他一樣的水平，談?wù)剺蚺?，高爾夫，政治還有領(lǐng)帶，他們也很開心遇見我這樣通情達(dá)理的人。