《小王子》是法國作家安托萬·德·圣-?？颂K佩里于1942年寫成的短篇小說。

該書的主人公是來自外星球的小王子。書中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。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，用淺顯天真的語言寫出了人類的孤獨(dú)寂寞、沒有根基隨風(fēng)流浪的命運(yùn)。同時，也表達(dá)出作者對金錢關(guān)系的批判，對真善美的謳歌。

《小王子》全球銷售數(shù)十億冊，光中國每年都有200萬冊以上的銷售量。2015年，改編的同名動畫電影上映。

小王子在故事一開始告訴讀者，他在大人世界找不到一個說話投機(jī)的人，因為大人都太講實際了。

Chapter One

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

當(dāng)我還只有六歲的時候，在一本描寫原始森林的名叫《真實的故事》的書中，看到了一幅精彩的插畫，畫的是一條蟒蛇正在吞食一只大野獸。頁頭上就是那幅畫的摹本。

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.

這本書中寫道：這些蟒蛇把它們的獵獲物不加咀嚼地囫圇吞下，爾后就不能再動彈了；它們就在長長的六個月的睡眠中消化這些食物。

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:

當(dāng)時，我對叢林中的奇遇想得很多，于是，我也用彩色鉛筆畫出了我的第一幅圖畫。我的第一號作品。它是這樣的：

I showed the grown-ups my masterpiece, and I asked them if my drawing scared them. They answered, “Why be scared of a hat?”

我把我的這幅杰作拿給大人看，我問他們我的畫是不是叫他們害怕。他們回答我說：一頂帽子有什么可怕的？

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:

我畫的不是帽子，是一條巨蟒在消化著一頭大象。于是我又把巨蟒肚子里的情況畫了出來，以便讓大人們能夠看懂。這些大人總是需要解釋。我的第二號作品是這樣的：

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.

大人們勸我把這些畫著開著肚皮的，或閉上肚皮的蟒蛇的圖畫放在一邊，還是把興趣放在地理、歷史、算術(shù)、語法上。就這樣，在六歲的那年，我就放棄了當(dāng)畫家這一美好的職業(yè)。我的第一號、第二號作品的不成功，使我泄了氣。這些大人們，靠他們自己什么也弄不懂，還得老是不斷地給他們做解釋。這真叫孩子們膩味。

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.

后來，我只好選擇了另外一個職業(yè)，我學(xué)會了開飛機(jī)，世界各地差不多都飛到過。的確，地理學(xué)幫了我很大的忙。我一眼就能分辨出中國和亞里桑那。要是夜里迷失了航向，這是很有用的。

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.

這樣，在我的生活中，我跟許多嚴(yán)肅的人有過很多的接觸。我在大人們中間生活過很長時間。我仔細(xì)地觀察過他們，但這并沒有使我對他們的看法有多大的改變。

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.

當(dāng)我遇到一個頭腦看來稍微清楚的大人時，我就拿出一直保存著的我那第一號作品來測試測試他。我想知道他是否真的有理解能力。可是，得到的回答總是：?這是頂帽子。我就不和他談巨蟒呀，原始森林呀，或者星星之類的事。我只得遷就他們的水平，和他們談些橋牌呀，高爾夫球呀，政治呀，領(lǐng)帶呀這些。于是大人們就十分高興能認(rèn)識我這樣一個通情達(dá)理的人。