英文小說連載《小王子》No.2“認識小王子”

　　So I lived my life alone， without anyone that I could really talk to， until I had an accident with my plane in the Desert of Sahara， six years ago. Something was broken in my engine. And as I had with me neither a mechanic nor any passengers， I set myself to attempt the difficult repairs all alone. It was a question of life or death for me： I had scarcely enough drinking water to last a week.

　　The first night， then， I went to sleep on the sand， a thousand miles from any human habitation. I was more isolated than a shipwrecked sailor on a raft in the middle of the ocean. Thus you can imagine my amazement， at sunrise， when I was awakened by an odd little voice. It said：

　　"If you please-- draw me a sheep！"

　　"What！"

　　"Draw me a sheep！"

　　I jumped to my feet， completely thunderstruck. I blinked my eyes hard. I looked carefully all around me. And I saw a most extraordinary small person， who stood there examining me with great seriousness. Here you may see the best potrait that， later， I was able to make of him. But my drawing is certainly very much less charming than its model.

　　That， however， is not my fault. The grown-ups discouraged me in my painter's career when I was six years old， and I never learned to draw anything， except boas from the outside and boas from the inside.

　　Now I stared at this sudden apparition with my eyes fairly starting out of my head in astonishment. Remember， I had crashed in the desert a thousand miles from any inhabited region. And yet my little man seemed neither to be straying uncertainly among the sands， nor to be fainting from fatigue or hunger or thirst or fear. Nothing about him gave any suggestion of a child lost in the middle of the desert， a thousand miles from any human habitation. When at last I was able to speak， I said to him：

　　"But-- what are you doing here？"

　　And in answer he repeated， very slowly， as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence： "If you please-- draw me a sheep..."

　　When a mystery is too overpowering， one dare not disobey. Absurd as it might seem to me， a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death， I took out of my pocket a sheet of paper and my fountain-pen. But then I remembered how my studies had been concentrated on geography， history， arithmetic， and grammar， and I told the little chap (a little crossly， too) that I did not know how to draw. He answered me：

　　"That doesn't matter. Draw me a sheep..."

　　But I had never drawn a sheep. So I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn so often. It was that of the boa constrictor from the outside. And I was astounded to hear the little fellow greet it with，

　　"No， no， no！ I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor. A boa constrictor is a very dangerous creature， and an elephant is very cumbersome. Where I live， everything is very small. What I need is a sheep. Draw me a sheep."

　　So then I made a drawing.

　　He looked at it carefully， then he said：

　　"No. This sheep is already very sickly. Make me another."

　　So I made another drawing.

　　My friend smiled gently and indulgently.

　　"You see yourself，" he said， "that this is not a sheep. This is a ram. It has horns."

　　So then I did my drawing over once more.

　　But it was rejected too， just like the others.

　　"This one is too old. I want a sheep that will live a long time."

　　By this time my patience was exhausted， because I was in a hurry to start taking my engine apart. So I tossed off this drawing.

　　And I threw out an explanation with it.

　　"This is only his box. The sheep you asked for is inside."

　　I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my young judge：

　　"That is exactly the way I wanted it！ Do you think that this sheep will have to have a great deal of grass？"

　　"Why？"

　　"Because where I live everything is very small..."

　　"There will surely be enough grass for him，" I said. "It is a very small sheep that I have given you."

　　He bent his head over the drawing：

　　"Not so small that-- Look！ He has gone to sleep..."

　　And that is how I made the acquaintance of the little prince.

　　我就這樣孤獨地生活著，沒有一個能真正談得來的人，一直到六年前在撒哈拉沙漠上發(fā)生了那次故障。我的發(fā)動機里有個東西損壞了。當時由于我既沒有帶機械師也沒有帶旅客，我就試圖獨自完成這個困難的維修工作。這對我來說是個生與死的問題。我隨身帶的水只夠飲用一星期。

　　第一天晚上我就睡在這遠離人間煙火的大沙漠上。我比大海中伏在小木排上的遇難者還要孤獨得多。而在第二天拂曉，當一個奇怪的小聲音叫醒我的時候，你們可以想見我當時是多么吃驚。這小小的聲音說道：

　　“請你給我畫一只羊，好嗎？”

　　“��！”

　　“給我畫一只羊…”

　　我象是受到驚雷轟擊一般，一下子就站立起來。我使勁地揉了揉眼睛，仔細地看了看。我看見一個十分奇怪的小家伙嚴肅地朝我凝眸望著。這是后來我給他畫出來的最好的一副畫像�？墒牵�我的畫當然要比他本人的模樣遜色得多。這不是我的過錯。六歲時，大人們使我對我的畫家生涯失去了勇氣，除了畫過開著肚皮和閉著肚皮的蟒蛇，后來再沒有學過畫。

　　我驚奇地睜大著眼睛看著這突然出現的小家伙。你們不要忘記，我當時處在遠離人煙千里之外的地方。而這個小家伙給我的印象是，他既不象迷了路的樣子，也沒有半點疲乏、饑渴、懼怕的神情。他絲毫不象是一個迷失在曠無人煙的大沙漠中的孩子。當我在驚訝之中終于又能說出話來的時候，對他說道：

　　“唉，你在這兒干什么？”

　　可是他卻不慌不忙地好象有一件重要的事一般，對我重復地說道：

　　“請…給我畫一只羊…”

　　當一種神秘的東西把你鎮(zhèn)住的時候，你是不敢不聽從它的支配的，在這曠無人煙的沙漠上，面臨死亡的危險的情況下，盡管這樣的舉動使我感到十分荒誕，我還是掏出了一張紙和一支鋼筆。這時我卻又記起，我只學過地理、歷史、算術和語法，就有點不大高興地對小家伙說我不會畫畫。他回答我說：

　　“沒有關系，給我畫一只羊吧！”

　　因為我從來沒有畫過羊，我就給他重畫我所僅僅會畫的兩副畫中的那副閉著肚皮的巨蟒。

　　“不，不！我不要蟒蛇，它肚子里還有一頭象。”

　　我聽了他的話，簡直目瞪口呆。他接著說：“巨蟒這東西太危險，大象又太占地方。我住的地方非常小，我需要一只羊。給我畫一只羊吧。”

　　我就給他畫了。

　　他專心地看著，隨后又說：

　　“我不要，這只羊已經病得很重了。給我重新畫一只。”

　　我又畫了起來。

　　我的這位朋友天真可愛地笑了，并且客氣地拒絕道：“你看，你畫的不是小羊，是頭公羊，還有犄角呢。”

　　于是我又重新畫了一張。

　　這副畫同前幾副一樣又被拒絕了。

　　“這一只太老了。我想要一只能活得長的羊。”

　　我不耐煩了。因為我急于要檢修發(fā)動機，于是就草草畫了這張畫，并且匆匆地對他說道：

　　“這是一只箱子，你要的羊就在里面。”

　　這時我十分驚奇地看到我的這位小評判員喜笑顏開。他說：

　　“這正是我想要的，…你說這只羊需要很多草嗎？”

　　“為什么問這個呢？”

　　“因為我那里地方非常小…”

　　“我給你畫的是一只很小的小羊，地方小也夠喂養(yǎng)它的。”

　　他把腦袋靠近這張畫。

　　“并不象你說的那么小…瞧！它睡著了…”

　　就這樣，我認識了小王子。