04 the narrator speculates 另一件很重要的事情（英文）

- 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,
and 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 anything
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 every one 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 littl e
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 t he walls of boxes. Perhaps I am a little like the grown-ups. I have had to
grow old.

  每天我都了解到一些关于小王子的星球，他的出走和旅行等事情。这些都是偶然从各种反应中慢慢得到的。就这样，第三天我就了解到关于猴面包树的悲剧。

    这一次又是因为羊的事情，突然小王子好象是非常担心地问我道：

    “羊吃小灌木，这是真的吗？”

    “是的，是真的。”

    “啊，我真高兴。”

    我不明白羊吃小灌木这件事为什么如此重要。可小王子又说道：

    “因此，它们也吃猴面包树罗？”
    我对小王子说，猴面包树可不是小灌木，而是象教堂那么大的大树；即便是带回一群大象，也啃不了一棵猴面包树。

    一群大象这种想法使小王子发笑：

    “那可得把这些大象一只叠一只地垒起来。”

    他很有见识地说：

    “猴面包树在长大之前，开始也是小小的。”

    “不错。可是为什么你想叫你的羊去吃小猴面包树呢？”

    他回答我道：“唉！这还用说！”似乎这是不言而喻的。可是我自己要费很大的心劲才能弄懂这个问题。

    原来，在小王子的星球上就象其他所有星球上一样，有好草和坏草；因此，也就有益草的草籽和毒草的草籽，可是草籽是看不见的。它们沉睡在泥土里，直到其中的一粒忽然想要苏醒过来…于是它就伸展开身子，开始腼腆地朝着太阳长出一棵秀丽可爱的小嫩苗。如果是小萝卜或是玫瑰的嫩苗，就让它去自由地生长。如果是一棵坏苗，一旦被辨认出来，就应该马上把它拔掉。因为在小王子的星球上，有些非常可怕的种子…这就是猴面包树的种子。在那里的泥土里，这种种子多得成灾。而一棵猴面包树苗，假如你拔得太迟，就再也无法把它清除掉。它就会盘踞整个星球。它的树根能把星球钻透，如果星球很小，而猴面包树很多，它就把整个星球搞得支离破碎。

    “这是个纪律问题。”小王子后来向我解释道。“当你早上梳洗完毕以后，必须仔细地给星球梳洗，必须规定自己按时去拔掉猴面包树苗。这种树苗小的时候与玫瑰苗差不多，一旦可以把它们区别开的时候，就要把它拔掉。这是一件非常乏味的工作，但很容易。”

有一天，他劝我用心地画一副漂亮的图画，好叫我家乡的孩子们对这件事有一个深刻的印象。他还对我说：“如果将来有一天他们出外旅行，这对他们是很有用的。有时候，人们把自己的工作推到以后去做，并没有什么妨害，但要遇到拔猴面包树苗这种事，那就非造成大灾难不可。我遇到过一个星球，上面住着一个懒家伙，他放过了三棵小树苗…”

 于是，根据小王子的说明，我把这个星球画了下来。我从来不大愿意以道学家的口吻来说话，可是猴面包树的危险，大家都不大了解，对迷失在小行星上的人来说，危险性非常之大，因此这一回，我贸然打破了我的这种不喜欢教训人的惯例。我说：“孩子们，要当心那些猴面包树呀！”为了叫我的朋友们警惕这种危险——他们同我一样长期以来和这种危险接触，却没有意识到它的危险性——我花了很大的功夫画了这副画。我提出的这个教训意义是很重大的，花点功夫是很值得的。你们也许要问，为什么这本书中别的画都没有这副画那么壮观呢？回答很简单：别的画我也曾经试图画得好些，却没成功。而当我画猴面包树时，有一种急切的心情在激励着我。