小王子-chapter4（下）

ust 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."
要是你对他们说：“小王子存在的证据就是他很招人喜欢，他喜欢笑，他在找一只羊。他想要一只小羊，这就证明了他的存在。”

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.
他们一定会耸耸肩膀，把你当作孩子看待！但是，如果你对他们说：“小王子来自的星球就是小行星B612”，那么他们就会相信，就不会提出一大堆问题来和你纠缠。他们就是这样的。

They are like that. One must not hold it against them. Children should always show great forbearance toward grown-up people.
大人们就是这样的。小孩子们对大人们应该大度些，不要埋怨他们。

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:
当然，对我们这些懂得生活的人来说，我们才不在乎那些编号呢！我真愿意像讲童话那样来开始这个故事，我真想这样说：

"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…"
“从前，有一个小王子，他住在一个和他差不多大小的星球上，他希望有一只小羊当他的朋友……”

To those who understand life, that would have given a much greater air of truth to my story.‍
对懂得生活的人来说，这样说就显得真实很多。

For I do not want any one to read my book carelessly. I have suffered too much grief in setting down these memories.
我可不喜欢人们漫不经心地读我的书。我在讲述这些往事时心情是很难过的。

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.
我的朋友带着他的小羊离开已经有六年了。我之所以在这里尽力把他描写出来，就是为了不要忘记他。

To forget a friend is sad. Not everyone 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…
忘记一个朋友，这太叫人悲伤了。并不是所有的人都有过一个 朋友。再说，我也可能变成那些大人那样，只对数字感兴趣。

It is for that purpose, again, that I have bought a box of paints and some pencils.
也正是因为这个原因，我买了一盒颜料和一些铅笔。

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.
像我这样年纪的人，而且除了六岁时画过敞着肚皮的和合着肚皮的巨蟒之外，别的什么也没有尝试过，现在，重新再来画画，真不容易啊！

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.
当然，我一定要尽量地画得逼真一点，但我自己也没有把握能画好。往往一张画得还可以，另一张就不像了。

I make some errors, too, in the little prince's height: in one place he is too tall and in another too short.
对于小王子的身高我也经常犯错：这个地方小王子画得太大了些，另一个地方又画得太小了些。

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.
对他衣服的颜色我也拿不准。 于是我就摸索着这么试试那么改改，大体上应该还过得去吧。

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.
我很有可能在某些重要的细节上也画错了。但请大家原谅我了。因为我的这个朋友，从来也不跟我解释。

He thought, perhaps, that I was like himself. But I, alas, do not know how to see sheep through the walls of boxes. Perhaps I am a little like the grown-ups. I have had to grow old.
可能他以为我跟他一样吧。但是，很遗憾，我却不能透过盒子看见小羊。我大概和大人们差不多了。我一定是变老了。