04.The little prince

Another important thing I learned was that the planet on which his old home was located was no bigger than a house
It didn't surprise me too much. This didn't surprise me too much. I knew that apart from the big named planets, Earth, Jupiter, Mars and Venus, there were hundreds of other planets, some of them so small that they were hard to see with a telescope. When an astronomer discovers one of these stars, he gives it a number, calling it, for example, "asteroid 325".
I have it on good authority that the planet from which the little prince came is asteroid B612.
It was only seen once in 1909 by a Turkish astronomer with a telescope.
He gave an important demonstration of his discovery at an international congress of astronomers. But
because of the clothes he was wearing, no one believed him then. That was the case with the adults.
Fortunately, a Turkish dictator, for the sake of the reputation of asteroid B612, forced all his people to wear
In 1920, the astronomer dressed up in a very nice costume and made a new argument. This time all the people agreed with him.
I give you these details about asteroid B612 and tell you its number, which is due to
these grown-ups. These grown-ups just love numbers. When you tell the grown-ups about one of your new friends, they never ask you substantive questions. They never say, "How does he sound? What kind of games does he like? Does he collect butterfly specimens?" Instead, they ask you, "How old is he? How many brothers does he have? How much does he weigh? How much does his father earn?" They think that's how they know their friends. If you say to the adults, "I saw a beautiful house made of rose-coloured bricks, with geraniums in the windows and pigeons on the roof..." they can't imagine how good it is. One must say to them: "I saw a house worth a hundred thousand francs." Then they exclaim: "What a beautiful house!"
If you say to them, "The proof that the little prince exists is that he is very beautiful, that he smiles and wants a
sheep. The fact that he wants a lamb is proof of his existence." They will surely shrug their shoulders and treat you like a child!
children! But if you say to them, "The planet the little prince came from is asteroid B612," then they are so convinced that they won't ask a whole lot of questions to tangle with you. That's how they are. Children should be more generous with adults and not complain about them.
Of course, for those of us who know how to live, we don't care about the numbers! I would really like to tell this story like a
I would love to start this story like a myth, I would love to say something like this.
"Once upon a time there was a little prince who lived on a planet about the size of his body, and he wanted
He wished he had a friend..." This would be true for someone who knows how to live.
I don't like people to read my books lightly. I am in a sad mood when I tell these stories. My
My friend has been gone for six years with his lamb. The reason I have tried to describe him here is
not to forget him. It's so sad to forget a friend. Not all people have ever had a
A friend. Besides, I could have become one of those adults who are only interested in numbers. And for that reason
That's why I bought a box of paints and some pencils. At my age, and with the exception of the six-year-old who drew closed-bellied and open-bellied
and open-bellied boa constrictors when I was six, it's hard to start drawing again.
It's a lot of work! Of course, I had to make the drawings as realistic as possible, but I wasn't sure myself. One
One is OK, the other is not. The size of the figures is a bit inaccurate. In this area
I drew the little prince a little too big in one place and a little too small in another. I wasn't sure about the colour of his clothes either. So I fumbled around and tried this and that to get a rough idea. I probably got some important details
I may have made a mistake in some important details. I'll have to ask you to forgive me for that. Because this friend of mine never explains himself. He
thinks I am like him. But, unfortunately, I can't see the lamb through the box. I am probably a bit like the adults.
I'm probably a bit like the adults. I must be getting old.
译文：
我还了解到另一件重要的事，就是他老家所在的那个星球比一座房子大不了
多少。这倒并没有使我感到太奇怪。我知道除地球、木星、火星、金星这几个有名称的大行星以外，还有成百个别的星球，它们有的小得很，就是用望远镜也很难看见。当一个天文学者发现了其中一个星星，他就给它编上一个号码，例如把它称作“325小行星”。
我有重要的根据认为小王子所来自的那个星球是小行星B612。这颗小行星仅
仅在1909年被一个土耳其天文学家用望远镜看见过一次。
当时他曾经在一次国际天文学家代表大会上对他的发现作了重要的论证。但
由于他所穿衣服的缘故，那时没有人相信他。那些大人们就是这样。
幸好，土耳其的一个独裁者，为了小行星B612的声誉，迫使他的人民都要穿
欧式服装，否则就处以死刑。1920年，这位天文学家穿了一身非常漂亮的服装，重新作了一次论证。这一次所有的人都同意他的看法。
我给你们讲关于小行星B612的这些细节，并且告诉你们它的编号，这是由于
这些大人的缘故。这些大人们就爱数目字。当你对大人们讲起你的一个新朋友时，他们从来不向你提出实质性的问题。他们从来不讲：“他说话声音如何啊？他喜爱什么样的游戏啊？他是否收集蝴蝶标本呀？”他们却问你：“他多大年纪呀？弟兄几个呀？体重多少呀？他父亲挣多少钱呀？”他们以为这样才算了解朋友。如果你对大人们说：“我看到一幢用玫瑰色的砖盖成的漂亮的房子，它的窗户上有天竺葵，屋顶上还有鸽子⋯”他们怎么也想象不出这种房子有多么好。必须对他们说：“我看见了一幢价值十万法郎的房子。”那么他们就惊叫道：“多么漂亮的房子啊！”
要是你对他们说：“小王子存在的证据就是他非常漂亮，他笑着，想要一只
羊。他想要一只小羊，这就证明他的存在。”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”，那么他们就十分信服，他们就不会提出一大堆问题来和你纠缠。他们就是这样的。小孩子们对大人们应该宽厚些，不要埋怨他们。
当然，对我们懂得生活的人来说，我们才不在乎那些编号呢！我真愿意象讲
神话那样来开始这个故事，我真想这样说：
“从前呀，有一个小王子，他住在一个和他身体差不多大的星球上，他希望
有一个朋友⋯”对懂得生活的人来说，这样说就显得真实。
我可不喜欢人们轻率地读我的书。我在讲述这些往事时心情是很难过的。我
的朋友带着他的小羊已经离去六年了。我之所以在这里尽力把他描写出来，就是
为了不要忘记他。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。也正是为了这个缘
故，我买了一盒颜料和一些铅笔。象我这样年纪的人，而且除了六岁时画过闭着
肚皮的和开着肚皮的巨蟒外，别的什么也没有尝试过，现在，重新再来画画，真
费劲啊！当然，我一定要把这些画尽量地画得逼真，但我自己也没有把握。一张
画得还可以，另一张就不象了。还有身材大小，我画得有点不准确。在这个地方
小王子画得太大了些，另一个地方又画得太小了些。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，画个大概齐。我很可能在某些重要的细节上
画错了。这就得请大家原谅我了。因为我的这个朋友，从来也不加说明解释。他
认为我同他一样。可是，很遗憾，我却不能透过盒子看见小羊。我大概有点和大
人们差不多。我一定是变老了。