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. 我就這樣孤獨(dú)地生活著，沒有一個(gè)真正談得來的人。一直到六年前，我的飛機(jī)在撒哈拉沙漠上發(fā)生了那次故障，我的飛機(jī)發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)里有東西損壞了。當(dāng)時(shí)我既沒有機(jī)械師，也沒有旅客，我只好試圖獨(dú)自完成這個(gè)困難的維修工作。這對(duì)我來說是個(gè)生死攸關(guān)的問題：我隨身帶的水只夠飲用一星期。 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: 第一天晚上，我就睡在這遠(yuǎn)離人間煙火的大沙漠上，比大海中伏在木筏上的遇難者還要孤獨(dú)得多。所以當(dāng)?shù)诙焯柹?，一個(gè)奇怪的小聲音叫醒我的時(shí)候， 你們可以想象我當(dāng)時(shí)是多么吃驚。這小小的聲音說道： "If you please -- draw me a sheep!" “請(qǐng)你……給我畫一只羊吧！” "What!" “?。　? "Draw me a sheep!" “給我畫一只羊吧！” 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. 我像是受到雷擊一般，一下子就站了起來。我使勁地揉了揉眼睛，仔細(xì)地看了看。我看見一個(gè)十分奇怪的小家伙嚴(yán)肅地朝我望著。這是后來我給他畫出來的最好的一幅畫像?？墒牵业漠嫯?dāng)然要比他本人的模樣遜色得多。 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. 這不是我的過錯(cuò)。六歲時(shí)，大人們使我對(duì)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?zèng)]有學(xué)過繪畫。 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: 我驚奇地睜大著眼睛，看著這突然出現(xiàn)的小家伙。不要忘記，我當(dāng)時(shí)處在遠(yuǎn)離人煙的地方。而這個(gè)小家伙給我的印象是，他看起來既不像迷路的樣子，也沒有半點(diǎn)疲乏、饑渴、懼怕的神情。他絲毫不像是一個(gè)迷失在曠無人煙的大沙漠中的孩子。當(dāng)我在驚訝之中，終于又能說出話來的時(shí)候，對(duì)他說道： "But-- what are you doing here?" “唉，你在這兒干什么？” And in answer he repeated, very slowly, as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence: 可是他卻不慌不忙，鄭重其事地重復(fù)那句話： "If you please-- draw me a sheep…" “請(qǐng)你……給我畫一只羊吧……” 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: 當(dāng)一種神秘的東西把你鎮(zhèn)住的時(shí)候，你是不敢不聽從它的支配的。在這曠無人煙的沙漠上，面臨死亡危險(xiǎn)的情況下，盡管這樣的舉動(dòng)使我感到十分荒誕， 我還是掏出了一張紙和一支鋼筆。這時(shí)我又記起，我把學(xué)習(xí)精力都放在了地理、歷史、算術(shù)和語法上，就告訴那小家伙（用有點(diǎn)賭氣的語氣），說我不會(huì)畫畫。他回答我說： "That doesn't matter. Draw me a sheep…" “沒有關(guān)系。給我畫只羊就好……” 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, 可是我從來沒有畫過羊。我就把經(jīng)常畫的那兩幅畫，畫了一張給他。是那幅合著肚皮的蟒蛇。我聽了他的話，簡(jiǎn)直目瞪口呆： "No, no, no! I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor. “不，不！我不想要在蟒蛇肚子里的一頭象?！? 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." 他接著說：“巨蟒這東西太危險(xiǎn)，大象又太占地方。我住的地方非常小，一切都是小小的。我需要一只羊，給我畫一只羊吧?！? So then I made a drawing. 我就給他畫了。 He looked at it carefully, then he said: 他專心地看著，隨后又說： "No. This sheep is already very sickly. Make me another." “我不要，這只羊已經(jīng)病得很重了。給我重新畫一只。” So I made another drawing. 我又畫了起來。 My friend smiled gently and indulgenty. "You see yourself," he said, "that this is not a sheep. This is a ram. It has horns." 我這位朋友忍不住笑了，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?！? So then I did my drawing over once more. 于是我又重新畫了一張。 But it was rejected too, just like the others. 這幅畫同前幾幅一樣，又被拒絕了。 "This one is too old. I want a sheep that will live a long time." “這一只太老了。我想要一只能活時(shí)間很長(zhǎng)的羊?！? 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. 這回我不耐煩了。因?yàn)槲壹庇谝獧z修發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)，于是就草草畫了這張畫。我隨口對(duì)他說道： "This is only his box. The sheep you asked for is inside." “這是一只箱子，你要的羊就在里面?！? I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my young judge: 這時(shí)我十分驚奇地看到，我的這位小評(píng)判員微微地笑了。他說： "That is exactly the way I wanted it ! Do you think that this sheep will have to have a great deal of grass?" “這正是我想要的！你說，這只羊需要很多草嗎？” "Why?" “為什么問這個(gè)呢？” "Because where I live everything is very small…" “因?yàn)槲易〉牡胤?，一切都是小小的……? "There will surely be enough grass for him," I said. "It is a very small sheep that I have given you." “我給你畫的是一只很小的小羊，地方再小也夠喂養(yǎng)它的?！? He bent his head over the drawing: 他把腦袋靠近這張畫。 "Not so small that -- Look! He has gone to sleep…" “并不象你說的那么小……瞧！它睡著了……” And that is how I made the acquaintance of the little prince. 就這樣，我認(rèn)識(shí)了小王子。