On the fifth day——again, as always, it was thanks to the sheep——the secret of the little prince's life was revealed to me. 第五天，像以往一樣，感謝那只羊，幫我揭開了小王子生活的秘密。 Abruptly, without anything to lead up to it, and as if the question had been born of long and silent meditation on his problem, he demanded: 小王子默默地思索了很長時間以后，無緣無故地突然向我發(fā)問： "A sheep—— if it eats little bushes,does it eat flowers, too?" “小綿羊，它要是吃小灌木，它也會吃花吧？” "A sheep," I answered, "eats anything it finds in its reach." “綿羊看見什么就吃什么?！蔽一卮鸬馈? "Even flowers that have thorns?" “帶刺的花也吃嗎？” "Yes, even flowers that have thorns." “帶刺的也吃！” "Then the thorns—— what use are they?" “那么刺有什么用呢？” I did not know. At that moment I was very busy trying to unscrew a bolt that had got stuck in my engine. 我不知道該怎么回答。那會兒我正忙著要從發(fā)動機上卸下一顆擰得太緊的螺 絲。 I was very much worried, for it was becoming clear to me that the break down of my plane was extremely serious. And I had so little drinking-water left that I had to fear for the worst. 我發(fā)現(xiàn)機器故障似乎很嚴重，飲用水也快喝完了，我不得不擔心發(fā)生最壞的狀況。 "The thorns——what use are they?" “那么這些刺有什么用呢？” The little prince never let go of a question, once he had asked it. 小王子一旦提出問題，就一定要得到答案。 As for me, I was upset over that bolt. And I answered with the first thing that came into my head: 我正被那顆螺絲搞得心煩意亂，就隨口說： "The thorns are of no use at all. Flowers have thorns just for spite!" “刺么，什么用都沒有，這純粹是花的惡劣表現(xiàn)。” "Oh!" “噢！” There was a moment of complete silence. Then the little prince flashed back at me, with a kind of resentfulness: 可是他沉默了一會兒之后，心懷不滿地沖我說： "I don't believe you! Flowers are weak creatures. They are na?ve. They reassure themselves as best they can. They believe that their thorns are terrible weapons…" “我不信！花是弱小的，是很天真的，它們總是設(shè)法保護自己，以為有了刺就可以顯出自己的厲害……” I did not answer. At that instant I was saying to myself: "If this bolt still won't turn, I am going to knock it out with the hammer." Again the little prince disturbed my thoughts. 我沒有回答。我當時想的，如果這個螺絲再和我作對，我就一錘子敲掉它。 小王子又一次打亂了我的思緒： "And you actually believe that the flowers——" “你卻認為花……” "Oh, no!" I cried. "No, no no! I don't believe anything. I answered you with the first thing that came into my head. Don't you see—— I am very busy with matters of consequence!" “算了吧，算了吧！我什么也不認為！我是隨便回答你的。你沒看見嗎？我正忙著呢，我有正經(jīng)事要做?！? He stared at me, thunderstruck. 他驚訝地看著我。 "Matters of consequence!" “正經(jīng)事！” He looked at me there, with my hammer in my hand, my fingers black with engine-grease, bending down over an object which seemed to him extremely ugly...... 他瞅著我手拿錘子，手指沾滿了油污，正彎著腰擺弄一臺在他看來其丑無比的機器...... "You talk just like the grown-ups!" “你說話就和那些大人一樣！” That made me a little ashamed. But he went on, relentlessly: 這話讓我有點難堪?？墒撬z毫不留情面地接著說道： "You mix everything up together… You confuse everything…" “你混淆了一切……你把什么都混在一起！” He was really very angry. He tossed his golden curls in the breeze. 他著實非常惱火。他晃動著腦袋，金黃色的頭發(fā)隨風飄動。 "I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman. He has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved anyone. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures. “我到過一個星球，上面住著一位紅臉先生。他從來沒聞過一朵花。他從來沒有看過一顆星星。他什么人也沒有喜歡過。除了做加法以外，他什么也沒有做過。 And all day he says over and over, just like you: 'I am busy with matters of consequence!' And that makes him swell up with pride. But he is not a man——he is a mushroom!" 他整天同你一樣老是說：‘我有正經(jīng)事，我是個嚴肅的人?！@讓他越來越驕傲自大。但他不是個人，他是個蘑菇?！? "A what?" “是個什么？” "A mushroom!" “是個蘑菇！” The little prince was now white with rage. 這時，小王子都氣得臉色發(fā)白了。 "The flowers have been growing thorns for millions of years. For millions of years the sheep have been eating them just the same. And is it not a matter of consequence to try to understand why the flowers go to so much trouble to grow thorns which are never of any use to them? “花兒長刺已經(jīng)有幾百年了，幾百萬年以來綿羊也在吃花。要搞清楚為什么花兒費那么大勁長出沒有什么用的刺，這難道不是正經(jīng)事？ Is the warfare between the sheep and the flowers not important? Is this not of more consequence than a fat red-faced gentleman's sums? 難道綿羊和花之間的戰(zhàn)爭不重要？這難道不比那個紅臉先生的加法更重要？ And if I know——I, myself——one flower which is unique in the world, which grows nowhere but on my planet, but which one little sheep can destroy in a single bite some morning, without even noticing what he is doing——Oh! You think that is not important!" 如果我認識一朵人世間唯一的花，只有我的星球上有它，別的地方都不存在，而一只小綿羊稀里糊涂就這樣把它一下子毀掉了，這難道不重要？” His face turned from white to red as he continued: 他的臉氣得發(fā)紅，又接著說道： "If someone loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. “如果有人愛上了在這億萬顆星星中獨一無二的一株花，當他看著這些星星的時候，這就足以使他感到幸福。 He can say to himself, 'Somewhere, my flower is there…' But if the sheep eats the flower, in one moment all his stars will be darkened… And you think that is not important!" 他可以自言自語地說：‘我的那朵花就在其中的一顆星星上……’，但是如果綿羊吃掉了這朵花，對他來說，好像所有的星星一下子全都熄滅了一樣！這難道也不重要嗎？！” He could not say anything more. His words were choked by sobbing. 他泣不成聲，再也說不下去了。 The night had fallen. I had let my tools drop from my hands. Of what moment now was my hammer, my bolt, or thirst, or death? 夜幕已經(jīng)降臨，我放下手中的工具。我把錘子、螺絲釘、饑渴、死亡，全都拋在腦后。 On one star, one planet, my planet, the Earth, there was a little prince to be comforted. I took him in my arms, and rocked him. I said to him: 在一顆星星上，在一顆星球上，在我的星球——地球上，有一個小王子需要安慰！我把他抱在懷里，輕輕搖晃著，對他說： "The flower that you love is not in danger. I will draw you a muzzle for your sheep. I will draw you a railing to put around your flower. I will..." “你愛的那朵花沒有危險……我給你的小羊畫一個罩子……我給你的花畫一副盔甲……我……” I did not know what to say to him. I felt awkward and blundering. I did not know how I could reach him, where I could overtake him and go on hand in hand with him once more. 我也不太知道該說些什么。我覺得自己太笨拙。我不知道怎樣才能達到他的境界，怎樣才能再進入他的境界。 It is such a secret place, the land of tears. 唉，淚水的世界是多么神秘??！