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The Little Prince / Le Petit Prince — ĐœĐ° Đ°ĐœĐłĐ»Ń–ĐčсĐșĐ°Đč і Ń„Ń€Đ°ĐœŃ†ŃƒĐ·ŃĐșĐ°Đč ĐŒĐŸĐČах. ĐĄŃ‚Đ°Ń€ĐŸĐœĐșĐ° 6

ĐĐœĐłĐ»Ń–ĐčсĐșĐ°-Ń„Ń€Đ°ĐœŃ†ŃƒĐ·ŃĐșая ĐșĐœŃ–ĐłĐ°-Đ±Ń–Đ»Ń–ĐœĐłĐČĐ°

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Little Prince

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Le Petit Prince

“But extinct volcanoes may come to life again,” the little prince interrupted. “What does that mean — ‘ephemeral’?”

— Mais les volcans Ă©teints peuvent se rĂ©veiller, interrompit le petit prince. Qu’est-ce que signifie «éphĂ©mĂšre»?

“Whether volcanoes are extinct or alive, it comes to the same thing for us,” said the geographer. “The thing that matters to us is the mountain. It does not change.”

— Que les volcans soient Ă©teints ou soient Ă©veillĂ©s, ça revient au mĂȘme pour nous autres, dit le gĂ©ographe. Ce qui compte pour nous, c’est la montagne. Elle ne change pas.

“But what does that mean — ‘ephemeral’?” repeated the little prince, who never in his life had let go of a question, once he had asked it.

— Mais qu’est-ce que signifie «éphĂ©mĂšre»? rĂ©pĂ©ta le petit prince qui, de sa vie, n’avait renoncĂ© Ă  une question, une fois qu’il l’avait posĂ©e.

“It means, ‘which is in danger of speedy disappearance.’”

— Ça signifie «qui est menacĂ© de disparition prochaine».

“Is my flower in danger of speedy disappearance?”

— Ma fleur est menacĂ©e de disparition prochaine?

“Certainly it is.”

— Bien sĂ»r.

“My flower is ephemeral,” the little prince said to himself, “and she has only four thorns to defend herself against the world. And I have left her on my planet, all alone!”

Ma fleur est Ă©phĂ©mĂšre, se dit le petit prince, et elle n’a que quatre Ă©pines pour se dĂ©fendre contre le monde! Et je l’ai laissĂ©e toute seule chez moi!

That was his first moment of regret. But he took courage once more.

Ce fut lĂ  son premier mouvement de regret. Mais il reprit courage:

“What place would you advise me to visit now?” he asked.

— Que me conseillez-vous d’aller visiter? demanda-t-il.

“The planet Earth,” replied the geographer. “It has a good reputation.”

— La planĂšte Terre, lui rĂ©pondit le gĂ©ographe. Elle a une bonne rĂ©putation


And the little prince went away, thinking of his flower.

Et le petit prince s’en fut, songeant à sa fleur.

XVI

CHAPITRE XVI

So then the seventh planet was the Earth.

La Terre n’est pas une planùte quelconque!

The Earth is not just an ordinary planet! One can count, there, 111 kings (not forgetting, to be sure, the Negro kings among them), 7000 geographers, 900,000 businessmen, 7,500,000 tipplers, 311,000,000 conceited men — that is to say, about 2,000,000,000 grown-ups.

On y compte cent onze rois (en n’oubliant pas, bien sĂ»r, les rois nĂšgres), sept mille gĂ©ographes, neuf cent mille businessmen, sept millions et demi d’ivrognes, trois cent onze millions de vaniteux, c’est-Ă -dire environ deux milliards de grandes personnes.

To give you an idea of the size of the Earth, I will tell you that before the invention of electricity it was necessary to maintain, over the whole of the six continents, a veritable army of 462,511 lamplighters for the street lamps.

Pour vous donner une idĂ©e des dimensions de la Terre je vous dirai qu’avant l’invention de l’électricitĂ© on y devait entretenir, sur l’ensemble des six continents, une vĂ©ritable armĂ©e de quatre cent soixante-deux mille cinq cent onze allumeurs de rĂ©verbĂšres.

Seen from a slight distance, that would make a splendid spectacle. The movements of this army would be regulated like those of the ballet in the opera.

Vu d’un peu loin ça faisait un effet splendide. Les mouvements de cette armĂ©e Ă©taient rĂ©glĂ©s comme ceux d’un ballet d’opĂ©ra.

First would come the turn of the lamplighters of New Zealand and Australia. Having set their lamps alight, these would go off to sleep. Next, the lamplighters of China and Siberia would enter for their steps in the dance, and then they too would be waved back into the wings.

D’abord venait le tour des allumeurs de rĂ©verbĂšres de Nouvelle-ZĂ©lande et d’Australie. Puis ceux-ci, ayant allumĂ© leurs lampions, s’en allaient dormir. Alors entraient Ă  leur tour dans la danse les allumeurs de rĂ©verbĂšres de Chine et de SibĂ©rie. Puis eux aussi s’escamotaient dans les coulisses.

After that would come the turn of the lamplighters of Russia and the Indies; then those of Africa and Europe; then those of South America; then those of South America; then those of North America.

Alors venait le tour des allumeurs de rĂ©verbĂšres de Russie et des Indes. Puis de ceux d’Afrique et d’Europe. Puis de ceux d’AmĂ©rique du Sud. Puis de ceux d’AmĂ©rique du Nord.

And never would they make a mistake in the order of their entry upon the stage. It would be magnificent.

Et jamais ils ne se trompaient dans leur ordre d’entrĂ©e en scĂšne. C’était grandiose.

Only the man who was in charge of the single lamp at the North Pole, and his colleague who was responsible for the single lamp at the South Pole — only these two would live free from toil and care: they would be busy twice a year.

Seuls, l’allumeur de l’unique rĂ©verbĂšre du pĂŽle Nord, et son confrĂšre de l’unique rĂ©verbĂšre du pĂŽle Sud, menaient des vies d’oisivetĂ© et de nonchalance: ils travaillaient deux fois par an.

Đ„VII

CHAPITRE XVII

When one wishes to play the wit, he sometimes wanders a little from the truth. I have not been altogether honest in what I have told you about the lamplighters. And I realize that I run the risk of giving a false idea of our planet to those who do not know it. Men occupy a very small place upon the Earth.

Quand on veut faire de l’esprit, il arrive que l’on mente un peu. Je n’ai pas Ă©tĂ© trĂšs honnĂȘte en vous parlant des allumeurs de rĂ©verbĂšres. Je risque de donner une fausse idĂ©e de notre planĂšte Ă  ceux qui ne la connaissent pas. Les hommes occupent trĂšs peu de place sur la terre.

If the two billion inhabitants who people its surface were all to stand upright and somewhat crowded together, as they do for some big public assembly, they could easily be put into one public square twenty miles long and twenty miles wide. All humanity could be piled up on a small Pacific islet.

Si les deux milliards d’habitants qui peuplent la terre se tenaient debout et un peu serrĂ©s, comme pour un meeting, ils logeraient aisĂ©ment sur une place publique de vingt milles de long sur vingt milles de large. On pourrait entasser l’humanitĂ© sur le moindre petit Ăźlot du Pacifique.

The grown-ups, to be sure, will not believe you when you tell them that. They imagine that they fill a great deal of space. They fancy themselves as important as the baobabs. You should advise them, then, to make their own calculations. They adore figures, and that will please them. But do not waste your time on this extra task. It is unnecessary. You have, I know, confidence in me.

Les grandes personnes, bien sĂ»r, ne vous croiront pas. Elles s’imaginent tenir beaucoup de place. Elles se voient importantes comme des baobabs. Vous leur conseillerez donc de faire le calcul. Elles adorent les chiffres: ça leur plaira. Mais ne perdez pas votre temps Ă  ce pensum. C’est inutile. Vous avez confiance en moi.

When the little prince arrived on the Earth, he was very much surprised not to see any people. He was beginning to be afraid he had come to the wrong planet, when a coil of gold, the color of the moonlight, flashed across the sand.

Le petit prince, une fois sur terre, fut donc bien surpris de ne voir personne. Il avait dĂ©jĂ  peur de s’ĂȘtre trompĂ© de planĂšte, quand un anneau couleur de lune remua dans le sable.

“Good evening,” said the little prince courteously.

— Bonne nuit, fit le petit prince à tout hasard.

“Good evening,” said the snake.

— Bonne nuit, fit le serpent.

“What planet is this on which I have come down?” asked the little prince.

— Sur quelle planĂšte suis-je tombĂ©? demanda le petit prince.

“This is the Earth; this is Africa,” the snake answered.

— Sur la Terre, en Afrique, rĂ©pondit le serpent.

“Ah! Then there are no people on the Earth?”

— Ah!
 Il n’y a donc personne sur la Terre?

“This is the desert. There are no people in the desert. The Earth is large,” said the snake.

— Ici c’est le dĂ©sert. Il n’y a personne dans les dĂ©serts. La Terre est grande, dit le serpent.

The little prince sat down on a stone, and raised his eyes toward the sky.

Le petit prince s’assit sur une pierre et leva les yeux vers le ciel:

“I wonder,” he said, “whether the stars are set alight in heaven so that one day each one of us may find his own again
 Look at my planet. It is right there above us. But how far away it is!”

— Je me demande, dit-il, si les Ă©toiles sont Ă©clairĂ©es afin que chacun puisse un jour retrouver la sienne. Regarde ma planĂšte. Elle est juste au-dessus de nous
 Mais comme elle est loin!

“It is beautiful,” the snake said. “What has brought you here?”

— Elle est belle, dit le serpent. Que viens-tu faire ici?

“I have been having some trouble with a flower,” said the little prince.

— J’ai des difficultĂ©s avec une fleur, dit le petit prince.

“Ah!” said the snake.

— Ah! fit le serpent.

And they were both silent.

Et ils se turent.

“Where are the men?” the little prince at last took up the conversation again. “It is a little lonely in the desert
”

— OĂč sont les hommes? reprit enfin le petit prince. On est un peu seul dans le dĂ©sert


“It is also lonely among men,” the snake said.

— On est seul aussi chez les hommes, dit le serpent.

The little prince gazed at him for a long time.

Le petit prince le regarda longtemps:

“You are a funny animal,” he said at last. “You are no thicker than a finger
”

— Tu es une drĂŽle de bĂȘte, lui dit-il enfin, mince comme un doigt


“But I am more powerful than the finger of a king,” said the snake.

— Mais je suis plus puissant que le doigt d’un roi, dit le serpent.

The little prince smiled.

Le petit prince eut un sourire:

“You are not very powerful. You haven’t even any feet. You cannot even travel
”

— Tu n’es pas bien puissant
 tu n’as mĂȘme pas de pattes
 tu ne peux mĂȘme pas voyager


“I can carry you farther than any ship could take you,” said the snake.

— Je puis t’emporter plus loin qu’un navire, dit le serpent.

He twined himself around the little prince’s ankle, like a golden bracelet.

Il s’enroula autour de la cheville du petit prince, comme un bracelet d’or:

“Whomever I touch, I send back to the earth from whence he came,” the snake spoke again. “But you are innocent and true, and you come from a star
”

— Celui que je touche, je le rends Ă  la terre dont il est sorti, dit-il encore. Mais tu es pur et tu viens d’une Ă©toile


The little prince made no reply.

Le petit prince ne répondit rien.

“You move me to pity — you are so weak on this Earth made of granite,” the snake said. “I can help you, some day, if you grow too homesick for your own planet. I can — ”

— Tu me fais pitiĂ©, toi si faible, sur cette Terre de granit. Je puis t’aider un jour si tu regrettes trop ta planĂšte. Je puis


“Oh! I understand you very well,” said the little prince. “But why do you always speak in riddles?”

— Oh! J’ai trĂšs bien compris, fit le petit prince, mais pourquoi parles-tu toujours par Ă©nigmes?

“I solve them all,” said the snake.

— Je les rĂ©sous toutes, dit le serpent.

And they were both silent.

Et ils se turent.

XVIII

CHAPITRE XVIII

The little prince crossed the desert and met with only one flower. It was a flower with three petals, a flower of no account at all.

Le petit prince traversa le dĂ©sert et ne rencontra qu’une fleur. Une fleur Ă  trois pĂ©tales, une fleur de rien du tout


“Good morning,” said the little prince.

— Bonjour, dit le petit prince.

“Good morning,” said the flower.

— Bonjour, dit la fleur.

“Where are the men?” the little prince asked, politely.

— OĂč sont les hommes? demanda poliment le petit prince.

The flower had once seen a caravan passing.

La fleur, un jour, avait vu passer une caravane:

“Men?” she echoed. “I think there are six or seven of them in existence. I saw them, several years ago. But one never knows where to find them. The wind blows them away. They have no roots, and that makes their life very difficult.”

— Les hommes? Il en existe, je crois, six ou sept. Je les ai aperçus il y a des annĂ©es. Mais on ne sait jamais oĂč les trouver. Le vent les promĂšne. Ils manquent de racines, ça les gĂȘne beaucoup.

“Goodbye,” said the little prince.

— Adieu, fit le petit prince.

“Goodbye,” said the flower.

— Adieu, dit la fleur.

XIX

CHAPITRE XIX

After that, the little prince climbed a high mountain. The only mountains he had ever known were the three volcanoes, which came up to his knees. And he used the extinct volcano as a footstool. “From a mountain as high as this one,” he said to himself, “I shall be able to see the whole planet at one glance, and all the people
” But he saw nothing, save peaks of rock that were sharpened like needles.

Le petit prince fit l’ascension d’une haute montagne. Les seules montagnes qu’il eĂ»t jamais connues Ă©taient les trois volcans qui lui arrivaient au genou. Et il se servait du volcan Ă©teint comme d’un tabouret. «D’une montagne haute comme celle-ci, se dit-il donc, j’apercevrai d’un coup toute la planĂšte et tous les hommes » Mais il n’aperçut rien que des aiguilles de roc bien aiguisĂ©es.

“Good morning,” he said courteously.

— Bonjour, dit-il à tout hasard.

“Good morning — Good morning — Good morning,” answered the echo.

— Bonjour
 Bonjour
 Bonjour
 rĂ©pondit l’écho.

“Who are you?” said the little prince.

— Qui ĂȘtes-vous? dit le petit prince.

“Who are you — Who are you — Who are you?” answered the echo.

— Qui ĂȘtes-vous
 qui ĂȘtes-vous
 qui ĂȘtes-vous
 rĂ©pondit l’écho.

“Be my friends. I am all alone,” he said.

— Soyez mes amis, je suis seul, dit-il.

“I am all alone — all alone — all alone,” answered the echo.

— Je suis seul
 je suis seul
 je suis seul
 rĂ©pondit l’écho.

“What a queer planet!” he thought. “It is altogether dry, and altogether pointed, and altogether harsh and forbidding.

«Quelle drÎle de planÚte! pensa-t-il alors. Elle est toute sÚche, et toute pointue et toute salée.

And the people have no imagination. They repeat whatever one says to them
 On my planet I had a flower; she always was the first to speak
”

Et les hommes manquent d’imagination. Ils rĂ©pĂštent ce qu’on leur dit
 Chez moi j’avais une fleur: elle parlait toujours la premiĂšre »

Đ„X

CHAPITRE XX

ce at last came upon a road. And all roads lead to the abodes of men.

Mais il arriva que le petit prince, ayant longtemps marché à travers les sables, les rocs et les neiges, découvrit enfin une route. Et les routes vont toutes chez les hommes.

“Good morning,” he said.

— Bonjour, dit-il.

He was standing before a garden, all a-bloom with roses.

C’était un jardin fleuri de roses.

“Good morning,” said the roses.

— Bonjour, dirent les roses.

The little prince gazed at them. They all looked like his flower.

Le petit prince les regarda. Elles ressemblaient toutes Ă  sa fleur.

“Who are you?” he demanded, thunderstruck.

— Qui ĂȘtes-vous? leur demanda-t-il, stupĂ©fait.

“We are roses,” the roses said.

— Nous sommes des roses, dirent les roses.


— Ah! fit le petit prince


And he was overcome with sadness. His flower had told him that she was the only one of her kind in all the universe. And here were five thousand of them, all alike, in one single garden!

Et il se sentit trĂšs malheureux. Sa fleur lui avait racontĂ© qu’elle Ă©tait seule de son espĂšce dans l’univers. Et voici qu’il en Ă©tait cinq mille, toutes semblables, dans un seul jardin!

“She would be very much annoyed,” he said to himself, “if she should see that
 She would cough most dreadfully, and she would pretend that she was dying, to avoid being laughed at. And I should be obliged to pretend that I was nursing her back to life — for if I did not do that, to humble myself also, she would really allow herself to die
”

«Elle serait bien vexĂ©e, se dit-il, si elle voyait ça
 elle tousserait Ă©normĂ©ment et ferait semblant de mourir pour Ă©chapper au ridicule. Et je serais bien obligĂ© de faire semblant de la soigner, car, sinon, pour m’humilier moi aussi, elle se laisserait vraiment mourir »

Then he went on with his reflections: “I thought that I was rich, with a flower that was unique in all the world; and all I had was a common rose. A common rose, and three volcanoes that come up to my knees — and one of them perhaps extinct forever
 That doesn’t make me a very great prince
”

Puis il se dit encore: «Je me croyais riche d’une fleur unique, et je ne possĂšde qu’une rose ordinaire. Ça et mes trois volcans qui m’arrivent au genou, et dont l’un, peut-ĂȘtre, est Ă©teint pour toujours, ça ne fait pas de moi un bien grand prince »

And he lay down in the grass and cried.

Et, couchĂ© dans l’herbe, il pleura.

XXI

CHAPITRE XXI

It was then that the fox appeared.

C’est alors qu’apparut le renard:

“Good morning,” said the fox.

— Bonjour, dit le renard.

“Good morning,” the little prince responded politely, although when he turned around he saw nothing.

— Bonjour, rĂ©pondit poliment le petit prince, qui se retourna mais ne vit rien.

“I am right here,” the voice said, “under the apple tree.”

— Je suis là, dit la voix, sous le pommier.

“Who are you?” asked the little prince, and added, “You are very pretty to look at.”

— Qui es-tu? dit le petit prince. Tu es bien joli


“I am a fox,” the fox said.

— Je suis un renard, dit le renard.

“Come and play with me,” proposed the little prince. “I am so unhappy.”

— Viens jouer avec moi, lui proposa le petit prince. Je suis tellement triste


“I cannot play with you,” the fox said. “I am not tamed.”

— Je ne puis pas jouer avec toi, dit le renard. Je ne suis pas apprivoisĂ©.

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