思索了一会儿，他又说道：

But, after some thought, he added:

“什么叫‘驯服’呀？”

“What does that mean — ‘tame’?”

“你不是此地人。”狐狸说，“你来寻找什么？”

“You do not live here,” said the fox. “What is it that you are looking for?”

“我来找人。”小王子说，“什么叫‘驯服’呢？”

“I am looking for men,” said the little prince. “What does that mean — ‘tame’?”

“人，”狐狸说，“他们有枪，他们还打猎，这真碍事！他们唯一的可取之处就是他们也养鸡，你是来寻找鸡的吗？”

“Men,” said the fox. “They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?”

“不，”小王子说，“我是来找朋友的。什么叫‘驯服’呢？”

“No,” said the little prince. “I am looking for friends. What does that mean — ‘tame’?”

“这是已经早就被人遗忘了的事情，”狐狸说，“它的意思就是‘建立联系’。”

“It is an act too often neglected,” said the fox. “It means to establish ties.”

“建立联系？”

“‘To establish ties’?”

“一点不错，”狐狸说。“对我来说，你还只是一个小男孩，就像其他千万个小男孩一样。我不需要你。你也同样用不着我。对你来说，我也不过是一只狐狸，和其他千万只狐狸一样。但是，如果你驯服了我，我们就互相不可缺少了。对我来说，你就是世界上唯一的了；我对你来说，也是世界上唯一的了。”

“Just that,” said the fox. “To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world…”

“我有点明白了。”小王子说，“有一朵花……，我想，她把我驯服了……”

“I am beginning to understand,” said the little prince. “There is a flower… I think that she has tamed me…”

“这是可能的。”狐狸说，“世界上什么样的事都可能看到……”

“It is possible,” said the fox. “On the Earth one sees all sorts of things.”

“啊，这不是在地球上的事。”小王子说。

“Oh, but this is not on the Earth!” said the little prince.

狐狸感到十分蹊跷。

The fox seemed perplexed, and very curious.

“在另一个星球上？”

“On another planet?”

“是的。”

“Yes.”

“在那个星球上，有猎人吗？”

“Are there hunters on that planet?”

“没有。”

“No.”

“这很有意思。那么，有鸡吗？”

“Ah, that is interesting! Are there chickens?”

“没有。”

“No.”

“没有十全十美的。”狐狸叹息地说道。

“Nothing is perfect,” sighed the fox.

可是，狐狸又把话题拉回来：

But he came back to his idea.

“我的生活很单调。我捕捉鸡，而人又捕捉我。所有的鸡全都一样，所有的人也全都一样。因此，我感到有些厌烦了。但是，如果你要是驯服了我，我的生活就一定会是欢快的。我会辨认出一种与众不同的脚步声。其他的脚步声会使我躲到地下去，而你的脚步声就会象音乐一样让我从洞里走出来。

“My life is very monotonous,” the fox said. “I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow.

再说，你看！你看到那边的麦田没有？我不吃面包，麦子对我来说，一点用也没有。我对麦田无动于衷。而这，真使人扫兴。但是，你有着金黄色的头发。那么，一旦你驯服了我，这就会十分美妙。麦子，是金黄色的，它就会使我想起你。而且，我甚至会喜欢那风吹麦浪的声音……”

And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the color of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat…”

狐狸沉默不语，久久地看着小王子。

The fox gazed at the little prince, for a long time.

“请你驯服我吧！”他说。

“Please — tame me!” he said.

“我是很愿意的。”小王子回答道，“可我的时间不多了。我还要去寻找朋友，还有许多事物要了解。”

“I want to, very much,” the little prince replied. “But I have not much time. I have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand.”

“只有被驯服了的事物，才会被了解。”狐狸说，“人不会再有时间去了解任何东西的。他们总是到商人那里去购买现成的东西。因为世界上还没有购买朋友的商店，所以人也就没有朋友。如果你想要一个朋友，那就驯服我吧！”

“One only understands the things that one tames,” said the fox. “Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me…”

“那么应当做些什么呢？”小王子说。

“What must I do, to tame you?” asked the little prince.

“应当非常耐心。”狐狸回答道，“开始你就这样坐在草丛中，坐得离我稍微远些。我用眼角瞅着你，你什么也不要说。话语是误会的根源。但是，每天，你坐得靠我更近些……”

“You must be very patient,” replied the fox. “First you will sit down at a little distance from me — like that — in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me, every day…”

第二天，小王子又来了。

The next day the little prince came back.

“最好还是在原来的那个时间来。”狐狸说道，“比如说，你下午四点钟来，那么从三点钟起，我就开始感到幸福。时间越临近，我就越感到幸福。到了四点钟的时候，我就会坐立不安；我就会发现幸福的代价。但是，如果你随便什么时候来，我就不知道在什么时候该准备好我的心情……应当有一定的仪式。”

“It would have been better to come back at the same hour,” said the fox. “If, for example, you come at four o’clock in the afternoon, then at three o’clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances. At four o’clock, I shall already be worrying and jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am! But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour my heart is to be ready to greet you… One must observe the proper rites…”

“仪式是什么？”小王子问道。

“What is a rite?” asked the little prince.

“这也是一种早已被人忘却了的事。”狐狸说，“它就是使某一天与其他日子不同，使某一时刻与其他时刻不同。比如说，我的那些猎人就有一种仪式。他们每星期四都和村子里的姑娘们跳舞。于是，星期四就是一个美好的日子！我可以一直散步到葡萄园去。如果猎人们什么时候都跳舞，天天又全都一样，那么我也就没有假日了。”

“Those also are actions too often neglected,” said the fox. “They are what make one day different from other days, one hour from other hours. There is a rite, for example, among my hunters. Every Thursday they dance with the village girls. So Thursday is a wonderful day for me! I can take a walk as far as the vineyards. But if the hunters danced at just any time, every day would be like every other day, and I should never have any vacation at all.”

就这样，小王子驯服了狐狸。当出发的时刻就快要来到时：

So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near —

“啊！”狐狸说，“我一定会哭的。”

“Ah,” said the fox, “I shall cry.”

“这是你的过错，”小王子说，“我本来并不想给你任何痛苦，可你却要我驯服你……”

“It is your own fault,” said the little prince. “I never wished you any sort of harm; but you wanted me to tame you…”

“是这样的。”狐狸说。

“Yes, that is so,” said the fox.

“你可就要哭了！”小王子说。

“But now you are going to cry!” said the little prince.

“当然罗。”狐狸说。

“Yes, that is so,” said the fox.

“那么你什么好处也没得到。”

“Then it has done you no good at all!”

“由于麦子颜色的缘故，我还是得到了好处。”狐狸说。

“It has done me good,” said the fox, “because of the color of the wheat fields.”

然后，他又接着说。

And then he added:

“再去看看那些玫瑰花吧。你一定会明白，你的那朵是世界上独一无二的玫瑰。你回来和我告别时，我再赠送给你一个秘密。”

“Go and look again at the roses. You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret.”

于是小王子又去看那些玫瑰。

The little prince went away, to look again at the roses.

“你们一点也不象我的那朵玫瑰，你们还什么都不是呢！”小王子对她们说。 “没有人驯服过你们，你们也没有驯服过任何人。你们就象我的狐狸过去那样，它那时只是和千万只别的狐狸一样的一只狐狸。但是，我现在已经把它当成了我的朋友，于是它现在就是世界上独一无二的了。”

“You are not at all like my rose,” he said. “As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world.”

这时，那些玫瑰花显得十分难堪。

And the roses were very much embarrassed.

“你们很美，但你们是空虚的。”小王子仍然在对她们说，“没有人能为你们去死。当然罗，我的那朵玫瑰花，一个普通的过路人以为她和你们一样。可是，她单独一朵就比你们全体更重要，因为她是我浇灌的。因为她是我放在花罩中的。因为她是我用屏风保护起来的。因为她身上的毛虫（除了留下两三只为了变蝴蝶而外）是我除灭的。因为我倾听过她的怨艾和自诩，甚至有时我聆听着她的沉默。因为她是我的玫瑰。”

“You are beautiful, but you are empty,” he went on. “One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you — the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or ever sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose.”

他又回到了狐狸身边。

And he went back to meet the fox.

“再见了。”小王子说道。

“Goodbye,” he said.

“再见。”狐狸说。“喏，这就是我的秘密。很简单：只有用心才能看得清。实质性的东西，用眼睛是看不见的。”

“Goodbye,” said the fox. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

“实质性的东西，用眼睛是看不见的。”小王子重复着这句话，以便能把它记在心间。

“What is essential is invisible to the eye,” the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

“正因为你为你的玫瑰花费了时间，这才使你的玫瑰变得如此重要。”

“It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

“正因为你为你的玫瑰花费了时间……”小王子又重复着，要使自己记住这些。

“It is the time I have wasted for my rose — ” said the little prince, so that he would be sure to remember.

“人们已经忘记了这个道理，”狐狸说，“可是，你不应该忘记它。你现在要对你驯服过的一切负责到底。你要对你的玫瑰负责……”

“Men have forgotten this truth,” said the fox. “But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose…”

“我要对我的玫瑰负责……”小王子又重复着……

“I am responsible for my rose,” the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

XXII

XXII

“你好。”小王子说道。

Good morning,” said the little prince.

“你好。”扳道工说道。

“Good morning”, said the railway switchman.

“你在这里做什么？”小王子问。

“What do you do here?” the little prince asked.

“我一包包地分选旅客，按每千人一包。”扳道工说，“我打发这些运载旅客的列车，一会儿发往右方，一会儿发往左方。”

“I sort out travelers, in bundles of a thousand” , said the switchman. “I send off the trains that carry them: now to the right, now to the left.”

这时，一列灯火明亮的快车，雷鸣般地响着，把扳道房震得颤颤悠悠。

And a brilliantly lighted express train shook the switchman’s cabin as it rushed by with a roar like thunder.

“他们真匆忙呀，”小王子说，“他们要寻找什么？”

“They are in a great hurry,” said the little prince. “What are they looking for?”

“开机车的人自己也不知道。”扳道工说道。

“Not even the locomotive engineer knows that,” said the switchman.

于是，第二列灯火通明的快车又朝着相反的方向轰隆轰隆地开过去。

And a second brilliantly lighted express thundered by, in the opposite direction.

“他们怎么又回来了呢？”小王子问道。

“Are they coming back already?” demanded the little prince.

“他们不是原来那些人了。”扳道工说，“这是一次对开列车。”

“These are not the same ones,” said the switchman. “It is an exchange.”

“他们不满意他们原来所住的地方吗？”

“Were they not satisfied where they were?” asked the little prince.

“人们是从来也不会满意自己所在的地方的。”扳道工说。

“No one is ever satisfied where he is,” said the switchman.

此时，第三趟灯火明亮的快车又隆隆而过。

And they heard the roaring thunder of a third brilliantly lighted express.

“他们是在追随第一批旅客吗？”小王子问道。

“Are they pursuing the first travelers?” demanded the little prince.

“他们什么也不追随。”扳道工说，“他们在里面睡觉，或是在打哈欠。只有孩子们把鼻子贴在玻璃窗上往外看。”

“They are pursuing nothing at all,” said the switchman. “They are asleep in there, or if they are not asleep they are yawning. Only the children are flattening their noses against the windowpanes.”

“只有孩子知道他们自己在寻找什么。”小王子说，“他们为一个布娃娃花费不少时间，这个布娃娃就成了很重要的东西，如果有人夺走的他们的布娃娃，他们就哭泣……”

“Only the children know what they are looking for,” said the little prince. “They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them; and if anybody takes it away from them, they cry…”

“他们真幸运。”扳道工说。

“They are lucky,” the switchman said.

XXIII

XXIII

“你好。”小王子说。

“Good morning,” said the little prince.

“你好。”商人说道。

“Good morning,” said the merchant.

这是一位贩卖能够止渴的精制药丸的商人。每周吞服一丸就不会感觉口渴。

This was a merchant who sold pills that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need of anything to drink.

“你为什么卖这玩艺儿？”小王子说。

“Why are you selling those?” asked the little prince.

“这就大大地节约了时间。”商人说，“专家们计算过，这样，每周可以节约五十三分钟。”

“Because they save a tremendous amount of time,” said the merchant. “Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week.”

“那么，用这五十三分钟做什么用？”

“And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?”

“随便怎么用都行。……”

“Anything you like…”

小王子自言自语地说：“我如果有五十三分钟可支配，我就悠哉游哉地向水泉走去……”

“As for me,” said the little prince to himself, “if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.”

XXIV

ХXIV

这是我在沙漠上出了事故的第八天。我听着有关这个商人的故事，喝完了我所备用的最后一滴水。

It was now the eighth day since I had had my accident in the desert, and I had listened to the story of the merchant as I was drinking the last drop of my water supply.

“啊！”我对小王子说，“你回忆的这些故事真美。可是，我还没有修好我的飞机。我没有喝的了，假如我能悠哉游哉地走到水泉边去，我一定也会很高兴的！”

“Ah,” I said to the little prince, “these memories of yours are very charming; but I have not yet succeeded in repairing my plane; I have nothing more to drink; and I, too, should be very happy if I could walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water!”

小王子对我说：“我的朋友狐狸……”

“My friend the fox — ” the little prince said to me.

“我的小家伙，现在还说什么狐狸！”

“My dear little man, this is no longer a matter that has anything to do with the fox!”

“为什么？”

“Why not?”

“因为这就要渴死人了。”

“Because I am about to die of thirst…”

他不理解我的思路，他回答我道：

He did not follow my reasoning, and he answered me:

“即使快要死了，有过一个朋友也好么！我就为我有过一个狐狸朋友而感到很高兴……”

“It is a good thing to have had a friend, even if one is about to die. I, for instance, am very glad to have had a fox as a friend…”

“他不顾危险。”我自己思量着，“他从来不知道饥渴。只要有点阳光，他就满足了……”

“He has no way of guessing the danger,” I said to myself. “He has never been either hungry or thirsty. A little sunshine is all he needs…”

他看着我，答复着我的思想：

But he looked at me steadily, and replied to my thought:

“我也渴了……我们去找一口井吧……”

“I am thirsty, too. Let us look for a well…”

我显出厌烦的样子：在茫茫的大沙漠上盲目地去找水井，真荒唐。然而我们还是开始去寻找了。

I made a gesture of weariness. It is absurd to look for a well, at random, in the immensity of the desert. But nevertheless we started walking.

当我们默默地走了好几个小时以后，天黑了下来，星星开始发出光亮。由于渴我有点发烧，我看着这些星星，象是在做梦一样。小王子的话在我的脑海中跳来跳去。

When we had trudged along for several hours, in silence, the darkness fell, and the stars began to come out. Thirst had made me a little feverish, and I looked at them as if I were in a dream. The little prince’s last words came reeling back into my memory:

“你也渴吗？”我问他。

“Then you are thirsty, too?” I demanded.