“小家伙，我还想听你笑……”

“Little man,” I said, “I want to hear you laugh again.”

但他对我说：

But he said to me:

“到今天夜里，正好是一年了。我的星球将正好处于我去年降落的那个地方的上空……”

“Tonight, it will be a year… My star, then, can be found right above the place where I came to the Earth, a year ago…”

“小家伙，这蛇的事，约会的事，还有星星，这全是一场噩梦吧？”

“Little man,” I said, “tell me that it is only a bad dream — this affair of the snake, and the meeting-place, and the star…”

但他并不回答我的问题。他对我说：

But he did not answer my plea.

“重要的事，是看不见的……”

He said to me, instead:
“The thing that is important is the thing that is not seen…”

“当然……”

“Yes, I know…”

“这就象花一样。如果你爱上了一朵生长在一颗星星上的花，那么夜间，你看着天空就感到甜蜜愉快。所有的星星上都好象开着花。”

“It is just as it is with the flower. If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers…”

“当然……”

“Yes, I know…”

“这也就象水一样，由于那辘轳和绳子的缘故，你给我喝的井水好象音乐一样……你记得吗？……这水非常好喝……”

“It is just as it is with the water. Because of the pulley, and the rope, what you gave me to drink was like music. You remember — how good it was.”

“当然……”

“Yes, I know…”

“夜晚，你抬头望着星星，我的那颗太小了，我无法给你指出我的那颗星星是在哪里。这样倒更好。你可以认为我的那颗星星就在这些星星之中。那么，所有的星星，你都会喜欢看的……这些星星都将成为你的朋友。而且，我还要给你一件礼物……”

“And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is to be found. It is better, like that. My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens… they will all be your friends. And, besides, I am going to make you a present…”

他又笑了。

He laughed again.

“啊！小家伙，小家伙，我喜欢听你这笑声！”

“Ah, little prince, dear little prince! I love to hear that laughter!”

“这正好是我给你的礼物，……这就好象水那样。”

“That is my present. Just that. It will be as it was when we drank the water…”

“你说的是什么？”

“What are you trying to say?”

“人们眼里的星星并不都一样。对旅行的人来说，星星是向导。对别的人来说，星星只是些小亮光。对另外一些学者来说，星星就是他们探讨的学问。对我所遇见的那个实业家来说，星星是金钱。但是，所有这些星星都不会说话。你呢，你的那些星星将是任何人都不曾有过的……”

“All men have the stars,” he answered, “but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman they were wealth. But all these stars are silent. You — you alone — will have the stars as no one else has them — ”

“你说的是什么？”

“What are you trying to say?”

“夜晚，当你望着天空的时候，既然我就住在其中一颗星星上，既然我在其中一颗星星上笑着，那么对你来说，就好象所有的星星都在笑，那么你将看到的星星就是会笑的星星！”

“In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night… You — only you — will have stars that can laugh!”

这时，他又笑了。

And he laughed again.

“那么，在你得到了安慰之后（人们总是会自我安慰的）你就会因为认识了我而感到高兴。你将永远是我的朋友。你就会想要同我一起笑。有时，你会为了快乐而不知不觉地打开窗户。

“And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure…

你的朋友们会奇怪地看着你笑着仰望天空。那时，你就可以对他们说：‘是的，星星总是引我欢笑！’他们会以为你发疯了。我的恶作剧将使你难堪……”

And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, ‘Yes, the stars always make me laugh!’ And they will think you are crazy. It will be a very shabby trick that I shall have played on you…”

这时，他又笑了。

And he laughed again.

“这就好象我并没有给你星星，而是给你一大堆会笑出声来的小铃铛……”

“It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh…”

他仍然笑着。随后他变得严肃起来：

And he laughed again. Then he quickly became serious:

“今天夜里……你知道……不要来了。”

“Tonight — you know… Do not come.”

“我不离开你。”

“I shall not leave you,” I said.

“我将会象是很痛苦的样子……我有点象要死去似的。就是这么回事，你就别来看这些了，没有必要。”

“I shall look as if I were suffering. I shall look a little as if I were dying. It is like that. Do not come to see that. It is not worth the trouble…”

“我不离开你。”

“I shall not leave you.”

可是他担心起来。

But he was worried.

“我对你说这些……这也是因为蛇的缘故。别让它咬了你……蛇是很坏的，它随意咬人……”

“I tell you — it is also because of the snake. He must not bite you. Snakes — they are malicious creatures. This one might bite you just for fun…”

“我不离开你。”

“I shall not leave you.”

这时，他似乎有点放心了：

But a thought came to reassure him:

“对了，它咬第二口的时候就没有毒液了……”

“It is true that they have no more poison for a second bite.”

这天夜里，我没有看到他起程。他不声不响地跑了。当我终于赶上他的时候，他坚定地快步走着。他只是对我说道：

That night I did not see him set out on his way. He got away from me without making a sound. When I succeeded in catching up with him he was walking along with a quick and resolute step. He said to me merely:

“啊，你在这儿……”

“Ah! You are there…”

于是他拉着我的手。但是他仍然很担心：

And he took me by the hand. But he was still worrying.

“你不该这样。你会难受的。我会象是死去的样子，但这不会是真的……”

“It was wrong of you to come. You will suffer. I shall look as if I were dead; and that will not be true…”

我默默无言。

I said nothing.

“你明白，路很远。我不能带着这付身躯走。它太重了。”

“You understand… it is too far. I cannot carry this body with me. It is too heavy.”

我依然沉默不语。

I said nothing.

“但是，这就好象剥落的旧树皮一样。旧树皮，并没有什么可悲的。”

“But it will be like an old abandoned shell. There is nothing sad about old shells…”

我还是沉默不语。

I said nothing.

他有些泄气了。但是他又振作起来：

He was a little discouraged. But he made one more effort:

“这将是蛮好的，你知道。我也一定会看星星的。所有的星星都将是带有生了锈的辘轳的井。所有的星星都会倒水给我喝……”

“You know, it will be very nice. I, too, shall look at the stars. All the stars will be wells with a rusty pulley. All the stars will pour out fresh water for me to drink…”

我还是沉默不语。

I said nothing.

“这将是多么好玩啊！你将有五亿个铃铛，我将有五亿口水井……”

“That will be so amusing! You will have five hundred million little bells, and I shall have five hundred million springs of fresh water…”

这时，他也沉默了，因为他在哭。

And he too said nothing more, because he was crying…

“就是这儿。让我自个儿走一步吧。”

“Here it is. Let me go on by myself.”

他这时坐下来，因为他害怕了。

And he sat down, because he was afraid.

他却仍然说道：

Then he said, again:

“你知道……我的花……我是要对她负责的！而她又是那么弱小！她又是那么天真。她只有四根微不足道的刺，保护自己，抵抗外敌……”

“You know — my flower… I am responsible for her. And she is so weak! She is so naïve! She has four thorns, of no use at all, to protect herself against all the world…”

我也坐了下来，因为我再也站立不住了。他说道：

I too sat down, because I was not able to stand up any longer.

“就是这些……全都说啦……”

“There now — that is all…”

他犹豫了一下，然后站起来。他迈出了一步。而我却动弹不得。

He still hesitated a little; then he got up. He took one step. I could not move.

在他的脚踝子骨附近，一道黄光闪了一下。刹那间他一动也不动了。他没有叫喊。他轻轻地象一棵树一样倒在地上，大概由于沙地的缘故，连一点响声都没有。

There was nothing but a flash of yellow close to his ankle. He remained motionless for an instant. He did not cry out. He fell as gently as a tree falls. There was not even any sound, because of the sand.

XXVII

XXVII

到现在，一点不错，已经有六年了……我还从未讲过这个故事。同伴们重新见到了我，都为能看见我活着回来而高兴。我却很悲伤。我告诉他们：“这是因为疲劳的缘故……”

And now six years have already gone by… I have never yet told this story. The companions who met me on my return were well content to see me alive. I was sad, but I told them: “I am tired.”

现在，我稍微得到了些安慰。就是说……还没有完全平静下来。可我知道他已经回到了他的星球上。因为那天黎明，我没有再见到他的身躯。他的身躯并不那么重……从此，我就喜欢在夜间倾听着星星，好象是倾听着五亿个铃铛……

Now my sorrow is comforted a little. That is to say — not entirely. But I know that he did go back to his planet, because I did not find his body at daybreak. It was not such a heavy body… and at night I love to listen to the stars. It is like five hundred million little bells…

可是，现在却又发生了不寻常的事。我给小王子画的羊嘴套上，忘了画皮带！他再也不可能把它套在羊嘴上。于是，我思忖着：“他的星球上发生了什么事呢？大概小羊把花吃掉了吧……”

But there is one extraordinary thing… when I drew the muzzle for the little prince, I forgot to add the leather strap to it. He will never have been able to fasten it on his sheep. So now I keep wondering: what is happening on his planet? Perhaps the sheep has eaten the flower…

有时我又对自己说，“绝对不会的！小王子每天夜里都用玻璃罩子罩住他的花，而且他会把羊看管好的……”想到这里，我就非常高兴。这时，所有的星星都在柔情地轻声笑着。

At one time I say to myself: “Surely not! The little prince shuts his flower under her glass globe every night, and he watches over his sheep very carefully…” Then I am happy. And there is sweetness in the laughter of all the stars.

忽而我又对自己说：“人们有时总免不了会疏忽的，那就够戗！某一天晚上他忘了玻璃罩子，或者小羊夜里不声不响地跑出来……”想到这里，小铃铛都变成泪珠了！

But at another time I say to myself: “At some moment or other one is absent-minded, and that is enough! On some one evening he forgot the glass globe, or the sheep got out, without making any noise, in the night…” And then the little bells are changed to tears…

这真是一个很大的奥秘。对你们这些喜欢小王子的人来说，就象对于我来说一样，无论什么地方，凡是某处，如果一只羊（尽管我们并不认识它），吃了一朵玫瑰花，或是没有吃掉一朵玫瑰花，那么宇宙的面貌就全然不同。

Here, then, is a great mystery. For you who also love the little prince, and for me, nothing in the universe can be the same if somewhere, we do not know where, a sheep that we never saw has — yes or no? — eaten a rose…

你们望着天空。你们想一想：羊究竟是吃了还是没有吃掉花？那么你们就会看到一切都变了样……

Look up at the sky. Ask yourselves: is it yes or no? Has the sheep eaten the flower? And you will see how everything changes…

任何一个大人将永远不会明白这个问题竟如此重要！

And no grown-up will ever understand that this is a matter of so much importance!

在我看来，这是世界上最美、也最凄凉的景色。上一页跟它前一页的景色是一样的。我再画上一遍，是为了引起你们注意。这里，就是小王子在地球上出现，然后又消失的地方。

This is, to me, the loveliest and saddest landscape in the world. It is the same as that on the preceding page, but I have drawn it again to impress it on your memory. It is here that the little prince appeared on Earth, and disappeared.

有一天，你们若去非洲沙漠旅行，请仔细认一认这个景色，免得当面错过了。你们若有机会经过那里，我请求你们，不要匆匆离去，在这颗星下守候片刻。

Look at it carefully so that you will be sure to recognize it in case you travel some day to the African desert. And, if you should come upon this spot, please do not hurry on. Wait for a time, exactly under the star.

倘若有个孩子走到你们跟前，倘若他在笑，有一头金发，不回答人家提出的问题，你们就可清到他是谁了。那时，劳驾你们！不要让我老是这么忧伤，赶快写信告诉我；他回来了……

Then, if a little man appears who laughs, who has golden hair and who refuses to answer questions, you will know who he is. If this should happen, please comfort me. Send me word that he has come back.

1943

1943