LÉONOVI WERTHOVI

TO LEON WERTH

Prosím deti, aby mi prepáčili, že som túto knižku venoval dospelému človeku. Mám veľmi závažný dôvod: ten dospelý je mojím najlepším priateľom na celom svete. Mám aj druhý dôvod: ten dospelý vie všetko pochopiť, dokonca i knižky pre deti. Mám ešte tretí dôvod: ten dospelý býva vo Francúzsku, kde zakúsil dosť hladu i zimy. Veľmi potrebuje, aby ho niečo potešilo.

I ask the indulgence of the children who may read this book for dedicating it to a grown-up. I have a serious reason: he is the best friend I have in the world. I have another reason: this grown-up understands everything, even books about children. I have a third reason: he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs cheering up.

Ak všetky tieto dôvody nestačia, pristanem na to, že túto knižku venujem dieťaťu, ktorým ten dospelý človek kedysi bol. Všetci dospelí boli najprv deťmi. (Ale máloktorý z nich sa na to pamätá.) Opravujem teda svoje venovanie:

If all these reasons are not enough, I will dedicate the book to the child from whom this grown-up grew. All grown-ups were once children — although few of them remember it. And so I correct my dedication:

LÉONOVI WERTHOVI, KEĎ BOL MALÝM CHLAPCOM

TO LEON WERTH WHEN HE WAS A LITTLE BOY.

I

I

Keď som mal šesť rokov, videl som raz v knižke o pralese, čo sa volala „Pravdivé príbehy“, nádherný obrázok. Bol na ňom veľhad kráľovský, ako prehĺta akéhosi dravca. Tu je kópia tej kresby:

Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.

V knižke sa vravelo: „Veľhady prehĺtajú svoju korisť celú, nerozhryzú ju. Potom sa nemôžu ani pohnúť a pri jej trávení prespia aj šesť mesiacov.“

In the book it said: “Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion.”

Veľa som vtedy premýšľal o dobrodružstvách v džungli a potom sa i mne podarilo farebnou ceruzkou načrtnúť prvú kresbu. Moju kresbu číslo jeden. Bola takáto:

I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked something like this:

Ukázal som svoje majstrovské dielo dospelým a spýtal som sa, či im kresba naháňa strach.

I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.

Odpovedali mi: „Prečo by mal klobúk naháňať strach?“

But they answered: “Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?”

Moja kresba nepredstavovala klobúk. Predstavovala veľhada kráľovského, ako trávi slona. Nakreslil som teda vnútrajšok veľhada, aby to dospelí mohli pochopiť. Vždy potrebujú nejaké vysvetlenia. Moja kresba číslo dva bola takáto:

My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of a boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:

Dospelí mi poradili, aby som prestal kresliť otvorené alebo zatvorené veľhady a aby som sa radšej zaujímal o zemepis, dejepis, počty a gramatiku. Tak som sa teda vo veku šiestich rokov vzdal skvelej maliarskej kariéry.

The grown-ups’ response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar. That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter.

Odradil ma neúspech mojej kresby číslo jeden a mojej kresby číslo dva. Dospelí sami nikdy nič nechápu a deti to unavuje, keď im treba stále a stále čosi vysvetľovať.

I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.

Musel som si teda vybrať iné povolanie a naučil som sa pilotovať lietadlo. Lietal som skoro po celom svete. A len čo je pravda, zemepis mi bol veľmi na osoh.

So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me.

Na prvý pohľad som rozoznal Čínu od Arizony. Je to naozaj užitočné, keď človek v noci zablúdi.

At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.

Tak som mal v živote veľmi mnoho príležitostí stýkať sa s množstvom vážnych ľudí. Žil som dlho s dospelými. Pozoroval som ich celkom zblízka. Moju mienku to priveľmi nezlepšilo.

In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn’t much improved my opinion of them.

Keď som medzi nimi stretol niekoho, čo sa mi zdal trochu bystrejší, skúsil som to uňho s kresbou číslo jeden, ktorú som si stále schovával. Chcel som vedieť, či je naozaj chápavý.

Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding.

Ale zakaždým mi odpovedal: „To je klobúk.“

But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say: “That is a hat.”

A tak som mu nerozprával ani o veľhadoch, ani o pralesoch, ani o hviezdach. Prispôsobil som sa jeho chápavosti. Rozprával som mu o bridži, o golfe, o politike a o kravatách. A dospelý bol veľmi spokojný, že spoznal takého rozumného človeka.

Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.

II

II

Tak som žil samotársky a nemal som nikoho, s kým by som si vážne pohovoril, až do tých čias, kým ma pred šiestimi rokmi nepostihla na saharskej púšti porucha motora.

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.

Čosi sa v ňom polámalo. A pretože som nemal so sebou ani mechanika, ani cestujúcich, chystal som sa, že sa tú neľahkú opravu pokúsim urobiť sám.

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.

Bola to pre mňa otázka života alebo smrti. Pitnú vodu som mal sotva na osem dní.

It was a question of life or death for me: I had scarcely enough drinking water to last a week.

Prvý večer som teda zaspal na piesku, tisíc míľ od akéhokoľvek obývaného kraja. Bol som oveľa opustenejší ako stroskotanec na plti uprostred oceána.

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.

Tak si viete predstaviť, aký som bol prekvapený, keď ma na svitaní zobudil čudný hlások. Povedal:

Thus you can imagine my amazement, at sunrise, when I was awakened by an odd little voice. It said:

— Prosím… nakresli mi ovečku!

“If you please — draw me a sheep!”

— Čože?

“What!”

— Nakresli mi ovečku…

“Draw me a sheep!”

Vyskočil som na rovné nohy, akoby do mňa udrel blesk. Poriadne som si pretrel oči. Dobre som sa podíval. A zazrel som veľmi zvláštneho chlapčeka, ktorý ma vážne pozoroval.

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.

Toto je jeho najlepší portrét, aký sa mi neskôr podarilo urobiť.

Here you may see the best portrait that, later, I was able to make of him.

Prirodzene, moja kresba nie je ani zďaleka taká očarujúca ako jej model. Ja za to nemôžem. Dospelí mi vzali odvahu stať sa slávnym maliarom, keď som mal šesť rokov, a ja som sa naučil kresliť iba zatvorené a otvorené veľhady.

But my drawing is certainly very much less charming than its model. 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.

Začudovane som teda vyvaľoval oči na to zjavenie. Nezabúdajte, že som bol na tisíc míľ ďaleko od akéhokoľvek obývaného kraja. A ten chlapček sa mi nezdal ani zmätený, ani na smrť unavený, ani polomŕtvy od hladu, ani polomŕtvy od smädu, ani na smrť vyľakaný.

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.

Vôbec nevyzeral ako dieťa, čo sa stratilo uprostred púšte, tisíc míľ od akéhokoľvek obývaného kraja. Keď sa mi napokon podarilo prehovoriť, povedal som mu:

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:

—Ale… čo tu robíš?

“But — what are you doing here?”

A tu mi celkom tichučko, ako čosi veľmi vážne, zopakoval:

And in answer he repeated, very slowly, as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence:

— Prosím… nakresli mi ovečku…

“If you please — draw me a sheep…”

Keď na nás tajomstvo silne zapôsobí, neopovážime sa neposlúchnuť. Aj keď sa mi to zdalo na tomto mieste, vzdialenom tisíc míľ od všetkých obývaných miest, a v nebezpečenstve smrti nezmyselné, vytiahol som z vrecka papier a plniace pero.

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.

Ale vtom som si spomenul, že som sa učil najmä zemepis, dejepis, počty a gramatiku, a povedal som chlapčekovi (trochu namrzene), že neviem kresliť. Odpovedal mi:

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:

— To nič. Nakresli mi ovečku.

“That doesn’t matter. Draw me a sheep…”

Pretože som nikdy nekreslil ovečku, načrtol som mu jednu z tých dvoch kresieb, čo som bol schopný urobiť. Toto je jeho najlepší portrét, aký sa mi neskôr podarilo urobiť. Tú so zatvoreným veľhadom. A celý ohromený som počúval, ako mi chlapček vraví:

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:

— Nie! Nie! Ja nechcem slona vo veľhadovi. Veľhad je veľmi nebezpečný a slon zaberie veľa miesta. U mňa je všetko maličké. Potrebujem ovečku. Nakresli mi ovečku.

“No, no, no! I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor. 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.”

Tak som nakreslil.

So then I made a drawing.

Pozorne si ju prezrel, potom povedal:

He looked at it carefully, then he said:

— Nie! Táto je už veľmi chorá. Urob mi druhú.

“No. This sheep is already very sickly. Make me another.”

Nakreslil som.

So I made another drawing.

Môj priateľ sa milo, zhovievavé usmial.

My friend smiled gently and indulgently.

— Ale veď vidíš… to nie je ovečka, to je baran. Má rohy…

“You see yourself,” he said, “that this is not a sheep. This is a ram. It has horns.”

Nuž som kresbu opäť prerábal:

So then I did my drawing over once more.

No odmietol ju ako predošlé:

But it was rejected too, just like the others.

— Táto je veľmi stará. Chcem takú ovečku, čo bude dlho žiť.

“This one is too old. I want a sheep that will live a long time.”

Už som strácal trpezlivosť, pretože som sa ponáhľal, aby som sa mohol pustiť do odmontovania motora, tak som iba načarbal kresbu:

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.

A vyhlásil som:

And I threw out an explanation with it.

— To je debnička. Vnútri je ovečka, akú chceš.

“This is only his box. The sheep you asked for is inside.”

No bol som naozaj prekvapený, keď som videl, ako sa tvár môjho malého kritika rozžiarila:

I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my young judge:

— Je celkom taká, akú som chcel! Myslíš, že táto ovečka bude potrebovať veľa trávy?

“That is exactly the way I wanted it! Do you think that this sheep will have to have a great deal of grass?”

— Prečo?

“Why?”

— Pretože u mňa je všetko maličké…

“Because where I live everything is very small…”

— Určite jej postačí. Dal som ti celkom malú ovečku. Sklonil hlavu nad kresbu:

“There will surely be enough grass for him,” I said. “It is a very small sheep that I have given you.”

— Nie je až taká maličká… Pozri! Zaspala…

He bent his head over the drawing.
“Not so small that — Look! He has gone to sleep…”

Takto som sa zoznámil s Malým princom.

And that is how I made the acquaintance of the little prince.

III

III

Dlho mi trvalo, kým som pochopil, odkiaľ prišiel. Malý princ mi kládol veľa otázok, no zdalo sa mi, akoby tie moje nikdy nepočul.

It took me a long time to learn where he came from. The little prince, who asked me so many questions, never seemed to hear the ones I asked him.

Všetko mi postupne odhalili slová, čo mu náhodou vykĺzli. Tak napríklad, keď zazrel po prvý raz moje lietadlo (nenakreslím lietadlo, pre mňa je to priveľmi zložitá kresba), spýtal sa ma:

It was from words dropped by chance that, little by little, everything was revealed to me. The first time he saw my airplane, for instance (I shall not draw my airplane; that would be much too complicated for me), he asked me:

— Čo je to za vec?

“What is that object?”

— To nie je vec. To lieta. Je to lietadlo… Moje lietadlo.

“That is not an object. It flies. It is an airplane. It is my airplane.”

A bol som hrdý, že mu môžem oznámiť, že lietam. Vtom vykríkol:

And I was proud to have him learn that I could fly. He cried out, then:

— Čože! Ty si spadol z neba!

“What! You dropped down from the sky?”

— Áno, — skromne som odpovedal.

“Yes,” I answered, modestly.

— Ach? To je smiešne…

“Oh! That is funny!”

A Malý princ vybuchol do veľkého smiechu, čo ma strašne rozhorčilo. Želám si, aby sa moje nehody brali vážne. Potom dodal:

And the little prince broke into a lovely peal of laughter, which irritated me very much. I like my misfortunes to be taken seriously. Then he added:

— Tak aj ty prichádzaš z neba! A z ktorej planéty?

“So you, too, come from the sky! Which is your planet?”

Hneď som vytušil, že tým vrhá trochu svetla do tajomstva svojej prítomnosti na tomto mieste, a rýchlo som sa spýtal:

At that moment I caught a gleam of light in the impenetrable mystery of his presence; and I demanded, abruptly:

— Teda ty prichádzaš z nejakej inej planéty?

“Do you come from another planet?”

No neodpovedal mi. Mierne pokrútil hlavou a neprestal hľadieť na moje lietadlo. O chvíľu sa ozval:

But he did not reply. He tossed his head gently, without taking his eyes from my plane:

— To je pravda, na tomto si nemohol prísť z veľkej diaľky…

“It is true that on that you can’t have come from very far away…”

A nadlho sa zasníval. Potom si vytiahol z vrecka moju ovečku a zahĺbil sa do obdivovania svojho pokladu.

And he sank into a reverie, which lasted a long time. Then, taking my sheep out of his pocket, he buried himself in the contemplation of his treasure.

Viete si predstaviť, akú zvedavosť mohlo vo mne vzbudiť jeho polopriznanie o „iných planétach“. Pokúsil som sa teda dozvedieť o tom viac:

You can imagine how my curiosity was aroused by this half-confidence about the “other planets.” I made a great effort, therefore, to find out more on this subject.

— Odkiaľ prichádzaš, milý chlapček? Kde je to tvoje „u mňa“? Kam chceš odniesť moju ovečku?

“My little man, where do you come from? What is this ‘where I live,’ of which you speak? Where do you want to take your sheep?”

Odpovedal mi po chvíli tichého zamyslenia:

After a reflective silence he answered:

— Debnička, čo si mi dal, je naozaj dobrá, v noci ju môže používať ako domček.

“The thing that is so good about the box you have given me is that at night he can use it as his house.”

— Pravdaže. A keď budeš dobrý, dám ti aj povrázok, aby si ju cez deň mohol priviazať. A kolík.

“That is so. And if you are good I will give you a string, too, so that you can tie him during the day, and a post to tie him to.”

Tento návrh akoby Malého princa pohoršil.

But the little prince seemed shocked by this offer:

— Priviazať? To je čudný nápad!

“Tie him! What a queer idea!”

— No ak ju nepriviažeš, hocikam zájde a stratí sa.

“But if you don’t tie him,” I said, “he will wander off somewhere, and get lost.”

A môj priateľ zase vybuchol do smiechu:

My friend broke into another peal of laughter:

— Ale kam by mala ísť!

“But where do you think he would go?”

— Hocikam. Rovno dopredu…

“Anywhere. Straight ahead of him.”

Tu Malý princ vážne poznamenal:

Then the little prince said, earnestly:

— Nič sa nestane, u mňa je to také malé!

“That doesn’t matter. Where I live, everything is so small!”

A možno trochu skľúčene dodal:

And, with perhaps a hint of sadness, he added:

— Ak ide človek rovno dopredu, ďaleko nezájde…

“Straight ahead of him, nobody can go very far…”