Chapter 1

Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories fromNature, 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.

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 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 like this:

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

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

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 the 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:

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. 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.

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

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.

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. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say:

"That is a hat."

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.

当我还只有六岁的时候，在一本描写原始森林的名叫《真实的故事》的书中，看到了一副精彩的插画，画的是一条蟒蛇正在吞食一只大野兽。页头上就是那副画的摹本。   

这本书中写道：“这些蟒蛇把它们的猎获物不加咀嚼地囫囵吞下，尔后就不能再动弹了；它们就在长长的六个月的睡眠中消化这些食物。”

当时，我对丛林中的奇遇想得很多，于是，我也用彩色铅笔画出了我的第一副图画。我的第一号作品。它是这样的：

我把我的这副杰作拿给大人看，我问他们我的画是不是叫他们害怕。

他们回答我说：“一顶帽子有什么可怕的？”

我画的不是帽子，是一条巨蟒在消化着一头大象。于是我又把巨蟒肚子里的情况画了出来，以便让大人们能够看懂。这些大人总是需要解释。我的第二号作品是这样的：

大人们劝我把这些画着开着肚皮的，或闭上肚皮的蟒蛇的图画放在一边，还是把兴趣放在地理、历史、算术、语法上。就这样，在六岁的那年，我就放弃了当画家这一美好的职业。我的第一号、第二号作品的不成功，使我泄了气。这些大人们，靠他们自己什么也弄不懂，还得老是不断地给他们作解释。这真叫孩子们腻味。

后来，我只好选择了另外一个职业，我学会了开飞机，世界各地差不多都飞到过。的确，地理学帮了我很大的忙。我一眼就能分辨出中国和亚里桑那。要是夜里迷失了航向，这是很有用的。

这样，在我的生活中，我跟许多严肃的人有过很多的接触。我在大人们中间生活过很长时间。我仔细地观察过他们，但这并没有使我对他们的看法有多大的改变。

当我遇到一个头脑看来稍微清楚的大人时，我就拿出一直保存着的我那第一号作品来测试测试他。我想知道他是否真的有理解能力。可是，得到的回答总是：

“这是顶帽子。”

我就不和他谈巨蟒呀，原始森林呀，或者星星之类的事。我只得迁就他们的水平，和他们谈些桥牌呀，高尔夫球呀，政治呀，领带呀这些。于是大人们就十分高兴能认识我这样一个通情达理的人。

Chapter 2

the narrator crashes in the desert and makes the acquaintance of the little prince.

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

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

It said:"If you please-- draw me a sheep!"

"What!"

"Draw me a sheep!"

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

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. 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:

"But-- what are you doing here?"

And in answer he repeated, very slowly, as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence: "If you please-- draw me a sheep..."

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. 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:

"That doesn't matter. Draw me a sheep..."

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,"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."So then I made a drawing.

He looked at it carefully, then he said:

"No. This sheep is already very sickly. Make me another."

So I made another drawing.

My friend smiled gently and indulgenty.

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

So then I did my drawing over once more.But it was rejected too, just like the others."This one is too old. I want a sheep that will live a long time."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.

And I threw out an explanation with it.

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

I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my young judge:"That is exactly the way I wanted it! Do you think that this sheep will have to have a great deal of grass?"

"Why?"

"Because where I live everything is very small..."

"There will surely be enough grass for him," I said. "It is a very small sheep that I have given you."He bent his head over the drawing:

"Not so small that-- Look! He has gone to sleep..."

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

我就这样孤独地生活着，没有一个能真正谈得来的人，一直到六年前在撒哈拉沙漠上发生了那次故障。我的发动机里有个东西损坏了。当时由于我既没有带机械师也没有带旅客，我就试图独自完成这个困难的维修工作。这对我来说是个生与死的问题。我随身带的水只够饮用一星期。

第一天晚上我就睡在这远离人间烟火的大沙漠上。我比大海中伏在小木排上的遇难者还要孤独得多。而在第二天拂晓，当一个奇怪的小声音叫醒我的时候，你们可以想见我当时是多么吃惊。这小小的声音说道：

“请你给我画一只羊，好吗？”     

“啊！”

“给我画一只羊…”   

我象是受到惊雷轰击一般，一下子就站立起来。我使劲地揉了揉眼睛，仔细地看了看。我看见一个十分奇怪的小家伙严肃地朝我凝眸望着。这是后来我给他画出来的最好的一副画像。可是，我的画当然要比他本人的模样逊色得多。这不是我的过错。六岁时，大人们使我对我的画家生涯失去了勇气，除了画过开着肚皮和闭着肚皮的蟒蛇，后来再没有学过画。

我惊奇地睁大着眼睛看着这突然出现的小家伙。你们不要忘记，我当时处在远离人烟千里之外的地方。而这个小家伙给我的印象是，他既不象迷了路的样子，也没有半点疲乏、饥渴、惧怕的神情。他丝毫不象是一个迷失在旷无人烟的大沙漠中的孩子。当我在惊讶之中终于又能说出话来的时候，对他说道：

“唉，你在这儿干什么？”    可是他却不慌不忙地好象有一件重要的事一般，对我重复地说道：“请…给我画一只羊…”   

当一种神秘的东西把你镇住的时候，你是不敢不听从它的支配的，在这旷无人烟的沙漠上，面临死亡的危险的情况下，尽管这样的举动使我感到十分荒诞，我还是掏出了一张纸和一支钢笔。这时我却又记起，我只学过地理、历史、算术和语法，就有点不大高兴地对小家伙说我不会画画。他回答我说：

“没有关系，给我画一只羊吧！”

因为我从来没有画过羊，我就给他重画我所仅仅会画的两副画中的那副闭着肚皮的巨蟒。

“不，不！我不要蟒蛇，它肚子里还有一头象。”

我听了他的话，简直目瞪口呆。他接着说：“巨蟒这东西太危险，大象又太占地方。我住的地方非常小，我需要一只羊。给我画一只羊吧。”我就给他画了。   

他专心地看着，随后又说：“我不要，这只羊已经病得很重了。给我重新画一只。”

我又画了起来。

我的这位朋友天真可爱地笑了，并且客气地拒绝道：“你看，你画的不是小羊，是头公羊，还有犄角呢。”

于是我又重新画了一张。

这副画同前几副一样又被拒绝了。

“这一只太老了。我想要一只能活得长的羊。”

我不耐烦了。因为我急于要检修发动机，于是就草草画了这张画。

并且匆匆地对他说道：“这是一只箱子，你要的羊就在里面。”

这时我十分惊奇地看到我的这位小评判员喜笑颜开。他说：“这正是我想要的，…你说这只羊需要很多草吗？”

“为什么问这个呢？”

“因为我那里地方非常小…”   

“我给你画的是一只很小的小羊，地方小也够喂养它的。”

  他把脑袋靠近这张画。

“并不象你说的那么小…瞧！它睡着了…”

就这样，我认识了小王子。

Chapter 3

the narrator learns more about from where the little prince came.

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. 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:

"What is that object?"

"That is not an object. It flies. It is an airplane. It is my airplane."

And I was proud to have him learn that I could fly.

He cried out, then:"What! You dropped down from the sky?"

"Yes," I answered, modestly.

"Oh! That is funny!"

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:

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

At that moment I caught a gleam of light in the impenetrable mystery of his presence; and I demanded, abruptly"Do you come from another planet?"

But he did not reply. He tossed his head gently, without taking his eyes from my plane:"It is true that on that you can't have come from very far away..."

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.

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.

"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?"

After a reflective silence he answered:"The thing that is so good about the box you have given me is that at night he can use it as his house."

"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."

But the little prince seemed shocked by this offer:"Tie him! What a queer idea!"

"But if you don't tie him," I said, "he will wander off somewhere, and get lost."My friend broke into another peal of laughter:"But where do you think he would go?""Anywhere. Straight ahead of him."Then the little prince said, earnestly:"That doesn't matter. Where I live, everything is so small!"And, with perhaps a hint of sadness, he added:"Straight ahead of him, nobody can go very far..."

我费了好长时间才弄清楚他是从哪里来的。小王子向我提出了很多问题，可是，对我提出的问题，他好象压根没有听见似的。他无意中吐露的一些话逐渐使我搞清了他的来历。例如，当他第一次瞅见我的飞机时（我就不画出我的飞机了，因为这种图画对我来说太复杂），他问我道：“这是个啥玩艺？”

“这不是‘玩艺儿’。它能飞。这是飞机。是我的飞机。”

我当时很骄傲地告诉他我能飞。于是他惊奇地说道：“怎么？你是从天上掉下来的？”

“是的”。我谦逊地答道。

“啊？这真滑稽。”

此时小王子发出一阵清脆的笑声。这使我很不高兴。我要求别人严肃地对待我的不幸。然后，他又说道：“那么，你也是从天上来的了！你是哪个星球上的？”

即刻，对于他是从哪里来的这个秘密我隐约发现到了一点线索；于是，我就突然问道：

“你是从另一个星球上来的吗？”

可是他不回答我的问题。他一面看着我的飞机，一面微微地点点头，接着说道：       

“可不是么，乘坐这玩艺儿，你不可能是从很远的地方来的…”

说到这里，他就长时间地陷入沉思之中。然后，从口袋里掏出了我画的小羊，看着他的宝贝入了神。你们可以想见这种关于“别的星球”的若明若暗的话语使我心里多么好奇。因此我竭力地想知道其中更多的奥秘。

“你是从哪里来的，我的小家伙？你的家在什么地方？你要把我的小羊带到哪里去？” 他沉思了一会，然后回答我说： “好在有你给我的那只箱子，夜晚可以给小羊当房子用。”

“那当然。如果你听话的话，我再给你画一根绳子，白天可以栓住它。再加上一根扦杆。”

我的建议看来有点使小王子反感。

“栓住它，多么奇怪的主意。”

“如果你不栓住它，它就到处跑，那么它会跑丢的。”

我的这位朋友又笑出了声：“你想要它跑到哪里去呀？”

“不管什么地方。它一直往前跑…”

  这时，小王子郑重其事地说：“这没有什么关系，我那里很小很小。”

接着，他略带伤感地又补充了一句：“一直朝前走，也不会走出多远…”

Chapter 4

 the narrator speculates as to which asteroid from which the little prince came 

I had thus learned a second fact of great importance: this was that the planet the little prince came from was scarcely any larger than a house!

But that did not really surprise me much. I knew very well that in addition to the great planets-- such as the Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus-- to which we have given names, there are also hundreds of others, some of which are so small that one has a hard time seeing them through the telescope. When an astronomer discovers one of these he does not give it a name, but only a number. He might call it, for example, "Asteroid 325."

I have serious reason to believe that the planet from which the little prince came is the asteroid known as B-612.

This asteroid has only once been seen through the telescope. That was by a Turkish astronomer, in 1909.

On making his discovery, the astronomer had presented it to the International 

Astronomical Congress, in a great demonstration. But he was in Turkish costume, and so nobody would believe what he said.

Grown-ups are like that...

Fortunately, however, for the reputation of Asteroid B-612, a Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects, under pain of death, should change to European costume. So in 1920 the astronomer gave his demonstration all over again, dressed with impressive style and elegance. And this time everybody accepted his report.

If I have told you these details about the asteroid, and made a note of its number for you, it is on account of the grown-ups and their ways. When you tell them that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?" Instead, they demand: "How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?" Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.

If you were to say to the grown-ups: "I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof," they would not be able to get any idea of that house at all. You would have to say to them: "I saw a house that cost $20,000." Then they would exclaim: "Oh, what a pretty house that is!"

Just so, you might say to them: "The proof that the little prince existed is that he was charming, that he laughed, and that he was looking for a sheep. If anybody wants a sheep, that is a proof that he exists." And what good would it do to tell them that? They would shrug their shoulders, and treat you like a child. But if you said to them: "The planet he came from is Asteroid B-612," then they would be convinced, and leave you in peace from their questions. They are like that. One must not hold it against them. Children should always show great forbearance toward grown-up people.

But certainly, for us who understand life, figures are a matter of indifference. I should have liked to begin this story in the fashion of the fairy-tales. I should have like to say: "Once upon a time there was a little prince who lived on a planet that was scarcely any bigger than himself, and who had need of a sheep..."

To those who understand life, that would have given a much greater air of truth to my story.

For I do not want any one to read my book carelessly. I have suffered too much grief in setting down these memories. Six years have already passed since my friend went away from me, with his sheep. If I try to describe him here, it is to make sure that I shall not forget him. To forget a friend is sad. Not every one has had a friend. And if I forget him, I may become like the grown-ups who are no longer interested in anything but figures...

It is for that purpose, again, that I have bought a box of paints and some pencils. It is hard to take up drawing again at my age, when I have never made any pictures except those of the boa constrictor from the outside and the boa constrictor from the inside, since I was six. I shall certainly try to make my portraits as true to life as possible. But I am not at all sure of success. One drawing goes along all right, and another has no resemblance to its subject. I make some errors, too, in the little prince's height: in one place he is too tall and in another too short. And I feel some doubts about the color of his costume. So I fumble along as best I can, now good, now bad, and I hope generally fair-to-middling.

In certain more important details I shall make mistakes, also. But that is something that will not be my fault. My friend never explained anything to me. He thought, perhaps, that I was like himself. But I, alas, do not know how to see sheep through t he walls of boxes. Perhaps I am a little like the grown-ups. I have had to grow old.

    我还了解到另一件重要的事，就是他老家所在的那个星球比一座房子大不了多少。

    这倒并没有使我感到太奇怪。我知道除地球、木星、火星、金星这几个有名称的大行星以外，还有成百个别的星球，它们有的小得很，就是用望远镜也很难看见。当一个天文学者发现了其中一个星星，他就给它编上一个号码，例如把它称作“325小行星”。

    我有重要的根据认为小王子所来自的那个星球是小行星B612。这颗小行星仅仅在1909年被一个土耳其天文学家用望远镜看见过一次。

    当时他曾经在一次国际天文学家代表大会上对他的发现作了重要的论证。但由于他所穿衣服的缘故，那时没有人相信他。那些大人们就是这样。

    幸好，土耳其的一个独裁者，为了小行星B612的声誉，迫使他的人民都要穿欧式服装，否则就处以死刑。1920年，这位天文学家穿了一身非常漂亮的服装，重新作了一次论证。这一次所有的人都同意他的看法。

    我给你们讲关于小行星B612的这些细节，并且告诉你们它的编号，这是由于这些大人的缘故。这些大人们就爱数目字。当你对大人们讲起你的一个新朋友时，他们从来不向你提出实质性的问题。他们从来不讲：“他说话声音如何啊？他喜爱什么样的游戏啊？他是否收集蝴蝶标本呀？”他们却问你：“他多大年纪呀？弟兄几个呀？体重多少呀？他父亲挣多少钱呀？”他们以为这样才算了解朋友。如果你对大人们说：“我看到一幢用玫瑰色的砖盖成的漂亮的房子，它的窗户上有天竺葵，屋顶上还有鸽子…”他们怎么也想象不出这种房子有多么好。必须对他们说：“我看见了一幢价值十万法郎的房子。”那么他们就惊叫道：“多么漂亮的房子啊！”

    要是你对他们说：“小王子存在的证据就是他非常漂亮，他笑着，想要一只羊。他想要一只小羊，这就证明他的存在。”他们一定会耸耸肩膀，把你当作孩子看待！但是，如果你对他们说：“小王子来自的星球就是小行星B612”，那么他们就十分信服，他们就不会提出一大堆问题来和你纠缠。他们就是这样的。小孩子们对大人们应该宽厚些，不要埋怨他们。

    当然，对我们懂得生活的人来说，我们才不在乎那些编号呢！我真愿意象讲神话那样来开始这个故事，我真想这样说：

    “从前呀，有一个小王子，他住在一个和他身体差不多大的星球上，他希望有一个朋友…”对懂得生活的人来说，这样说就显得真实。

    我可不喜欢人们轻率地读我的书。我在讲述这些往事时心情是很难过的。我的朋友带着他的小羊已经离去六年了。我之所以在这里尽力把他描写出来，就是为了不要忘记他。忘记一个朋友，这太叫人悲伤了。并不是所有的人都有过一个朋友。再说，我也可能变成那些大人那样，只对数字感兴趣。也正是为了这个缘故，我买了一盒颜料和一些铅笔。象我这样年纪的人，而且除了六岁时画过闭着肚皮的和开着肚皮的巨蟒外，别的什么也没有尝试过，现在，重新再来画画，真费劲啊！当然，我一定要把这些画尽量地画得逼真，但我自己也没有把握。一张画得还可以，另一张就不象了。还有身材大小，我画得有点不准确。在这个地方小王子画得太大了些，另一个地方又画得太小了些。对他衣服的颜色我也拿不准。于是我就摸索着这么试试那么改改，画个大概齐。我很可能在某些重要的细节上画错了。这就得请大家原谅我了。因为我的这个朋友，从来也不加说明解释。他认为我同他一样。可是，很遗憾，我却不能透过盒子看见小羊。我大概有点和大人们差不多。我一定是变老了。

Chapter 5

- we are warned as to the dangers of the baobabs 

As each day passed I would learn, in our talk, something about the little prince's planet, his departure from it, his journey. The information would come very slowly, as it might chance to fall from his thoughts. It was in this way that I heard, on the third day, about the catastrophe of the baobabs.

This time, once more, I had the sheep to thank for it. For the little prince asked me abruptly-- as if seized by a grave doubt-- "It is true, isn't it, that sheep eat little bushes?""Yes, that is true."

"Ah! I am glad!"

I did not understand why it was so important that sheep should eat little bushes. But the little prince added:"Then it follows that they also eat baobabs?"I pointed out to the little prince that baobabs were not little bushes, but, on the contrary, trees as big as castles; and that even if he took a whole herd of elephants away with him, the herd would not eat up one single baobab.

The idea of the herd of elephants made the little prince laugh.

"We would have to put them one on top of the other," he said.

But he made a wise comment:"Before they grow so big, the baobabs start out by being little."

"That is strictly correct," I said. "But why do you want the sheep to eat the little baobabs?"

He answered me at once, "Oh, come, come!", as if he were speaking of something that was self-evident. And I was obliged to make a great mental effort to solve this problem, without any assistance.

Indeed, as I learned, there were on the planet where the little prince lived-- as on all planets-- good plants and bad plants. In consequence, there were good seeds from good plants, and bad seeds from bad plants. But seeds are invisible. They sleep deep in the heart of the earth's darkness, until some one among them is seized with the desire to awaken. Then this little seed will stretch itself and begin-- timidly at first-- to push a charming little sprig inoffensively upward toward the sun. If it is only a sprout of radish or the sprig of a rose-bush, one would let it grow wherever it might wish. But when it is a bad plant, one must destroy it as soon as possible, the very first instant that one recognizes it.

Now there were some terrible seeds on the planet that was the home of the little prince; and these were the seeds of the baobab. The soil of that planet was infested

with them. A baobab is something you will never, never be able to get rid of if you attend to it too late. It spreads over the entire planet. It bores clear through it with its roots. And if the planet is too small, and the baobabs are too many, they split it in pieces...

"It is a question of discipline," the little prince said to me later on. "When you've finished your own toilet in the morning, then it is time to attend to the toilet of your planet, just so, with the greatest care. You must see to it that you pull up regularly all the baobabs, at the very first moment when they can be distinguished from the rosebushes which they resemble so closely in their earliest youth. It is very tedious work," the little prince added, "but very easy."

And one day he said to me: "You ought to make a beautiful drawing, so that the children where you live can see exactly how all this is. That would be very useful to them if they were to travel some day. Sometimes," he added, "there is no harm in putting off a piece of work until another day. But when it is a matter of baobabs, that always means a catastrophe. I knew a planet that was inhabited by a lazy man. He neglected three little bushes..."

So, as the little prince described it to me, I have made a drawing of that planet.

I do not much like to take the tone of a moralist. But the danger of the baobabs is so little understood, and such considerable risks would be run by anyone who might get lost on an asteroid, that for once I am breaking through my reserve. "Children," I say plainly, "watch out for the baobabs!"

My friends, like myself, have been skirting this danger for a long time, without ever knowing it; and so it is for them that I have worked so hard over this drawing. The lesson which I pass on by this means is worth all the trouble it has cost me.

Perhaps you will ask me, "Why are there no other drawing in this book as magnificent and impressive as this drawing of the baobabs?"

The reply is simple. I have tried. But with the others I have not been successful. When I made the drawing of the baobabs I was carried beyond myself by the inspiring force of urgent necessity.

每天我都了解到一些关于小王子的星球，他的出走和旅行等事情。这些都是偶然从各种反应中慢慢得到的。就这样，第三天我就了解到关于猴面包树的悲剧。

这一次又是因为羊的事情，突然小王子好象是非常担心地问我道：

“羊吃小灌木，这是真的吗？”

“是的，是真的。”

“啊，我真高兴。”

我不明白羊吃小灌木这件事为什么如此重要。可小王子又说道：

“因此，它们也吃猴面包树罗？”

我对小王子说，猴面包树可不是小灌木，而是像教堂那么大的大树；即便是带回一群大象，也啃不了一棵猴面包树。

一群大象这种想法使小王子发笑：“那可得把这些大象一只叠一只地垒起来。”

他很有见识地说： “猴面包树在长大之前，开始也是小小的。”

“不错。可是为什么你想叫你的羊去吃小猴面包树呢？”

  他回答我道：“唉！这还用说！”似乎这是不言而喻的。可是我自己要费很大的心劲才能弄懂这个问题。

原来，在小王子的星球上就象其他所有星球上一样，有好草和坏草；因此，也就有益草的草籽和毒草的草籽，可是草籽是看不见的。它们沉睡在泥土里，直到其中的一粒忽然想要苏醒过来…于是它就伸展开身子，开始腼腆地朝着太阳长出一棵秀丽可爱的小嫩苗。如果是小萝卜或是玫瑰的嫩苗，就让它去自由地生长。如果是一棵坏苗，一旦被辨认出来，就应该马上把它拔掉。因为在小王子的星球上，有些非常可怕的种子…这就是猴面包树的种子。在那里的泥土里，这种种子多得成灾。而一棵猴面包树苗，假如你拔得太迟，就再也无法把它清除掉。它就会盘踞整个星球。它的树根能把星球钻透，如果星球很小，而猴面包树很多，它就把整个星球搞得支离破碎。

“这是个纪律问题。”小王子后来向我解释道。“当你早上梳洗完毕以后，必须仔细地给星球梳洗，必须规定自己按时去拔掉猴面包树苗。这种树苗小的时候与玫瑰苗差不多，一旦可以把它们区别开的时候，就要把它拔掉。这是一件非常乏味的工作，但很容易。”

有一天，他劝我用心地画一副漂亮的图画，好叫我家乡的孩子们对这件事有一个深刻的印象。他还对我说：“如果将来有一天他们出外旅行，这对他们是很有用的。有时候，人们把自己的工作推到以后去做，并没有什么妨害，但要遇到拔猴面包树苗这种事，那就非造成大灾难不可。我遇到过一个星球，上面住着一个懒家伙，他放过了三棵小树苗…”

  于是，根据小王子的说明，我把这个星球画了下来。

我从来不大愿意以道学家的口吻来说话，可是猴面包树的危险，大家都不大了解，对迷失在小行星上的人来说，危险性非常之大，因此这一回，我贸然打破了我的这种不喜欢教训人的惯例。我说：“孩子们，要当心那些猴面包树呀！”为了叫我的朋友们警惕这种危险——他们同我一样长期以来和这种危险接触，却没有意识到它的危险性——我花了很大的功夫画了这副画。我提出的这个教训意义是很重大的，花点功夫是很值得的。你们也许要问，为什么这本书中别的画都没有这副画那么壮观呢？回答很简单：别的画我也曾经试图画得好些，却没成功。而当我画猴面包树时，有一种急切的心情在激励着我。

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To be continued...

未完待续...