《小王子》节选

安东尼·德·圣·埃克苏佩里（1900—1944），生于法国里昂市。飞行家，作家。安东尼一生喜欢冒险和自由， 1944年他在一次飞行任务中失踪，成为神秘传奇。除了飞行，用写作探索灵魂深处的寂寞是他的另一终生所爱。代表作品有童话《小王子》（1943），该书至今全球发行量已达五亿册，被誉为“阅读率仅次于《圣经》的最佳书籍”。

It was then that the fox appeared.

这时，一只狐狸出现了。

“Good morning，” said the fox.

“早上好。”狐狸说。

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

“早上好。”小王子礼貌地回答道。然而当他转过身时，却什么也没看到。

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

“我在这儿呢，苹果树底下。”一个声音提醒他。

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

“你是谁？”小王子问道，“你看起来可真漂亮。”

“I am a fox，” said the fox.

“我是一只狐狸。”狐狸回答道。

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

“过来和我一起玩吧，”小王子提议道，“我苦恼极了。”

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

“我不能和你玩，”狐狸说，“我还没被驯养呢。”

“Ah！ Please excuse me，” said the little prince. But after some thought， he added： “What does that mean—‘tame？”

“啊！对不起。”小王子说。但是他思索了一会儿，又说：“‘驯养是什么意思？”

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

狐狸说：“你不是本地人。你在寻找什么？”

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

小王子说：“我在找人类。‘驯养是什么意思呢？”

“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？”

“人类，”狐狸说，“他们有枪，还会打猎，烦死人了。他们还养鸡。这两件事是他们唯一的爱好。你在寻找鸡吗？”

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

“不是，”小王子说，“我在寻找朋友。‘驯养是什么意思呢？”

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

“这是一种常常被人类忽视的行为，”狐狸说，“就是建立关系的意思。”

“To establish ties？”

“建立关系？”

“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...”

狐狸说：“没错。对我来说，你就是一个普通男孩儿，与其他那些成百上千个小男孩没什么区别。我不需要你，你也不需要我。对你来说，我也只不过是一只普通的狐狸，与其他成百上千只狐狸一样。但是，如果你驯养了我，我们就彼此相互需要。那时候，对我来说，在这个世界上你就是独一无二的。而对你而言，我也是这个世界上独一无二的……”

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

“我开始有点明白了，”小王子说，“有这样一朵花……我想她已经将我驯养了……”

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

“这是可能的，”狐狸说，“在这个地球上，什么千奇百怪的事情都有可能发生……”

“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. 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 colour 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... ”

“我的生活单调乏味，”狐狸说，“我捕捉鸡，人类猎捕我。所有的鸡都是一样的，所有的人也一样。因此，我感到有些厌烦了。但是如果你驯养了我，我的生活将会充满阳光。我会在纷杂的脚步声中辨认出你的脚步声。听到别的脚步声，我会急急忙忙躲进地下洞穴。而唯独你的脚步声会像音乐一样，唤我出洞。再说，你瞧瞧，你看到那边的麦田了吗？我从来不吃面包，小麦对我毫无用处。麦田对我来说，也没什么意义。这是多么可悲啊！但是，你有一头金黄色的头发。一旦你驯养我，想象一下那该是多美好的事啊！那金黄色的小麦会让我联想起你来。于是，我也会喜欢听穿过麦田的风声……”

The fox gazed at the little prince， for a long time. “Please—tame me！” he said.

狐狸盯着小王子看了很久。“请你——驯养我吧！”他说。

“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.”

“我很想驯养你，”小王子回答道，“但是我没有那么多时间。我得去结交朋友，还要去弄明白很多事情。”

“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... ”

“只有驯养才能真正了解一件事情。”狐狸说，“人们没有更多时间去弄懂每一件事情。他们到商店里买现成的东西。但是，世界上还没有卖友谊的商店，因此人类根本就没有朋友。要是你想交一个朋友，就请驯养我吧……”

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

“驯养你，我得做些什么呢？”小王子问道。

“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... ”

“你必须要很有耐心，”狐狸答道，“首先，你坐在草地上，离我有一段距离——就像这样。我会用眼角不经意地瞟你，你什么也别说。言语是误会的根源。但是，你每天可以坐得离我更近一些……”