一起讀名著《THE LITTLE PRINCE》《小王子》8
THE LITTLE PRINCE
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
CHAPTER 8
I soon learned more about the flower。 Flowers were simple things on the little prince‘s planet and took up very little room。 They only had a single ring of petals and were not at all demanding。They would appear in the grass one morning and fade away peacefully by evening。But one day， aseed that had blown in from some other place， gave birth to a new type of shoot and the little prince watched over it very closely。What if it was some new kind of baobab！But the shrub soon stopped growing， and began top roduce a flower。 At the first appearance of a huge bud， the little prince felt he was in the presence of a miracle。 But the flower took her time in its green sacntuary， getting ready to emerge。 She chose her colours thoughtfully。 She adjusted her petals one by one。 After all， she did not wish to appear crumpled like a poppy。 She wished to materialize in all her beauty。 Oh was she proud！ And these secret preparations lasted for many days。 Then at sunrise one morning， she showed herself。She yawned and said： ’I am barely awake。 Forgive me， my petals are such a mess。‘But the little prince was full of admiration： ’Oh！ How beautiful you are！‘
很快我就進一步瞭解了這朵花兒。在小王子的星球上，過去一直都生長著一些只有一層花瓣的很簡單的花。這些花非常小，一點也不佔地方，從來也不會去打攪任何人。她們早晨在草叢中開放，晚上就凋謝了。不知從哪裡來了一顆種子，忽然一天這種子發了芽。小王子特別仔細地監視著這棵與眾不同的小苗：這玩意說不定是一種新的猴麵包樹。但是，這小苗不久就不再長了，而且開始孕育著一個花朵。看到在這棵苗上長出了一個很大很大的花蕾，小王子感覺到從這個花苞中一定會出現一個奇蹟。然而這朵花藏在它那綠茵茵的房間中用了很長的時間來打扮自己。她精心選擇著她將來的顏色，慢慢騰騰地裝飾著，一片片地搭配著她的花瓣，她不願像虞美人那樣一出世就滿臉皺紋。她要讓自己帶著光豔奪目的麗姿來到世間。是的，她是非常愛俏的。她用好些好些日子天仙般地梳妝打扮。然後，在一天的早晨，恰好在太陽昇起的時候，她開放了。她已經精細地做了那麼長的準備工作，卻打著哈欠說道：“我剛剛睡醒，真對不起，瞧我的頭髮還是亂蓬蓬的……”小王子這時再也控制不住自己的愛慕心情：“你是多麼美麗啊！”
’Am I not？‘ the flower responded sweetly。 ’And I was born along withthe sun。‘
花兒悠然自得地說：“是吧，我是與太陽同時出生的……”
The little prince could tell that she wasn’t exactly humble。 But she wasjust so wonderful！
小王子看出了這花兒不太謙虛，可是她確實麗姿動人。
‘Is it not time for breakfast？’ she asked a moment later。‘If you would kindly think of my needs …’ Feeling embarrassed， the little prince went to look for a sprinkling can and gave her some fresh， cool water。
她隨後又說道：“現在該是吃早點的時候了吧，請你也想著給我準備一點……”小王子很有些不好意思，於是就拿著噴壺，打來了一壺清清的涼水，澆灌著花兒。
Very soon， she began to trouble him with her rather thorny pride。 For instance， while speaking of her four thorns， she said to the little prince： ‘Let the tigers show their claws！’
於是，就這樣，這朵花兒就以她那有點敏感多疑的虛榮心折磨著小王子。例如，有一天，她向小王子講起她身上長的四根刺：“老虎，讓它張著爪子來吧
‘We have no tigers on this planet，’ the little prince pointed out。 ‘And，anyway， tigers do not eat weeds。’
小王子頂了她一句：“在我這個星球上沒有老虎，而且，老虎是不會吃草的”。
‘I am not a weed，’ was the flower‘s gentle reply。’I‘m sorry。’‘I am not at all afraid of tigers，’ she went on， ‘but I am horrified of gales。Would you have a screen for me？’‘Horrified of gales！ That’s not good luck for a plant， ‘ the little prince thought to himself。 ’ This flower is a complicated creature。‘’You need to place me under a dome at night。 This planet is cold。 Where I come from …‘She stopped mid-sentence。 She had come from a seed and could not have known about any other world。 Embarrassed that her little lie had been exposed， she coughed a few times， to make the little prince feel bad for her。 ’What happened to the screen？‘
花兒輕聲說道：“我並不是草。”
“真對不起。”
“我並不怕什麼老虎，可我討厭穿堂風。你沒有屏風？”
小王子思忖著：“討厭穿堂風……這對一株植物來說，真不走運，這朵花兒真不大好伺候……”
“晚上您得把我保護好。你這地方太冷。在這裡住得不好，我原來住的那個地方……”
但她沒有說下去。她來的時候是粒種子。她哪裡見過什麼別的世界。她叫人發現她是在說一個如此不太高明的謊話，她有點羞怒，咳嗽了兩三聲。她的這一招是要小王子處於有過失的地位，她說道：“屏風呢？”
’I was going to look for it but you were still speaking to me！‘Then she forced another cough， so as to make him feel sorry。So， even though the little prince loved her and would do anything for her，he was now wary of her。 Her harsh words had upset him and he felt miserable。
“我這就去拿。可你剛才說的是……”
於是花兒放開嗓門咳嗽了幾聲，依然要使小王子後悔自己的過失。
儘管小王子本來誠心誠意地喜歡這朵花，可是，這一來，卻使他馬上對她產生了懷疑。小王子對一些無關緊要的話看得太認真，結果使自己很苦惱。
’I shouldn‘t have paid any heed to her words，’ he confided to me。 ‘You mustn’t listen to flowers。 You should simply admire them and enjoy their fragrance。 My flower sweetened my planet with her scent， but I could find no pleasure in it。 Her chatter about the claws， that so irritated me， should have made me feel bad for her instead。‘
有一天他告訴我說：“我不該聽信她的話，絕不該聽信那些花兒的話，看看花，聞聞它就得了。我的那朵花使我的星球芳香四溢，可我不會享受它。關於老虎爪子的事，本應該使我產生同情，卻反而使我惱火……”
He continued： ’I made a mistake！ I should have judged her by her deed sand not by her words。 She filled my world with light and her perfume。 I should not have run away。 I should have noticed that she cared underneath all her games。 Flowers are incomprehensible！ Or maybe I wasn‘t old enough to know how to love her。’
他還告訴我說：“我那時什麼也不懂！我應該根據她的行為，而不是根據她的話來判斷她。她使我的生活芬芳多彩，我真不該離開她跑出來。我本應該猜出在她那令人愛憐的花招後面所隱藏的溫情。花是多麼自相矛盾！我當時太年青，還不懂得愛她。”
