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.
因此，我独自生活，没有任何我可以真正交谈的人，直到六年前我在撒哈拉沙漠因飞机失事。我的发动机里有什么东西坏了。
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.
由于我既没有带机械师，也没有带乘客，所以我开始独自尝试进行困难的修理。这对我来说是一个生死攸关的问题：我几乎没有足够的饮用水来维持一个星期。
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:
第一天晚上，我在离人类居住地一千英里的沙滩上睡着了。我比一个在海洋中央木筏上的遇难水手还要孤立无援。因此，你可以想象我在日出时被一个奇怪的小声音唤醒时的惊讶。它说：
"If you please--draw me a sheep!"
“如果你愿意——给我画一只绵羊！”
"What!"
“什么！”
"Draw me a sheep!"
“给我画一只绵羊！”
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 portrait that, later, I was able to make of him.But my drawing is certainly very much less charming than its model.
我跳了起来，完全惊呆了。我用力眨了眨眼睛。我仔细地环顾四周。我看到一个非常不同寻常的小人，他站在那里，非常严肃地打量着我。在这里你可以看到后来我为他画的最好的肖像。但是我的画肯定远不如它的模特迷人。
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.
然而，那不是我的错。我六岁时，大人们就劝退了我的绘画事业，所以我什么也没学会画，除了从外面看的蟒蛇和从里面看的蟒蛇。
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:
现在，我盯着这突然出现的幻影，惊讶得眼睛几乎要从脑袋里蹦出来。记住，我曾在远离任何有人居住地区的沙漠中坠毁。然而，我的小人似乎既没有在沙地上茫然地徘徊，也没有因疲劳、饥饿、口渴或恐惧而昏倒。他身上没有任何迹象表明他是一个迷失在沙漠中央的孩子，距离任何人类居住地一千英里。当我终于能说话时，我对他说：
"But--what are you doing here?"
“但是——你在这里做什么？”
And in answer he repeated, very slowly, as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence:
他回答说，非常缓慢，好像在说一件非常重要的事情：
"If you please--draw me a sheep . . ."
“如果你愿意——给我画一只绵羊……”
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:
当一个谜团过于强大时，人们不敢违抗。虽然这对我来说似乎很荒谬，在远离人类居住地一千英里的地方，并且面临死亡的危险，我还是从口袋里掏出了一张纸和我的钢笔。但后来我想起我的学业一直集中在地理、历史、算术和语法上，我告诉那个小家伙（也有点生气地）我不知道怎么画画。他回答我：
"That doesn't matter. Draw me a sheep . . ."
“那没关系。给我画一只绵羊……”
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,
但我从来没有画过绵羊。所以我为他画了我经常画的两幅画中的一幅。那是从外面看到的蟒蛇。我惊讶地听到那个小家伙用以下的话语问候它：
"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."
“不，不，不！我不要蟒蛇里面的一头大象。蟒蛇是一种非常危险的生物，而且大象非常笨重。我住的地方，一切都很小。我需要的是一只绵羊。给我画一只绵羊。”
So then I made a drawing.
所以然后我画了一幅画。
He looked at it carefully, then he said:
他仔细地看了看，然后说：
"No. This sheep is already very sickly. Make me another."
“不。这只绵羊已经病得很重了。再给我画一只。”
So I made another drawing.
所以我又画了一幅画。
My friend smiled gently and indulgently.
我的朋友温柔而宽容地笑了。
"You see yourself," he said, "that this is not a sheep. This is a ram. It has horns."
“你自己看，”他说，“这不是一只绵羊。这是一只公羊。它有角。”
So then I did my drawing over once more.
所以，我又重新画了一遍。
But it was rejected too, just like the others.
但是它也被拒绝了，就像其他的画一样。
"This one is too old. I want a sheep that will live a long time."
“这只太老了。我想要一只能活很久的绵羊。”
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.
这时我的耐心已经耗尽了，因为我急着开始拆卸我的发动机。所以我草草地画画了这张画。
And I threw out an explanation with it.
我随手附上了一个解释。
"This is only his box. The sheep you asked for is inside."
“这只是他的箱子。你想要的绵羊在里面。”
I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my young judge:
我很惊讶地看到一丝光芒闪过我年轻的评判员的脸上：
"That is exactly the way I wanted it! Do you think that this sheep will have to have a great deal of grass?"
“这正是我想要的方式！你认为这只绵羊需要大量的草吗？”
"Why?"
“为什么？”
"Because where I live everything is very small . . ."
“因为我住的地方一切都很小……”
"There will surely be enough grass for him," I said. "It is a very small sheep that I have given you."
“肯定会有足够的草给他吃，”我说。“我给你的这只绵羊非常小。”
He bent his head over the drawing.
他低下头看着那幅画。
"Not so small that--Look!He has gone to sleep . . ."
“没那么小——看！他睡着了……”
And that is how I made the acquaintance of the little prince.
我就这样认识了小王子。
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.
因此，我独自生活，没有任何我可以真正交谈的人，直到六年前我在撒哈拉沙漠因飞机失事。我的发动机里有什么东西坏了。
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.
由于我既没有带机械师，也没有带乘客，所以我开始独自尝试进行困难的修理。这对我来说是一个生死攸关的问题：我几乎没有足够的饮用水来维持一个星期。
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:
第一天晚上，我在离人类居住地一千英里的沙滩上睡着了。我比一个在海洋中央木筏上的遇难水手还要孤立无援。因此，你可以想象我在日出时被一个奇怪的小声音唤醒时的惊讶。它说：
"If you please--draw me a sheep!"
“如果你愿意——给我画一只绵羊！”
"What!"
“什么！”
"Draw me a sheep!"
“给我画一只绵羊！”
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 portrait that, later, I was able to make of him.But my drawing is certainly very much less charming than its model.
我跳了起来，完全惊呆了。我用力眨了眨眼睛。我仔细地环顾四周。我看到一个非常不同寻常的小人，他站在那里，非常严肃地打量着我。在这里你可以看到后来我为他画的最好的肖像。但是我的画肯定远不如它的模特迷人。
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.
然而，那不是我的错。我六岁时，大人们就劝退了我的绘画事业，所以我什么也没学会画，除了从外面看的蟒蛇和从里面看的蟒蛇。
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:
现在，我盯着这突然出现的幻影，惊讶得眼睛几乎要从脑袋里蹦出来。记住，我曾在远离任何有人居住地区的沙漠中坠毁。然而，我的小人似乎既没有在沙地上茫然地徘徊，也没有因疲劳、饥饿、口渴或恐惧而昏倒。他身上没有任何迹象表明他是一个迷失在沙漠中央的孩子，距离任何人类居住地一千英里。当我终于能说话时，我对他说：
"But--what are you doing here?"
“但是——你在这里做什么？”
And in answer he repeated, very slowly, as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence:
他回答说，非常缓慢，好像在说一件非常重要的事情：
"If you please--draw me a sheep . . ."
“如果你愿意——给我画一只绵羊……”
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:
当一个谜团过于强大时，人们不敢违抗。虽然这对我来说似乎很荒谬，在远离人类居住地一千英里的地方，并且面临死亡的危险，我还是从口袋里掏出了一张纸和我的钢笔。但后来我想起我的学业一直集中在地理、历史、算术和语法上，我告诉那个小家伙（也有点生气地）我不知道怎么画画。他回答我：
"That doesn't matter. Draw me a sheep . . ."
“那没关系。给我画一只绵羊……”
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,
但我从来没有画过绵羊。所以我为他画了我经常画的两幅画中的一幅。那是从外面看到的蟒蛇。我惊讶地听到那个小家伙用以下的话语问候它：
"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."
“不，不，不！我不要蟒蛇里面的一头大象。蟒蛇是一种非常危险的生物，而且大象非常笨重。我住的地方，一切都很小。我需要的是一只绵羊。给我画一只绵羊。”
So then I made a drawing.
所以然后我画了一幅画。
He looked at it carefully, then he said:
他仔细地看了看，然后说：
"No. This sheep is already very sickly. Make me another."
“不。这只绵羊已经病得很重了。再给我画一只。”
So I made another drawing.
所以我又画了一幅画。
My friend smiled gently and indulgently.
我的朋友温柔而宽容地笑了。
"You see yourself," he said, "that this is not a sheep. This is a ram. It has horns."
“你自己看，”他说，“这不是一只绵羊。这是一只公羊。它有角。”
So then I did my drawing over once more.
所以，我又重新画了一遍。
But it was rejected too, just like the others.
但是它也被拒绝了，就像其他的画一样。
"This one is too old. I want a sheep that will live a long time."
“这只太老了。我想要一只能活很久的绵羊。”
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.
这时我的耐心已经耗尽了，因为我急着开始拆卸我的发动机。所以我草草地画画了这张画。
And I threw out an explanation with it.
我随手附上了一个解释。
"This is only his box. The sheep you asked for is inside."
“这只是他的箱子。你想要的绵羊在里面。”
I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my young judge:
我很惊讶地看到一丝光芒闪过我年轻的评判员的脸上：
"That is exactly the way I wanted it! Do you think that this sheep will have to have a great deal of grass?"
“这正是我想要的方式！你认为这只绵羊需要大量的草吗？”
"Why?"
“为什么？”
"Because where I live everything is very small . . ."
“因为我住的地方一切都很小……”
"There will surely be enough grass for him," I said. "It is a very small sheep that I have given you."
“肯定会有足够的草给他吃，”我说。“我给你的这只绵羊非常小。”
He bent his head over the drawing.
他低下头看着那幅画。
"Not so small that--Look!He has gone to sleep . . ."
“没那么小——看！他睡着了……”
And that is how I made the acquaintance of the little prince.
我就这样认识了小王子。