美文欣賞 The Little Prince
《小王子》The Little Prince01
還記得那個孤獨的小王子和玫瑰花的故事嗎?——小王子 The Little Prince01
Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest.
當(dāng)我還只有六歲的時候,在一本描寫原始森林,名叫《真實的故事》的書中,看到了一副精彩的插畫。
It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.
畫的是一條蟒蛇正在吞食一只大野獸,這就是那副畫的摹本。
In the book it said: " Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it.
這本書中寫道:"這些蟒蛇把它們的獵獲物不加咀嚼地吞下。
After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion. "
一會兒后就不能再動彈了,它們就在長長的六個月的睡眠中消化這些食物。"
I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a coloured pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing.
當(dāng)時,我對叢林中的奇遇想得很多,于是,我也用彩色鉛筆畫出了我的第一副圖畫。
My Drawing Number One. It looked like this:
我的第一號作品,它是這樣的:
I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.
我把這副杰作拿給大人看,我問他們我的畫是不是讓他們害怕。
But they answered: " Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat? "
他們回答我說:"一頂帽子有什么可怕的?"
My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant.
我畫的不是帽子,是一條巨蟒在消化著一頭大象。
But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing:
但由于大人們無法理解它,我又畫了另一幅。
I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly.
我把巨蟒肚子里的情況畫了出來,以便讓大人們能夠看懂。
They always need to have things explained.
他們總是需要解釋。
My Drawing Number Two looked like this:
我的第二號作品是這樣的:
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.
大人們勸我把這些畫著開著肚皮的,或閉上肚皮的蟒蛇的圖畫放在一邊,還是把興趣放在地理、歷史、算術(shù)、語法上。
That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter.
就這樣,在六歲的那年,我就放棄了當(dāng)畫家這一美好的職業(yè)。
I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two.
我的第一號、第二號作品的不成功,使我泄了氣。
《小王子》The Little Prince02
Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
這些大人們,靠他們自己什么也弄不懂,還得老是不斷地給他們作解釋,這真叫孩子們膩味。
So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes.
后來,我只好選擇了另外一個職業(yè),我學(xué)會了開飛機。
I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me.
世界各地我差不多都飛到過。的確,地理學(xué)幫了我很大的忙。
At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
我一眼就能分辨出中國和亞里桑那。要是夜里迷失了航向,這是很有用的。
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.
這樣,在我的生活中,我跟很多嚴肅的人有過很多的接觸。
I have lived a great deal among grown-ups.
我在大人們中間生活過很長時間。
I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them.
我仔細地觀察過他們,但這并沒有使我對他們的看法有多大的改變。
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.
當(dāng)我遇到一個頭腦看來稍微清楚的大人時,我就拿出一直保存著的我那第一號作品來測試測試他。
I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding.
我想知道他是否真的有理解能力。
But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say: " That is a hat.
"可是,得到的回答總是:"這是頂帽子。"
Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars.
我就不和他談巨蟒呀,原始森林呀,或者星星之類的事。
I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties.
我只得遷就他們的水平,和他們談些橋牌呀,高爾夫球呀,政治呀,領(lǐng)帶呀這些。
And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.
于是大人們就十分高興能認識我這樣一個通情達理的人。
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