六年过去了，我从没向人们提过这件事。

我现在喜欢在夜里听星星铃铛般的声音。可一想到忘记给羊嘴罩上画皮带，没法往嘴上系，就担心绵羊把花儿吃掉。但还是安慰自己小王子会照顾花儿的。

喜欢小王子的人们应该好好想一想，绵羊会把花儿吃掉吗？

而大人们是不会理解这事有多么重要啊！

- the narrator's afterthoughts    
And now six years have already gone by... 
I have never yet told this story. The companions who met me on my return were well content to see me alive. I was sad, but I told them: "I am tired." 
Now my sorrow is comforted a little. That is to say-- not entirely. But I know that he did go back to his planet, because I did not find his body at daybreak. It was not such a heavy body... and at night I love to listen to the stars. It is like five hundred million little bells... 
But there is one extraordinary thing... when I drew the muzzle for the little prince, I forgot to add the leather strap to it. He will never have been able to fasten it on his sheep. So now I keep wondering: what is happening on his planet? Perhaps the sheep has eaten the flower... 
At one time I say to myself: "Surely not! The little prince shuts his flower under her glass globe every night, and he watches over his sheep very carefully..." Then I am happy. And there is sweetness in the laughter of all the stars. 
But at another time I say to myself: "At some moment or other one is absent-minded, and that is enough! On some one evening he forgot the glass globe, or the sheep got out, without making any noise, in the night..." And then the little bells are changed to tears... 
Here, then, is a great mystery. For you who also love the little prince, and for me, nothing in the universe can be the same if somewhere, we do not know where, a sheep that we never saw has-- yes or no?-- eaten a rose... 
Look up at the sky. Ask yourselves: is it yes or no? Has the sheep eaten the flower? And you will see how everything changes... 
And no grown-up will ever understand that this is a matter of so much importance! 
This is, to me, the loveliest and saddest landscape in the world. It is the same as that on the preceding page, but I have drawn it again to impress it on your memory. It is here that the little prince appeared on Earth, and disappeared. 
Look at it carefully so that you will be sure to recognise it in case you travel some day to the African desert. And, if you should come upon this spot, please do not hurry on. Wait for a time, exactly under the star. Then, if a little man appears who laughs, who has golden hair and who refuses to answer questions, you will know who he is. If this should happen, please comfort me. Send me word that he has come back.

    到现在，一点不错，已经有六年了…我还从未讲过这个故事。同伴们重新见到了我，都为能看见我活着回来而高兴。我却很悲伤。我告诉他们：“这是因为疲劳的缘故…”    
    现在，我稍微得到了些安慰。就是说…还没有完全平静下来。可我知道他已经回到了他的星球上。因为那天黎明，我没有再见到他的身躯。他的身躯并不那么重…从此，我就喜欢在夜间倾听着星星，好象是倾听着五亿个铃铛…    
    可是，现在却又发生了不寻常的事。我给小王子画的羊嘴套上，忘了画皮带！他再也不可能把它套在羊嘴上。于是，我思忖着：“他的星球上发生了什么事呢？大概小羊把花吃掉了吧…” 
    有时我又对自己说，“绝对不会的！小王子每天夜里都用玻璃罩子罩住他的花，而且他会把羊看管好的…”想到这里，我就非常高兴。这时，所有的星星都在柔情地轻声笑着。    
    忽而我又对自己说：“人们有时总免不了会疏忽的，那就够戗！某一天晚上他忘了玻璃罩子，或者小羊夜里不声不响地跑出来…”想到这里，小铃铛都变成泪珠了！    
    这真是一个很大的奥秘。对你们这些喜欢小王子的人来说，就象对于我来说一样，无论什么地方，凡是某处，如果一只羊（尽管我们并不认识它），吃了一朵玫瑰花，或是没有吃掉一朵玫瑰花，那么宇宙的面貌就全然不同。    
    你们望着天空。你们想一想：羊究竟是吃了还是没有吃掉花？那么你们就会看到一切都变了样…    
    任何一个大人将永远不会明白这个问题竟如此重要！

第二天我干完活，天快黑了，看到小王子坐在水井边的断墙上说着话。

这时，我发现墙根下有一条致命的毒蛇。我跑过去，蛇被吓跑了。我正好接住跳下来脸色发白的小王子。我感到奇怪：他居然和蛇说话！

我把他抱在怀里。他说，他要回去了。

我感到他受到了惊吓，他说今晚还有更大的惊吓。

他说，他的星星就在降落的上方，自己的花儿就在星星上。现在看到所有的星星都感到亲切，就像我抬头看他的那颗星星，虽然很小，只是其中的一颗。但我会爱这满天的星星的。他们都会是我的朋友，他给我的不是星星，而是会笑的铃铛。

说完小王子笑了起来，说这笑声是给我的礼物。

他又告诉我，今天晚上他就要走了。

他悄悄地向前走去，我追上他，执著地说决不离开他。他说因为太远，没法带走这个躯体。并告诉我说看到这满天的星星，每个星星上都有水井，都会倒水给自己喝。

他说要对他的花儿负责，然后向前跨了一步，脚下一道黄光一闪，小王子便无声地倒下了。

- the little prince converses with the snake; the little prince consoles the narrator; the little prince returns to his planet      
Beside the well there was the ruin of an old stone wall. When I came back from my work, the next evening, I saw from some distance away my little price sitting on top of a wall, with his feet dangling. And I heard him say: 
"Then you don't remember. This is not the exact spot." 
Another voice must have answered him, for he replied to it: 
"Yes, yes! It is the right day, but this is not the place." 
I continued my walk toward the wall. At no time did I see or hear anyone. The little prince, however, replied once again: 
"--Exactly. You will see where my track begins, in the sand. You have nothing to do but wait for me there. I shall be there tonight." 
I was only twenty metres from the wall, and I still saw nothing. 
After a silence the little prince spoke again: 
"You have good poison? You are sure that it will not make me suffer too long?" 
I stopped in my tracks, my heart torn asunder; but still I did not understand. 
"Now go away," said the little prince. "I want to get down from the wall." 
I dropped my eyes, then, to the foot of the wall-- and I leaped into the air. There before me, facing the little prince, was one of those yellow snakes that take just thirty seconds to bring your life to an end. Even as I was digging into my pocked to get out my revolver I made a running step back. But, at the noise I made, the snake let himself flow easily across the sand like the dying spray of a fountain, and, in no apparent hurry, disappeared, with a light metallic sound, among the stones. 
I reached the wall just in time to catch my little man in my arms; his face was white as snow. 
"What does this mean?" I demanded. "Why are you talking with snakes?" 
I had loosened the golden muffler that he always wore. I had moistened his temples, and had given him some water to drink. And now I did not dare ask him any more questions. He looked at me very gravely, and put his arms around my neck. I felt his heart beating like the heart of a dying bird, shot with someone's rifle... 
"I am glad that you have found what was the matter with your engine," he said. "Now you can go back home--" 
"How do you know about that?" 
I was just coming to tell him that my work had been successful, beyond anything that I had dared to hope. 
He made no answer to my question, but he added: 
"I, too, am going back home today..." 
Then, sadly-- 
"It is much farther... it is much more difficult..." 
I realised clearly that something extraordinary was happening. I was holding him close in my arms as if he were a little child; and yet it seemed to me that he was rushing headlong toward an abyss from which I could do nothing to restrain him... 
His look was very serious, like some one lost far away. 
"I have your sheep. And I have the sheep's box. And I have the muzzle..." 
And he gave me a sad smile. 
I waited a long time. I could see that he was reviving little by little. 
"Dear little man," I said to him, "you are afraid..." 
He was afraid, there was no doubt about that. But he laughed lightly. 
"I shall be much more afraid this evening..." 
Once again I felt myself frozen by the sense of something irreparable. And I knew that I could not bear the thought of never hearing that laughter any more. For me, it was like a spring of fresh water in the desert. 
"Little man," I said, "I want to hear you laugh again." 
But he said to me: 
"Tonight, it will be a year... my star, then, can be found right above the place where I came to the Earth, a year ago..." 
"Little man," I said, "tell me that it is only a bad dream-- this affair of the snake, and the meeting-place, and the star..." 
But he did not answer my plea. He said to me, instead: "The thing that is important is the thing that is not seen..." 
"Yes, I know..." 
"It is just as it is with the flower. If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers..." 
"Yes, I know..." 
"It is just as it is with the water. Because of the pulley, and the rope, what you gave me to drink was like music. You remember-- how good it was." 
"Yes, I know..." 
"And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is to be found. It is better, like that. My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens... they will all be your friends. And, besides, I am going to make you a present..." 
He laughed again. 
"Ah, little prince, dear little prince! I love to hear that laughter!" 
"That is my present. Just that. It will be as it was when we drank the water..." 
"What are you trying to say?" 
"All men have the stars," he answered, "but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems . For my businessman they were wealth. But all these stars are silent. You-- you alone-- will have the stars as no one else has them--" 
"What are you trying to say?" 
"In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night... you-- only you-- will have stars that can laugh!" 
And he laughed again. 
"And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure... and your friends w ill be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, 'Yes, the stars always make me laugh!' And they will think you are crazy. It will be a very shabby trick that I shall have played on you..." 
And he laughed again. 
"It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh..." 
And he laughed again. Then he quickly became serious: 
"Tonight-- you know... do not come," said the little prince. 
"I shall not leave you," I said. 
"I shall look as if I were suffering. I shall look a little as if I were dying. It is like that. Do not come to see that. It is not worth the trouble..." 
"I shall not leave you." 
But he was worried. 
"I tell you-- it is also because of the snake. He must not bite you. Snakes-- they are malicious creatures. This one might bite you just for fun..." 
"I shall not leave you." 
But a thought came to reassure him: 
"It is true that they have no more poison for a second bite." 
That night I did not see him set out on his way. He got away from me without making a sound. When I succeeded in catching up with him he was walking along with a quick and resolute step. He said to me merely: 
"Ah! You are there..." 
And he took me by the hand. But he was still worrying. 
"It was wrong of you to come. You will suffer. I shall look as if I were dead; and that will not be true..." 
I said nothing. 
"You understand... it is too far. I cannot carry this body with me. It is too heavy." 
I said nothing. 
"But it will be like an old abandoned shell. There is nothing sad about old shells..." 
I said nothing. 
He was a little discouraged. But he made one more effort: 
"You know, it will be very nice. I, too, shall look at the stars. All the stars will be wells with a rusty pulley. All the stars will pour out fresh water for me to drink..." 
I said nothing. 
"That will be so amusing! You will have five hundred million little bells, and I shall have five hundred million springs of fresh water..." 
And he too said nothing more, becuase he was crying... 
"Here it is. Let me go on by myself." 
And he sat down, because he was afraid. Then he said, again: 
"You know-- my flower... I am responsible for her. And she is so weak! She is so na飗e! She has four thorns, of no use at all, to protect herself against all the world..." 
I too sat down, because I was not able to stand up any longer. 
"There now-- that is all..." 
He still hesitated a little; then he got up. He took one step. I could not move. 
There was nothing but a flash of yellow close to his ankle. He remained motionless for an instant. He did not cry out. He fell as gently as a tree falls. There was not even any sound, because of the sand.

    在井旁边有一堵残缺的石墙。第二天晚上我工作回来的时候，我远远地看见了小王子耷拉着双腿坐在墙上。我听见他在说话：    
    “你怎么不记得了呢？”他说，“绝不是在这儿。”    
    大概还有另一个声音在回答他，因为他答着腔说道：    
    “没错，没错，日子是对的；但地点不是这里…”    
    我继续朝墙走去。我还是看不到，也听不见任何别人。可是小王子又回答道：    
    “…那当然。你会在沙上看到我的脚印是从什么地方开始的。你在那里等着我就行了。今天夜里我去那里。”    
    我离墙约有二十米远，可我依然什么也没有看见。    
    小王子沉默了一会又说：    
    “你的毒液管用吗？你保证不会使我长时间地痛苦吗？”    
    我焦虑地赶上前去，但我仍然不明白是怎么回事。    
    “现在你去吧，我要下来了！…”小王子说。    
    于是，我也朝墙脚下看去，我吓了一跳。就在那里，一条黄蛇直起身子冲着小王子。这种黄蛇半分钟就能结果你的性命。我一面赶紧掏口袋，拔出手枪，一面跑过去。可是一听到我的脚步声，蛇却象一股干涸了的水柱一样，慢慢钻进沙里去。它不慌不忙地在石头的缝隙中钻动着，发出轻轻的金属般的响声。    
    我到达墙边的时候，正好把我的这位小王子接在我的怀抱中。他的脸色雪一样惨白。    
    “这是搞的什么名堂！你怎么竟然和蛇也谈起心来了！”我解开了他一直带着的金黄色的围脖。我用水渍湿了他的太阳穴，让他喝了点水。这时，我什么也不敢再问他。他严肃地看着我，用双臂搂着我的脖子。我感到他的心就象一只被枪弹击中而濒于死亡的鸟的心脏一样在跳动着。他对我说：    
    “我很高兴，你找到了你的机器所缺少的东西。你不久就可以回家去了…”    
    “你怎么知道的？”    
    我正是来告诉他，在没有任何希望的情况下，我成功地完成了修理工作。    
    他不回答我的问题，却接着说道：    
    “我也一样，今天，要回家去了…”    
    然后，他忧伤地说：    
    “我回家要远得多…要难得多…”    
    我清楚地感到发生了某种不寻常的事。我把他当作小孩一样紧紧抱在怀里，可是我感觉到他径直地向着一个无底深渊沉陷下去，我想法拉住他，却怎么也办不到…    
    他的眼神很严肃，望着遥远的地方。    
    “我有你画的羊，羊的箱子和羊的嘴套子…”    
    他带着忧伤的神情微笑了。    
    我等了很长时间，才觉得他身子渐渐暖和起来。    
    “小家伙，你受惊了…”    
    他害怕了，这是无疑的！他却温柔地笑着说：    
    “今天晚上，我会怕得更厉害…”    
    我再度意识到要发生一件不可弥补的事。我觉得我的心一下子就凉了。这时我才明白：一想到再也不能听到这笑声，我就不能忍受。这笑声对我来说，就好象是沙漠中的甘泉一样。    
    “小家伙，我还想听你笑…”    
    但他对我说：    
    “到今天夜里，正好是一年了。我的星球将正好处于我去年降落的那个地方的上空…”    
    “小家伙，这蛇的事，约会的事，还有星星，这全是一场噩梦吧？”    
    但他并不回答我的问题。他对我说：    
    “重要的事，是看不见的…”    
    “当然…”    
    “这就象花一样。如果你爱上了一朵生长在一颗星星上的花，那么夜间，你看着天空就感到甜蜜愉快。所有的星星上都好象开着花。”    
    “当然…”    
    “这也就象水一样，由于那辘轳和绳子的缘故，你给我喝的井水好象音乐一样…你记得吗？…这水非常好喝…”    
    “当然…”    
    “夜晚，你抬头望着星星，我的那颗太小了，我无法给你指出我的那颗星星是在哪里。这样倒更好。你可以认为我的那颗星星就在这些星星之中。那么，所有的星星，你都会喜欢看的…这些星星都将成为你的朋友。而且，我还要给你一件礼物…”    
    他又笑了。    
    “啊！小家伙，小家伙，我喜欢听你这笑声！”    
    “这正好是我给你的礼物，…这就好象水那样。”    
    “你说的是什么？”    
    “人们眼里的星星并不都一样。对旅行的人来说，星星是向导。对别的人来说，星星只是些小亮光。对另外一些学者来说，星星就是他们探讨的学问。对我所遇见的那个实业家来说，星星是金钱。但是，所有这些星星都不会说话。你呢，你的那些星星将是任何人都不曾有过的…”    
    “你说的是什么？”    
    “夜晚，当你望着天空的时候，既然我就住在其中一颗星星上，既然我在其中一颗星星上笑着，那么对你来说，就好象所有的星星都在笑，那么你将看到的星星就是会笑的星星！”    
    这时，他又笑了。    
    “那么，在你得到了安慰之后（人们总是会自我安慰的）你就会因为认识了我而感到高兴。你将永远是我的朋友。你就会想要同我一起笑。有时，你会为了快乐而不知不觉地打开窗户。你的朋友们会奇怪地看着你笑着仰望天空。那时，你就可以对他们说：‘是的，星星总是引我欢笑！’他们会以为你发疯了。我的恶作剧将使你难堪…”    
    这时，他又笑了。    
    “这就好象我并没有给你星星，而是给你一大堆会笑出声来的小铃铛…”    
    他仍然笑着。随后他变得严肃起来：    
    “今天夜里…你知道…不要来了。”    
    “我不离开你。”    
    “我将会象是很痛苦的样子…我有点象要死去似的。就是这么回事，你就别来看这些了，没有必要。”    
    “我不离开你。”    
    可是他担心起来。    
    “我对你说这些…这也是因为蛇的缘故。别让它咬了你…蛇是很坏的，它随意咬人…”    
    “我不离开你。”    
    这时，他似乎有点放心了：    
    “对了，它咬第二口的时候就没有毒液了…”    
    这天夜里，我没有看到他起程。他不声不响地跑了。当我终于赶上他的时候，他坚定地快步走着。他只是对我说道：    
    “啊，你在这儿…”    
    于是他拉着我的手。但是他仍然很担心：    
    “你不该这样。你会难受的。我会象是死去的样子，但这不会是真的…”    
    我默默无言。    
    “你明白，路很远。我不能带着这付身躯走。它太重了。”    
    我依然沉默不语。    
    “但是，这就好象剥落的旧树皮一样。旧树皮，并没有什么可悲的。”    
    我还是沉默不语。    
    他有些泄气了。但是他又振作起来：    
    “这将是蛮好的，你知道。我也一定会看星星的。所有的星星都将是带有生了锈的辘轳的井。所有的星星都会倒水给我喝…”    
    我还是沉默不语。    
    “这将是多么好玩啊！你将有五亿个铃铛，我将有五亿口水井…”    
    这时，他也沉默了，因为他在哭。    
    “就是这儿。让我自个儿走一步吧。”    
    他这时坐下来，因为他害怕了。他却仍然说道：    
    “你知道…我的花…我是要对她负责的！而她又是那么弱小！她又是那么天真。她只有四根微不足道的刺，保护自己，抵抗外敌…”    
    我也坐了下来，因为我再也站立不住了。他说道：    
    “就是这些…全都说啦…”    
    他犹豫了一下，然后站起来。他迈出了一步。而我却动弹不得。    
    在他的脚踝子骨附近，一道黄光闪了一下。刹那间他一动也不动了。他没有叫喊。他轻轻地象一棵树一样倒在地上，大概由于沙地的缘故，连一点响声都没有。

这口水井的辘轳、水桶、吊绳什么都有。他转动辘轳，说这辘轳的咕咕声把这沉睡的水井唤醒了。

我接过来把水桶吊了上来，水中映照着太阳，小王子要喝。我明白了小王子要找的东西了，他找到了对遥远星球的思念。

他说：你们种了那么多玫瑰，却没找到想要的东西。其实从一朵花、一滴水中就能找到，但必须用心去找。

我喝了水后，小王子让我给他的绵羊画嘴罩。

我用铅笔给他画了一个嘴罩。

他告诉我明天自己来地球就一年了，当时就降落在附近。我明白几天前他来这里是找他的降落地。

- finding a well, the narrator and the little prince discuss his return to his planet        
"Men," said the little prince, "set out on their way in express trains, but they do not know what they are looking for. Then they rush about, and get excited, and turn round and round..." 
And he added: 
"It is not worth the trouble..." 
The well that we had come to was not like the wells of the Sahara. The wells of the Sahara are mere holes dug in the sand. This one was like a well in a village. But there was no village here, and I thought I must be dreaming... 
"It is strange," I said to the little prince. "Everything is ready for use: the pulley, the bucket, the rope..." 
He laughed, touched the rope, and set the pulley to working. And the pulley moaned, like an old weathervane which the wind has long since forgotten. 
"Do you hear?" said the little prince. "We have wakened the well, and it is singing..." 
I did not want him to tire himself with the rope. 
"Leave it to me," I said. "It is too heavy for you." 
I hoisted the bucket slowly to the edge of the well and set it there-- happy, tired as I was, over my achievement. The song of the pulley was still in my ears, and I could see the sunlight shimmer in the still trembling water. 
"I am thirsty for this water," said the little prince. "Give me some of it to drink..." 
And I understood what he had been looking for. 
I raised the bucket to his lips. He drank, his eyes closed. It was as sweet as some special festival treat. This water was indeed a different thing from ordinary nourishment. Its sweetness was born of the walk under the stars, the song of the pulley, the effort of my arms. It was good for the heart, like a present. When I was a little boy, the lights of the Christmas tree, the music of the Midnight Mass, the tenderness of smiling faces, used to make up, so, the radiance of the gifts I received. 
"The men where you live," said the little prince, "raise five thousand roses in the same garden-- and they do not find in it what they are looking for." 
"They do not find it," I replied. 
"And yet what they are looking for could be found in one single rose, or in a little water." 
"Yes, that is true," I said. 
And the little prince added: 
"But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart..." 
I had drunk the water. I breathed easily. At sunrise the sand is the color of honey. And that honey color was making me happy, too. What brought me, then, this sense of grief? 
"You must keep your promise," said the little prince, softly, as he sat down beside me once more. 
"What promise?" 
"You know-- a muzzle for my sheep... I am responsible for this flower..." 
I took my rough drafts of drawings out of my pocket. The little prince looked them over, and laughed as he said: 
"Your baobabs-- they look a little like cabbages." 
"Oh!" 
I had been so proud of my baobabs! 
"Your fox-- his ears look a little like horns; and they are too long." 
And he laughed again. 
"You are not fair, little prince," I said. "I don't know how to draw anything except boa constrictors from the outside and boa constrictors from the inside." 
"Oh, that will be all right," he said, "children understand." 
So then I made a pencil sketch of a muzzle. And as I gave it to him my heart was torn. 
"You have plans that I do not know about," I said. 
But he did not answer me. He said to me, instead: 
"You know-- my descent to the earth... Tomorrow will be its anniversary." 
Then, after a silence, he went on: 
"I came down very near here." 
And he flushed. 
And once again, without understanding why, I had a queer sense of sorrow. One question, however, occurred to me: 
"Then it was not by chance that on the morning when I first met you-- a week ago-- you were strolling along like that, all alone, a thousand miles from any inhabited region? You were on the your back to the place where you landed?" 
The little prince flushed again. 
And I added, with some hesitancy: 
"Perhaps it was because of the anniversary?" 
The little prince flushed once more. He never answered questions-- but when one flushes does that not mean "Yes"? 
"Ah," I said to him, "I am a little frightened--" 
But he interrupted me. 
"Now you must work. You must return to your engine. I will be waiting for you here. Come back tomorrow evening..." 
But I was not reassured. I remembered the fox. One runs the risk of weeping a little, if one lets himself be tamed...

    “那些人们，他们往快车里拥挤，但是他们却不知道要寻找什么。于是，他们就忙忙碌碌，来回转圈子…”小王子说道。    
    他接着又说：    
    “这没有必要…”    
    我们终于找到的这口井，不同于撒哈拉的那些井。撒哈拉的井只是沙漠中挖的洞。这口井则很象村子中的井。可是，那里又没有任何村庄，我还以为是在做梦呢。    
    “真怪，”我对小王子说：“一切都是现成的：辘轳、水桶、绳子…”    
    他笑了，拿着绳子，转动着辘轳。辘轳就象是一个长期没有风来吹动的旧风标一样，吱吱作响。    
    “你听，”小王子说：“我们唤醒了这口井，它现在唱起歌来了…”我不愿让他费劲。我对他说：    
    “让我来干吧。这活对你太重了。”    
    我慢慢地把水桶提到井栏上。我把它稳稳地放在那里。我的耳朵里还响着辘轳的歌声。依然还在晃荡的水面上，我看见太阳的影子在跳动。    
    “我正需要喝这种水。”小王子说：“给我喝点…”    
    这时我才明白了他所要寻找的是什么！    
    我把水桶提到他的嘴边。他闭着眼睛喝水。就象节日一般舒适愉快。这水远不只是一种饮料，它是披星戴月走了许多路才找到的，是在辘轳的歌声中，经过我双臂的努力得来的。它象是一件礼品慰藉着心田。在我小的时候，圣诞树的灯光，午夜的弥撒的音乐，甜蜜的微笑，这一切都使圣诞节时我收到的礼品辉映着幸福的光彩。    
    “你这里的人在同一个花园中种植着五千朵玫瑰。”小王子说：“可是，他们却不能从中找到自己所要寻找的东西…”    
    “他们是找不到的。”我回答道。    
    “然而，他们所寻找的东西却是可以从一朵玫瑰花或一点儿水中找到的…”    
    “一点不错。”我回答道。    
    小王子又加了一句：    
    “眼睛是什么也看不见的。应该用心去寻找。”    
    我喝了水。我痛快地呼吸着空气。沙漠在晨曦中泛出蜂蜜的光泽。这蜂蜜般的光泽也使我感到幸福。为什么我要难过…    
    小王子又重新在我的身边坐下。他温柔地对我说：“你应该实践你的诺言。”
    “什么诺言？”    
    “你知道…给我的小羊一个嘴套子…我要对我的花负责的呀！”    
    我从口袋中拿出我的画稿。小王子瞅见了，笑着说：    
    “你画的猴面包树，有点象白菜…”    
    “啊！”    
    我还为我画的猴面包树感到骄傲呢！    
    “你画的狐狸…它那双耳朵…有点象犄角…而且又太长了！”    
    这时，他又笑了。    
    “小家伙，你太不公正了。我过去只会画开着肚皮和闭着肚皮的巨蟒。”    
    “啊！这就行了。”他说：“孩子们认得出来。”    
    我就用铅笔勾画了一个嘴套。当我把它递给小王子时，我心里很难受：    
    “你的打算，我一点也不知道…”    
    但是，他不回答我，他对我说：    
    “你知道，我落在地球上…到明天就一周年了…”    
    接着，沉默了一会儿，他又说道：    
    “我就落在这附近…”    
    此时，他的面颊绯红。    
    我不知为什么，又感到一阵莫名其妙的心酸。这时，我产生了一个问题：    
    “一星期以前，我认识你的那天早上，你单独一个人在这旷无人烟的地方走着；这么说，这并不是偶然的了？你是要回到你降落的地方去是吗！”    
    小王子的脸又红了。
    我犹豫不定地又说了一句：    
    “可能是因为周年纪念吧？…”    
    小王子脸又红了。他从来也不回答这些问题，但是，脸红，就等于说“是的”，是吧？    
    “啊！”我对他说：“我有点怕…”    
    但他却回答我说：    
    “你现在该工作了。你应该回到你的机器那里去。我在这里等你。你明天晚上再来…”    
    但是，我放心不下。我想起了狐狸的话。如果被人驯服了，就可能会要哭的…

降落沙漠已经八天了，水也喝完了。我想，要是找到泉水就好了。

小王子渴吗？

小王子说他也渴，心灵需要水。我们一起找泉水，一直找到天黑。

坐下休息时，小王子说他觉得星星很美，因那里有他的花儿。

小王子说沙漠的美是因为里面藏有一口井。我明白了：不管是沙漠还是哪里，只有用心感觉，才能知道他的美。

小王子很高兴，他睡着了。我抱着他拂晓时找到了水井。

小王子遇到卖止渴丸的商人，每周服一粒可节省五十三分钟。

小王子想，我要有这五十三分钟，就不急着找泉水了。

- the little prince encounters a merchant       

"Good morning," said the little prince. 

"Good morning," said the merchant. 

This was a merchant who sold pills that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need of anything to drink. 

"Why are you selling those?" asked the little prince. 

"Because they save a tremendous amount of time," said the merchant. "Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week." 

"And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?" 

"Anything you like..." 

"As for me," said the little prince to himself, "if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water."

    “你好。”小王子说。    

    “你好。”商人说道。    

    这是一位贩卖能够止渴的精制药丸的商人。每周吞服一丸就不会感觉口渴。    

    “你为什么卖这玩艺儿？”小王子说。    

    “这就大大地节约了时间。”商人说，“专家们计算过，这样，每周可以节约五十三分钟。”    

    “那么，用这五十三分钟做什么用？”    

    “随便怎么用都行。…”    

    小王子自言自语地说：“我如果有五十三分钟可支配，我就悠哉游哉地向水泉走去…”

小王子遇到了扳道工。他问火车里的人在找什么，是对原来的地方不满意吗？

扳道工说，人们从来都对原来的地方不满意。

小王子说孩子们知道自己在找什么，他们会为自己的东西负责的，扳道工感到孩子们真幸福。

- the little prince encounters a railway switchman      
"Good morning," said the little prince. 
"Good morning," said the railway switchman. 
"What do you do here?" the little prince asked. 
"I sort out travelers, in bundles of a thousand," said the switchman. "I send off the trains that carry them; now to the right, now to the left." 
And a brilliantly lighted express train shook the switchman's cabin as it rushed by with a roar like thunder. 
"They are in a great hurry," said the little prince. "What are they looking for?" 
"Not even the locomotive engineer knows that," said the switchman. 
And a second brilliantly lighted express thundered by, in the opposite direction. 
"Are they coming back already?" demanded the little prince. 
"These are not the same ones," said the switchman. "It is an exchange." 
"Were they not satisfied where they were?" asked the little prince. 
"No one is ever satisfied where he is," said the switchman. 
And they heard the roaring thunder of a third brilliantly lighted express. 
"Are they pursuing the first travelers?" demanded the little prince. 
"They are pursuing nothing at all," said the switchman. "They are asleep in there, or if they are not asleep they are yawning. Only the children are flattening their noses against the windowpanes." 
"Only the children know what they are looking for," said the little prince. "They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them; and if anybody takes it away from them, they cry..." 
"They are lucky," the switchman said.

    “你好。”小王子说道。    
    “你好。”扳道工说道。    
    “你在这里做什么？”小王子问。    
    “我一包包地分选旅客，按每千人一包。”扳道工说，“我打发这些运载旅客的列车，一会儿发往右方，一会儿发往左方。”    
    这时，一列灯火明亮的快车，雷鸣般地响着，把扳道房震得颤颤悠悠。    
    “他们真匆忙呀，”小王子说，“他们要寻找什么？”    
    “开机车的人自己也不知道。”扳道工说道。    
    于是，第二列灯火通明的快车又朝着相反的方向轰隆轰隆地开过去。    
    “他们怎么又回来了呢？”小王子问道。    
    “他们不是原来那些人了。”扳道工说，“这是一次对开列车。”    
    “他们不满意他们原来所住的地方吗？”    
    “人们是从来也不会满意自己所在的地方的。”扳道工说。    
    此时，第三趟灯火明亮的快车又隆隆而过。    
    “他们是在追随第一批旅客吗？”小王子问道。    
    “他们什么也不追随。”扳道工说，“他们在里面睡觉，或是在打哈欠。只有孩子们把鼻子贴在玻璃窗上往外看。”    
    “只有孩子知道他们自己在寻找什么。”小王子说，“他们为一个布娃娃花费不少时间，这个布娃娃就成了很重要的东西，如果有人夺走的他们的布娃娃，他们就哭泣…”    
    “他们真幸运。”扳道工说。

小王子看到树上有个美丽的动物。狐狸作了自我介绍，想让小王子驯养自己。

小王子不知驯养是什么意思。狐狸说驯养就是互相建立感情。

狐狸说，自己捉鸡，又被人捉，没意思。如果他驯养了自己，生活就会充满希望。听到他的脚步声，就像美妙的音乐一样。他的头发是金黄色的，从此自己对金黄色有了新的感情。

小王子愿意驯养它，问怎样驯养它呢？狐狸告诉他要慢慢地接近，不要说话，话多容易误解。他最好能在同一时间来，这样，狐狸的心里就会有准备：心情提前就会激动起来，期待也是很幸福的。

从此，小王子驯养了狐狸，分手时狐狸哭了。

狐狸建议他去看一下玫瑰花。

他看到那些玫瑰花根本就没法和自己的花儿比。自己的花儿比它们整园的花儿都重要。自己给她浇水、除虫。她是属于自己一个人的。

狐狸告诉他，他的花儿对他如此重要是因为他对她倾注了自己的心血。本质的东西不是用眼看，而是用心体会的。他要对他的花儿负责。

小王子想，他一定要对自己的花儿负责。

小王子走了很长时间，来到一个盛开的玫瑰园，看到很多美丽的花。

小王子原来认为，自己拥有的花是独一无二的，其实只是普通的一朵。自己怎么配做伟大的王子呢！

- the little prince discovers a garden of roses
But it happened that after walking for a long time through sand, and rocks, and snow, the little prince at last came upon a road. And all roads lead to the abodes of men.
"Good morning," he said.
He was standing before a garden, all a-bloom with roses.
"Good morning," said the roses.
The little prince gazed at them. They all looked like his flower.
"Who are you?" he demanded, thunderstruck.
"We are roses," the roses said.
And he was overcome with sadness. His flower had told him that she was the only one of her kind in all the universe. And here were five thousand of them, all alike, in one single garden!
"She would be very much annoyed," he said to himself, "if she should see that... she would cough most dreadfully, and she would pretend that she was dying, to avoid being laughed at. And I should be obliged to pretend that I was nursing her back to life-- for if I did not do that, to humble myself also, she would really allow herself to die..."
Then he went on with his reflections: "I thought that I was rich, with a flower that was unique in all the world; and all I had was a common rose. A common rose, and three volcanoes that come up to my knees-- and one of them perhaps extinct forever... that doesn't make me a very great prince..."
And he lay down in the grass and cried.

在沙漠、岩石、雪地上行走了很长的时间以后，小王子终于发现了一条大路。所有的大路都是通往人住的地方的。
“你们好。”小王子说。
这是一个玫瑰盛开的花园。
“你好。”玫瑰花说道。
小王子瞅着这些花，它们全都和他的那朵花一样。
“你们是什么花？”小王子惊奇地问。
“我们是玫瑰花。”花儿们说道。
“啊！”小王子说…。
他感到自己非常不幸。他的那朵花曾对他说她是整个宇宙中独一无二的一种花。可是，仅在这一座花园里就有五千朵完全一样的这种花朵！
小王子自言自语地说：“如果她看到这些，她是一定会很恼火…她会咳嗽得更厉害，并且为避免让人耻笑，她会佯装死去。那么，我还得装着去护理她，因为如果不这样的话，她为了使我难堪，她可能会真的死去…”
接着他又说道：“我还以为我有一朵独一无二的花呢，我有的仅是一朵普通的花。这朵花，再加上三座只有我膝盖那么高的火山，而且其中一座还可能是永远熄灭了的，这一切不会使我成为一个了不起的王子…”于是，他躺在草丛中哭泣起来。

小王子来到一座高山。他想从高山上眺望整个地球和人类,但只是看到前面的山峰。

他呼喊起来,响起一阵阵回声。他觉得地球上的人真怪——老学别人说话。

- the little prince climbs a mountain range
After that, the little prince climbed a high mountain. The only mountains he had ever known were the three volcanoes, which came up to his knees. And he used the extinct volcano as a footstool. "From a mountain as high as this one," he said to himself, "I shall be able to see the whole planet at one glance, and all the people..."
But he saw nothing, save peaks of rock that were sharpened like needles.
"Good morning," he said courteously.
"Good morning--Good morning--Good morning," answered the echo.
"Who are you?" said the little prince.
"Who are you--Who are you--Who are you?" answered the echo.
"Be my friends. I am all alone," he said.
"I am all alone--all alone--all alone," answered the echo.
"What a queer planet!" he thought. "It is altogether dry, and altogether pointed, and altogether harsh and forbidding. And the people have no imagination. They repeat whatever one says to them... On my planet I had a flower; she always was the first to speak..."

小王子爬上一座高山。过去他所见过的山就是那三座只有他膝盖那么高的火山，并且他把那座熄灭了的火山就当作凳子。小王子自言自语地说道：“从这么高的山上，我一眼可以看到整个星球，以及所有的人。”可是，他所看到的只是一些非常锋利的悬崖峭壁。
“你好。”小王子试探地问道。
“你好…你好…你好…”回音在回答道。
“你们是什么人？”小王子问。
“你们是什么人…你们是什么人…你们是什么人…”回音又回答道。
“请你们做我的朋友吧，我很孤独。”他说。
“我很孤独…我很孤独…我很孤独…”回音又回答着。
小王子想道：“这颗行星真奇怪！它上面全是干巴巴的，而且又尖利又咸涩，人们一点想象力都没有。他们只是重复别人对他们说的话…在我的家乡，我有一朵花。她总是自己先说话…”

- the little prince goes looking for men and meets a flower
The little prince crossed the desert and met with only one flower. It was a flower with three petals, a flower of no account at all.
"Good morning," said the little prince.
"Good morning," said the flower.
"Where are the men?" the little prince asked, politely.
The flower had once seen a caravan passing.
"Men?" she echoed. "I think there are six or seven of them in existence. I saw them, several years ago. But one never knows where to find them. The wind blows them away. They have no roots, and that makes their life very difficult."
"Goodbye," said the little prince.
"Goodbye," said the flower.

小王子穿过沙漠。他只见过一朵花，一个有着三枚花瓣的花朵，一朵很不起眼的小花…
“你好。”小王子说。
“你好。”花说。
“人在什么地方？”小王子有礼貌地问道。
有一天，花曾看见一支骆驼商队走过：
“人吗？我想大约有六七个人，几年前，我瞅见过他们。可是，从来不知道到什么地方去找他们。风吹着他们到处跑。他们没有根，这对他们来说是很不方便的。”
“再见了。”小王子说。
“再见。”花说。