🔊 meditation on his problem, he demanded:

他沉思着他的问题,问道:

🔊

meditation /ˌmedɪˈteɪʃn/

n. 沉思,冥想

🔊 "A sheep—if it eats little bushes, does it eat flowers, too?"

"一只羊——如果它吃小灌木,那它吃花吗？"

🔊 "A sheep," I answered, "eats anything it finds in its reach."

"一只羊,"我回答,"会吃掉它能碰到的任何东西。"

🔊 "Even flowers that have thorns?"

"即使是有刺的花？"

🔊

thorns /θɔːrnz/

n. （植物的）刺,棘刺

🔊 "Yes, even flowers that have thorns."

"是的,即使是有刺的花。"

🔊 "Then the thorns—what use are they?"

"那么刺——它们有什么用？"

🔊 I did not know. At that moment I was very busy trying to unscrew a bolt that had got stuck in my engine. I was very much worried, for it was beginning to look as if my plane would be badly damaged, and I had very little drinking water left, so that I had every reason to fear the worst.

我不知道。那时我正忙着试图拧松卡在引擎里的螺栓。我非常担心,因为看起来我的飞机可能会严重受损,而且我剩下的饮用水很少,所以我完全有理由担心最坏的情况。

🔊

unscrew /ʌnˈskruː/

v. 拧开,旋松

🔊

bolt /bəʊlt/

n. 螺栓,螺钉

🔊

stuck /stʌk/

adj. 卡住的,无法移动的

🔊

damaged /ˈdæmɪdʒd/

adj. 受损的,被损坏的

🔊 "The thorns—what use are they?"

"刺——它们有什么用？"

🔊 The little prince never let go of a question once he had asked it. As for me, I was upset over that bolt. And I answered with the first thing that came into my head:

小王子一旦问了一个问题就从不放过。至于我,我为那个螺栓心烦意乱。于是我随口回答道:

🔊

upset /ʌpˈset/

adj. 心烦的,苦恼的

🔊 "The thorns are of no use at all. Flowers have thorns just for spite!"

"刺一点用都没有。花长刺只是为了赌气！"

🔊

spite /spaɪt/

n. 恶意,怨恨

🔊 But after a moment of silence he lashed out at me, as if with a kind of resentfulness:

但沉默片刻后,他冲我发火,仿佛带着一种怨恨:

🔊

lashed out /læʃt aʊt/

v. 猛烈抨击,突然责骂

🔊

resentfulness /rɪˈzentfəlnəs/

n. 愤恨,怨恨

🔊 "I don't believe you! Flowers are weak creatures. They are naive. They reassure themselves as best they can. They believe that their thorns are terrible weapons ..."

"我不相信你！花是脆弱的生物。它们天真无邪。它们尽最大努力安慰自己。它们相信自己的刺是可怕的武器……"

🔊

naive /naɪˈiːv/

adj. 天真的,幼稚的

🔊

reassure /ˌriːəˈʃʊə(r)/

v. 使安心,打消…的疑虑

🔊

weapons /ˈwepənz/

n. 武器

🔊 I did not answer. At that instant I was saying to myself: "If this bolt still won't turn, I am going to knock it out with the hammer." Again the little prince disturbed my thoughts:

我没有回答。那一刻我正对自己说:"如果这个螺栓还拧不动,我就要用锤子把它敲出来。" 小王子再次打断了我的思绪:

🔊

instant /ˈɪnstənt/

n. 瞬间,顷刻

🔊

hammer /ˈhæmə(r)/

n. 锤子

🔊

disturbed /dɪˈstɜːbd/

v. 打扰,干扰

🔊 "And you actually believe that the flowers—"

"而你居然相信花——"

🔊 "Oh, no!" I cried. "No, no, no! I don't believe anything. I answered you with the first thing that came into my head. Can't you see? I am busy with matters of consequence!"

"哦,不！"我喊道。"不,不,不！我什么都不相信。我是随口回答你的。你没看见吗？我正忙着重要的事情！"

🔊

consequence /ˈkɒnsɪkwəns/

n. 重要性；后果

🔊 He stared at me, thunderstruck.

他目瞪口呆地看着我。

🔊

stared /steəd/

v. 凝视,盯着看

🔊

thunderstruck /ˈθʌndəstrʌk/

adj. 惊愕的,大吃一惊的

🔊 "Matters of consequence!"

"重要的事情！"

🔊 He looked at me there, with my hammer in my hand, my fingers black with engine-grease, bending down over an object which seemed to him extremely ugly ...

他看着我在那里,手里拿着锤子,手指沾满引擎油污,弯腰对着一个在他看来极其丑陋的东西……

🔊

grease /ɡriːs/

n. 油脂,润滑油

🔊

bending /ˈbendɪŋ/

v. 弯腰,弯曲

🔊

extremely /ɪkˈstriːmli/

adv. 极其,非常

🔊 "You talk just like the grown-ups!"

"你说话就像大人一样！"

🔊 That made me a little ashamed. But he went on, relentlessly: "You mix everything up together ... You confuse everything ..." He was really very angry. He tossed his golden curls in the breeze.

这让我有点羞愧。但他不依不饶地继续说:"你把所有事情混在一起……你搞乱了一切……"他真的非常生气。他在微风中甩动着他金色的卷发。

🔊

ashamed /əˈʃeɪmd/

adj. 感到羞耻的,惭愧的

🔊

relentlessly /rɪˈlentləsli/

adv. 无情地,不懈地

🔊

confuse /kənˈfjuːz/

v. 使困惑,混淆

🔊

tossed /tɒst/

v. （轻）抛,甩

🔊

curls /kɜːlz/

n. 卷发

🔊

breeze /briːz/

n. 微风

🔊 "I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman. He has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved any one. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures. And all day he says over and over, just like you: 'I am busy with matters of consequence!' And that makes him swell up with pride. But he is not a man—he is a mushroom!"

"我知道一个星球上有一位红脸绅士。他从未闻过一朵花。他从未看过一颗星星。他从未爱过任何人。他一生除了算账什么都没做。整天他反复说,就像你一样:'我正忙着重要的事情！'这让他骄傲得膨胀起来。但他不是一个人——他是个蘑菇！"

🔊

certain /ˈsɜːtn/

adj. 某个,特定的

🔊

figures /ˈfɪɡəz/

n. 数字；计算

🔊

swell up /swel ʌp/

v. 膨胀,肿胀；（因骄傲等）趾高气扬

🔊

mushroom /ˈmʌʃrʊm/

n. 蘑菇

🔊 "A mushroom!"

"一个蘑菇！"

🔊 The little prince was now white with rage.

小王子现在气得脸色发白。

🔊

rage /reɪdʒ/

n. 狂怒,盛怒

🔊 "The flowers have been growing thorns for millions of years. For millions of years the sheep have been eating them just the same. And is it not a matter of consequence to try to understand why the flowers go to so much trouble to grow thorns which are never of any use to them? Is the warfare between the sheep and the flowers not important? Is this not of more consequence than a fat red-faced gentleman's sums? And if I know—I, myself—one flower which is unique in the world, which grows nowhere but on my planet, but which one little sheep can destroy in a single bite some morning, without even noticing what he is doing—Oh! You think that is not important!"

"花长刺已经几百万年了。几百万年来,羊也一直这样吃它们。而试图理解为什么花要费这么大劲长一些对它们毫无用处的刺,这难道不是重要的事情吗？羊和花之间的战争难道不重要吗？这难道不比一个胖红脸绅士的算账更重要吗？而且如果我认识——我,我自己——一朵在世界上独一无二的花,它只生长在我的星球上,但一只小羊可能在某个早晨一口就把它毁掉,甚至没注意到自己在做什么——哦！你认为这不重要！"

🔊

millions /ˈmɪljənz/

n. 数百万,无数

🔊

warfare /ˈwɔːfeə(r)/

n. 战争,冲突

🔊

sums /sʌmz/

n. 算术,计算；金额

🔊

unique /juˈniːk/

adj. 独一无二的,独特的

🔊

planet /ˈplænɪt/

n. 行星

🔊

destroy /dɪˈstrɔɪ/

v. 毁灭,摧毁

🔊 His face turned from white to red as he continued:

他的脸从白转红,继续说道:

🔊 "If some one loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. He can say to himself: 'Somewhere, my flower is there ...' But if the sheep eats the flower, in one moment all his stars will be darkened ... And you think that is not important!"

"如果有人爱一朵花,在亿万颗星星中只开着一朵花,那么只看星星就足以让他快乐。他可以对自己说:'在某个地方,我的花在那里……'但如果羊吃了那朵花,一瞬间他所有的星星都会变得黯淡……而你竟然认为这不重要！"

🔊

blossom /ˈblɒsəm/

n. 花（尤指果树的花）

🔊

darkened /ˈdɑːkənd/

v. 变暗,使暗淡

🔊 He could not say anything more. His words were choked by sobbing.

他再也说不下去了。他的话被啜泣哽住了。

🔊

choked /tʃəʊkt/

v. 哽咽,说不出话；窒息

🔊

sobbing /ˈsɒbɪŋ/

n. 啜泣,呜咽

🔊 The night had fallen. I had let my tools drop from my hands. Of what moment now was my hammer, my bolt, or thirst, or death? On one star, one planet, my planet, the Earth, the little prince was in need of consolation! I took him in my arms and rocked him. I said to him:

夜幕降临。我让工具从手中滑落。现在我的锤子、螺栓、口渴或死亡又算得了什么？在一颗星星上,一个星球上,我的星球,地球上,小王子需要安慰！我把他抱在怀里,轻轻摇晃。我对他说:

🔊

tools /tuːlz/

n. 工具

🔊

thirst /θɜːst/

n. 口渴；渴望

🔊

consolation /ˌkɒnsəˈleɪʃn/

n. 安慰,慰藉

🔊

rocked /rɒkt/

v. 轻轻摇动,摇晃

🔊 "The flower that you love is not in danger. I will draw you a muzzle for your sheep. I will draw you a railing to put around your flower. I will—"

"你爱的那朵花没有危险。我会给你的羊画一个口套。我会给你的花画一个围栏。我会——"

🔊

muzzle /ˈmʌzl/

n. （动物的）口套,口络

🔊

railing /ˈreɪlɪŋ/

n. 栏杆,围栏

🔊 I did not know what to say to him. I felt awkward and blundering. I did not know how I could reach him, where I could overtake him and go on hand in hand with him once more.

我不知道该对他说什么。我感到尴尬和笨拙。我不知道如何才能触及他,在哪里能赶上他,再次手牵手同行。

🔊

awkward /ˈɔːkwəd/

adj. 尴尬的；笨拙的

🔊

blundering /ˈblʌndərɪŋ/

adj. 笨拙的,常犯错的

🔊

overtake /ˌəʊvəˈteɪk/

v. 赶上,追上

🔊 It is such a secret place, the land of tears.

泪水之地,是如此隐秘的地方。

Chapter VII (第七章)