🔊 They do not know what they are looking for. Then they rush about, and get excited, and turn round and round ..."

他们不知道自己在寻找什么。然后他们四处乱窜,兴奋不已,转来转去...

"这不值得麻烦..."

🔊

worth /wɜːrθ/

adj. 值得的,有…价值的

🔊 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.

撒哈拉的井只不过是沙中挖出的洞。这一个却像村里的井。但这里没有村庄,我以为我一定是做梦了。

🔊

Sahara /səˈhɑːrə/

n. 撒哈拉沙漠

🔊

mere /mɪr/

adj. 仅仅的,只不过

🔊 "The pulley, the bucket, the rope ..."

"滑轮、水桶、绳子..."

🔊 The pulley moaned, like an old weathervane which the wind has long since forgotten.

滑轮呻吟着,像一架被风遗忘了很久的旧风向标。

🔊

moaned /moʊnd/

v. （发出）呻吟声,呜咽声

🔊

weathervane /ˈweðərveɪn/

n. 风向标

🔊 "Let me," I said. "It is too heavy for you."

"让我来,"我说,"对你来说太重了。"

🔊 I was 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.

尽管疲惫,我为自己的成就感到高兴。滑轮的歌声仍在我耳边回响,我能看到阳光在依然颤动的水面上闪烁。

🔊

achievement /əˈtʃiːvmənt/

n. 成就,成绩

🔊

shimmer /ˈʃɪmər/

v. 闪烁,发微光

🔊

trembling /ˈtremblɪŋ/

adj. 颤抖的,颤动的

🔊 "I am thirsty for this water ..." And I understood what he had been looking for.

"我渴望这水..." 于是我明白了他一直在寻找什么。

🔊

thirsty for /ˈθɜːrsti fɔːr/

phrase. 渴望…的

🔊 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.

如同某种节日的款待。这水确实不同于普通的滋养品。它的甘甜诞生于星空下的漫步、滑轮的歌声、我双臂的努力。它有益于心,像一份礼物。当我还是个小男孩时,圣诞树的灯光、午夜弥撒的音乐、笑脸的温柔,常常如此,构成了我所收到礼物的光辉。

🔊

festival treat /ˈfestɪvl triːt/

n. phrase. 节日款待/美食

🔊

nourishment /ˈnɜːrɪʃmənt/

n. 营养,滋养

🔊

radiance /ˈreɪdiəns/

n. 光辉,光彩

🔊 "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."

"你那里的人," 小王子说,"在同一座花园里种了五千朵玫瑰——却找不到他们所要寻找的东西。"

🔊

raise /reɪz/

v. 种植,饲养；提高

🔊 "They do not find it," I replied.

"他们找不到,"我回答。

🔊 "And yet what they are looking for could be found in one single rose, or in a little water."

"然而他们所要寻找的,可能就在一朵玫瑰中,或是一点点水里。"

🔊 "But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart ..."

"但眼睛是盲目的。必须用心去看..."

🔊 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?

我喝了水。我轻松地呼吸。日出时,沙是蜜糖的颜色。那蜜糖色也让我高兴。那么,是什么带来了这种悲伤感？

🔊

breathed easily /briːðd ˈiːzəli/

v. phrase. 轻松地呼吸,松了一口气

🔊

grief /ɡriːf/

n. 悲伤,悲痛

🔊 He sat down beside me once more. "What promise?"

他又一次在我身边坐下。"什么承诺？"

🔊 "You know—a muzzle for my sheep ... I am responsible for this flower ..."

"你知道——给我的羊戴个口套……我要对这朵花负责……"

🔊

muzzle /ˈmʌzl/

n. （动物的）口套,口络

🔊

responsible /rɪˈspɑːnsəbl/

adj. 负有责任的

🔊 He looked them over, and laughed as he said:

他审视着它们,笑着说:

🔊 "Your baobabs—they look a little like cabbages."

"你的猴面包树——它们看起来有点像卷心菜。"

🔊

baobabs /ˈbeɪoʊbæbz/

n. 猴面包树（复数）

🔊

cabbages /ˈkæbɪdʒɪz/

n. 卷心菜,洋白菜（复数）

🔊 I had been so proud of my baobabs!

我曾为我的猴面包树感到如此自豪！

🔊 "Your fox—his ears look a little like horns; and they are too long."

"你的狐狸——它的耳朵看起来有点像角；而且太长了。"

🔊

horns /hɔːrnz/

n. 角,喇叭（复数）

🔊 And he laughed again.

他又笑了。

🔊 "Anything except boa constrictors from the outside and boa constrictors from the inside."

"除了外部的蟒蛇和内部的蟒蛇,什么都行。"

🔊

boa constrictors /ˈbəʊə kənˌstrɪktəz/

n. 蟒蛇（特指美洲的一种大型无毒蟒蛇）

🔊 "Oh, that will be all right," he said, "children understand."

"哦,那没关系,"他说,"孩子们理解。"

🔊 My heart was torn. "You have plans that I do not know about," I said. But he did not answer.

我的心碎了。"你有我不知道的计划,"我说。但他没有回答。

🔊

torn /tɔːrn/

adj. （内心）痛苦纠结的,撕裂的

🔊

plans /plænz/

n. 计划,打算,安排

🔊 "Anniversary." Then, after a silence, he went on: "I came down very near here." And he flushed.

"周年纪念。"然后,沉默片刻后,他继续说:"我降落的地方离这里很近。"他脸红了。

🔊

Anniversary /ˌænɪˈvɜːrsəri/

n. 周年纪念日

🔊

flushed /flʌʃt/

adj. 脸红的,（因情绪等）发红的

🔊 And once again, without understanding why, I had a queer sense of sorrow.

再一次,我不明白为什么,有一种奇怪的悲伤感。

🔊

queer /kwɪr/

adj. 奇怪的,古怪的

🔊

sorrow /ˈsɒrəʊ/

n. 悲伤,悲痛

🔊 "A week ago—you were strolling along like that, all alone, a thousand miles from any inhabited region?"

"一周前——你就那样独自漫步,离任何有人居住的地方千里之遥？"

🔊

strolling /ˈstrəʊlɪŋ/

v. 散步,闲逛

🔊

inhabited /ɪnˈhæbɪtɪd/

adj. 有人居住的

🔊 And I added, with some hesitancy:

我有些犹豫地补充道:

🔊

hesitancy /ˈhezɪtənsi/

n. 犹豫,迟疑

🔊 "Perhaps it was because of the anniversary?"

"也许是因为周年纪念？"

🔊 "When one flushes does that not mean 'Yes'?"

"脸红难道不就意味着'是的'吗？"

🔊 "For you here. Come back tomorrow evening ..."

"对你在这里。明晚再来..."

🔊 But I was not reassured. I remembered the fox. One runs the risk of weeping a little, if one lets himself be tamed ...

但我并没有放心。我想起了狐狸。一个人如果让自己被驯服,就有哭泣的风险...

🔊

reassured /ˌriːəˈʃʊəd/

adj. 感到安心的,消除疑虑的

🔊

tamed /teɪmd/

adj. 被驯服的,被驯化的

Chapter XXV (第二十五章)