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

他們不知道自己在尋找什麼。然後他們匆匆忙忙,變得興奮,轉來轉去...

「這不值得麻煩...」

🔊 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.

撒哈拉的井只是沙中挖掘的洞。這一口井就像村莊裡的井。但這裡沒有村莊,我以為我一定是在做夢。

🔊

mere /mɪə(r)/

adj. 僅僅的,只不過的

🔊

wells /welz/

n. 井（well的複數形式）

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

「滑輪、水桶、繩子...」

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

滑輪呻吟著,就像一個風早已遺忘的舊風向標。

🔊

moaned /məʊnd/

v. 發出呻吟聲,嗚咽

🔊

weathervane /ˈweðəveɪn/

n. 風向標

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

「讓我來,」我說。「對你來說太重了。」

🔊 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.

儘管疲憊,我為自己的成就感到高興。滑輪的歌聲還在耳邊迴響,我能看到陽光在仍然顫動的水面上閃爍。

🔊

achievement /əˈtʃiːvmənt/

n. 成就,成績

🔊

shimmer /ˈʃɪmə(r)/

v. 閃爍,發微光

🔊

trembling /ˈtremblɪŋ/

adj. 顫抖的,搖晃的

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

「我渴望這水...」於是我明白了他一直在尋找什麼。

🔊 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.

就像是某種特別的節日款待。這水確實與普通的滋養不同。它的甜美源自星空下的行走、滑輪的歌聲、我雙臂的努力。它對心靈有益,就像一份禮物。當我還是個小男孩時,聖誕樹的燈光、子夜彌撒的音樂、微笑臉龐的溫柔,常常構成我收到的禮物的光輝。

🔊

nourishment /ˈnʌrɪʃmənt/

n. 營養,滋養；食物

🔊

sweetness /ˈswiːtnəs/

n. 甜蜜,甜美；可愛之處

🔊

radiance /ˈreɪdiəns/

n. 光輝,光彩；容光煥發

🔊 "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."

「你居住地方的人們,」小王子說,「在同一個花園裡種植五千朵玫瑰—卻找不到他們所尋找的東西。」

🔊

raise /reɪz/

v. 種植,飼養；撫養；舉起

🔊 "They do not find it," I replied.

「他們找不到,」我回答。

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

「然而,他們所尋找的東西,可能就在一朵玫瑰中,或在一點水中找到。」

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

「但眼睛是盲目的。必須用心去看...」

🔊

blind /blaɪnd/

adj. 失明的；盲目的,視而不見的

🔊 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。我輕鬆地呼吸。日出時,沙是蜂蜜的顏色。那蜂蜜色也讓我快樂。那麼,是什麼帶給我這種悲傷感？

🔊

grief /ɡriːf/

n. 悲傷,悲痛

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

他再次坐在我旁邊。「什麼承諾？」

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

「你知道—為我的羊戴上口套... 我對這朵花負責...」

🔊

muzzle /ˈmʌzl/

n. （動物的）口套,口絡

🔊

responsible /rɪˈspɒnsəbl/

adj. 需負責任的；可靠的

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

他仔細看了看,笑著說:

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

「你的猴麵包樹—它們看起來有點像捲心菜。」

🔊

baobabs /ˈbeɪəʊbæbz/

n. 猴麵包樹（baobab的複數形式）

🔊

cabbages /ˈkæbɪdʒɪz/

n. 捲心菜,椰菜（cabbage的複數形式）

🔊 I had been so proud of my baobabs!

我曾經為我的猴麵包樹感到多麼自豪！

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

「你的狐狸—他的耳朵看起來有點像角；而且太長了。」

🔊

horns /hɔːnz/

n. 角；喇叭（horn的複數形式）

🔊 And he laughed again.

他又笑了。

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

「除了來自外部的蟒蛇和來自內部的蟒蛇,什麼都可以。」

🔊

boa constrictors /ˈbəʊə kənˈstrɪktəz/

n. 蟒蛇

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

「哦,那沒問題,」他說,「孩子們明白。」

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

我的心被撕裂了。「你有我不知道的計劃,」我說。但他沒有回答。

🔊

torn /tɔːn/

adj. （情感上）被撕裂的,極度矛盾的

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

「週年紀念。」然後,沉默了一會兒,他繼續說:「我降落在這附近。」他臉紅了。

🔊

Anniversary /ˌænɪˈvɜːsəri/

n. 周年紀念（日）

🔊

flushed /flʌʃt/

adj. 臉紅的,漲紅的

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

又一次,不明白為什麼,我有一種奇怪的悲傷感。

🔊

queer /kwɪə(r)/

adj. 奇怪的,古怪的；不尋常的

🔊

sorrow /ˈsɒrəʊ/

n. 悲傷,悲痛

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

「一週前—你就那樣散步,獨自一人,離任何有人居住的地區千里之遙？」

🔊

strolling /ˈstrəʊlɪŋ/

v. (present participle). 漫步,閒逛

🔊

inhabited /ɪnˈhæbɪtɪd/

adj. 有人居住的

🔊 And I added, with some hesitancy:

我有些猶豫地補充:

🔊

hesitancy /ˈhezɪtənsi/

n. 猶豫,遲疑

🔊 "Perhaps it was because of the anniversary?"

「也許是因為週年紀念？」

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

「當一個人臉紅,那不就是表示『是的』嗎？」

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

「為你在這裡。明天晚上回來...」

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

但我並沒有安心。我想起了狐狸。如果一個人讓自己被馴服,就有可能流一點淚...

🔊

reassured /ˌriːəˈʃʊəd/

adj. 安心的,得到安慰的

🔊

tamed /teɪmd/

v. (past participle). 被馴服的,被馴化的

Chapter XXV (第二十五章)