🔊 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。然後他們四處奔波,變得興奮,轉來轉去……

這不值得費心……

🔊 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.

撒哈拉沙漠的水井不過是在沙中挖掘的洞。這個井就像村莊裡的水井。但這裡沒有村莊,我以為我一定是在作夢。

🔊

mere /mɪər/

adj. 僅僅的

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

滑輪、水桶、繩子……

🔊

pulley /ˈpʊli/

n. 滑輪

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

滑輪發出呻吟聲,就像一個風早已忘記的舊風向標。

🔊

moaned /moʊnd/

v. 呻吟

🔊

weathervane /ˈweðərveɪn/

n. 風向標

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

「讓我來,」我說。「這對你來說太重了。」

🔊 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,我對自己的成就感到高興。滑輪的歌聲仍在我耳中迴盪,我能看到陽光在仍在顫動的水面上閃爍。

🔊

achievement /əˈtʃiːvmənt/

n. 成就

🔊

shimmer /ˈʃɪmər/

v. 閃爍

🔊

trembling /ˈtrɛmbəlɪŋ/

adj. 顫抖的

🔊 "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.

就像某種特別的節日款待。這水確實與普通的滋養物不同。它的甜美源於星空下的行走、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、午夜彌撒的音樂、微笑臉龐的溫柔,曾經如此構成我收到禮物的光彩。

🔊

nourishment /ˈnʌrɪʃmənt/

n. 營養

🔊

tenderness /ˈtɛndərnəs/

n. 溫柔

🔊

radiance /ˈreɪdiəns/

n. 光輝

🔊

treat /triːt/

n. 款待

🔊 "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."

「你所在地方的人們,」小王子說,「在同一個花園裡種植五千朵玫瑰——卻找不到他們所尋求的東西。」

🔊 "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,可能在一朵單獨的玫瑰或一點水中找到。」

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

「但眼睛是盲目的。必須用心去看……」

🔊 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。那蜂蜜色也讓我感到快樂。那麼,是什麼帶給我這種悲傷感？

🔊

grief /ɡriːf/

n. 悲傷

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

他再次在我身邊坐下。「什麼承諾？」

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

「你知道——為我的羊準備一個口套……我對這朵花負責……」

🔊

muzzle /ˈmʌzəl/

n. 口套

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

他看了看它們,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 /ˈbeɪoʊbæbz/

n. 猴麵包樹

🔊 I had been so proud of my baobabs!

我曾為我的猴麵包樹感到如此自豪！

🔊 "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。」

🔊 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 kənˈstrɪktərz/

n. 蟒蛇

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

「哦,那沒問題,」他說,「孩子們理解。」

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

我的心被撕裂了。「你有我不知道的計劃,」我說。但他沒有回答。

🔊

torn /tɔːrn/

adj. 撕裂的；心碎的

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

「周年紀念日。」然後,沉默了一會兒,他繼續說:「我降落得非常靠近這裡。」他臉紅了。

🔊

Anniversary /ˌænɪˈvɜːrsəri/

n. 週年紀念日

🔊

flushed /flʌʃt/

adj. 臉紅的；沖洗過的

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

又一次,不明所以,我有一種奇怪的悲傷感。

🔊

queer /kwɪər/

adj. 奇怪的；古怪的

🔊

sorrow /ˈsɒrəʊ/

n. 悲傷；悲哀

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

「一周前——你就那樣獨自散步,遠離任何有人居住的地區千里之外？」

🔊

strolling /ˈstrəʊlɪŋ/

v. 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?"

「或許是因為周年紀念日？」

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

「當一個人臉紅,那不就意味著『是』嗎？」

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

「為你在這裡。明晚回來……」

🔊 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,就有哭泣的風險……」

🔊

reassured /ˌriːəˈʃʊəd/

v. 使安心；再次保證

🔊

weeping /ˈwiːpɪŋ/

v. 哭泣；流淚

🔊

tamed /teɪmd/

v. 馴服的；被馴化的

Chapter XXV (第二十五章)