Little Prince小王子

oneline

啊！小王子，就这样，我逐渐懂得了你那忧郁的生活。过去相当长的时间里你唯一的乐趣就是观赏那夕阳西下的温柔晚景。这个新的细节，是我在第四天早晨知道的。你当时对我说道：
    “我喜欢看日落。我们去看一回日落吧！”
    “可是得等着…”
    “等什么？”
    “等太阳落山。”
    开始，你显得很惊奇的样子，随后你笑自己的糊涂。你对我说：
    “我总以为是在我的家乡呢！”
    确实，大家都知道，在美国是正午时分，在法国，正夕阳西下，只要在一分钟内赶到法国就可看到日落。可惜法国是那么的遥远。而在你那样的小行星上，你只要把你的椅子挪动几步就行了。这样，你便可随时看到你想看的夕阳余辉…
    “一天，我看见过四十三次日落。”
    过一会儿，你又说：
    “你知道，当人们感到非常苦闷时，总是喜欢日落的。”
    “一天四十三次，你怎么会这么苦闷？”
    小王子没有回答。

oneline

Chapter 7

- the narrator learns about the secret of the little prince's life  
On the fifth day-- again, as always, it was thanks to the sheep-- the secret of the little prince's life was revealed to me. Abruptly, without anything to lead up to it, and as if the question had been born of long and silent meditation on his problem, he demanded:
"A sheep-- if it eats little bushes, does it eat flowers, too?"
"A sheep," I answered, "eats anything it finds in its reach."
"Even flowers that have thorns?"
"Yes, even flowers that have thorns."
"Then the thorns-- what use are they?"
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 becoming clear to me that the breakdown of my plane was extremely serious. And I had so little drinking-water left that I had to fear for the worst.
"The thorns-- what use are they?"
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:
"The thorns are of no use at all. Flowers have thorns just for spite!"
"Oh!"
There was a moment of complete silence. Then the little prince flashed back at me, with a kind of resentfulness:
"I don't believe you! Flowers are weak creatures. They are na飗e. They reassure themselves as best they can. They believe that their thorns are terrible weapons..."
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.
"And you actually believe that the flowers--"
"Oh, no!" I cried. "No, no no! I don't believe anything. I answered you with the first thing that came into my head. Don't you see-- I am very busy with matters of consequence!"
He stared at me, thunderstruck.
"Matters of consequence!"
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...
"You talk just like the grown-ups!"
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.
"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!"
"A what?"
"A mushroom!"
The little prince was now white with rage.
"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!"
His face turned from white to red as he continued:
"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!"
He could not say anything more. His words were choked by sobbing.
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, there was a little prince to be comforted. I took him in my arms, and rocked him. I said to him:
"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--"
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.
It is such a secret place, the land of tears.

oneline

第五天，还是羊的事，把小王子的生活秘密向我揭开了。好象默默地思索了很长时间以后，得出了什么结果一样，他突然没头没脑地问我：
    “羊，要是吃小灌木，它也要吃花罗？”
    “它碰到什么吃什么。”
    “连有刺的花也吃吗？”
    “有刺的也吃！”
    “那么刺有什么用呢？”
    我不知道该怎么回答。那会儿我正忙着要从发动机上卸下一颗拧得太紧的螺丝。我发现机器故障似乎很严重，饮水也快完了，担心可能发生最坏的情况，心里很着急。
    “那么刺有什么用呢？”
    小王子一旦提出了问题，从来不会放过。这个该死的螺丝使我很恼火，我于是就随便回答了他一句：
    “刺么，什么用都没有，这纯粹是花的恶劣表现。”
    “噢！”
    可是他沉默了一会儿之后，怀着不满的心情冲我说：
    “我不信！花是弱小的、淳朴的，它们总是设法保护自己，以为有了刺就可以显出自己的厉害…”
    我默不作声。我当时想的，如果这个螺丝再和我作对，我就一锤子敲掉它。小王子又来打搅我的思绪了：
    “你却认为花…”
    “算了吧，算了吧！我什么也不认为！我是随便回答你的。我可有正经事要做。”
    他惊讶地看着我。
    “正经事？”
    他瞅着我手拿锤子，手指沾满了油污，伏在一个在他看来丑不可言的机件上。
    “你说话就和那些大人一样！”
    这话使我有点难堪。可是他又尖刻无情地说道：
    “你什么都分不清…你把什么都混在一起！”
    他着实非常恼火。摇动着脑袋，金黄色的头发随风颤动着。
    “我到过一个星球，上面住着一个红脸先生。他从来没闻过一朵花。他从来没有看过一颗星星。他什么人也没有喜欢过。除了算帐以外，他什么也没有做过。他整天同你一样老是说：‘我有正经事，我是个严肃的人’。这使他傲气十足。他简直不象是个人，他是个蘑菇。”
    “是个什么？”
    “是个蘑菇！”
    小王子当时气得脸色发白。
    “几百万年以来花儿都在制造着刺，几百万年以来羊仍然在吃花。要搞清楚为什么花儿费那么大劲给自己制造没有什么用的刺，这难道不是正经事？难道羊和花之间的战争不重要？这难道不比那个大胖子红脸先生的帐目更重要？如果我认识一朵人世间唯一的花，只有我的星球上有它，别的地方都不存在，而一只小羊胡里胡涂就这样把它一下子毁掉了，这难道不重要？”
    他的脸气得发红，然后又接着说道：
    “如果有人爱上了在这亿万颗星星中独一无二的一株花，当他看着这些星星的时候，这就足以使他感到幸福。他可以自言自语地说：‘我的那朵花就在其中的一颗星星上…’，但是如果羊吃掉了这朵花，对他来说，好象所有的星星一下子全都熄灭了一样！这难道也不重要吗？！”
    他无法再说下去了，突然泣不成声。夜幕已经降临。我放下手中的工具。我把锤子、螺钉、饥渴、死亡，全都抛在脑后。在一颗星球上，在一颗行星上，在我的行星上，在地球上有一个小王子需要安慰！我把他抱在怀里。我摇着他，对他说：“你爱的那朵花没有危险…我给你的小羊画一个罩子…我给你的花画一副盔甲…我…”我也不太知道该说些什么。我觉得自己太笨拙。我不知道怎样才能达到他的境界，怎样才能再进入他的境界…唉，泪水的世界是多么神秘啊！

oneline

Chapter 8


- the rose arrives at the little prince's planet   
I soon learned to know this flower better. On the little prince's planet the flowers had always been very simple. They had only one ring of petals; they took up no room at all; they were a trouble to nobody. One morning they would appear in the grass, and by night they would have faded peacefully away. But one day, from a seed blown from no one knew where, a new flower had come up; and the little prince had watched very closely over this small sprout which was not like any other small sprouts on his planet. It might, you see, have been a new kind of baobab.
The shrub soon stopped growing, and began to get ready to produce a flower. The little prince, who was present at the first appearance of a huge bud, felt at once that some sort of miraculous apparition must emerge from it. But the flower was not satisfied to complete the preparations for her beauty in the shelter of her green chamber. She chose her colours with the greatest care. She adjusted her petals one by one. She did not wish to go out into the world all rumpled, like the field poppies. It was only in the full radiance of her beauty that she wished to appear. Oh, yes! She was a coquettish creature! And her mysterious adornment lasted for days and days.
Then one morning, exactly at sunrise, she suddenly showed herself.
And, after working with all this painstaking precision, she yawned and said:
"Ah! I am scarcely awake. I beg that you will excuse me. My petals are still all disarranged..."
But the little prince could not restrain his admiration:
"Oh! How beautiful you are!"
"Am I not?" the flower responded, sweetly. "And I was born at the same moment as the sun..."
The little prince could guess easily enough that she was not any too modest-- but how moving-- and exciting-- she was!
"I think it is time for breakfast," she added an instant later. "If you would have the kindness to think of my needs--"
And the little prince, completely abashed, went to look for a sprinkling-can of fresh water. So, he tended the flower.
So, too, she began very quickly to torment him with her vanity-- which was, if the truth be known, a little difficult to deal with. One day, for instance, when she was speaking of her four thorns, she said to the little prince:
"Let the tigers come with their claws!"
"There are no tigers on my planet," the little prince objected. "And, anyway, tigers do not eat weeds."
"I am not a weed," the flower replied, sweetly.
"Please excuse me..."
"I am not at all afraid of tigers," she went on, "but I have a horror of drafts. I suppose you wouldn't have a screen for me?"
"A horror of drafts-- that is bad luck, for a plant," remarked the little prince, and added to himself, "This flower is a very complex creature..."
"At night I want you to put me under a glass globe. It is very cold where you live. In the place I came from--"
But she interrupted herself at that point. She had come in the form of a seed. She could not have known anything of any other worlds. Embarassed over having let herself be caught on the verge of such a na飗e untruth, she coughed two or three times, in order to put the little prince in the wrong.
"The screen?"
"I was just going to look for it when you spoke to me..."
Then she forced her cough a little more so that he should suffer from remorse just the same.
So the little prince, in spite of all the good will that was inseparable from his love, had soon come to doubt her. He had taken seriously words which were without importance, and it made him very unhappy.
"I ought not to have listened to her," he confided to me one day. "One never ought to listen to the flowers. One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance. Mine perfumed all my planet. But I did not know how to take pleasure in all her grace. This tale of claws, which disturbed me so much, should only have filled my heart with tenderness and pity."
And he continued his confidences:
"The fact is that I did not know how to understand anything! I ought to have judged by deeds and not by words. She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have run away from her... I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little strategems. Flowers are so inconsistent! But I was too young to know how to love her..."

oneline

  很快我就进一步了解了这朵花儿。在小王子的星球上，过去一直都生长着一些只有一层花瓣的很简单的花。这些花非常小，一点也不占地方，从来也不会去打搅任何人。她们早晨在草丛中开放，晚上就凋谢了。不知从哪里来了一颗种子，忽然一天这种子发了芽。小王子特别仔细地监视着这棵与众不同的小苗：这玩艺说不定是一种新的猴面包树。但是，这小苗不久就不再长了，而且开始孕育着一个花朵。看到在这棵苗上长出了一个很大很大的花蕾，小王子感觉到从这个花苞中一定会出现一个奇迹。然而这朵花藏在它那绿茵茵的房间中用了很长的时间来打扮自己。她精心选择着她将来的颜色，慢慢腾腾地妆饰着，一片片地搭配着她的花瓣，她不愿象虞美人那样一出世就满脸皱纹。她要让自己带着光艳夺目的丽姿来到世间。是的，她是非常爱俏的。她用好些好些日子天仙般地梳妆打扮。然后，在一天的早晨，恰好在太阳升起的时候，她开放了。
    她已经精细地做了那么长的准备工作，却打着哈欠说道：
    “我刚刚睡醒，真对不起，瞧我的头发还是乱蓬蓬的…”
    小王子这时再也控制不住自己的爱慕心情：
    “你是多么美丽啊！”
    花儿悠然自得地说：
    “是吧，我是与太阳同时出生的…”
    小王子看出了这花儿不太谦虚，可是她确实丽姿动人。
    她随后又说道：“现在该是吃早点的时候了吧，请你也想着给我准备一点…”
    小王子很有些不好意思，于是就拿着喷壶，打来了一壶清清的凉水，浇灌着花儿。
    于是，就这样，这朵花儿就以她那有点敏感多疑的虚荣心折磨着小王子。例如，有一天，她向小王子讲起她身上长的四根刺：
    “老虎，让它张着爪子来吧！”
    小王子顶了她一句：“在我这个星球上没有老虎，而且，老虎是不会吃草的”。
    花儿轻声说道：“我并不是草。”
    “真对不起。”
    “我并不怕什么老虎，可我讨厌穿堂风。你没有屏风？”
    小王子思忖着：“讨厌穿堂风…这对一株植物来说，真不走运，这朵花儿真不大好伺候…”
    “晚上您得把我保护好。你这地方太冷。在这里住得不好，我原来住的那个地方…”
    但她没有说下去。她来的时候是粒种子。她哪里见过什么别的世界。她叫人发现她是在凑一个如此不太高明的谎话，她有点羞怒，咳嗽了两三声。她的这一招是要小王子处于有过失的地位，她说道：
    “屏风呢？”
    “我这就去拿。可你刚才说的是…”
    于是花儿放开嗓门咳嗽了几声，依然要使小王子后悔自己的过失。
    尽管小王子本来诚心诚意地喜欢这朵花，可是，这一来，却使他马上对她产生了怀疑。小王子对一些无关紧要的话看得太认真，结果使自己很苦恼。
    有一天他告诉我说：“我不该听信她的话，绝不该听信那些花儿的话，看看花，闻闻它就得了。我的那朵花使我的星球芳香四溢，可我不会享受它。关于老虎爪子的事，本应该使我产生同情，却反而使我恼火…”
    他还告诉我说：
    “我那时什么也不懂！我应该根据她的行为，而不是根据她的话来判断她。她使我的生活芬芳多彩，我真不该离开她跑出来。我本应该猜出在她那令人爱怜的花招后面所隐藏的温情。花是多么自相矛盾！我当时太年青，还不懂得爱她。”

oneline

Chapter 9


- the little prince leaves his planet   
I believe that for his escape he took advantage of the migration of a flock of wild birds. On the morning of his departure he put his planet in perfect order. He carefully cleaned out his active volcanoes. He possessed two active volcanoes; and they were very convenient for heating his breakfast in the morning. He also had one volcano that was extinct. But, as he said, "One never knows!" So he cleaned out the extinct volcano, too. If they are well cleaned out, volcanoes burn slowly and steadily, without any eruptions. Volcanic eruptions are like fires in a chimney.
On our earth we are obviously much too small to clean out our volcanoes. That is why they bring no end of trouble upon us.
The little prince also pulled up, with a certain sense of dejection, the last little shoots of the baobabs. He believed that he would never want to return. But on this last morning all these familiar tasks seemed very precious to him. And when he watered the flower for the last time, and prepared to place her under the shelter of her glass globe, he realised that he was very close to tears.
"Goodbye," he said to the flower.
But she made no answer.
"Goodbye," he said again.
The flower coughed. But it was not because she had a cold.
"I have been silly," she said to him, at last. "I ask your forgiveness. Try to be happy..."
He was surprised by this absence of reproaches. He stood there all bewildered, the glass globe held arrested in mid-air. He did not understand this quiet sweetness.
"Of course I love you," the flower said to him. "It is my fault that you have not known it all the while. That is of no importance. But you-- you have been just as foolish as I. Try to be happy... let the glass globe be. I don't want it any more."
"But the wind--"
"My cold is not so bad as all that... the cool night air will do me good. I am a flower."
"But the animals--"
"Well, I must endure the presence of two or three caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies. It seems that they are very beautiful. And if not the butterflies-- and the caterpillars-- who will call upon me? You will be far away... as for the large animals-- I am not at all afraid of any of them. I have my claws."
And, na飗ely, she showed her four thorns. Then she added:
"Don't linger like this. You have decided to go away. Now go!"
For she did not want him to see her crying. She was such a proud flower...

oneline

在附近的宇宙中，还有 325、326、327、328、329、330 等几颗小行星。他就开始访问这几颗星球，想在那里找点事干，并且学习学习。
    第一颗星球上住着一个国王。国王穿着用紫红色和白底黑花的毛皮做成的大礼服，坐在一个很简单却又十分威严的宝座上。
    当他看见小王子时，喊了起来：
    “啊，来了一个臣民。”
    小王子思量着：“他从来也没有见过我，怎么会认识我呢？”
    他哪里知道，在那些国王的眼里，世界是非常简单的：所有的人都是臣民。
    国王十分骄傲，因为他终于成了某个人的国王，他对小王子说道：“靠近些，好让我好好看看你。”
    小王子看看四周，想找个地方坐下来，可是整个星球被国王华丽的白底黑花皮袍占满了。他只好站在那里，但是因为疲倦了，他打起哈欠来。
    君王对他说：“在一个国王面前打哈欠是违反礼节的。我禁止你打哈欠。”
    小王子羞愧地说道：“我实在忍不住，我长途跋涉来到这里，还没有睡觉呢。”
    国王说：“那好吧，我命令你打哈欠。好些年来我没有看见过任何人打哈欠。对我来说，打哈欠倒是新奇的事。来吧，再打个哈欠！这是命令。”   
    “这倒叫我有点紧张…我打不出哈欠来了…”小王子红着脸说。
    “嗯！嗯！”国王回答道：“那么我…命令你忽而打哈欠，忽而…”
    他嘟嘟囔囔，显出有点恼怒。
    因为国王所要求的主要是保持他的威严受到尊敬。他不能容忍不听他的命令。他是一位绝对的君主。可是，他却很善良，他下的命令都是有理智的。
    他常常说：“如果我叫一位将军变成一只海鸟，而这位将军不服从我的命令，那么这就不是将军的过错，而是我的过错。”
    小王子腼腆地试探道：“我可以坐下吗？”                                                                           
    “我命令你坐下。”国王一边回答，一边庄重地把他那白底黑花皮袍大襟挪动了一下。
    可是小王子感到很奇怪。这么小的行星，国王他对什么进行统治呢？
    他对国王说：“陛下…请原谅，我想问您…”
    国王急忙抢着说道：“我命令你问我。”
    “陛下…你统治什么呢？”
    国王非常简单明了地说：“我统治一切。”
    “一切？”
    国王轻轻地用手指着他的行星和其他的行星，以及所有的星星。
    小王子说：“统治这一切？”
    “统治这一切。”
    原来他不仅是一个绝对的君主，而且是整个宇宙的君主。
    “那么，星星都服从您吗？”
    “那当然！”国王对他说，“它们立即就得服从。我是不允许无纪律的。”
    这样的权力使小王子惊叹不已。如果掌握了这样的权力，那么，他一天就不只是看到四十三次日落，而可以看到七十二次，甚至一百次，或是二百次日落，也不必要去挪动椅子了！由于他想起了他那被遗弃的小星球，心里有点难过，他大胆地向国王提出了一个请求：
    “我想看日落，请求您…命令太阳落山吧…”
    国王说道：“如果我命令一个将军象一只蝴蝶那样从这朵花飞到那朵花，或者命令他写作一个悲剧剧本或者变一只海鸟，而如果这位将军接到命令不执行的话，那么，是他不对还是我不对呢？”
    “那当然是您的不对。”小王子肯定地回答。
    “一点也不错，”国王接着说，“向每个人提出的要求应该是他们所能做到的。权威首先应该建立在理性的基础上。如果命令你的老百姓去投海，他们非起来革命不可。我的命令是合理的，所以我有权要别人服从。”
    “那么我提出的日落呢？”小王子一旦提出一个问题，他是不会忘记这个问题的。
    “日落么，你会看到的。我一定要太阳落山，不过按照我的统治科学，我得等到条件成熟的时候。”
    小王子问道：“这要等到什么时候呢？”
    国王在回答之前，首先翻阅了一本厚厚的日历，嘴里慢慢说道：“嗯！嗯！日落大约…大约…在今晚七时四十分的时候！你将看到我的命令一定会被服从的。”
    小王子又打起哈欠来了。他遗憾没有看到日落。他有点厌烦了，他对国王说：“我没有必要再呆在这儿了。我要走了。”
    这位因为刚刚有了一个臣民而十分骄傲自得的国王说道：
    “别走，别走。我任命你当大臣。”
    “什么大臣”
    “嗯……司法大臣！”
    “可是，这儿没有一个要审判的人。”
    “很难说呀，”国王说道。“我很老了，我这地方又小，没有放銮驾的地方，另外，一走路我就累。因此我还没有巡视过我的王国呢！”
    “噢！可是我已经看过了。”小王子说道，并探身朝星球的那一侧看了看。那边也没有一个人…
    “那么你就审判你自己呀！”国王回答他说。“这可是最难的了。审判自己比审判别人要难得多啊！你要是能审判好自己，你就是一个真正有才智的人。”
    “我吗，随便在什么地方我都可以审度自己。我没有必要留在这里。”
    国王又说：“嗯…嗯…我想，在我的星球上有一只老耗子。夜里，我听见它的声音。你可以审判它，不时地判处它死刑。因此它的生命取决于你的判决。可是，你要有节制地使用这只耗子，每次判刑后都要赦免它，因为只有这一只耗子。”
    “可是我不愿判死刑，我想我还是应该走。”小王子回答道。
    “不行。”国王说。
    但是小王子，准备完毕之后，不想使老君主难过，说道：如果国王陛下想要不折不扣地得到服从，你可以给我下一个合理的命令。比如说，你可以命令我，一分钟之内必须离开。我认为这个条件是成熟的…”
    国王什么也没有回答。起初，小王子有些犹疑不决，随后叹了口气，就离开了…
    “我派你当我的大使。”国王匆忙地喊道。
    国王显出非常有权威的样子。
    小王子在旅途中自言自语地说：“这些大人真奇怪。”

oneline

Chapter 11



- the little prince visits the conceited man  
The second planet was inhabited by a conceited man.
"Ah! Ah! I am about to receive a visit from an admirer!" he exclaimed from afar, when he first saw the little prince coming.
For, to conceited men, all other men are admirers.
"Good morning," said the little prince. "That is a queer hat you are wearing."
"It is a hat for salutes," the conceited man replied. "It is to raise in salute when people acclaim me. Unfortunately, nobody at all ever passes this way."
"Yes?" said the little prince, who did not understand what the conceited man was talking about.
"Clap your hands, one against the other," the conceited man now directed him.
The little prince clapped his hands. The conceited man raised his hat in a modest salute.
"This is more entertaining than the visit to the king," the little prince said to himself. And he began again to clap his hands, one against the other. The conceited man against raised his hat in salute.
After five minutes of this exercise the little prince grew tired of the game's monotony.
"And what should one do to make the hat come down?" he asked.
But the conceited man did not hear him. Conceited people never hear anything but praise.
"Do you really admire me very much?" he demanded of the little prince.
"What does that mean-- 'admire'?"
"To admire mean that you regard me as the handsomest, the best-dressed, the richest, and the most intelligent man on this planet."
"But you are the only man on your planet!"
"Do me this kindness. Admire me just the same."
"I admire you," said the little prince, shrugging his shoulders slightly, "but what is there in that to interest you so much?"
And the little prince went away.
"The grown-ups are certainly very odd," he said to himself, as he continued on his journey.

oneline

    第二个行星上住着一个爱虚荣的人。
    “喔唷！一个崇拜我的人来拜访了！”这个爱虚荣的人一见到小王子，老远就叫喊起来。
    在那些爱虚荣的人眼里，别人都成了他们的崇拜者。
    “你好！”小王子说道。“你的帽子很奇怪。”
    “这是为了向人致意用的。”爱虚荣的人回答道，“当人们向我欢呼的时候，我就用帽子向他们致意。可惜，没有一个人经过这里。”
    小王子不解其意。说道：“啊？是吗？”
    爱虚荣的人向小王子建议道：“你用一只手去拍另一只手。”
    小王子就拍起巴掌来。这位爱虚荣者就谦逊地举起帽子向小王子致意。
    小王子心想：“这比访问那位国王有趣。”于是他又拍起巴掌来。爱虚荣者又举起帽子来向他致意。
    小王子这样做了五分钟，之后对这种单调的把戏有点厌倦了，说道：
    “要想叫你的帽子掉下来，该怎么做呢？”
    可这回爱虚荣者听不进他的话，因为凡是爱虚荣的人只听得进赞美的话。
    他问小王子道：“你真的钦佩我吗？”
    “钦佩是什么意思？”
    “钦佩么，就是承认我是星球上最美的人，服饰最好的人，最富有的人，最聪明的人。”
    “可您是您的星球上唯一的人呀！”
    “让我高兴吧，请你还是来钦佩我吧！”
    小王子轻轻地耸了耸肩膀，说道：“我钦佩你，可是，这有什么能使你这样感兴趣的？”
    于是小王子就走开了。
    小王子在路上自言自语地说了一句：“这些大人，肯定是十分古怪的。”

oneline

Chapter 12


- the little prince visits the tippler  
The next planet was inhabited by a tippler. This was a very short visit, but it plunged the little prince into deep dejection.
"What are you doing there?" he said to the tippler, whom he found settled down in silence before a collection of empty bottles and also a collection of full bottles.
"I am drinking," replied the tippler, with a lugubrious air.
"Why are you drinking?" demanded the little prince.
"So that I may forget," replied the tippler.
"Forget what?" inquired the little prince, who already was sorry for him.
"Forget that I am ashamed," the tippler confessed, hanging his head.
"Ashamed of what?" insisted the little prince, who wanted to help him.
"Ashamed of drinking!" The tippler brought his speech to an end, and shut himself up in an impregnable silence.
And the little prince went away, puzzled.
"The grown-ups are certainly very, very odd," he said to himself, as he continued on his journey.