Chapter_1

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​ Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called Ture Stories From Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.

有一次 我六岁 我看见一张华丽的图片 在书里，叫做《来自大自然的故事》，关于原始森林。这是一张图片 蟒蛇的 在行动 吃一个动物的。这是副本 这幅画的。

​ In the book it said: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion."

在书里 它说: "蟒蛇吞它们的 猎物 整个"，不嚼它，之后 它们不能移动，它们睡觉 直到六个月 它们需要消化。"

​ I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked like this:

我考虑 深深的，然后，完毕 丛林冒险，之后一些工作用彩色铅笔 我成功了 在做我的第一幅画。我的图号 第一。它看起来是这样的：

​ I showed the grown-ups my masterpiece, and I asked them if my drawing scared them.

​ They answered, "Why be scared of a hat?"

​ My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant, Then I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so the grown-pus could understand. They always need explanations. My drawing Number Two looked like this:

​ The grown-ups advised me to put away my drawings of boa constrictors, outside of inside, and apply myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar. That is why I abandoned, at the age of six, a magnificent career as an artist. I had been discouraged by the failure of my drawing Number One and of my drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is exhausting for children to have to provide explanations over and over again.

​ So then I had to choose another career, and I learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown almost everywhere in the world. And, as a matter of fact, geography has been a big help to me. I could tell China from Arizona at first glance, which is very useful if you get lost during the night.

​ So I have had, in the course of my life, lots of encounters with lots of serious people. I have spent lots of time with grown-ups. I have seen them at close range ... which hasn't much improved my opinion of them.

​ Whenever I encountered a grown-ups who seemed to me at all enlightened, I would experiment on him with my drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I wanted to see if he really understood anything. But he would always answer, "That's a hat." Then I wouldn't talk about boa constrctors or jungles or stars. I would put myself on his level and talk about bridge and golf and politics and neckties. And my grown-up was glad to know such a reasonable person.

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有一次我六岁的时候 我在书里看见一张华丽的图片，叫做《来自大自然的故事》，关于原始森林。这是一张蟒蛇吃一个动物的图片，这是这幅画的副本。

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