The Little Prince Chapter 1

The Little Prince

Chapter 1

Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent /mæɡˈnɪfɪsnt/ picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval /praɪˈmiːvl/ forest.

六岁的时候，我在一本描写原始森林的书中看到了一幅精彩的插画，书名叫《来自自然界的真实故事》。

primeval /praɪˈmiːvl/ adj. 原始的；初期的（等于 primaeval） 

It was a picture of a boa /ˈboʊə/ constrictor/kənˈstrɪktər/ in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy /ˈkɑːpi/ of the drawing.

图上画的是一条蟒蛇正在吞食一头野兽。这是那幅画的摹本：

boa /ˈboʊə/ n. [脊椎]蟒蛇；女用围巾；蟒形联合浮动汇率

constrictor/kənˈstrɪktər/ n. 大蟒；括约肌；使压缩之物

 

 

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

这本书中写道：“蟒蛇把猎物不加咀嚼地囫囵吞下，然后，它们就不能再动弹了；它们就在长长的六个月的睡眠中，消化这些食物。”

 

I pondered /ˈpɒndə(r)/ /ˈpɑːndər/ deeply, then, over the adventures /ədˈventʃər/  of the jungle /ˈdʒʌŋɡl/. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked like this:

之后，我就对丛林中的奇遇思考得很多。于是，我用彩色铅笔画出了我的第一幅图画。我的第一号作品。它是这样的：

prey /preɪ/

n. 猎物，捕获物；受害者，受骗者；<古>掠夺品
v. 捕食；欺凌，坑害（尤指弱者）；不断困扰，折磨

pondered 英 /ˈpɒndə(r)/  美 /ˈpɑːndər/ v. 仔细考虑，琢磨，沉思

 

I showed my masterpiece /ˈmɑːstəpiːs/ /ˈmæstərpiːs/ to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.

我把这幅杰作拿给大人们看，我问他们这幅画是不是叫他们害怕。

 

But they answered: "Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?"

他们回答我说：“可怕？一顶帽子有什么可怕的？”

 

My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant.

我画的根本不是帽子，是一条正在消化大象的蟒蛇。

 

But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew /druː/ the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly.

但是大人们看不懂，于是我又画了另外一张图：把巨蟒肚子里的情况画了出来，这样大人们就能看清楚了。

 

They always need to have things explained /ɪkˈspleɪn/. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:

大人总是需要解释。所以，我的第二号作品是这样的：

 

 

The grown-ups' response /rɪˈspɒns/ /rɪˈspɑːns/, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography /dʒiˈɒɡrəfi/ /dʒiˈɑːɡrəfi/ , history, arithmetic /əˈrɪθmətɪk/ and grammar /ˈɡræmər/.

大人们劝我把这些画着开着肚皮的，或者合着肚皮的蟒蛇的图画放在一边，还是把兴趣放在地理、历史、算术、语法上。

lay aside 搁置

That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter.

就这样，在六岁的那年，我放弃了画家这一美好的职业。

 

I had been disheartened /dɪsˈhɑːrtnd/ by the failure /ˈfeɪljər/ of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome /ˈtaɪərsəm/ for children /ˈtʃɪldrən/ to be always and forever explaining things to them.

第一号和第二号作品的不成功使我沮丧。这些大人们，靠他们自己什么也弄不懂，还老是让孩子们不断给他们解释，真是让孩子们感到很烦。

 disheartened /dɪsˈhɑːrtnd/ adj. 沮丧的；灰心的

So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes /ˈerpleɪn/.

所以后来，我选择了另外一个职业，我学会了开飞机。

 

I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona /ˌærɪˈzoʊnə/. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.

我几乎飞遍了世界各地。的确，地理学帮了我很大的忙。我一眼就能分辨出中国和（美国）亚里桑那。要是在夜里迷失了航向，这些知识很有用的。

 

In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence.

在我的生活中，我跟许多严肃认真的人有过很多的接触。

 

I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately /ˈɪntɪmətli/, close at hand. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them.

我在大人们中间生活过很长时间。我仔细地观察过他们，但这并没有改变我对他们的看法。

 

Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept.

当我遇到一个头脑看起来稍微清楚的大人时，我就拿出一直保存着的第一号作品来测试他。

 

I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say:

我想知道他是否真的能理解这幅画。可是，他或者她，给我的回答总是： 

 

"That is a hat."

“这是顶帽子。”

 

Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars.

然后，我就不和他讨论巨蟒、原始森林、或者星星之类的事。

 

I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics /ˈpɒlətɪks/ /ˈpɑːlətɪks/ , and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.

我只得迁就他/她的水平，和他们谈谈桥牌、高尔夫球、政治、领带这些东西。于是大人们就十分高兴能认识我这样一个通情达理的人。