chapter 7
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 native.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 anyone.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 warface between the sheep and the flowers not important? Is this not of more consequence that a 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.
第七章
第五天，还是要感谢那只绵羊，帮我揭开了小王子生活的秘密。当时他无缘无故突然向我发问，似乎这是他默默思索很久后想到的问题。他说：
“绵羊，如果它吃矮小的灌木的话，它也吃花朵吧？”
“绵羊看到什么吃什么。”
“即使花朵上有刺它也吃？”
“是啊，带刺的也吃。”
“那么，那些刺又有什么用呢？”
我可不知道。我当时正忙着把一颗卡在发动机里的螺丝拧下来。我十分担心，因为飞机的故障看起来相当严重。饮用水也所剩无几了，我不得不担心发生最坏的情况。
“那，刺...又有什么用呢？”
小王子只要提了问题，它肯定不会放这个问题过去。我正被那颗螺丝钉弄得心烦，就随口说了句：
“那些刺根本没用，它们纯粹是表现花儿的恶意。”
“噢”
沉默片刻后，小王子不满地冲我说：
“我不信你说的！花儿是很柔弱很天真的。他们尽力安慰自己，它们认为它们的刺是很糟糕的武器。。。”
我并没有回答，那一刻我在想：
“如果这颗螺丝钉还是不转动，我就一锤子敲掉它。”小王子又一次打断了我的思绪：
“你真的认为那些花。。。”
“噢，不，不，不，我什么也没认为。我是随口说的。你没看见吗？我正忙着呢，我有重要的事要做！”
小王子吃惊的看着我。
“重要的事！”
他看着我手里拿着锤子，手指被油污染黑了，正弯腰摆弄一台在他看来奇丑无比的机器。。。
“你说话就像那些大人一样！”
这些话让我有点惭愧。但他继续不留情面（无情）的说：
“你混淆了一切。。。你把一切搞混了。。。”
他真的很生气。他在微风中摇晃着金色的卷发。
“我知道有颗星球上住着个红脸先生。他从未闻过花朵。他从未爱过一个人。一辈子除了加法，他什么也没做过。就像你一样，他成天一遍又一遍的自言自语：‘我在忙很重要的事！’这让他日益骄傲自大。但是他不是人-他是个蘑菇！”
“是个什么？”
“是个蘑菇！”
这时小王子气得脸色发白。
花儿长刺，已经几百万年了。绵羊吃花也已经几百万年了。难道弄清楚花儿为什么要辛辛苦苦长出根本没用的刺不是件很重要的事吗？难道花儿和绵羊之间的战争不重要吗？难道这不比一个红脸先生的加法更重要吗？
“如果我本人认识一朵世间绝无仅有的花，别的星球上都没有，只长在我的星球上，而某个早晨一只小绵羊稀里糊涂的咬了一口就能把她毁灭掉。。。噢！你居然觉得这不重要！”
他气得涨红了脸，接着说：
“如果有人爱着一朵花，千万颗星星上独一无二的一朵，当他仰望星空时就会感到幸福。他会告诉自己，‘星空某处，有我的花在那里呢’但如果绵羊把那多花吃了，对他来说所有的星星就会瞬间熄灭了！你居然觉得这也不重要！”
他泣不成声，再也说不下去了。
夜幕已经降临。我早已把手里的工具扔到一边。我顾不得去想什么锤子、螺丝钉、口渴、死亡。在某个行星上，在某个星球上，在我的星球地球上，有个小王子需要我的安慰。我将他拥入怀中，轻轻摇晃着，对他说：
“你爱的那朵花不会有危险的。我会给你的绵羊画一个嘴套。。。我会给你的花儿画上一道栅栏围起来，我还会。。。”
我不知道该说什么。我觉得自己笨嘴笨舌，很尴尬。我不知道怎样才能进入他的世界，怎样才能赶上他的脚步
泪水的国度是多么神秘啊！