小王子 第4期:畫一頭羊

Remember, I had crashed in the desert a thousand miles from any inhabited region.

你們不要忘記，我當時處在遠離人煙千里之外的地方。

And yet my little man seemed neither to be straying uncertainly among the sands, nor to be fainting from fatigue or hunger or thirst or fear.

而這個小家伙給我的印象是，他既不象迷了路的樣子，也沒有半點疲乏、饑渴、懼怕的神情。

Nothing about him gave any suggestion of a child lost in the middle of the desert, a thousand miles from any human habitation.

他絲毫不象是一個迷失在曠無人煙的大沙漠中的孩子。

When at last I was able to speak, I said to him:

當我在驚訝之中終于又能說出話來的時候，對他說道：

But– what are you doing here?

唉，你在這兒干什么?

And in answer he repeated, very slowly, as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence:

可是他卻不慌不忙地好象有一件重要的事一般，對我重復地說道：

If you please– draw me a sheep.

請…給我畫一只羊

When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey.

當一種神秘的東西把你鎮(zhèn)住的時候，你是不敢不聽從它的支配的，

Absurd as it might seem to me, a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death,

在這曠無人煙的沙漠上，面臨死亡的危險的情況下，盡管這樣的舉動使我感到十分荒誕，

I took out of my pocket a sheet of paper and my fountain-pen.

我還是掏出了一張紙和一支鋼筆。

But then I remembered how my studies had been concentrated on geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar,

這時我卻又記起，我只學過地理、歷史、算術和語法，

and I told the little chap (a little crossly, too) that I did not know how to draw.

就有點不大高興地對小家伙說我不會畫畫。

He answered me:“That doesn’t matter. Draw me a sheep.”

他回答我說：“沒有關系，給我畫一只羊吧!”

But I had never drawn a sheep.

因為我從來沒有畫過羊，

So I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn so often.

我就給他重畫我所僅僅會畫的兩副畫中的

It was that of the boa constrictor from the outside.

那副閉著肚皮的巨蟒。

And I was astounded to hear the little fellow greet it with.

我聽了他的話，簡直目瞪口呆。

No, no, no! I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor.

不，不!我不要蟒蛇，它肚子里還有一頭象。

A boa constrictor is a very dangerous creature, and an elephant is very cumbersome.

他接著說：“巨蟒這東西太危險，大象又太占地方。”

Where I live, everything is very small. What I need is a sheep. Draw me a sheep.

我住的地方非常小，我需要一只羊。給我畫一只羊吧。

So then I made a drawing.

我就給他畫了。