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Chapter 21 (Excerpt) It was then that the fox appeared. “Good morning,” said the fox. “Good morning,” the little prince responded politely, although when he turned around he saw nothing. “I am right here,” the voice said, “under the apple tree.” “Who are you?” asked the little prince, and added, “You are very pretty to look at.” “I am a fox,’ said the fox. “Come and play with me,” proposed the little prince. “I am so unhappy.” “I cannot play with you,” the fox said. “I am not tamed.” “Ah! Please excuse me,” said the little prince. But, after some thought, he added: “What does that mean—‘tame’?” “You do not live here,” said the fox. “What is it that you are looking for?” “I am looking for men,” said the little prince. “What does that mean—‘tame’?” “Men,” said the fox. “They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing. They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are you looking for chickens?” “No,” said the little prince. “I am looking for friends. What does that mean—‘tame’?” “It is an act too often neglected,” said the fox. “It means to establish ties .” “To establish ties?” “Just that,” said the fox. “To me, you are still nothing more than a little boy who is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I have no need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you, I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you will be unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all the world...” “I am beginning to understand,” said the little prince. “There is a flower... I think that she has tamed me...” “It is possible,” said the fox. “On the Earth one sees all sorts of things… ” “My life is very monotonous ,” the fox said. “I hunt chickens; men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And, in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, like music, out of my burrow . And then look: you see the grain-fields down yonder ? I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the colour of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat... ” The fox gazed at the little prince, for a long time. “Please—tame me!” he said. “I want to, very much,” the little prince replied. “But I have not much time. I have friends to discover, and a great many things to understand.” “One only understands the things that one tames,” said the fox. “Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend, tame me... ” “What must I do, to tame you?” asked the little prince. “You must be very patient,” replied the fox. “First you will sit down at a little distance from me—like that—in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me, every day... ” The next day the little prince came back. “It would have been better to come back at the same hour,” said the fox. “If, for example, you come at four o’clock in the afternoon, then at three o’clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances. At four o’clock, I shall already be worrying and jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am! But if you come at just any time, I shall never know at what hour my heart is to be ready to greet you... One must observe the proper rites... ” “What is a rite?” asked the little prince. “Those also are actions too often neglected,” said the fox. “They are what make one day different from other days, one hour from other hours. There is a rite, for example, among my hunters. Every Thursday they dance with the village girls. So Thursday is a wonderful day for me! I can take a walk as far as the vineyards. But if the hunters danced at just any time, every day would be like every other day, and I should never have any vacation at all.” “Go and look again at the roses. You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret.” The little prince went away, to look again at the roses. “You are not at all like my rose,” he said. “As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world… ” And he went back to meet the fox. “Goodbye,” he said. “Goodbye,” said the fox. “And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” “What is essential is invisible to the eye,” the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember… “Men have forgotten this truth,” said the fox. “But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose... ” “I am responsible for my rose,” the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember. |
這時來了一只狐貍。 “早上好，”狐貍說。 “早上好，”小王子彬彬有禮地回答。他轉過身，卻沒看到什么人。 “我在這兒呢，蘋果樹底下，”這聲音提醒他。 “你是誰？”小王子問道，“你長得真漂亮。” “我是一只狐貍，”狐貍回答道。 “和我一起玩吧，”小王子向狐貍建議，“我苦惱極了?！?/p> “我不能和你玩，”狐貍說，“我還沒有被你馴養呢。” “??！對不起，”小王子說道。但是他思索了一會兒，又說：“‘馴養’是什么意思？” “你不是本地人，”狐貍說道，“你來這兒找尋什么呢？” “我正在找人，”小王子答道，“‘馴養’是什么意思？” “人，”狐貍說道，“人有槍，他們會打獵。這可真討厭。他們養雞。這兩件事是他們唯一的愛好。你也尋找雞嗎？” “不，”小王子說道，“我是來找朋友的?！Z養’是什么意思呢？ “它是經常被人們遺忘的一種行為，”狐貍答道，“它的意思是‘建立聯系’。” “建立聯系？” “當然了，”狐貍說道，“對我來說，你與其他成千上萬個小男孩沒什么區別。我不需要你，你也不需要我。對你來說，我與其他成千上萬只狐貍毫無差別。但是，如果你馴服了我，我們就誰也離不開誰了。那時候，對我來說，在這個世界上你就是獨一無二的。而對你而言，我也是這個世界上獨一無二的……” “我有點明白了，”小王子說，“我有一朵花……我想，她已經馴服了我……” “這是可能的，”狐貍說，“在這個地球上，什么千奇百怪的事情都有可能發生……” “我的生活單調乏味，”狐貍說，“我捉雞，人捉我。所有的雞都是一模一樣的，所有的人也都是一模一樣的。因此，我感到有些厭煩了。但是如果你馴服了我，我的生活將會充滿陽光和歡樂。我將會分辨出一種與眾不同的腳步聲。聽到別的腳步聲，我會急急忙忙躲進地下洞穴。而唯獨你的腳步聲會像音樂一樣，喚我出洞。再說，你瞧瞧，你看到那邊的麥田了嗎？我從來不吃面包，小麥也對我毫無用處。麥田也不會使我產生任何聯想。這是多么可悲啊！但是，你有一頭金黃色的頭發。一旦你馴養我，想象一下那該是多美好的事?。耗墙瘘S色的小麥會讓我聯想起你來。于是，我也會喜歡聽穿過麥田的風聲……” 狐貍盯著小王子看了很久。“請你……請你馴養我吧！”狐貍最后說道。 “我很想馴養你，”小王子回答道，“但是我沒有那么多時間。我得去找朋友，還要去學習理解許多許多的事情?！?/p> “只有被人們馴服了的事物，才能被人們所理解，”狐貍說道，“人們再也沒有時間去認識新的事物了。他們總是到商店里買現成的東西。但是，世界上還沒有販賣友誼的商店，因此人們再也沒有朋友了。要是你想交一個朋友，就請馴養我吧……” “馴養你，那我應該怎么做呢？”小王子問道。 “你必須很耐心，”狐貍答道，“首先，你坐在草地上，離我有一些距離——就像這樣。我偷偷地用眼角觀察你，你什么也別說。言語是誤會的根源。但是，你每天都可以坐得離我更近一些……” 第二天，小王子又來了。 “你最好每天都在同一個時刻過來，”狐貍說道，“比如說你下午四點來，那我從三點開始就會感到快樂。離四點越近，我就會越來越快樂。四點一到，我就會坐立不安。我會讓你看到我究竟有多快樂！但是如果你來的時間不固定，我就不知道該什么時候開始準備迎接你……我們應該遵循正確的儀式……” “什么是儀式？”小王子問道。 “這也是經常被人遺忘的行為，”狐貍說，“所謂儀式，就是使某一天不同于其他日子，使某一時刻不同于其他時刻。比如說，捉我的那些獵人們就有一個儀式。每逢周四，他們都和村里的姑娘們跳舞。因此，周四成為了一個多么美妙的日子??！我可以外出散步，直到葡萄園邊上。如果獵人們隨便什么時候都跳舞，每天都如此，那我也就沒有休息的時候了。” 就這樣，小王子馴服了狐貍。然而，分別的時刻就要到了—— “你再去看看那些玫瑰花吧。你一定會明白，你的那朵花為什么是天下獨一無二的玫瑰了。然后再回到我的身邊向我告別，那時我將贈予你一個秘密作為離別禮物?！?/p> 于是小王子就跑去看那些玫瑰花。“你們一點也不像我的那朵玫瑰花，”他說道，“對我而言，你們什么都不是。沒有人馴養過你們，你們也沒有馴養過別人。你們就像我第一次見到狐貍一樣，它那時和其他成千上萬的狐貍沒什么區別。但是，現在它成為了我的朋友，現在它就是世界上獨一無二的狐貍了……” 說完，小王子回到了狐貍的身邊。 “再見，”他說道。 “再見，”狐貍回應道，“這就是我的秘密，它很簡單：只有心靈才能洞察一切，事物的本質是肉眼無法看到的?！?/p> “事物的本質是肉眼無法看到的，”小王子重復著這句話，要把它記在心間。 “人們已經忘記了這個真理，”狐貍說，“但是你千萬不要忘記：你要對你馴服過的一切永遠負責，你要對你的那朵玫瑰花負責……” “我要對我的那朵玫瑰花負責……”小王子重復著這句話，要把它記在心間。 （來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：Julie） |
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Vocabulary: 1. tie: （一般用復數）人、團體或國家之間的關系，聯系。 2. monotonous: 單調的，乏味的。 3. burrow: （兔子或狐貍等動物所掘的）洞穴。 4. yonder: 〈古〉那邊，在遠處。 5. observe: 遵守，奉行（宗教或習俗）。 |
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