英文小說連載《小王子》No.9

　　I believe that for his escape he took advantage of the migration of a flock of wild birds. On the morning of his departure he put his planet in perfect order. He carefully cleaned out his active volcanoes. He possessed two active volcanoes； and they were very convenient for heating his breakfast in the morning. He also had one volcano that was extinct. But， as he said， "One never knows！" So he cleaned out the extinct volcano， too. If they are well cleaned out， volcanoes burn slowly and steadily， without any eruptions. Volcanic eruptions are like fires in a chimney.

　　On our earth we are obviously much too small to clean out our volcanoes. That is why they bring no end of trouble upon us.

　　The little prince also pulled up， with a certain sense of dejection， the last little shoots of the baobabs. He believed that he would never want to return. But on this last morning all these familiar tasks seemed very precious to him. And when he watered the flower for the last time， and prepared to place her under the shelter of her glass globe， he realised that he was very close to tears.

　　"Goodbye，" he said to the flower.

　　But she made no answer.

　　"Goodbye，" he said again.

　　The flower coughed. But it was not because she had a cold.

　　"I have been silly，" she said to him， at last. "I ask your forgiveness. Try to be happy..."

　　He was surprised by this absence of reproaches. He stood there all bewildered， the glass globe held arrested in mid-air. He did not understand this quiet sweetness.

　　"Of course I love you，" the flower said to him. "It is my fault that you have not known it all the while. That is of no importance. But you-- you have been just as foolish as I. Try to be happy... let the glass globe be. I don't want it any more."

　　"But the wind--"

　　"My cold is not so bad as all that... the cool night air will do me good. I am a flower."

　　"But the animals--"

　　"Well， I must endure the presence of two or three caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies. It seems that they are very beautiful. And if not the butterflies-- and the caterpillars-- who will call upon me？ You will be far away... as for the large animals-- I am not at all afraid of any of them. I have my claws."

　　And， na飗ely， she showed her four thorns. Then she added：

　　"Don't linger like this. You have decided to go away. Now go！"

　　For she did not want him to see her crying. She was such a proud flower...

　　我想小王子大概是利用一群候鳥遷徙的機會跑出來的。在他出發的那天早上，他把他的星球收拾得整整齊齊，把它上頭的活火山打掃得干干凈凈。——他有兩個活火山，早上熱早點很方便。他還有一座死火山，他也把它打掃干凈。他想，說不定它還會活動呢！打掃干凈了，它們就可以慢慢地有規律地燃燒，而不會突然爆發。火山爆發就象煙囪里的火焰一樣。當然，在我們地球上我們人太小，不能打掃火山，所以火山給我們帶來很多很多麻煩。

　　小王子還把剩下的最后幾顆猴面包樹苗全拔了。他有點憂傷。他以為他再也不會回來了。這天，這些家常活使他感到特別親切。當他最后一次澆花時，準備把她好好珍藏起來。他發覺自己要哭出來。

　　“再見了。”他對花兒說道。

　　可是花兒沒有回答他。

　　“再見了。”他又說了一遍。

　　花兒咳嗽了一陣。但并不是由于感冒。

　　她終于對他說道：“我方才真蠢。請你原諒我。希望你能幸福。”

　　花兒對他毫不抱怨，他感到很驚訝。他舉著罩子，不知所措地佇立在那里。他不明白她為什么會這樣溫柔恬靜。

　　“的確，我愛你。”花兒對他說道：“但由于我的過錯，你一點也沒有理會。這絲毫不重要。不過，你也和我一樣的蠢。希望你今后能幸福。把罩子放在一邊吧，我用不著它了。”

　　“要是風來了怎么辦？”

　　“我的感冒并不那么重…夜晚的涼風對我倒有好處。我是一朵花。”

　　“要是有蟲子野獸呢？…”

　　“我要是想認識蝴蝶，經不起兩三只尺蠖是不行的。據說這是很美的。不然還有誰來看我呢？你就要到遠處去了。至于說大動物，我并不怕，我有爪子。”

　　于是，她天真地顯露出她那四根刺，隨后又說道：

　　“別這么磨蹭了。真煩人！你既然決定離開這兒，那么，快走吧！”

　　她是怕小王子看見她在哭。她是一朵非常驕傲的花…