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我猜想，他是乘着野生候鸟迁徙的时际，逃离他的星球的。动身的那天早晨，他把自己的星球收拾得井井有条。他仔仔细细给他的活火山打扫了喷发口。他有两座活火山。这对他每天做早饭特别方便。他还有一座巳经熄灭的死火山。但是，正如他所说的："谁知道它还会不会再喷发呢！”他也给这死火山清扫了喷发口。只要这些喷发口是通畅的，火山就会慢慢地、有规律地燃烧，而不会出现大爆发。其实，火山爆发就像我们壁炉里的火焰那样。当然，在地球上，要去打扫喷发口是做不到的，因为我们自己个头太小。这就是火山何以给地球人带来那么多麻烦的原因。 小王子临行前还拔除了刚刚破土而出的猴面包树嫩芽。他做这件事时略带伤感情绪，因为他觉得自己再也不会回来了。不过，这天早晨，所有这些家务活，他做起来都备感亲切。然后，他给花儿浇了最后一次水， 又准备用罩子将她罩上，这时，他觉得自己真想痛哭一场。 “永别啦！”他对花儿说。 花儿咳嗽了，但并不是因为伤风感冒。"我真是愚蠢，"她终于对他承认错误，"请你原谅我，祝你今后幸福！” 小王子因为她没有进行责备而感到诧异。他十分尴脸地站在那里，手里还拿着罩子。他不理解，花儿为什么这么温情脉脉，娴淑恬静。 "说真话，我是爱你的，"花儿对他敞开心扉，"但由于我的过错，你一点也不明白我的心意。现在说这些已投有什么意义了。可你也和我一样不聪明，但愿你今后幸福快活……把这个罩子扔到一边去吧，我再也不需要它了。" "但是，刮起风来……” "我并不是那么容易感冒……夜晚的清凉空气对我也有好处，我毕竟是一朵花儿。" "但是，还有野兽呢…… " “要是我想认识蝴蝶，那么总得搭上两三条虫子。蝴蝶非常美丽，要不然，谁来看望我呀？你嘛，正要远走高飞了，至于那些大个头的野兽，我才不怕哩，我也有自己的爪子。" 说着，她亮出自己那四根刺，天真幼稚地炫耀一番。 然后说："你别拖拖拉拉了！这样真烦死人，你已经打定主意远走高飞，那就快走吧！” 她催他快动身，是因为不愿意让他看见自己哭泣。她是一朵个性强、脾气傲的花儿…… 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. "1 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—1 am not at all afraid of any of them. I have my claws." And, naively, 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... |
