|
小王子经过长途跋涉，穿过沙漠、越过岩石、通过雪地之后，终于找到一条阳关大道。其实，条条大路，都通向人群聚集之处。 他来到一个玫瑰花盛开的花园，他当即表示问候:"你们好！”朵朵玫瑰花都答礼说："你好！”小王子注视她们，发现她们全都跟他的那朵花儿十分相像。 小王子惊奇地问道："你们是谁呀？” "我们全是玫瑰。"花儿们答道。 "哦！……”小王子应了一声。 他感到自己真不幸。他的那朵花儿曾经告诉他说, 在天地宇宙之中，她是独一无二的一朵玫瑰花。可是，在眼前这个花园里，就有五千朵和她一模一样的花儿！ 王子心想："如果她看到眼前这片景象，肯定会羞窘得无地自容……她准会使劲地咳嗽个不停，为了逃避这种尴尬，她甚至会倒下装死。而我呢，我就不得不装装样子去照顾照顾她。否则，她为了要让我感到内疚，也许真的会自暴自弃去寻短见……” 接着，他又心想："我本来以为自己非常富足，拥有天下独一无二的一朵花儿，实际上，我有的只是普普通通的一朵玫瑰。我的全部财富只有这朵花儿再加上那三座高度刚到我膝盖的火山，而且其中一座还是永远熄灭了的死火山，这么一点点家当，不可能使我成为一个伟大的君王……”想到这里，他扑倒在地，大声痛哭起来。 But it happened that after walking for a long time through sand, and rocks, and snow, the little prince at last came upon a road. And all roads lead to the abodes of men. "Good morning," he said. He was standing before a garden, all abloom with roses. "Good morning," said the roses. The little prince gazed at them. They all looked like his flower. "Who are you?" he demanded, thunderstruck. "We are roses," the roses said. And he was overcome with sadness. His flower had told him that she was the only one of her kind in all the universe. And here were five thousand of them, all alike, in one single garden! "She would be very much annoyed," he said to himself, "if she should see that... she would cough most dreadfully, and she would pretend that she was dying, to avoid being laughed at. And I should be obliged to pretend that I was nursing her back to life—for if I did not do that, to humble myself also, she would really allow herself to die..." Then he went on with his reflections: "I thought that I was rich, with a flower that was unique in all the world; and all I had was a common rose. A common rose, and three volcanoes that come up to my knees—and one of them perhaps extinct forever... that doesn't make me a very great prince..." And he lay down in the grass and cried. |
