Chapter4
-thenarratorspeculatesastowhichasteroidfromwhichthelittleprincecameIhadthuslearnedasecondfactofgreatimportance:thiswasthattheplanetthelittleprincecamefromwasscarcelyanylargerthanahouse!Butthatdidnotreallysurprisememuch.Iknewverywellthatinadditiontothegreatplanets--suchastheEarth,Jupiter,Mars,Venus--towhichwehavegivennames,therearealsohundredsofothers,someofwhicharesosmallthatonehasahardtimeseeingthemthroughthetelescope.Whenanastronomerdiscoversoneofthesehedoesnotgiveitaname,butonlyanumber.Hemightcallit,forexample,"Asteroid."IhaveseriousreasontobelievethattheplanetfromwhichthelittleprincecameistheasteroidknownasB-.Thisasteroidhasonlyoncebeenseenthroughthetelescope.ThatwasbyaTurkishastronomer,in.
Onmakinghisdiscovery,theastronomerhadpresentedittotheInternationalAstronomicalCongress,inagreatdemonstration.ButhewasinTurkishcostume,andsonobodywouldbelievewhathesaid.Grown-upsarelikethat...Fortunately,however,forthereputationofAsteroidB-,aTurkishdictatormadealawthathissubjects,underpainofdeath,shouldchangetoEuropeancostume.Sointheastronomergavehisdemonstrationalloveragain,dressedwithimpressivestyleandelegance.Andthistimeeverybodyacceptedhisreport.IfIhavetoldyouthesedetailsabouttheasteroid,andmadeanoteofitsnumberforyou,itisonaccountofthegrown-upsandtheirways.Whenyoutellthemthatyouhavemadeanewfriend,theyneveraskyouanyquestionsaboutessentialmatters.Theyneversaytoyou,"Whatdoeshisvoicesoundlike?Whatgamesdoeshelovebest?Doeshecollectbutterflies?"Instead,theydemand:"Howoldishe?Howmanybrothershashe?Howmuchdoesheweigh?Howmuchmoneydoeshisfathermake?"Onlyfromthesefiguresdotheythinktheyhavelearnedanythingabouthim.
Ifyouweretosaytothegrown-ups:"Isawabeautifulhousemadeofrosybrick,withgeraniumsinthewindowsanddovesontheroof,"theywouldnotbeabletogetanyideaofthathouseatall.Youwouldhavetosaytothem:"Isawahousethatcost$20,."Thentheywouldexclaim:"Oh,whataprettyhousethatis!"Justso,youmightsaytothem:"Theproofthatthelittleprinceexistedisthathewascharming,thathelaughed,andthathewaslookingforasheep.Ifanybodywantsasheep,thatisaproofthatheexists."Andwhatgoodwoulditdototellthemthat?Theywouldshrugtheirshoulders,andtreatyoulikeachild.Butifyousaidtothem:"TheplanethecamefromisAsteroidB-,"thentheywouldbeconvinced,andleaveyouinpeacefromtheirquestions.Theyarelikethat.Onemustnotholditagainstthem.Childrenshouldalwaysshowgreatforbearancetowardgrown-uppeople.Butcertainly,foruswhounderstandlife,figuresareamatterofindifference.Ishouldhavelikedtobeginthisstoryinthefashionofthefairy-tales.Ishouldhaveliketosay:"Onceuponatimetherewasalittleprincewholivedonaplanetthatwasscarcelyanybiggerthanhimself,andwhohadneedofasheep..."
Tothosewhounderstandlife,thatwouldhavegivenamuchgreaterairoftruthtomystory.ForIdonotwantanyonetoreadmybookcarelessly.Ihavesufferedtoomuchgriefinsettingdownthesememories.Sixyearshavealreadypassedsincemyfriendwentawayfromme,withhissheep.IfItrytodescribehimhere,itistomakesurethatIshallnotforgethim.Toforgetafriendissad.Noteveryonehashadafriend.AndifIforgethim,Imaybe
转载请注明：http://www.budanx.com/xwzyl/5748.html
