小王子 第3期:无烟的沙漠

 　　So I lived my life alone, without anyone that I could really talk to, until I hadan accident with my plane in the Desert of Sahara, six years ago.

　　我就这样孤独地生活着，没有一个能真正谈得来的人，一直到六年前在撒哈拉沙漠上发生了那次故障。

　　Something was broken in my engine.

　　我的发动机里有个东西损坏了。

　　And as I had with me neither a mechanic nor any passengers, I set myself to attempt the difficult repairs all alone.

　　当时由于我既没有带机械师也没有带旅客，我就试图独自完成这个困难的维修工作。

　　It was a question of life or death for me: I had scarcely enough drinking water to last a week.

　　这对我来说是个生与死的问题。我随身带的水只够饮用一星期。

　　The first night, then, I went to sleep on the sand, a thousand miles from any human habitation.

　　第一天晚上我就睡在这远离人间烟火的大沙漠上。

　　I was more isolated¹ than a shipwrecked sailor on a raft in the middle of the ocean.

　　我比大海中伏在小木排上的遇难者还要孤独得多。

　　Thus you can imagine my amazement², at sunrise,when I was awakened³ by an odd little voice.

　　而在第二天拂晓，当一个奇怪的小声音叫醒我的时候，你们可以想见我当时是多么吃惊。

　　It said:"If you please– draw me a sheep!”

　　这小小的声音说道：“请你给我画一只羊，好吗？”

　　What!

　　啊！

　　Draw me a sheep!

　　给我画一只羊…

　　I jumped to my feet, completely thunderstruck. I blinked my eyes hard.

　　我象是受到惊雷轰击一般，一下子就站立起来。

　　I looked carefully all around me.

　　我使劲地揉了揉眼睛，仔细地看了看。

　　And I saw a most extraordinary small person,who stood there examining me with great seriousness.

　　我看见一个十分奇怪的小家伙严肃地朝我凝眸望着。

　　Here you may see the best portrait that, later, I was able to make of him.

　　这是后来我给他画出来的最好的一副画像。

　　But my drawing is certainly very much less charming than its model.

　　可是，我的画当然要比他本人的模样逊色得多。

　　That, however, is not my fault.

　　这不是我的过错。

　　The grown-ups discouraged me in my painter’s career when I was six years old, and I never learned to draw anything,

　　六岁时，大人们使我对我的画家生涯失去了勇气，

　　except boas from the outside and boas from the inside.

　　除了画过开着肚皮和闭着肚皮的蟒蛇，后来再没有学过画。

　　Now I stared at this sudden apparition⁴ with my eyes fairly starting out of my head in astonishment⁵.

　　我惊奇地睁大着眼睛看着这突然出现的小家伙。

1 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

2 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

3 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 apparition   

n.幽灵，神奇的现象

参考例句：

• He saw the apparition of his dead wife.他看见了他亡妻的幽灵。
• But the terror of this new apparition brought me to a stand.这新出现的幽灵吓得我站在那里一动也不敢动。

5 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。