小王子 第8期:B612小行星

 　　I had thus learned a second fact of great importance:

　　我还了解到另一件重要的事，

　　this was that the planet the little prince came from was scarcely any larger than a house!

　　就是他老家所在的那个星球比一座房子大不了多少。

　　But that did not really surprise me much.

　　这倒并没有使我感到太奇怪。

　　I knew very well that in addition to the great planets–such as the Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus–to which we have given names,

　　我知道除地球、木星、火星、金星这几个有名称的大行星以外，

　　there are also hundreds of others, some of which are so small that,one has a hard time seeing them through the telescope.

　　还有成百个别的星球，它们有的小得很，就是用望远镜也很难看见。

　　When an astronomer¹ discovers one of these he does not give it a name, but only a number.

　　当一个天文学者发现了其中一个星星，他就给它编上一个号码。

　　He might call it, for example, "Asteroid² 325."

　　例如把它称作“325小行星”。

　　I have serious reason to believe that the planet from which the little prince came is the asteroid known as B-612.

　　我有重要的根据认为小王子所来自的那个星球是小行星B612。

　　This asteroid has only once been seen through the telescope. That was by a Turkish astronomer, in 1909.

　　这颗小行星仅仅在1909年被一个土耳其天文学家用望远镜看见过一次。

　　On making his discovery, the astronomer had presented it to the International Astronomical³ Congress, in a great demonstration⁴.

　　当时他曾经在一次国际天文学家代表大会上对他的发现作了重要的论证。

　　But he was in Turkish costume, and so nobody would believe what he said.

　　但由于他所穿衣服的缘故，那时没有人相信他。

　　小王子.jpg

　　Grown-ups are like that

　　那些大人们就是这样。

　　Fortunately, however, for the reputation of Asteroid B-612,

　　幸好，土耳其的一个独裁者，为了小行星B612的声誉，

　　a Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects, under pain of death, should change to European costume.

　　迫使他的人民都要穿欧式服装，否则就处以死刑。

　　So in 1920 the astronomer gave his demonstration all over again, dressed with impressive style and elegance⁵.

　　1920年，这位天文学家穿了一身非常漂亮的服装，重新作了一次论证。

　　And this time everybody accepted his report.

　　这一次所有的人都同意他的看法。

　　If I have told you these details about the asteroid, and made a note of its number for you, it is on account of the grown-ups and their ways.

　　我给你们讲关于小行星B612的这些细节，并且告诉你们它的编号，这是由于这些大人的缘故。

1 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

2 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

3 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

4 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

5 elegance   

n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙

参考例句：

• The furnishings in the room imparted an air of elegance.这个房间的家具带给这房间一种优雅的气氛。
• John has been known for his sartorial elegance.约翰因为衣着讲究而出名。