小王子 第44期:独一无二的花

 But it happened that after walking for a long time through sand, and rocks,and snow,

在沙漠、岩石、雪地上行走了很长的时间以后，

the little prince at last came upon a road.

小王子终于发现了一条大路。

And all roads lead to theabodes of men.

所有的大路都是通往人住的地方的。

"Good morning," he said.

“你们好。”小王子说。

He was standing¹ before a garden, all a-bloom with roses.

这是一个玫瑰盛开的花园。

"Good morning," said the roses.

“你好。”玫瑰花说道。

The little prince gazed at them. They all looked like his flower.

小王子瞅着这些花，它们全都和他的那朵花一样。

"Who are you?" he demanded, thunderstruck.

“你们是什么花？”小王子惊奇地问。

"We are roses," the roses said.

“我们是玫瑰花。”花儿们说道。

And he was overcome with sadness.

他感到自己非常不幸。

His flower had told him that she wasthe only one of her kind in all the universe.

他的那朵花曾对他说她是整个宇宙中独一无二的一种花。

And here were five thousand of them, all alike, in one single garden!

可是，仅在这一座花园里就有五千朵完全一样的这种花朵！

"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 wasdying, to avoid being laughed at.

小王子自言自语地说,如果她看到这些，她是一定会很恼火…她会咳嗽得更厉害，并且为避免让人耻笑，她会佯装死去。

And I should be obliged to pretend that I was nursing her back to life,

那么，我还得装着去护理她，

for if I did not do that, to humble² myself also, she would really allow herself to die...

为如果不这样的话，她为了使我难堪，她可能会真的死去…

Then he went on with his refections, thought that I was rich, with a flower that was unique in all the world; and all I had was a common rose.

接着他又说道,我还以为我有一朵独一无二的花呢，我有的仅是一朵普通的花。

A common rose, and three volcanoes that come up to my knees– and one of them perhaps extinct forever.

这朵花，再加上三座只有我膝盖那么高的火山，而且其中一座还可能是永远熄灭了的，

that doesn't make me a very great prince...

这一切不会使我成为一个了不起的王子…

And he lay down in the grass and cried.

于是，他躺在草丛中哭泣起来。

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。