小王子 第56期:周年纪念

 I don't know how to draw anything except boa constrictors from the outside and boa constrictors from the inside.

我过去只会画开着肚皮和闭着肚皮的巨蟒。

"Oh, that will be all right," he said, "children understand."

“啊！这就行了。”他说：“孩子们认得出来。”

So then I made a pencil sketch¹ of a muzzle². And as I gave it to him my heart was torn.

我就用铅笔勾画了一个嘴套。当我把它递给小王子时，我心里很难受：

"You have plans that I do not know about," I said.

“你的打算，我一点也不知道。”

But he did not answer me. He said to me, instead: "You know– my descent to the earth...Tomorrow will be its anniversary."

但是，他不回答我，他对我说：“你知道，我落在地球上…到明天就一周年了…”

Then, after a silence, he went on: "I came down very near here."

接着，沉默了一会儿，他又说道：“我就落在这附近…”

And he flushed.

此时，他的面颊绯红。

And once again, without understanding why, I had a queer sense of sorrow.

我不知为什么，又感到一阵莫名其妙的心酸。

One question, however, occurred to me:

这时，我产生了一个问题：

Then it was not by chance that on the morning when I first met you， a week ago you were strolling along like that, all alone,

一星期以前，我认识你的那天早上，你单独一个人在这旷无人烟的地方走着；

a thousand miles from any inhabited region?

这么说，这并不是偶然的了？

You were on the your back to the place where you landed?

你是要回到你降落的地方去是吗！

The little prince flushed again.

小王子的脸又红了。

And I added, with some hesitancy: "Perhaps it was because of the anniversary?"

我犹豫不定地又说了一句：“可能是因为周年纪念吧？”

The little prince flushed once more.

小王子脸又红了。

He never answered questions– but when one flushes does that not mean "Yes"?

他从来也不回答这些问题，但是，脸红，就等于说“是的”，是吧？

"Ah," I said to him, "I am a little frightened–"

“啊！”我对他说：“我有点怕…”

But he interrupted me. "Now you must work. You must return to your engine."

但他却回答我说：“你现在该工作了。你应该回到你的机器那里去。”

I will be waiting for you here. Come back tomorrow evening...

我在这里等你。你明天晚上再来…

But I was not reassured³. I remembered the fox.

但是，我放心不下。我想起了狐狸的话。

One runs the risk of weeping a little, if one lets himself be tamed...

如果被人驯服了，就可能会要哭的…

1 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

2 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

3 reassured   

adj.使消除疑虑的；使放心的v.再保证，恢复信心( reassure的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The captain's confidence during the storm reassured the passengers. 在风暴中船长的信念使旅客们恢复了信心。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The doctor reassured the old lady. 医生叫那位老妇人放心。 来自《简明英汉词典》