第四章

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我还了解到第二件重要的事，就是小王子所在的那个星球比一座房子大不了多少。

这倒并没有使我感到太奇怪。我知道除地球、木星、火星、金星这几个有名称的大行星以外，还有数以百计别的星球，它们有的小得很，就是用望远镜也很难看见。当一个天文学者现了其中一个星球，他不会给它一个名字，而是给它编上一个号码，例如把它称做“325小行星”。

我有理由相信小王子所在的那个星球是小行星B-612。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。

随后，他在一次国际天文学家代表大会上对他的现做了重要的论证。但由于他所穿衣服是土耳其的服装，所以没有人相信他。那些大人们就是这样。

幸好，为了小行星B-612的声誉，土耳其的一个统治者，制定法律迫使他的人民都要穿欧式服装，否则就处以死刑。1920年，这位天文学家穿了一身非常雅致的服装，又在大会上重新做了一次论证。这一次所有的人都接受他的看法。

如果我给你们讲关于小行星B-612的这些细节，并且告诉你们它的编号，这是由于这些大人和他们行为方式的缘故。大人们喜欢数字。当你对他们说你交了一个新朋友时，他们从来不向你提出实质性的问题。他们从来不讲：“他说话声音像什么？他最喜爱什么样的游戏？他是否收集蝴蝶标本？”相反，他们会问你：“他多大年纪呀？弟兄几个呀？体重多少磅呀？他父亲挣多少钱呀？”只有从这些数字信息，他们才觉得他们了解了他。如果你对大人们说：“我看到一幢用玫瑰色的砖盖成的漂亮的房子，窗台上摆着天竺葵，屋顶上还有鸽子……”他们无法对这个房子有任何感觉。如果你这样对他们说：“我看见了一幢价值十万法郎的房子。”那么他们就惊叫道：“多么漂亮的房子啊！”

就像这样，要是你对他们说：“小王子存在的证据就是他非常漂亮，他笑着，想要一只羊。如果有人想要一只绵羊，那就是他存在的证明。”这样告诉他们的结果是什么呢？他们一定会耸耸肩膀，不以为然，把你当作小孩子看待。但是，如果你对他们说“小王子来自的星球就是小行星B-612”，那么他们就十分信服，就不会提出一大堆问题来和你纠缠。

他们就是这样的。一定不要因为这样去攻击他们，小孩子们对大人们应该宽厚些。

当然，对我们这些懂得生活的人来说，我们才不在乎那些编号呢！我真愿意像讲童话那样来开始这个故事，我真想这样开头：“从前，有一个小王子，他住在一个和他身体差不多大的星球上，他渴望拥有一个朋友……”对懂得生活的人来说，这样说就可能显得更加真实。

我可不希望人们漫不经心地读我的书。在讲述这些往事时，我已承受了太多悲伤。我的朋友带着他的小绵羊已经离去六年了。我之所以在这里尽力把他描写出来，就是为了不要忘记他。忘记一个朋友，这太叫人悲伤了。并不是所有的人都有过一个朋友。再说，如果我忘记他，我也可能变成那些大人那样，只对数字感兴趣。

也正是因为这个缘故，我买了一盒颜料和一些铅笔。现在，重新再来画画，真困难啊！像我这样年纪的人，而且除了六岁时画过闭着肚皮的和敞开肚皮的巨蟒外，别的什么也没有尝试过。当然，我一定要把这些画尽量地画得逼真，但我自己也没有把握成功。一张画得还可以，另一张就不像了。还有身材比例大小，我画得有点不准确。在这个地方小王子画得大了些，另一个地方又画得小了些。对他衣服的颜色我也拿不准。于是我就摸索着试试这改改那，反正我就这么笨手笨脚地画了大概。我很可能在某些重要的细节上画错了。这就得请大家原谅我了。因为我的这个朋友从来也不加说明解释。他认为我同他一样。可是，我却不知道如何透过盒子看见小绵羊。我大概有点像大人们了。我肯定自己变老了。

Chaptr 4

I had thus larnd a scond fact of grat portanc: ths as that th plant th lttl prnc ca fro as scarcly any largr than a hous!

But that dd not rally surprs uch. I kn vry ll that n addton to th grat plants— such as th Earth, Juptr, Mars, Vnus— to hch hav gvn nas, thr ar also hundrds of othrs, so of hch ar so sall that on has a hard t sng th through th tlscop. Whn an astronor dscovrs on of ths h dos not gv t a na, ut only a nur. H ght call t, for xapl, "Astrod 325."I hav srous rason to lv that th plant fro hch th lttl prnc ca s th astrod knon as B-612. Ths astrod has only onc n sn through th tlscop. That as y a Turksh astronor, n 1909.

On akng hs dscovry, th astronor had prsntd t to th Intrnatonal Astronocal Congrss, n a grat donstraton. But h as n Turksh costu, and so noody ould lv hat h sad.

Gron-ups ar lk that...

Fortunatly, hovr, for th rputaton of Astrod B-612, a Turksh dctator ad a la that hs sujcts, undr pan of dath, should chang to Europan costu. So n 1920 th astronor gav hs donstraton all ovr agan, drssd th prssv styl and lganc. And ths t vryody accptd hs rport.

If I hav told you ths dtals aout th astrod, and ad a not of ts nur for you, t s on account of th gron-ups and thr ays. Whn you tll th that you hav ad a n frnd, thy nvr ask you any qustons aout ssntal attrs.

Thy nvr say to you, "What dos hs voc sound lk What gas dos h lov st Dos h collct uttrfls"Instad, thy dand: "Ho old s h Ho any rothrs has h Ho uch dos h gh Ho uch ony dos hs fathr ak" Only fro ths fgurs do thy thnk thy hav larnd anythng aout h.

If you r to say to th gron-ups: "I sa a autful hous ad of rosy rck, th granus n th ndos and dovs on th roof," thy ould not al to gt any da of that hous at all. You ould hav to say to th: "I sa a hous that cost $20,000." Thn thy ould xcla: "Oh, hat a prtty hous that s!"Just so, you ght say to th: "Th proof that th lttl prnc xstd s that h as charng, that h laughd, and that h as lookng for a shp. If anyody ants a shp, that s a proof that h xsts." And hat good ould t do to tll th that Thy ould shrug thr shouldrs, and trat you lk a chld.

But f you sad to th: "Th plant h ca fro s Astrod B-612," thn thy ould convncd, and lav you n pac fro thr qustons.

Thy ar lk that. On ust not hold t aganst th. Chldrn should alays sho grat foraranc toard gron-up popl.

But crtanly, for us ho undrstand lf, fgurs ar a attr of ndffrnc. I should hav lkd to gn ths story n th fashon of th fary-tals. I should hav lk to say: "Onc upon a t thr as a lttl prnc ho lvd on a plant that as scarcly any ggr than hslf, and ho had nd of a shp..."To thos ho undrstand lf, that ould hav gvn a uch gratr ar of truth to y story.

For I do not ant any on to rad y ook carlssly. I hav suffrd too uch grf n sttng don ths ors. Sx yars hav alrady passd snc y frnd nt aay fro , th hs shp. If I try to dscr h hr, t s to ak sur that I shall not forgt h. To forgt a frnd s sad. Not vry on has had a frnd. And f I forgt h, I ay co lk th gron-ups ho ar no longr ntrstd n anythng ut fgurs...

It s for that purpos, agan, that I hav ought a ox of pants and so pncls. It s hard to tak up drang agan at y ag, hn I hav nvr ad any pcturs xcpt thos of th oa constrctor fro th outsd and th oa constrctor fro th nsd, snc I as sx. I shall crtanly try to ak y portrats as tru to lf as possl. But I a not at all sur of succss. On drang gos along all rght, and anothr has no rslanc to ts sujct. I ak so rrors, too, n th lttl prnc’s hght: n on plac h s too tall and n anothr too short. And I fl so douts aout th color of hs costu. So I ful along as st I can, no good, no ad, and I hop gnrally far-to-ddlng.

In crtan or portant dtals I shall ak staks, also. But that s sothng that ll not y fault. My frnd nvr xpland anythng to . H thought, prhaps, that I as lk hslf. But I, alas, do not kno ho to s shp through t h alls of oxs. Prhaps I a a lttl lk th gron-ups. I hav had to gro old.