"Men," said the little prince, "set out on their way in express trains, but they do not know what they are looking for. Then they rush about, and get excited, and turn round and round…"

“那些人们，他们往快车里拥挤，但是他们却不知道要寻找什么。于是，他们就忙忙碌碌，来回转圈子……”小王子说道。

And he added:

他接着又说：

"It is not worth the trouble…"

“这没有必要……”

The well that we had come to was not like the wells of the Sahara. The wells of the Sahara are mere holes dug in the sand. This one was like a well in a village. But there was no village here, and I thought I must be dreaming…

我们终于找到的这口井，不同于撒哈拉的那些井。撒哈拉的井只是沙漠中挖的洞。这口井则很象村子中的井。可是，那里又没有任何村庄，我还以为是在做梦呢。

"It is strange," I said to the little prince. "Everything is ready for use: the pulley, the bucket, the rope…"

“真怪，”我对小王子说：“一切都是现成的：辘轳、水桶、绳子……”

He laughed, touched the rope, and set the pulley to working. And the pulley moaned, like an old weathervane which the wind has long since forgotten.

他笑了，拿着绳子，转动着辘轳。辘轳就像是一个长期没有风来吹动的旧风标一样，吱吱作响。

"Do you hear?" said the little prince. "We have wakened the well, and it is singing…"

“你听，”小王子说：“我们唤醒了这口井，它现在唱起歌来了……”

I did not want him to tire himself with the rope.

我不愿让他费劲。我对他说：

"Leave it to me," I said. "It is too heavy for you."

“让我来干吧。这活对你太重了。”

I hoisted the bucket slowly to the edge of the well and set it there-- happy, tired as I was, over my achievement. The song of the pulley was still in my ears, and I could see the sunlight shimmer in the still trembling water.

我慢慢地把水桶提到井栏上。我把它稳稳地放在那里。我的耳朵里还响着辘轳的歌声。依然还在晃荡的水面上，我看见太阳的影子在跳动。

"I am thirsty for this water," said the little prince. "Give me some of it to drink…"

“我正需要喝这种水。”小王子说：“给我喝点……”

And I understood what he had been looking for.

这时我才明白了他所要寻找的是什么！

I raised the bucket to his lips. He drank, his eyes closed. It was as sweet as some special festival treat. This water was indeed a different thing from ordinary nourishment. Its sweetness was born of the walk under the stars, the song of the pulley, the effort of my arms. It was good for the heart, like a present. When I was a little boy, the lights of the Christmas tree, the music of the Midnight Mass, the tenderness of smiling faces, used to make up, so, the radiance of the gifts I received.

我把水桶提到他的嘴边。他闭着眼睛喝水。就像节日一般舒适愉快。这水远不只是一种饮料，它是披星戴月走了许多路才找到的，是在辘轳的歌声中，经过我双臂的努力得来的。它像是一件礼品慰藉着心田。在我小的时候，圣诞树的灯光，午夜的弥撒的音乐，甜蜜的微笑，这一切都使圣诞节时我收到的礼品辉映着幸福的光彩。

"The men where you live," said the little prince, "raise five thousand roses in the same garden-- and they do not find in it what they are looking for."

“你这里的人在同一个花园中种植着五千朵玫瑰。”小王子说：“可是，他们却不能从中找到自己所要寻找的东西……”

"They do not find it," I replied.

“他们是找不到的。”我回答道。

"And yet what they are looking for could be found in one single rose, or in a little water."

“然而，他们所寻找的东西却是可以从一朵玫瑰花或一点儿水中找到的……”

"Yes, that is true," I said.

“一点不错。”我回答道。

And the little prince added:

小王子又加了一句：

"But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart…"

“眼睛是什么也看不见的。应该用心去寻找。”

I had drunk the water. I breathed easily. At sunrise the sand is the color of honey. And that honey color was making me happy, too. What brought me, then, this sense of grief?

我喝了水。我痛快地呼吸着空气。沙漠在晨曦中泛出蜂蜜的光泽。这蜂蜜般的光泽也使我感到幸福。为什么我要难过……

"You must keep your promise," said the little prince, softly, as he sat down beside me once more.

小王子又重新在我的身边坐下。他温柔地对我说：“你应该实践你的诺言。”

"What promise?"

“什么诺言？”

"You know-- a muzzle for my sheep… I am responsible for this flower…"

“你知道……给我的小羊一个嘴套子……我要对我的花负责的呀！”

I took my rough drafts of drawings out of my pocket. The little prince looked them over, and laughed as he said:

我从口袋中拿出我的画稿。小王子瞅见了，笑着说：

"Your baobabs-- they look a little like cabbages."

“你画的猴面包树，有点像白菜……”

"Oh！"

“啊！”

I had been so proud of my baobabs！

我还为我画的猴面包树感到骄傲呢！

"Your fox-- his ears look a little like horns; and they are too long."

“你画的狐狸……它那双耳朵……有点像犄角……而且又太长了！”

And he laughed again.

这时，他又笑了。

"You are not fair, little prince," I said. "I don't know how to draw anything except boa constrictors from the outside and boa constrictors from the inside."

“小家伙，你太不公正了。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 sketch of a muzzle. 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:

但是，他不回答我，他对我说：

"You know-- my descent to the earth… Tomorrow will be its anniversary."

“你知道，我落在地球上……到明天就一周年了……”

Then, after a silence, he went on:

接着，沉默了一会儿，他又说道：

"I came down very near here."

“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. One question, however, occurred to me:

我不知为什么，又感到一阵莫名其妙的心酸。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, a thousand miles from any inhabited region? You were on the your back to the place where you landed?"

“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;这么说，这并不是偶然的了？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:

我犹豫不定地又说了一句：

"Perhaps it was because of the anniversary?"

“可能是因为周年纪念吧？……”

The little prince flushed once more. He never answered questions-- but when one flushes does that not mean "Yes"?

小王子脸又红了。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.

但他却回答我说：

"Now you must work. You must return to your engine. I will be waiting for you here. Come back tomorrow evening…"

“你现在该工作了。你应该回到你的机器那里去。我在这里等你。你明天晚上再来……”

But I was not reassured. I remembered the fox. One runs the risk of weeping a little, if one lets himself be tamed…

但是，我放心不下。我想起了狐狸的话。如果被人驯服了，就可能会要哭的……