English
the narrator speculates as to which asteroid from which the little prince came
I had thus learned a second fact of great importance: this was that the planet the little prince came from was scarcely any larger than a house!
But that did not really surprise me much. I knew very well that in addition to the great planets– such as the Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus– to which we have given names, there are also hundreds of others, some of which are so small that one has a hard time seeing them through the telescope. When an astronomer discovers one of these he does not give it a name, but only a number. He might call it, for example, “Asteroid 325.”
I have serious reason to believe that the planet from which the little prince came is the asteroid known as B-612.
This asteroid has only once been seen through the telescope. That was by a Turkish astronomer, in 1909.
On making his discovery, the astronomer had presented it to the International Astronomical Congress, in a great demonstration. But he was in Turkish costume, and so nobody would believe what he said.
Grown-ups are like that…
Fortunately, however, for the reputation of Asteroid B-612, a Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects, under pain of death, should change to European costume. So in 1920 the astronomer gave his demonstration all over again, dressed with impressive style and elegance. And this time everybody accepted his report.
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. When you tell them that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, “What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?” Instead, they demand: “How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?” Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.
If you were to say to the grown-ups: “I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof,” they would not be able to get any idea of that house at all. You would have to say to them: “I saw a house that cost $20,000.” Then they would exclaim: “Oh, what a pretty house that is!”
Just so, you might say to them: “The proof that the little prince existed is that he was charming, that he laughed, and that he was looking for a sheep. If anybody wants a sheep, that is a proof that he exists.” And what good would it do to tell them that? They would shrug their shoulders, and treat you like a child. But if you said to them: “The planet he came from is Asteroid B-612,” then they would be convinced, and leave you in peace from their questions.
They are like that. One must not hold it against them. Children should always show great forbearance toward grown-up people.
But certainly, for us who understand life, figures are a matter of indifference. I should have liked to begin this story in the fashion of the fairy-tales. I should have like to say: “Once upon a time there was a little prince who lived on a planet that was scarcely any bigger than himself, and who had need of a sheep…”
To those who understand life, that would have given a much greater air of truth to my story.
For I do not want any one to read my book carelessly. I have suffered too much grief in setting down these memories. Six years have already passed since my friend went away from me, with his sheep. If I try to describe him here, it is to make sure that I shall not forget him. To forget a friend is sad. Not every one has had a friend. And if I forget him, I may become like the grown-ups who are no longer interested in anything but figures…
It is for that purpose, again, that I have bought a box of paints and some pencils. It is hard to take up drawing again at my age, when I have never made any pictures except those of the boa constrictor from the outside and the boa constrictor from the inside, since I was six. I shall certainly try to make my portraits as true to life as possible. But I am not at all sure of success. One drawing goes along all right, and another has no resemblance to its subject. I make some errors, too, in the littl e prince’s height: in one place he is too tall and in another too short. And I feel some doubts about the color of his costume. So I fumble along as best I can, now good, now bad, and I hope generally fair-to-middling.
In certain more important details I shall make mistakes, also. But that is something that will not be my fault. My friend never explained anything to me. He thought, perhaps, that I was like himself. But I, alas, do not know how to see sheep through t he walls of boxes. Perhaps I am a little like the grown-ups. I have had to grow old.
中文
叙述者开始猜测，小王子究竟是来自哪一颗小行星。
我还了解到另一件重要的事，就是他老家所在的那个星球比一座房子大不了 多少。
不过，这倒并没有让我太过吃惊。我很清楚，除了那些被我们命名的大行星——比如地球、木星、火星、金星——之外，还有成百上千颗别的星球，其中有些小得几乎难以通过望远镜看见。当天文学家发现这样的一颗星体时，通常不会给它取名字，而只会给它编上一个号码，比如说，“小行星325号”。
我有充分的理由相信，小王子来自的那颗星球，就是那颗被称为 B-612 的小行星。
这颗小行星只曾有过一次被人用望远镜观测到——那是在 1909 年，由一位土耳其天文学家发现的。
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。但因为他穿着土耳其的传统服装，结果没有人相信他所说的话。
大人们就是这样……
不过，幸运的是，为了小行星 B-612 的名声，一位土耳其的独裁者颁布了一项法律，规定他的臣民必须改穿欧洲服装，违者将被处以死刑。于是，在 1920 年，那位天文学家又一次重新作了论证，这一次他穿着考究、仪表堂堂。这一次所有的人都同意他的看法。
我之所以把这颗小行星的种种细节告诉你，并特地记下它的编号，完全是因为大人们的习性。当你告诉他们你结识了一位新朋友时，他们从不询问那些真正重要的事情。他们从来不会问你：“他的声音听起来是什么样的？他最喜欢玩什么游戏？他收集蝴蝶吗？”相反，他们总是追问：“他多大年纪了？有几个兄弟？体重多少？他父亲赚多少钱？”他们只凭这些数字，才以为自己了解了一个人。
如果你对大人们说：“我看到一幢美丽的房子，用玫瑰色的砖砌成，窗台上开着天竺葵，屋顶上有鸽子，”他们根本无法想象那房子长什么样。你必须对他们说：“我看到一幢房子，价值两万美元。”这样他们才会惊呼：“哦，多漂亮的一幢房子啊！”
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。他想要一只小羊，这就证明他的存在。”他们一定会耸耸肩膀，把你当作孩子看待！但是，如果你对他们说：“小王子来自的星球就是小行星B612”，那么 他们就十分信服，他们就不会提出一大堆问题来和你纠缠。
大人就是这样的。我们不应该因此责怪他们。小孩子们对大人们应该宽厚些
但对于我们这些懂得生活的人来说，数字毫无意义。我本想像讲童话那样来开头这个故事。我本想说：“很久很久以前，有一位小王子，他住在一颗几乎和自己一样小的星球上，需要一只羊……”
对懂得生活的人来说，这样说就显得真实。
我可不喜欢人们轻率地读我的书。我在讲述这些往事时心情是很难过的。我的朋友带着他的小羊已经离去六年了。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，我也可能变成那些大人那样，只对数字感兴趣。
也正是出于这个目的，我又买来了一盒彩色颜料和几支铅笔。在我这个年纪重新拾起画笔并不容易——自从六岁以后，我除了画从外面看和从里面看的蟒蛇之外，从来没有画过别的东西。 我一定会尽力把他的画像画得尽可能真实，可是我并不十分有把握能成功。有的画画得还算顺利，有的却一点也不像本人。我也会犯些错误，比如小王子的身高：有的地方把他画得太高，有的地方又画得太矮。至于他衣服的颜色，我也心存疑虑。
于是，我只能尽力摸索着画下去，有时画得好，有时画得糟，只希望总体来说还能过得去就行吧。
在一些更重要的细节上，我也难免会画错。不过，那并不能怪我 。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，很遗憾，我却不能透过盒子看见小羊。我大概有点和大人们差不多。 我也只好变老了。
一部分内容摘录自《小王子》。 如有侵权， 请联系作者删除
