English
the little prince makes the acquaintance of the snake
When one wishes to play the wit, he sometimes wanders a little from the truth. I have not been altogether honest in what I have told you about the lamplighters. And I realize that I run the risk of giving a false idea of our planet to those who do not know it. Men occupy a very small place upon the Earth. If the two billion inhabitants who people its surface were all to stand upright and somewhat crowded together, as they do for some big public assembly, they could easily be put into one public square twenty miles long and twenty miles wide. All humanity could be piled up on a small Pacific islet.
The grown-ups, to be sure, will not believe you when you tell them that. They imagine that they fill a great deal of space. They fancy themselves as important as the baobabs. You should advise them, then, to make their own calculations. They adore figures, and that will please them. But do not waste your time on this extra task. It is unnecessary. You have, I know, confidence in me.
When the little prince arrived on the Earth, he was very much surprised not to see any people. He was beginning to be afraid he had come to the wrong planet, when a coil of gold, the color of the moonlight, flashed across the sand.
“Good evening,” said the little prince courteously.
“Good evening,” said the snake.
“What planet is this on which I have come down?” asked the little prince.
“This is the Earth; this is Africa,” the snake answered.
“Ah! Then there are no people on the Earth?”
“This is the desert. There are no people in the desert. The Earth is large,” said the snake.
The little prince sat down on a stone, and raised his eyes toward the sky.
“I wonder,” he said, “whether the stars are set alight in heaven so that one day each one of us may find his own again… Look at my planet. It is right there above us. But how far away it is!”
“It is beautiful,” the snake said. “What has brought you here?”
“I have been having some trouble with a flower,” said the little prince.
“Ah!” said the snake.
And they were both silent.
“Where are the men?” the little prince at last took up the conversation again. “It is a little lonely in the desert…”
“It is also lonely among men,” the snake said.
The little prince gazed at him for a long time.
“You are a funny animal,” he said at last. “You are no thicker than a finger…”
“But I am more powerful than the finger of a king,” said the snake.
The little prince smiled.
“You are not very powerful. You haven’t even any feet. You cannot even travel…”
“I can carry you farther than any ship could take you,” said the snake.
He twined himself around the little prince’s ankle, like a golden bracelet.
“Whomever I touch, I send back to the earth from whence he came,” the snake spoke again. “But you are innocent and true, and you come from a star…”
The little prince made no reply.
“You move me to pity– you are so weak on this Earth made of granite,” the snake said. “I can help you, some day, if you grow too homesick for your own planet. I can–”
“Oh! I understand you very well,” said the little prince. “But why do you always speak in riddles?”
“I solve them all,” said the snake.
And they were both silent.
中文
当一个人想要耍点小聪明时，有时难免会撒点小谎。在给你们讲点灯人的时候，我并不是完全诚实的。我也意识到，我冒着一种风险：会让那些不了解我们星球的人对它产生错误的印象。
人类在地球上占据的空间其实非常小。如果居住在地球表面的二十亿居民都站起来，像参加大型集会那样紧凑地聚在一起，完全可以轻而易举地挤进一个二十英里长、二十英里宽的正方形广场。全人类甚至可以堆叠在太平洋中一个微型小岛上。
当然，当你把这些话告诉大人们时，他们是不会相信的。他们幻想着自己占据了巨大的空间。他们觉得自个儿就像猴面包树一样举足轻重。那么，你就建议他们自己去算算账吧。大人们最崇拜数字，这会让他们开心的。但你没必要浪费时间去做这种额外的功课，那是多此一举。我知道，你是信任我的。
当小王子到达地球时，他非常惊讶，因为一个人影也没看到。他开始担心自己是不是来错了星球，就在这时，一道月光色金亮的光环在沙地上闪过。
“你好，”小王子彬彬有礼地说道。
“你好，”蛇说。
“我降落的这是哪颗星球？”小王子问。
“这是地球，是在非洲，”蛇回答道。
“啊！难道地球上没有人吗？”
“这里是沙漠。沙漠里是没有人的。地球很大，”蛇说。
小王子坐在一块石头上，抬眼望向天空。
“我在想，”他说，“星星们闪闪发光，是不是为了让每个人有一天都能重新找到属于自己的那一颗……看我的那颗星球，它就在我们头顶。可它离得很远很远！”
“它很美，”蛇说，“是什么把你带到这儿来的？”
“我和一朵花之间闹了点别扭，”小王子说。
“哦”蛇应了一声。
于是，他们陷入了沉默。
“人们都在哪儿呢？”小王子终于重新打破了沉默，“在沙漠里真有点孤独……”
“在人群里，也一样孤独，”蛇说。
小王子盯着它看了很久。
“你是个有趣的动物，”他最后说道，“你还没一个手指头粗……”
“但我比国王的手指还要强大，”蛇说。
小王子笑了。
“你没那么强大。你连脚都没有，甚至都没法旅行……”
“我能带你去的地方，比任何大船能去的地方都要远，”蛇说。
它像一只金手镯似的，缠绕在小王子的脚踝上。
“凡是被我触碰的人，我都会把他送回他来的地方，”蛇接着说，“但你是纯洁的，你不仅心诚，而且你还是从一颗星星上来的……”
小王子没有回答。
“你让我感到同情——在这坚硬的花岗岩地球上，你是这么弱小，”蛇说，“如果有一天，你太想念你的星球了，我可以帮你。我可以——”
“噢！我完全明白你的意思，”小王子说，“可你为什么说话总像在打哑谜？”
“我能解开所有的谜，”蛇说。
于是，他们又陷入了沉默。
一部分内容摘录自《小王子》。 如有侵权， 请联系作者删除
