第二章 (第2/2页)

“这正是我想要的……你说这只羊需要很多草吗？”

“为什么问这个呢？”

“因为我住的地方，一切都非常小……”

“我确定会有足够的草给它。”我说，“我给你的是一只非常小的绵羊。”

他歪着脑袋靠近这张画。

“并不像你说的那么小……瞧！它睡着了……”

就这样，我认识了小王子。

Chaptr 2

So I lvd y lf alon, thout anyon that I could rally talk to, untl I had an accdnt th y plan n th Dsrt of Sahara, sx yars ago. Sothng as rokn n y ngn. And as I had th nthr a chanc nor any passngrs, I st yslf to attpt th dffcult rpars all alon. It as a quston of lf or dath for : I had scarcly nough drnkng atr to last a k.

Th frst nght, thn, I nt to slp on th sand, a thousand ls fro any huan hataton. I as or solatd than a shprckd salor on a raft n th ddl of th ocan. Thus you can agn y aaznt, at sunrs, hn I as aaknd y an odd lttl voc. It sad:"If you plas, dra a shp!""What!"

"Dra a shp!"

I jupd to y ft, copltly thundrstruck. I lnkd y ys hard. I lookd carfully all around . And I sa a ost xtraordnary sall prson, ho stood thr xanng th grat srousnss. Hr you ay s th st potrat that, latr, I as al to ak of h. But y drang s crtanly vry uch lss charng than ts odl.

That, hovr, s not y fault. Th gron-ups dscouragd n y pantr’s carr hn I as sx yars old, and I nvr larnd to dra anythng, xcpt oas fro th outsd and oas fro th nsd.

No I stard at ths suddn apparton th y ys farly startng out of y had n astonshnt. Rr, I had crashd n th dsrt a thousand ls fro any nhatd rgon. And yt y lttl an sd nthr to strayng uncrtanly aong th sands, nor to fantng fro fatgu or hungr or thrst or far. Nothng aout h gav any suggston of a chld lost n th ddl of th dsrt, a thousand ls fro any huan hataton. Whn at last I as al to spak, I sad to h: "But, hat ar you dong hr"And n ansr h rpatd, vry sloly, as f h r spakng of a attr of grat consqunc: "If you plas, dra a shp..."Whn a ystry s too ovrporng, on dar not dsoy. Asurd as t ght s to , a thousand ls fro any huan hataton and n dangr of dath, I took out of y pockt a sht of papr and y fountan-pn. But thn I rrd ho y studs had n concntratd on gography, hstory, arthtc, and graar, and I told th lttl chap (a lttl crossly, too) that I dd not kno ho to dra. H ansrd :"That dosn’t attr. Dra a shp..."But I had nvr dran a shp. So I dr for h on of th to pcturs I had dran so oftn. It as that of th oa constrctor fro th outsd. And I as astoundd to har th lttl fllo grt t th, "No, no, no! I do not ant an lphant nsd a oa constrctor. A oa constrctor s a vry dangrous cratur, and an lphant s vry curso. Whr I lv, vrythng s vry sall. What I nd s a shp. Dra a shp."So thn I ad a drang.

H lookd at t carfully, thn h sad: "No. Ths shp s alrady vry sckly. Mak anothr."So I ad anothr drang.

My frnd sld gntly and ndulgnty. "You s yourslf," h sad, "that ths s not a shp. Ths s a ra. It has horns."So thn I dd y drang ovr onc or.

But t as rjctd too, just lk th othrs. "Ths on s too old. I ant a shp that ll lv a long t."By ths t y patnc as xhaustd, caus I as n a hurry to start takng y ngn apart. So I tossd off ths drang.

And I thr out an xplanaton th t.

"Ths s only hs ox. Th shp you askd for s nsd."I as vry surprsd to s a lght rak ovr th fac of y young judg:"That s xactly th ay I antd t! Do you thnk that ths shp ll hav to hav a grat dal of grass""Why"

"Bcaus hr I lv vrythng s vry sall...""Thr ll surly nough grass for h," I sad. "It s a vry sall shp that I hav gvn you."H nt hs had ovr th drang:"Not so sall that—Look! H has gon to slp..."And that s ho I ad th acquantanc of th lttl prnc.