第八章 (第2/2页)

于是花儿放开嗓门咳嗽了几声，就是要使小王子后悔自己的过失。

所以，小王子本来诚心诚意地喜欢这朵花，可是，这一来，却使他马上对她产生了怀疑。小王子对一些无关紧要的话看得太认真，这让他很苦恼。

有一天他告诉我说：“我不该把她的话当真，不应听信那些花儿的话。我们只要欣赏花的样子，看看花，闻闻它就得了。我的花让我的星球布满芬芳，可我却不为此高兴，不会享受它。花说的关于老虎爪子的事让我很生气，其实她只是在撒娇，却反而使我恼火……”

他还告诉我说：

“我那时什么也不懂！我应该根据她的行为，而不是听她的话来判断她。她芳香四溢，让我的生活芬芳多彩，我真不该离开她跑出来。我早该猜到，在她那令人爱怜的小把戏后面隐藏着多少柔情啊。花的心事多么自相矛盾！我当时太年轻，还不懂得爱她。”

Chaptr 8

I soon larnd to kno ths flor ttr. On th lttl prnc’s plant th flors had alays n vry spl. Thy had only on rng of ptals; thy took up no roo at all; thy r a troul to noody. On ornng thy ould appar n th grass, and y nght thy ould hav fadd pacfully aay. But on day, fro a sd lon fro no on kn hr, a n flor had co up; and th lttl prnc had atchd vry closly ovr ths sall sprout hch as not lk any othr sall sprouts on hs plant. It ght, you s, hav n a n knd of aoa.

Th shru soon stoppd grong, and gan to gt rady to produc a flor. Th lttl prnc, ho as prsnt at th frst apparanc of a hug ud, flt at onc that so sort of raculous apparton ust rg fro t. But th flor as not satsfd to coplt th prparatons for hr auty n th shltr of hr grn char. Sh chos hr colours th th gratst car. Sh adjustd hr ptals on y on. Sh dd not sh to go out nto th orld all rupld, lk th fld popps. It as only n th full radanc of hr auty that sh shd to appar. Oh, ys! Sh as a coquttsh cratur! And hr ystrous adornnt lastd for days and days.

Thn on ornng, xactly at sunrs, sh suddnly shod hrslf.

And, aftr orkng th all ths panstakng prcson, sh yand and sad:"Ah! I a scarcly aak. I g that you ll xcus . My ptals ar stll all dsarrangd..."But th lttl prnc could not rstran hs adraton:"Oh! Ho autful you ar!"

"A I not" th flor rspondd, stly. "And I as orn at th sa ont as th sun..."Th lttl prnc could guss asly nough that sh as not any too odst— ut ho ovng— and xctng— sh as!

"I thnk t s t for rakfast," sh addd an nstant latr. "If you ould hav th kndnss to thnk of y nds—"And th lttl prnc, copltly aashd, nt to look for a sprnklng-can of frsh atr. So, h tndd th flor.

So, too, sh gan vry quckly to tornt h th hr vanty— hch as, f th truth knon, a lttl dffcult to dal th. On day, for nstanc, hn sh as spakng of hr four thorns, sh sad to th lttl prnc:"Lt th tgrs co th thr clas!""Thr ar no tgrs on y plant," th lttl prnc ojctd. "And, anyay, tgrs do not at ds.""I a not a d," th flor rpld, stly.

"Plas xcus ..."

"I a not at all afrad of tgrs," sh nt on, "ut I hav a horror of drafts. I suppos you ouldn’t hav a scrn for ""A horror of drafts— that s ad luck, for a plant," rarkd th lttl prnc, and addd to hslf, "Ths flor s a vry coplx cratur...""At nght I ant you to put undr a glass glo. It s vry cold hr you lv. In th plac I ca fro—"But sh ntrruptd hrslf at that pont. Sh had co n th for of a sd. Sh could not hav knon anythng of any othr orlds. Earassd ovr havng lt hrslf caught on th vrg of such a nav untruth, sh coughd to or thr ts, n ordr to put th lttl prnc n th rong.

"Th scrn"

"I as just gong to look for t hn you spok to ..."Thn sh forcd hr cough a lttl or so that h should suffr fro rors just th sa.

So th lttl prnc, n spt of all th good ll that as nsparal fro hs lov, had soon co to dout hr. H had takn srously ords hch r thout portanc, and t ad h vry unhappy.

"I ought not to hav lstnd to hr," h confdd to on day. "On nvr ought to lstn to th flors. On should sply look at th and rath thr fragranc. Mn prfud all y plant. But I dd not kno ho to tak plasur n all hr grac. Ths tal of clas, hch dsturd so uch, should only hav flld y hart th tndrnss and pty."And h contnud hs confdncs:"Th fact s that I dd not kno ho to undrstand anythng! I ought to hav judgd y dds and not y ords. Sh cast hr fragranc and hr radanc ovr . I ought nvr to hav run aay fro hr... I ought to hav gussd all th affcton that lay hnd hr poor lttl stratgs. Flors ar so nconsstnt! But I as too young to kno ho to lov hr..."