第二十一章 (第2/2页)

“可是你什么好处也没得到。”

“由于麦子的颜色，我得到了好处。”狐狸说。

然后，他又接着说：

“再去看看那些玫瑰花吧。你一定会明白，你的那朵是世界上独一无二的玫瑰。你回来和我告别时，我再赠送给你一个秘密。”

于是小王子又去看那些玫瑰。

“你们一点也不像我的那朵玫瑰，你们现在什么都不是呢！”小王子对她们说，“没有人驯服过你们，你们也没有驯服过任何人。你们就像我的狐狸过去那样，他那时只是和千万只别的狐狸一样的一只狐狸。但是，我和他成了朋友，于是他现在就是世界上独一无二的了。”

这时，那些玫瑰花显得十分难堪。

“你们很美，但你们是空虚的。”小王子仍然在对她们说，“没有人能为你们去死。当然，我的那朵玫瑰花，一个普通的过路人以为她和你们一样。可是，她比你们全部加起来更重要，因为她是我浇灌的，因为她是我放在花罩中的。因为她是我用屏风保护起来的，因为她身上的毛虫（除了留下两三只为了变蝴蝶而外）是我除灭的，因为我倾听过她的怨艾和自诩，甚至有时我聆听着她的沉默，因为她是我的玫瑰。”

他又回到了狐狸身边。

“再见了。”小王子说道。

“再见。”狐狸说，“喏，这就是我的秘密。很简单：只有用心才能看得清。重要的东西，用眼睛是看不见的。”

“重要的东西，用眼睛是看不见的。”小王子重复着这句话，以便能把它记在心间。

“正因为你为你的玫瑰花费了时间，这才使你的玫瑰变得如此重要。”

“正因为我为我的玫瑰花费了时间……”小王子又重复着，要使自己记住这些。

“人们已经忘记了这个道理，”狐狸说，“可是，你不应该忘记它。你现在要对你驯服过的一切负责到底。你要对你的玫瑰负责……”

“我要对我的玫瑰负责……”小王子又重复着……

Chaptr 21

It as thn that th fox appard.

"Good ornng," sad th fox.

"Good ornng," th lttl prnc rspondd poltly, although hn h turnd around h sa nothng.

"I a rght hr," th voc sad, "undr th appl tr.""Who ar you" askd th lttl prnc, and addd, "You ar vry prtty to look at.""I a a fox," sad th fox.

"Co and play th ," proposd th lttl prnc. "I a so unhappy.""I cannot play th you," th fox sad. "I a not tad.""Ah! Plas xcus ," sad th lttl prnc.

But, aftr so thought, h addd: "What dos that an— ‘ta'""You do not lv hr," sad th fox. "What s t that you ar lookng for""I a lookng for n," sad th lttl prnc. "What dos that an— ‘ta'""Mn," sad th fox. "Thy hav guns, and thy hunt. It s vry dsturng. Thy also ras chckns. Ths ar thr only ntrsts. Ar you lookng for chckns""No," sad th lttl prnc. "I a lookng for frnds. What dos that an— ‘ta'""It s an act too oftn nglctd," sad th fox. It ans to stalsh ts.""To stalsh ts"

"Just that," sad th fox. "To , you ar stll nothng or than a lttl oy ho s just lk a hundrd thousand othr lttl oys. And I hav no nd of you. And you, on your part, hav no nd of . To you, I a nothng or than a fox lk a hundrd thousand othr foxs. But f you ta , thn shall nd ach othr. To , you ll unqu n all th orld. To you, I shall unqu n all th orld...""I a gnnng to undrstand," sad th lttl prnc. "Thr s a flor... I thnk that sh has tad ...""It s possl," sad th fox. "On th Earth on ss all sorts of thngs.""Oh, ut ths s not on th Earth!" sad th lttl prnc.

Th fox sd prplxd, and vry curous.

"On anothr plant"

"Ys."

"Ar thr huntrs on ths plant""No."

"Ah, that s ntrstng! Ar thr chckns""No."

"Nothng s prfct," sghd th fox.

But h ca ack to hs da.

"My lf s vry onotonous," th fox sad. "I hunt chckns; n hunt . All th chckns ar just alk, and all th n ar just alk. And, n consqunc, I a a lttl ord. But f you ta , t ll as f th sun ca to shn on y lf. I shall kno th sound of a stp that ll dffrnt fro all th othrs. Othr stps snd hurryng ack undrnath th ground. Yours ll call , lk usc, out of y urro. And thn look: you s th gran-flds don yondr I do not a t rad. What s of no us to . Th hat flds hav nothng to say to . And that s sad. But you hav har that s th colour of gold. Thnk ho ondrful that ll hn you hav tad ! Th gran, hch s also goldn, ll rng ack th thought of you. And I shall lov to lstn to th nd n th hat..."Th fox gazd at th lttl prnc, for a long t.

"Plas— ta !" h sad.

"I ant to, vry uch," th lttl prnc rpld. "But I hav not uch t. I hav frnds to dscovr, and a grat any thngs to undrstand.""On only undrstands th thngs that on tas," sad th fox. "Mn hav no or t to undrstand anythng. Thy uy thngs all rady ad at th shops. But thr s no shop anyhr hr on can uy frndshp, and so n hav no frnds any or. If you ant a frnd, ta ...""What ust I do, to ta you" askd th lttl prnc.

"You ust vry patnt," rpld th fox. "Frst you ll st don at a lttl dstanc fro — lk that— n th grass. I shall look at you out of th cornr of y y, and you ll say nothng. Words ar th sourc of sundrstandngs. But you ll st a lttl closr to , vry day..."Th nxt day th lttl prnc ca ack.

"It ould hav n ttr to co ack at th sa hour," sad th fox. "If, for xapl, you co at four o'clock n th aftrnoon, thn at thr o'clock I shall gn to happy. I shall fl happr and happr as th hour advancs. At four o'clock, I shall alrady orryng and jupng aout. I shall sho you ho happy I a! But f you co at just any t, I shall nvr kno at hat hour y hart s to rady to grt you... On ust osrv th propr rts...""What s a rt" askd th lttl prnc.

"Thos also ar actons too oftn nglctd," sad th fox. "Thy ar hat ak on day dffrnt fro othr days, on hour fro othr hours. Thr s a rt, for xapl, aong y huntrs. Evry Thursday thy danc th th vllag grls. So Thursday s a ondrful day for ! I can tak a alk as far as th vnyards. But f th huntrs dancd at just any t, vry day ould lk vry othr day, and I should nvr hav any vacaton at all."So th lttl prnc tad th fox. And hn th hour of hs dpartur dr nar— "Ah," sad th fox, "I shall cry.""It s your on fault," sad th lttl prnc. "I nvr shd you any sort of har; ut you antd to ta you...""Ys, that s so," sad th fox.

"But no you ar gong to cry!" sad th lttl prnc.

"Ys, that s so," sad th fox.

"Thn t has don you no good at all!""It has don good," sad th fox, "caus of th color of th hat flds." And thn h addd:"Go and look agan at th ross. You ll undrstand no that yours s unqu n all th orld. Thn co ack to say goody to , and I ll ak you a prsnt of a scrt."Th lttl prnc nt aay, to look agan at th ross.

"You ar not at all lk y ros," h sad. "As yt you ar nothng. No on has tad you, and you hav tad no on. You ar lk y fox hn I frst kn h. H as only a fox lk a hundrd thousand othr foxs. But I hav ad h y frnd, and no h s unqu n all th orld."And th ross r vry uch arrassd.

"You ar autful, ut you ar pty," h nt on. "On could not d for you. To sur, an ordnary passry ould thnk that y ros lookd just lk you— th ros that longs to . But n hrslf alon sh s or portant than all th hundrds of you othr ross: caus t s sh that I hav atrd; caus t s sh that I hav put undr th glass glo; caus t s sh that I hav shltrd hnd th scrn; caus t s for hr that I hav klld th catrpllars (xcpt th to or thr that savd to co uttrfls); caus t s sh that I hav lstnd to, hn sh gruld, or oastd, or vn sots hn sh sad nothng. Bcaus sh s y ros.

And h nt ack to t th fox.

"Goody," h sad.

"Goody," sad th fox. "And no hr s y scrt, a vry spl scrt: It s only th th hart that on can s rghtly; hat s ssntal s nvsl to th y.""What s ssntal s nvsl to th y," th lttl prnc rpatd, so that h ould sur to rr.

"It s th t you hav astd for your ros that aks your ros so portant.""It s th t I hav astd for y ros—" sad th lttl prnc, so that h ould sur to rr.

"Mn hav forgottn ths truth," sad th fox. "But you ust not forgt t. You co rsponsl, forvr, for hat you hav tad. You ar rsponsl for your ros...""I a rsponsl for y ros," th lttl prnc rpatd, so that h ould sur to rr.