20170521-chapter6/7-《小王子》精读

Little Prince - Chapter 6

　- the little prince and the narrator talk about sunsets

Oh, little prince! Bit by bit I came to understand the secrets of your sad little life... For a long time you had found your only entertainment in the quiet pleasure of looking at the sunset. I learned that new detail on the morning of the fourth day, when you said to me: "I am very fond of sunsets. Come, ::let us go look at a sunset now." ::
　　"But we must wait," I said.
　　"Wait? For what?"
　　"For the sunset. We must wait until it is time."
　　At first you seemed to be very much surprised. And then you laughed to yourself. You said to me:
　　"I am always thinking that I am at home!"
　　Just so. Everybody knows that when it is noon in the United States the sun is setting over France.

• narrator：[speaker, talker]
• **go look at **：没有to，英语中口语化的表达，中间省略了“and”
• 而这一段话更深刻的含义，则不得不谈。著名译者李继宏在2013年天津人民出版社所译《小王子》前言中写道，“ 如果不知道安托万·圣埃克苏佩里写《小王子》时身在美国，对沦陷的法国怀有深深的眷恋，我们就会觉得这句话特别突兀。”
• 此外，为什么作者要写小王子对 sunset 的情有独钟呢？因为作者写小王子时，住在一个掩映在乔木之间的公馆，公馆有20多个房间。为了照到太阳，他把扶手椅和画架，一个房间一个房间地从图书室直搬到客厅。
• 就像《小王子》中一天44次的日落：“在你的小小星球上…只需把你的椅子稍微挪一点点…”。但是实际上原文写的是43次日落，《小王子》出版时圣埃克苏佩里43岁，他44岁去世，他死后的版本大都改成了44次来向作者致敬。
  另一个事实是，1940年5月10日，纳粹入侵了法国、比利时、卢森堡和荷兰；在1940年6月22日，法国与纳粹签署停战协议。只用了43天（也就是经历了43个日落），圣埃克苏佩里的家乡就被纳粹侵占。对作者来说，这代表着“the last sunset of the free France”。1944年，他在一次飞行任务中失踪，最终没能看到祖国的解放。
  所以文中（小王子）才说：“You know—one loves the sunset, when one is so sad...”
  （“I”）“Were you sad, then?” I asked, “on the day of the forty-four (其实法语版是43) sunsets?”

- If you could fly to France in one minute, you could go straight into the sunset, right from noon. Unfortunately, France is too far away for that. But on your tiny planet, my little prince, all you need do is move your chair a few steps. You can see the day end and the twilight falling whenever you like...
　　"One day," you said to me, "I saw the sunset_ forty-four _times!"
　　And a little later you added:
　　"You know-- ::one loves the sunset, when one is so sad::..."
　　"Were you so sad, then?" I asked, "on the day of the forty-four sunsets?"
　　But the little prince made no reply.

• twilight: n. 黄昏; 黎明

Little Prince - Chapter 7

- the narrator learns about the secret of the little prince's life

- On the fifth day-- again, as always, it was thanks to the sheep-- the secret of the little prince’s life **was revealed to **me. ::Abruptly, without anything to lead up to it, and as if the question had been born of long and silent meditation on his problem::, he demanded:
　　"A sheep-- if it eats little bushes, does it eat flowers, too?"
　　"A sheep," I answered, "eats anything it finds in its reach."
　　"Even flowers that have thorns?"
　　"Yes, even flowers that have thorns."
　　"Then the thorns-- what use are they?"

• **was revealed to **: 被揭示,透露

• without anything to lead up to it：“lead up to sth.”，原意是“导致…”，这里意思是“没有征兆地，没有来头地”。

• meditation on：“对某物的沉思”

• thorn：荆棘

  - I did not know. At that moment I was very busy trying to unscrew a bolt that had got stuck in my engine. I was very much worried, for it was becoming clear to me that the breakdown of my plane was extremely serious. And I had so little drinking-water left that I had to fear for the worst.
  　　"The thorns-- what use are they?"
  　　The little prince never let go of a question,:: once ::he had asked it. As for me, I was upset over that bolt. And I answered with the first thing that came into my head:
  "The thorns are of no use at all. Flowers have thorns just for spite!"
  　　"Oh!"
  　　There was a moment of complete silence. Then the little prince flashed back at me, with a kind of resentfulness:
  　　"I don‘t believe you! Flowers are weak creatures. They are name. They reassure themselves as best they can. They believe that their thorns are terrible weapons..."
  　　I did not answer. At that instant I was saying to myself: "If this bolt still won‘t turn, I am going to knock it out with the hammer." Again the little prince disturbed my thoughts.
  　　"And you actually believe that the flowers--"
  　　"Oh, no!" I cried. "No, no no! I don‘t believe anything. I answered you with the first thing that came into my head. Don‘t you see-- I am very busy with matters of consequence!"
  　　He stared at me, thunderstruck.
  　　"::Matters of consequence::!" （重要的事情）

• ** unscrew a bolt **：vt. & vi. 从…旋出螺丝,旋开,松开；螺栓

• **get stuck in **： 陷入了…；加紧进行；全神贯注吃饭或工作

• once：1⃣️||“曾经” “ 一次”|| 2⃣️ “ 一旦 ”

• resentfulness：愤恨

• ** reassure**：vt. 使…安心，使消除疑虑

  - He looked at me there, with my hammer in my hand, my fingers black with engine-grease, bending down over an object which seemed to him extremely ugly...
  　　"You talk just like the grown-ups!"
  　　That made me a little ashamed. But he went on, relentlessly:
  　　"You mix everything up together... You confuse everything..."
  　　He was really very angry. ::He tossed his golden curls in the breeze.::
  　　"I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman. He has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved any one. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures. And all day he says over and over, just like you: ‘I am busy with matters of consequence!‘ And that makes him swell up with pride. But he is not a man-- he is a mushroom!"
  　　"A what?"
  　　"A mushroom!"
  　　The little prince was now white with rage（愤怒）.
  　　"The flowers have been growing thorns for millions of years. For millions of years the sheep have been eating them just the same. And is it not a matter of consequence to try to understand why the flowers ::go to so much trouble to:: grow thorns which are never of any use to them? Is the warfare between the sheep and the flowers not important? Is this not of more consequence than a fat red-faced gentleman‘s sums（金额）? And if I know-- I, myself-- one flower which is unique in the world, which grows nowhere but on my planet, but which one little sheep can destroy in a single bite some morning, without even noticing what he is doing-- Oh! You think that is not important!"

• relentlessly：1⃣️adv. 无情地; 2⃣️不懈地;不屈不挠地

• certain：1⃣️adj. 无疑, 肯定；2⃣️某, 某些

• swell up with：膨胀了

• mushroom：n. 蘑菇，伞菌；蘑菇形物体；暴发mushroom towns

  - His face turned from white to red as he continued:
  　　"If some one loves a flower, of which just one single_ blossom_（开着花） grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. He can say to himself, ‘Somewhere, my flower is there...‘ But if the sheep eats the flower, in one moment all his stars will be darkened... And you think that is not important!"
  　　He could not say anything more. His words were choked by sobbing.
  　　The night had fallen. I had let my tools drop from my hands. ::Of what moment now was my hammer, my bolt, or thirst, or death?:: On one star, one planet, my planet, the Earth, there was a little prince to be comforted. I took him in my arms, and rocked him. I said to him:
  　　"The flower that you love is not in danger. I will draw you a muzzle（口套，||封锁言论||） for your sheep. I will draw you a railing （栏杆）to put around your flower. I will--"
  　　I did not know what to say to him. I felt awkward（笨拙的） and blundering. I did not know how I could reach him, where I could overtake him and go on hand in hand with him once more.
  　::　It is such a secret place, the land of tears.::

• choked by sobbing：「choke」：“ 喉咙卡住东西，无法呼吸 ”。泣不成声

• Of what moment：又有什么重要的呢？

• reach sb.：与某人沟通

me:
小王子说悲伤的人喜欢看日落，在他的星球一天可以看到44次日落。
究竟什么是重要的事情？花儿为什么带刺？花和羊会发生矛盾？这都不比一个胖男人数钱重要吗？
what is a matter of consequence?
那是属于他一个人的盛开的花朵，整个宇宙中独一无二的花。