本篇为《小王子》第四章的解析，需要阅读原文的请下载阅读或者直接点击下方链接阅读第四章的在线版本：
一起读《小王子》 | The Little Prince Chapter 4
- scarcely 刚刚；才；勉强 | 几乎不；简直不
..this was that the planet the little prince came from was scarcely any larger than a house!
- telescope 望远镜
..some of which are so small that one has a hard time seeing them through the telescope.
- astronomer 天文学家
- asteroid 小行星
When an astronomer discovers one of these he does not give it a name, but only a number. He might call it, for example, "Asteroid 325."
- International Astronomical Congress 国际天文学大会
- demonstration 示范；演示
..the astronomer had presented it to the International Astronomical Congress, in a great demonstration.
- costume 服装；装束
But he was in Turkish costume, and so nobody would believe what he said.
- reputation 名誉；名望
- dictator 独裁者；专政者
- subject (通常指君主制国家的)国民，臣民
- under pain of 违者则受(某种)处罚；如果违反则(以某种罪名)论处
..for the reputation of Asteroid B-612, a Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects, under pain of death, should change to European costume.
- impressive 给人深刻印象的；不俗的；了不起的
- elegance （人或物）典雅，雅致，优美
So in 1920 the astronomer gave his demonstration all over again, dressed with impressive style and elegance.
- on account of 因为
If I have told you these details about the asteroid, and made a note of its number for you, it is on account of the grown-ups and their ways.
- essential 基本的；本质的；根本的
..they never ask you any questions about essential matters.
又出现了小王子的主题之一，essential matters.
- figure 数字
Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.
在今天这个数字化管理，绩效满天飞的世界，你是不是也有他一样的吐嘈呢？
- rosy brick 粉红色的砖
- geranium 天竺葵
- dove 鸽子
"I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof,"
- exclaim （由于激动、震惊、愤怒等）突然呼喊，惊叫，大声喊
Then they would exclaim: "Oh, what a pretty house that is!"
- shrug 耸肩(表示不感兴趣、不知道或不在乎)
They would shrug their shoulders, and treat you like a child.
- convinced 确信的；深信的；坚信的
But if you said to them: "The planet he came from is Asteroid B-612," then they would be convinced,..
- forbearance 忍耐；克制
Children should always show great forbearance toward grown-up people.
- grief 悲伤；悲痛
- settle down (历经磨难或变化后)安静下来，平静下来
I have suffered too much grief in setting down these memories.
这句不那么好翻译哦
- resemblance 相似之处；类似之处
One drawing goes along all right, and another has no resemblance to its subject.
这里的subject就不是上文的“臣民”之义了哦。
- fumble 乱摸；摸索；笨拙地处理
- fair-to-middling 不好不坏 = not very good but not bad
So I fumble along as best I can, now good, now bad, and I hope generally fair-to-middling.
- certain 某个；特定的
In certain more important details I shall make mistakes, also.
所以不是in certain，而是in ... details，certain是修饰details的。
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