When one wishes to play the wit, he sometimes wanders a little from the truth. I have not been altogether honest in what I have told you about the lamplighters. And I realize that I run the risk of giving a false idea of our planet to those who do not know it. Men occupy a very small place upon the Earth. If the two billion inhabitants who people its surface were all to stand upright and somewhat crowded together, as they do for some big public assembly, they could easily be put into one public square twenty miles long and twenty miles wide. All humanity could be piled up on a small Pacific islet.
一个人倘若想要卖弄才学，说起话来多少有些不切实际。我刚才讲到关于点灯人的情况，实际上有点儿夸大其辞。而且我非常清楚，这样的描述可能会给不了解我们这个星球的人们灌输错误的概念。地球上的人类所占不过英尺之地，假如让二十亿的居民像召开大会那样站立集合，那么仅需要一个长宽均为二十英里的广场就能他们。换言之，太平洋中的一个小岛屿就足以容纳所有人。
降临地球
The grown-ups, to be sure, will not believe you when you tell them that. They imagine that they fill a great deal of space. They fancy themselves as important as the baobabs. You should advise them, then, to make their own calculations. They adore figures, and that will please them. But do not waste your time on this extra task. It is unnecessary. You have, I know, confidence in me.
毋庸置疑，当你讲述这些言论的时候，大人们会觉得你嘴上没毛。他们自我感觉良好，认为自己就像猴面包树一样需要的空间越大越好。不过大人们喜欢用数字进行判断，你倒可以建议他们计算一下，这样正合他们的心意。但是你大可不必为这种额外之事大费周章，请相信我，做这种事完全多此一举。
When the little prince arrived on the Earth, he was very much surprised not to see any people. He was beginning to be afraid he had come to the wrong planet, when a coil of gold, the color of the moonlight, flashed across the sand.
小王子抵达地球的时候，四处都不见人影，这实在出乎他的意料。他开始心存疑虑，唯恐自己跑错跑错星球。正在这时，月色般的光影一闪而过，一个金黄的圆环正在蜿蜒蠕动。
金色小蛇
"Good evening," said the little prince courteously.
"Good evening," said the snake.
"What planet is this on which I have come down?" asked the little prince.
"This is the Earth; this is Africa," the snake answered.
"Ah! Then there are no people on the Earth?"
"This is the desert. There are no people in the desert. The Earth is large," said the snake.
“晚上好！”小王子礼貌地开口问好。
“晚上好！”蛇说。
“请问我落到了哪颗星球上呢？”小王子问道。
“在地球上，这里是非洲。”蛇回答道。
“啊！那么地球上难道没有人类吗？”
“这儿是沙漠。这里几乎无人居住，不过地球倒是很大。”蛇解释道。
The little prince sat down on a stone, and raised his eyes toward the sky.
"I wonder," he said, "whether the stars are set alight in heaven so that one day each one of us may find his own again… Look at my planet. It is right there above us. But how far away it is!"
"It is beautiful," the snake said. "What has brought you here?"
"I have been having some trouble with a flower," said the little prince.
"Ah!" said the snake.
And they were both silent.
小王子在一块石头上坐下，然后抬头仰望天空。
“我在想……”他感慨道，“群星在天空中闪闪发亮，是否为了某天让我们每一个人都可以找到回家的路……瞧，我的星球，正好在我们头顶上，可惜看着又是那样地遥远！”
“真漂亮啊！”蛇说道，“你为什么到这儿来呢？”
“我和一朵花儿闹别扭了。”小王子回答道。
“噢！”蛇叹道。
接着他们都静静地呆着。
"Where are the men?" the little prince at last took up the conversation again. "It is a little lonely in the desert…"
"It is also lonely among men," the snake said.
The little prince gazed at him for a long time.
"You are a funny animal," he said at last. "You are no thicker than a finger…"
"But I am more powerful than the finger of a king," said the snake.
The little prince smiled.
“人类会在哪里呢？”最后还是小王子打破了沉默。“在沙漠中，感觉有些孤独呢……”
“置身于人群当中，同样会孤独。”蛇说。
小王子盯着蛇看了好长一段时间。
“你真是一只有趣的动物！”他终于开口说道，“手指头都比你来得粗壮。”
“可是我却比国王的手指更加强大。”蛇辩解道。
小王子笑了起来。
"You are not very powerful. You haven't even any feet. You cannot even travel…"
"I can carry you farther than any ship could take you," said the snake.
He twined himself around the little prince's ankle, like a golden bracelet.
"Whomever I touch, I send back to the earth from whence he came," the snake spoke again. "But you are innocent and true, and you come from a star…"
The little prince made no reply.
“你看起来并没有那么强大。而且你连脚都没有，甚至都不能旅行……”
“我可以带你去遥远的地方，比任何一艘轮船都走得远。”
蛇将自己盘绕在小王子的脚踝上，就像一只金色的镯子。
“被我触碰到的人，就会从哪来回哪去。”蛇再次强调，“不过看你天真无邪的模样，又是来自另外的星球……”
小王子并没有回应蛇的话。
"You move me to pity-- you are so weak on this Earth made of granite," the snake said. "I can help you, some day, if you grow too homesick for your own planet. I can--"
"Oh! I understand you very well," said the little prince. "But why do you always speak in riddles?"
"I solve them all," said the snake.
And they were both silent.
“你让我心生怜悯，在这个由花岗岩构成的地球上，你却显出一副弱不禁风的样子。”蛇又接着说，“或许，某天你的思乡之情难以抑制，我倒是可以帮你一把。到时候我就可以……”
“噢！我明白你的意思。”小王子打断蛇的话，“但是你的话一直像猜谜一样呢？”
“因为我知道谜底。”蛇回答道。
于是他们又陷入了沉默当中。
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