朗讀 Peter Ustinov【英】 | 譯者：周克希
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?"
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 naive. 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!"
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.
"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? 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!"
His face turned from white to red as he continued:
"If some one loves a flower, of which just one single blossom 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 for your sheep. I will draw you a railing to put around your flower. I will--"
I did not know what to say to him. I felt awkward 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.
第五天，還是羊的事情，把小王子生活的秘密向我揭開了。他好像有個問題默默地思索了很久，終於得出了結論，突然沒頭沒腦地問我：
「綿羊既然吃灌木，那它也吃花兒？」
「它碰到什麼吃什麼。」
「連有刺的花兒也吃？」
「對。有刺的也吃。」
「那麼，刺有什麼用呢？」
我不知道該怎麼回答。當時我正忙著要從發動機上卸下一顆擰得太緊的螺釘。我發現故障似乎很嚴重，飲用水也快完了。我擔心會發生最壞的情況，心裡很著急。
「那麼，刺有什麼用呢？」
小王子只要提了一個問題，就不依不饒地要得到答案。而那個螺釘正弄得我很惱火，我就隨口回答了一句：
「刺呀，什麼用都沒有，純粹是花兒想使壞唄。」
「喔！」
但他沉默了一會兒以後，忿忿然地衝著我說：
「我不信你的話！花兒是纖弱的，天真的。它們想儘量保護自己。它們以為有了刺就會顯得很厲害……」
我沒作聲。我當時想：「要是這顆螺釘再不鬆開，我就一錘子敲掉它。」小王子又打斷了我的思路：
「可你，你卻認為花兒……」
「行了！行了！我什麼也不認為！我只是隨口說說。我正忙著幹正事呢！」
他驚愕地望著我。
「正事！」
他看我握著錘子，手指沾滿油汙，俯身對著一個他覺得非常醜陋的物件。
「你說話就像那些大人！」
這話使我有些難堪。而他毫不留情地接著說：
「你什麼都分不清……你把什麼都攪在一起！」
他真的氣極了，一頭金髮在風中搖曳：
我到過一個星球，上面住著一個紅臉先生。他從沒聞過花香。他從沒望過星星。他從沒愛過一個人。除了算帳，他什麼事也沒做過。他成天像你一樣說個沒完：『我有正事要幹！我有正事要幹！』變得驕氣十足。可是這算不得一個人，他是個蘑菇。」
「是個什麼？」
「是個蘑菇！」
小王子這會兒氣得臉色發白了。
「幾百萬年以前，花兒就長刺了。可幾百萬年以前，羊也早就在吃花兒了。刺什麼用也沒有，那花兒為什麼要費那份勁去長刺呢，把這弄明白難道不是正事嗎？綿羊和花兒的戰爭難道不重要嗎？這難道不比那個胖子紅臉先生的算帳更重要，更是正事嗎？還有，如果我認識一朵世上獨一無二的花兒，除了我的星球，哪兒都找不到這樣的花兒，而有天早上，一隻小羊甚至都不明白自己在做什麼，就一口把花兒吃掉了，這難道不重要嗎！」
他的臉紅了起來，接著往下說：
「如果有個人愛上一朵花兒，好幾百萬好幾百萬顆星星中間，只有一顆上面長著這朵花兒，那他只要望著許許多多星星，就會感到很幸福。他對自己說：『我的花兒就在其中的一顆星星上……』可要是綿羊吃掉了這朵花兒，這對他來說，就好像滿天的星星突然一下子都熄滅了！這難道不重要嗎！」
他說不下去了，突然抽抽噎噎地哭了起來。夜色降臨。我放下手中的工具。錘子呀，螺釘呀，口渴呀，死亡呀，我全都丟在了腦後。在一顆星星，在一顆我所在的行星，在這個地球上，有個小王子需要安慰！我把他抱在懷裡。我搖著他，對他說：「你愛的那朵花兒不會有危險的……我會給你的綿羊畫一隻嘴罩……我會給你的花兒畫一個護欄……我……」我不知道再說什麼好了。我覺得自己笨嘴笨舌的。我不知道怎樣去接近他，打動他……淚水的世界，是多麼神秘啊。
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry （《小王子》作者）
聖埃克蘇佩裡（1900-1944），法國作家。他是法國最早的一代飛行員之一。1940年流亡美國，僑居紐約，埋頭文學創作。1943年參加盟軍在北非的抗戰。1944年他在執行第八次飛行偵察任務時失蹤。其作品主要描述飛行員生活，代表作有小說《夜航》，散文集《人類的大地》《空軍飛行員》，童話《小王子》等。
《小王子》是於1942年寫成的著名兒童文學短篇小說。本書的主人公是來自外星球的小王子。
書中以一位飛行員作為故事敘述者，講述了小王子從自己星球出發前往地球的過程中，所經歷的各種歷險。作者以小王子的孩子式的眼光，透視出成人的空虛、盲目，愚妄和死板教條，用淺顯天真的語言寫出了人類的孤獨寂寞、沒有根基隨風流浪的命運。同時，也表達出作者對金錢關係的批判，對真善美的謳歌。
豆瓣評分 9.0
Peter Ustinov（英）（《小王子》朗讀者）
Peter Ustinov（英），生於英國倫敦，著名演員、導演。中國觀眾最為熟知的角色為《尼羅河慘案》《陽光下的罪惡》等電影裡那位穿著白西裝形象可愛，紳士又不失幽默的大偵探波洛。
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