听书 | The Little Prince（小王子）- 05
《小王子》是法国作家安托万·德·圣·埃克苏佩里（Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ）于1942年写成的著名儿童文学短篇小说。本书的主人公是来自外星球的小王子。
书中以一位飞行员作为故事叙述者，讲述了小王子从自己星球出发前往地球的过程中，所经历的各种历险。作者以小王子的孩子式的眼光，透视出成人的空虚、盲目，愚妄和死板教条，用浅显天真的语言写出了人类的孤独寂寞、没有根基随风流浪的命运。同时，也表达出作者对金钱关系的批判，对真善美的讴歌。
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry （《小王子》作者）
圣埃克苏佩里（1900-1944），法国作家。他是法国最早的一代飞行员之一。1940年流亡美国，侨居纽约，埋头文学创作。1943年参加盟军在北非的抗战。1944年他在执行第八次飞行侦察任务时失踪。其作品主要描述飞行员生活，代表作有小说《夜航》，散文集《人类的大地》《空军飞行员》，童话《小王子》等。
Peter Ustinov（英）（《小王子》朗读者）
Peter Ustinov（英），生于英国伦敦，著名演员、导演。中国观众最为熟知的角色为《尼罗河惨案》《阳光下的罪恶》等电影里那位穿着白西装形象可爱，绅士又不失幽默的大侦探波洛。
往期目录
朗读 Peter Ustinov【英】 | 译者：周克希
As each day passed I would learn, in our talk, something about the little prince's planet, his departure from it, his journey. The information would come very slowly, as it might chance to fall from his thoughts. It was in this way that I heard, on the third day, about the catastrophe of the baobabs.
This time, once more, I had the sheep to thank for it. For the little prince asked me abruptly-- as if seized by a grave doubt-- "It is true, isn't it, that sheep eat little bushes?"
"Yes, that is true."
"Ah! I am glad!"
I did not understand why it was so important that sheep should eat little bushes. But the little prince added:
"Then it follows that they also eat baobabs?"
I pointed out to the little prince that baobabs were not little bushes, but, on the contrary, trees as big as castles; and that even if he took a whole herd of elephants away with him, the herd would not eat up one single baobab.
The idea of the herd of elephants made the little prince laugh.
"We would have to put them one on top of the other," he said.
But he made a wise comment:
"Before they grow so big, the baobabs start out by being little."
"That is strictly correct," I said. "But why do you want the sheep to eat the little baobabs?"
He answered me at once, "Oh, come, come!", as if he were speaking of something that was self-evident. And I was obliged to make a great mental effort to solve this problem, without any assistance.
Indeed, as I learned, there were on the planet where the little prince lived-- as on all planets-- good plants and bad plants. In consequence, there were good seeds from good plants, and bad seeds from bad plants. But seeds are invisible. They sleep deep in the heart of the earth's darkness, until some one among them is seized with the desire to awaken. Then this little seed will stretch itself and begin-- timidly at first-- to push a charming little sprig inoffensively upward toward the sun. If it is only a sprout of radish or the sprig of a rose-bush, one would let it grow wherever it might wish. But when it is a bad plant, one must destroy it as soon as possible, the very first instant that one recognizes it.
Now there were some terrible seeds on the planet that was the home of the little prince; and these were the seeds of the baobab. The soil of that planet was infested with them. A baobab is something you will never, never be able to get rid of if you attend to it too late. It spreads over the entire planet. It bores clear through it with its roots. And if the planet is too small, and the baobabs are too many, they split it in pieces...
"It is a question of discipline," the little prince said to me later on. "When you've finished your own toilet in the morning, then it is time to attend to the toilet of your planet, just so, with the greatest care. You must see to it that you pull up regularly all the baobabs, at the very first moment when they can be distinguished from the rosebushes which they resemble so closely in their earliest youth. It is very tedious work," the little prince added, "but very easy."
And one day he said to me: "You ought to make a beautiful drawing, so that the children where you live can see exactly how all this is. That would be very useful to them if they were to travel some day. Sometimes," he added, "there is no harm in putting off a piece of work until another day. But when it is a matter of baobabs, that always means a catastrophe. I knew a planet that was inhabited by a lazy man. He neglected three little bushes..."
So, as the little prince described it to me, I have made a drawing of that planet. I do not much like to take the tone of a moralist. But the danger of the baobabs is so little understood, and such considerable risks would be run by anyone who might get lost on an asteroid, that for once I am breaking through my reserve. "Children," I say plainly, "watch out for the baobabs!"
My friends, like myself, have been skirting this danger for a long time, without ever knowing it; and so it is for them that I have worked so hard over this drawing. The lesson which I pass on by this means is worth all the trouble it has cost me.
Perhaps you will ask me, "Why are there no other drawing in this book as magnificent and impressive as this drawing of the baobabs?"
The reply is simple. I have tried. But with the others I have not been successful. When I made the drawing of the baobabs I was carried beyond myself by the inspiring force of urgent necessity.
每天我都会知道一些情况，或者是关于他的星球，或者是关于他怎么离开那儿、怎么来到这儿。这些情况，都是一点一点，碰巧知道的。比如说，在第三天，我知道了猴面包树的悲剧。
这一回，起因又是那只绵羊，因为小王子突然向我发问，好像忧心忡忡似的：
“绵羊当真吃灌木吗？”
“对。当真。”
“啊！我真高兴。”
我不明白，绵羊吃灌木，为什么会这么重要。小王子接着又说：
“这么说，它们也吃猴面包树喽？”
我告诉小王子，猴面包树不是灌木，而是像教堂那么高的大树，他就是领一群大象来，也吃不完一棵猴面包树呢。
领一群大象来的想法，惹得小王子笑了起来：
“那得让它们叠罗汉了……”
不过他很聪明，接着又说：
“猴面包树在长高以前，起初也是小小的。”
“一点不错。可你为什么想让绵羊去吃小猴面包树呢？”
他回答说：“咦！这还不明白吗！”就像这是件不言而喻的事情。可是我自己要弄懂这个问题，还着实得动一番脑筋哩。
原来，在小王子的星球上，就像在别的星球上一样，有好的植物，也有不好的植物。结果呢，好植物有好种子，坏植物有坏种子。而种子是看不见的。它们悄悄地睡在地底下，直到有一天，其中有一颗忽然想起要醒了……于是它舒展身子，最先羞答答地朝太阳伸出一枝天真可爱的嫩苗。假如那是萝卜或玫瑰的幼苗，可以让它爱怎么长就怎么长。不过，假如那是一株不好的植物，一认出就得拔掉它。在小王子的星球上有一种可怕的种子……就是猴面包树的种子。星球的土壤里有好多猴面包树种子。而猴面包树长得很快，动手稍稍一慢，就甭想再除掉它了。它会占满整个星球，根枝钻来钻去，四处蔓延。要是这颗星球太小，而猴面包树又太多，它们就会把星球撑裂。
“这就得有个严格的约束了，”小王子后来告诉我说。“你早晨梳洗好以后，就该仔仔细细地给星球梳洗了。猴面包树小的时候，跟玫瑰幼苗是很像的，那你就得给自己立个规矩，只要分清了哪是玫瑰，哪是猴面包树，就马上把猴面包树拔掉。这个工作很单调，但并不难。”
有一天，他劝我好好画一幅画，好让我那儿的孩子们都知道这回事。“要是他们有一天出门旅行，”他对我说，“说不定会用得着。有时候，你把一件该做的事耽搁一下，也没什么关系。可是，碰到猴面包树，这就要捅大娄子了。我知道有一个星球，上面住着一个懒人。有三株幼苗他没在意……”
在小王子的指点下，我画好了那颗星球。我一向不愿意摆出说教的架势。可是对猴面包树的危害，一般人都不了解，要是有人碰巧迷了路停在一颗小行星上，情况就会变得极其严峻。所以这一次，我破例抛开了矜持。我说：“孩子们！当心猴面包树啊！”这幅画我画得格外卖力，就是为了提醒朋友们有这么一种危险存在，他们也像我一样，对在身边潜伏了很久的危险一直毫无觉察。要让大家明白这道理，我多费点劲也是值得的。你们也许会想：“在这本书里，别的画为什么都没有这幅来得奔放有力呢？”回答很简单：我同样努力了，但没能成功。画猴面包树时，我内心非常焦急，情绪就受到了感染。