听书 | The Little Prince（小王子）- 22/23
《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
01、02、03、04、05、06、07、08、09、10、11、12/13、14、15、16/17、18/19/20、21
"Good morning," said the little prince.
"Good morning," said the railway switchman.
"What do you do here?" the little prince asked.
"I sort out travelers, in bundles of a thousand," said the switchman. "I send off the trains that carry them; now to the right, now to the left."
And a brilliantly lighted express train shook the switchman's cabin as it rushed by with a roar like thunder.
"They are in a great hurry," said the little prince. "What are they looking for?"
"Not even the locomotive engineer knows that," said the switchman.
And a second brilliantly lighted express thundered by, in the opposite direction.
"Are they coming back already?" demanded the little prince.
"These are not the same ones," said the switchman. "It is an exchange."
"Were they not satisfied where they were?" asked the little prince.
"No one is ever satisfied where he is," said the switchman.
And they heard the roaring thunder of a third brilliantly lighted express.
"Are they pursuing the first travelers?" demanded the little prince.
"They are pursuing nothing at all," said the switchman. "They are asleep in there, or if they are not asleep they are yawning. Only the children are flattening their noses against the windowpanes."
"Only the children know what they are looking for," said the little prince. "They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them; and if anybody takes it away from them, they cry..."
"They are lucky," the switchman said.
"Good morning," said the little prince.
"Good morning," said the merchant.
This was a merchant who sold pills that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need of anything to drink.
"Why are you selling those?" asked the little prince.
"Because they save a tremendous amount of time," said the merchant. "Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week."
"And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?"
"Anything you like..."
"As for me," said the little prince to himself, "if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water."
“你好，”小王子说。
“你好，”扳道工说。
“你在这儿做什么？”小王子问。
“我在分送旅客，一千人一拨，”扳道工说，“我发送运载旅客的列车，一会儿往右，一会儿往左。”
说着，一列灯火通明的快车，像打雷似的轰鸣着驶过，震得扳道房直打颤。
“他们好匆忙，”小王子说，“他们去找什么呢？”
“开火车的人自己也不知道，”扳道工说。
说话间，又一列灯火通明的快车，朝相反的方向轰鸣而去。
“他们已经回来了？”小王子问。
“不是刚才的那列，”扳道工说，“这是对开列车。”
“他们对原来的地方不满意吗？”
“人们对自己的地方从来不会满意，”扳道工说。
第三列灯火通明的快车轰鸣着驶过。
“他们是去追赶第一批旅客吗？”小王子问。
“他们没追赶谁，”扳道工说，“他们在里面睡觉，或者打哈欠。只有孩子把鼻子贴在窗上看外面。”
“只有孩子知道自己在找什么，”小王子说，“他们在一个布娃娃身上花了好些时间，她对他们来说就成了很重要的东西。要是有人夺走他们的布娃娃，他们会哭的……”
“他们真幸运，”扳道工说。
“你好，”小王子说。
“你好，”商人说。
他是个卖复方止渴丸的商人。每星期只要吞服一粒，就不会感到口渴了。
“你为什么要卖这东西？”小王子问。
“它可以大大节约时间，”商人说，“专家做过计算。每星期可以省下五十三分钟。”
“省下的五十三分钟做什么用呢？”
“随便怎么用都行……”
“我呀，”小王子心想，“要是我省下这五十三分钟，我就不慌不忙地朝泉水走去……”