[ Chapter 17 ]
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 k now it.[/en
]当人们想们想要说得俏皮些的时候,说话就可能会不大实在。在给你们讲点灯人的时候,我就不那么忠实,很可能给不了解我们这个星球的人们造成一个错误的概念。
[en]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.
在地球上,人们所占的位置非常小。如果住在地球上的二十亿居民全站着,并且象开大会一样靠得紧些,那么就可以从容地站在一个二十海里见方的广场上。也就是说可以把整个人类集中在太平洋中一个最小的岛屿上。
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.
当然,大人们是不会相信你们的。他们自以为要占很大地方,他们把自己看得象猴面包树那样大得了不起。
You should advise them, then, to make their own calculations. They adore fig ures, 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.
你们可以建议他们计算一下。这样会使他们很高兴,因为他们非常喜欢数目字。可是你们无须浪费时间去做这种乏味的连篇累牍的演算。这没有必要。你们可以完全相信我。
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.
小王子到了地球上感到非常奇怪,他一个人也没有看到,他正担心自己跑错了星球。这时,在沙地上有一个月光色的圆环在蠕动。
"Good evening," said the little prince courteously.
小王子毫无把握地随便说了声:“晚安。”
"Good evening," said the snake.
“晚安。”蛇说道。
"What planet is this on which I have come down?" asked the little prince.
“我落在什么行星上?”小王子问道。
"This is the Earth; this is Africa," the snake answered.
“在地球上,在非洲。”蛇回答道。