Chapter 8-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《小王子The Little Prince》

8 I soon learned to know this flower better.On the little prince's planet the flowers had always been very simple.They had only one ring of petals;they took up no room at all;they were a trouble to nobody. One morning they would appear in the grass,and by night they would have faded peacefully away.But one day,from a seed blown from no one knew where,a new flower had come up;and the little prince had watched very closely over this small sprout which was not like any other small sprouts on his planet.It might,you see,have been a new kind of baobab. But the shrub soon stopped growing,and began to get ready to produce a flower.The little prince,who was present at the first appearance of a huge bud,felt at once that some sort of miraculous apparition must emerge from it.But the flower was not satisfied to complete the preparations for her beauty in the shelter of her green chamber.She chose her colors with the greatest care.She dressed herself slowly.She adjusted her petals one by one.She did not wish to go out into the world all rumpled⑧，like the field poppies⑨.It was only in the full radiance of her beauty that she wished to appear.Oh,yes! ·048· 8 很快地，我对这株花有了更进一步的了解。在 ①ring//n.圆环、圆圈 小王子的行星上，花始终是非常简单的东西，它 ②petal'petl/n.花瓣 们只有一圈花瓣，而且又不占空间，不会带给任 何人麻烦。早晨它们在草丛里盛开，一到夜晚就 悄悄地调谢了。直到有一天，不知从何处飘送来 一颗种子，又长出一株新的花。小王子自此一心 一意地留意这株新苗，因为它和行星上其他幼苗 sprout/spraut/.n新芽，嫩 都不同。你知道的，它很有可能是猴面包树的新 枝 品种呢！ 但是这棵新苗不久就不 ④get ready准备好 再生长了，并且开始孕育一 朵花苞。当小王子一看见巨 5apparition /apo'rfon/n. 大的花苞时他就意识到会有 特异景象 奇异的事情发生了。然而花 ⑥shelter"felta/n.遭蔽；保 护 朵仍旧在绿叶包围中细心打 ⑦chamber'tfeimba/n.房 扮自己的花容。她为自己挑选最绚丽的色彩，慢慢 间 地装扮自己，然后再一一梳理花瓣。她不愿意像虞 ⑧rumple /'rAmpl/(把头发 等)弄乱 美人一般，披头散发地来到这个世界。她一心一意 ⑨poppy/pop/h.罂栗 只想艳冠群芳。没错！她可真是千娇百媚，而且已 ·049· The Little Prince She was a coquettish①creature！And her mysterious adornment②lasted for days and days. Then one morning,exactly at sunrise,she suddenly showed herself. And,after working with all this painstaking③precision④，she yawned and said, "Ah!I am scarcely awake.I beg that you will excuse me.My petals are still all disarranged⑤..” But the little prince could not restrain his admiration, “Oh！How beautiful you are!" “Am I not?”the flower responded,sweetly.“And I was born at the same moment as the sun..." The little prince could guess easily enough that she was not any too modest-but how moving-and exciting-she was! “I think it is time for breakfast,.”she added an instant later..“If you would have the kindness to think of my needs-" And the little prince,completely abashed,went to look for a sprinkling-can of fresh water.So,he tended the flower. So,too,she began very quickly to torment him with her vanity which was,if the truth be known,a little difficult to deal with.One ·050· 小王子 ①coquettish /kau'ket/a.迷 经秘密打扮了好几天。 人的 一天早上，太阳刚刚露脸，她突然开放了。 花尽心思装扮之后，她慵懒地打着哈欠说： 2adornment /a'do:nmant/n. “啊！我还没完全清醒。实在很抱歉！我的花瓣 装饰，装饰品 painstaking /peinsteikin/a. 还乱糟糟的…” 用心的：煞费苦心的 但是小王子仍情不自禁地称赞道： ④precision /prr'sI3n/n确度， “哦！你真美啊！” 精心 5 disarrange /disa'reind3/v. “那当然，”花甜甜地说，“而且我和太阳同一个 乱，弄乱 时辰出生…” 小王子毫不费力地看出她很骄傲—但是，她 是多么令人心动啊！ “我想该是吃早餐的时候了。”她停了一会儿， 继续说道，“请你别忘了我那份儿一” 小王子羞愧极了，立即 用喷壶装了一壶净水来浇 ⑥restrain/rs'trein/v.o制： 花。于是，他开始细心照 约束 料这朵花。 不久，这朵爱慕虚荣的 花就开始折磨小王子一 说实在的，这有点儿令人 难以招架。比如，有一天 她谈到了她身上的那四根刺，她对小王子说： “这足以对付张牙舞爪的老虎。” “我的小行星上没有老虎，”小王子抗议地说， abashed /'baft/a.不安的， 奢迫的 “何况老虎是不吃草的。” ⑧sprinkling--can喷壶 “我可不是一棵草。”花儿甜甜地说。 ②torment/to:ment/k折磨 “很抱歉.” )vanity /'vanit/n虚荣心 “我才不怕老虎呢！”她接着说道，“可是我怕 风。我想你会替我架设一扇屏风吧？” ·051· The Little Prince day,for instance,when she was speaking of her four thorns,she said to the little prince, "Let the tigers come with their claws!" “There are no tigers on my planet,.”the little prince objected①. “And,anyway,.tigers do not eat weeds.” “I am not a weed,.”the flower replied,sweetly. “Please excuse me...” “I am not at all afraid of tigers,”she went on,“but I have a horror of drafts.I suppose you wouldn't have a screen for me?" "A horror of drafts-that is bad luck,for a plant."remarked the little prince,and added to himself,"This flower is a very complex creature..” "At night I want you to put me under a glass globe.It is very cold where you live.In the place I came from-" But she interrupted herself at that point.She had come in the form of a seed.She could not have known anything of any other worlds. Embarrassed over having let herself be caught on the verge of such a naive untruth,she coughed two or three times,in order to put the little prince in the wrong. “The screen?" "I was just going to look for it when you spoke to me..." Then she forced her cough a little more so that he should suffer from remorse just the same. So the little prince,in spite of all the good will that was inseparable from his love,had soon come to doubt her.He had taken seriously words which were without importance,and it made him very unhappy. ·052· 小王子 “怕风一这对植物 而言，真是可悲啊！”小 王子喃喃自语地说着， ①object./b'd3ekt/y.反对， “这朵花真是麻烦…” 拒绝，抗议 “晚上，我希望你把 我安置在有玻璃罩的地 方。你住的地方好冷啊。我以前住的地方—” 话说到这里，她就不再说下去了。她来的时候， ②screen/skri:n/n.掩蔽物， 还只是一颗种子，根本不可能知道外面的世界是什 屏风 么模样。她为撒了一个让人一眼识破的幼稚的谎感 到羞愧，于是刻意咳了两三声，好转移小王子的注 意力。 “屏风呢？” ③embarrass/im'bers/.使 困窘，使局促不安 ④verge /v3:d/n.边缘 ⑤naive /na:'ivla.幼稚的 “我正想去找呢，可你又跟我说话了…” 她再用力地咳了几声，好叫小王子更加自责。 所以，虽然小王子仍对她关怀如昔，却也开始 remorse/m'm3:s/n懊悔， 对她心怀疑虑了。他总是对一些不甚重要的话耿耿 自责 ⑦in spite of不管 于怀，因而终日悒悒不乐。 inseparable /n'separabl/a. “我不应该听信她的话。”有一天他对我倾吐心 不能分的 事，“任何人都不应该听从花的话；只需欣赏花， 闻闻她的芳香就可以了。我的小行星充盈着她的香 ·053· The Little Prince "I ought not to have listened to her,"he confided to me one day. "One never ought to listen to the flowers.One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance.Mine perfumed all my planet.But I did not know how to take pleasure in all her grace.This tale of claws, which disturbed me so much,should only have filled my heart with tenderness and pity.” And he continued his confidences④： "The fact is that I did not know how to understand anything!I ought to have judged by deeds and not by words.She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me.I ought never to have run away from her...I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems.Flowers are so inconsistent!But I was too young to know how to love her..” ·054· 小王子 ①confide/kan'fad/v.领诉 味。但我却不知道该如何从中得到喜悦。这老虎爪 子的故事令我不安。实际上，我的心中本该是满怀 ②fragrance /freigrans/n.芬 同情和怜悯的呀！” 芳，香气，香味 接着他又说： take pleasure in乐于 “事实上，我还不知道该如何去了解整件事情！ 我不应该只听她说而不以她的行为来做评论。她用 confidence /konfrdans/n. 她的香味和炫丽的花色来迷惑我，我不应该逃避 私房话，知心话 她…我早就应该想到这拙劣伎俩的背后是款款的 ⑤affection/a'fekJn/n.喜爱， 深情。花总是表里不一，而我太年轻了，不知道该 爱慕 怎样爱护她…” stratagem /straetid3am/n. 战略，计谋 ⑦inconsistent /nkn's1st3nt/a.反复无 常，易变的 ·055·