The Little Prince Chapter 9

The Little Prince Chapter 9

I believe that for his escape he took advantage of the migration of a flock of wild birds.

我想小王子大概是利用一群候鸟迁徙的机会离开的。

On the morning of his departure he put his planet in perfect order.

在出发的那天早上，小王子把他的星球收拾得整整齐齐。

He carefully cleaned out his active volcanoes. He possessed two active volcanoes; and they were very convenient for heating his breakfast in the morning. 

他把活火山打扫得干干净净——他有两个活火山，早上用来热热早餐很方便。

He also had one volcano that was extinct. But, as he said, "One never knows!" So he cleaned out the extinct volcano, too. 

他还有一座死火山，但他觉得，“也许以后还会喷发呢！” 于是也把它打扫干净了。

If they are well cleaned out, volcanoes burn slowly and steadily, without any eruptions. Volcanic eruptions are like fires in a chimney.

它们就可以慢慢地有规律地燃烧，而不会突然爆发。火山爆发就像烟囱里的火焰一样。

On our earth we are obviously much too small to clean out our volcanoes. That is why they bring no end of trouble uponus.

很显然，在地球上，我们人太小，没办法清理火山，所以它们带来了很多麻烦。

The little prince also pulled up, with a certain sense of dejection, the last little shoots of the baobabs. 

小王子还把剩下的最后几颗猴面包树苗全拔了。

He believed that he would never want to return. 

他有点忧伤，以为他再也不会回来了。

But on this last morning all these familiar tasks seemed very precious to him. 

这天，这些熟悉的家务活使他感到特别亲切。

And when he watered the flower for the last time, and prepared to place her under the shelter of her glass globe, he realised that he was very close to tears.

他给花儿浇了最后一次水，准备为她盖上玻璃罩，这时，他发现自己很想哭。

"Goodbye," he said to the flower.

“再见了。”他对花儿说道。

But she made no answer.

可是花儿没有回答他。

"Goodbye," he said again.

“再见了。”他又说了一遍。

The flower coughed. But it was not because she had a cold.

花儿咳嗽了一阵，但并不是由于感冒。

"I have been silly," she said to him, at last. "I ask your forgiveness. Try to be happy…"

她终于对他说道：“我以前真傻。原谅我吧，祝你幸福......” 

He was surprised by this absence of reproaches. He stood there all bewildered, the glass globe held arrested in mid-air. He did not understand this quiet sweetness.

他很惊讶，花儿竟然没有责怪他。他举着罩子，不知所措地站在那里。他不明白她为什么会这样温柔。

"Of course I love you," the flower said to him. "It is my fault that you have not known it all the while. That is of no importance. 

“是的，我是爱你的。”花儿对他说道：“但是你却一直不知道，这是我的错。可是这丝毫不重要。

But you—— you have been just as foolish as I. Try to be happy… let the glass globe be. I don't want it any more."

不过，你也和我一样傻。祝你幸福。把玻璃罩放在一边吧，我再也不想用它了。”

"But the wind——"

“要是风来了怎么办？”

"My cold is not so bad as all that…the cool night air will do me good. I am a flower."

“我的感冒没有那么严重……夜晚的凉风对我倒有好处。我是一朵花。”

"But the animals——"

“要是有虫子或野兽呢？”

"Well, I must endure the presence of two or three caterpillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies. It seems that they are very beautiful. 

“我要是想认识蝴蝶，就必须忍受毛毛虫。据说这是很美的。

And if not the butterflies——and the caterpillars——who will call upon me? You will be far away… as for the large animals—— I am not at all afraid of any of them. I have my claws."

不然还有谁来看我呢？你就要到远处去了。至于说大动物，我并不怕，我有爪子。”

And, naïvely, she showed her four thorns.Then she added:

于是，她天真地显露出她那四根刺，随后又说道：

"Don't linger like this. You have decided to go away. Now go!"

“别这么磨蹭了。既然决定离开这儿，那么，快走吧！”

For she did not want him to see her crying. She was such a proud flower…

因为她不想让小王子看见她流泪。她真是朵骄傲的花啊......