Chapter 27 再见，小王子

Chapter 27

And now six years have already gone by. . .

现在六年已经过去了……

I have never yet told this story.

我还从未讲过这个故事。

The companions who met me on my return were well content to see me alive.

在我回来时看见我的同伴们看见我还活着都很高兴。

I was sad, but I told them: "I am tired."

我却很悲伤，但我告诉他们：“我累了。”

Now my sorrow is comforted a little. That is to say -- not entirely.

现在，我的悲伤稍微得到了些安慰。那就是说——不是彻底地。

But I know that he did go back to his planet, because I did not find his body at daybreak.

可我知道他确实回到了他的星球上，因为那天黎明，我没有找到他的身体。

It was not such a heavy body. . . and at night I love to listen to the stars.

它不是那么重的身体……从此，我就喜欢在夜间倾听星星。

It is like five hundred million little bells. . .

就像五亿个小铃铛……

But there is one extraordinary thing. . .

但有一件不寻常的事情......

When I drew the muzzle for the little prince, I forgot to add the leather strap to it.

我给小王子画羊嘴套的时候，忘了给它加上皮带！

He will never have been able to fasten it on his sheep.

他永远也不可能把它套在羊嘴上。

So now I keep wondering: what is happening on his planet? Perhaps the sheep has eaten the flower. . .

所以现在我一直在想：他的星球上发生了什么事呢？大概小羊把花吃掉了吧……

At one time I say to myself: "Surely not! The little prince shuts his flower under her glass globe every night, and he watches over his sheep very carefully. . ."

我一度对自己说，“肯定不会的！小王子每天夜里都把他的花藏在她的玻璃罩子下，而且他很小心地看管着他的羊……”

Then I am happy. And there is sweetness in the laughter of all the stars.

然后我就高兴了。所有星星的笑声里都有着甜蜜。

But at another time I say to myself:

但其他的时候我又对自己说：

"At some moment or other one is absent-minded, and that is enough!

“人们有一刻或者另一刻会心不在焉，那就够了！

On some one evening he forgot the glass globe, or the sheep got out, without making any noise, in the night. . ."

某一天晚上他忘了玻璃罩子，或者小羊夜里不声不响地跑出来……”

And then the little bells are changed to tears. . .

然后小铃铛都变成泪珠了......

Here, then, is a great mystery.

那么这里是巨大的奥秘。

For you who also love the little prince, and for me, nothing in the universe can be the same if somewhere, we do not know where, a sheep that we never saw has -- yes or no? -- eaten a rose. . .

对你们这些也喜欢小王子的人来说，对于我来说，宇宙中没有什么东西能一样，如果在我们不知道的某处，一只我们从来没见过的羊，是不是吃掉了一朵玫瑰......

Look up at the sky.

仰视天空。

Ask yourselves: is it yes or no?

问问你们自己：是还是不是？

Has the sheep eaten the flower?

羊吃掉花了吗？

And you will see how everything changes. . .

然后你们就会看见所有的东西是怎样变化的……

And no grown-up will ever understand that this is a matter of so much importance!

没有大人会明白，这是一件那么重要的事情。

This is, to me, the loveliest and saddest landscape in the world. It is the same as that on the preceding page, but I have drawn it again to impress it on your memory. It is here that the little prince appeared on Earth, and disappeared.

对我来说，这是世界上最美也是最凄凉的地方。它与前一页画的是同一个地方。我再一次将它画出来，为的是好让你们看清楚。就是在这里，小王子出现在地球上，后来，也正是在这里消失了的。

Look at it carefully so that you will be sure to recognize it in case you travel some day to the African desert. And, if you should come upon this spot, please do not hurry on. Wait for a time, exactly under the star.

请你们仔细看看这个地方，以便你们有一天去非洲沙漠上旅行的时候，能够准确地辨认出这个地方。如果，你们有机会经过这个地方，我请求你们不要匆匆而过，请你们就在那颗星星底下等一等！

Then, if a little man appears who laughs, who has golden hair and who refuses to answer questions, you will know who he is. If this should happen, please comfort me. Send me word that he has come back.

如果这时，有个小孩子向你走来，如果他笑着，他有金黄色的头发，如果当你问他问题时他不回答，你一定会猜得出他是谁。那就请你们帮个忙，不要让我这么忧伤：赶快写信告诉我，他又回来了...