“几百万年以来花儿都有刺,几百万年以来绵羊都在吃带刺的花。要搞清楚为什么花儿费那么大劲给自己长了没有什么用的刺,这难道不是正经事?难道绵羊和花之间的战争不重要?这难道不比那个大胖子红脸先生的账目更重要?如果我认识一朵人世间唯一的花,只有我的星球上有它,别的地方都不存在,而一只小绵羊在某个早上一口就能把它毁掉,这难道不重要?”
他的脸变红了,接着说道:
“如果有人爱上了在这亿万颗星星中独一无二的一株花,当他看着这些星星的时候,这就足以使他感到幸福。他可以对自己说:‘我的那朵花就在其中的一颗星星上……’但是如果羊吃掉了这朵花,对他来说,好像所有的星星一下子全都熄灭了一样!这难道也不重要吗?”
他无法再说下去了,突然泣不成声。
夜幕已经降临。我放下手中的工具。我把锤子、螺钉、饥渴、死亡全都抛在脑后。在一颗星球上,在一颗行星上,在我的行星上,在地球上有一个小王子需要安慰!我把他抱在怀里。我摇着他,对他说:“你爱的那朵花没有危险……我会给你的小绵羊画一个口套……我会给你的花画一圈护栏……我会……”
我也不太知道该说些什么。我觉得自己太笨拙,并且犯了大错。我不知道应该如何接近他,如何理解他的话,如何重新和他手拉手,走在一起。
泪水的世界是多么神秘啊!
Chapter7
Onthefifthday—again,asalways,itwasthankstothesheep—thesecretofthelittleprince’slifewasrevealedtome。Abruptly,withoutanythingtoleaduptoit,andasifthequestionhadbeenbornoflongandsilentmeditationonhisproblem,hedemanded:"Asheep—ifiteatslittlebushes,doesiteatflowers,too""Asheep,"Ianswered,"eatsanythingitfindsinitsreach。""Evenflowersthathavethorns""Yes,evenflowersthathavethorns。""Thenthethorns—whatusearethey"Ididnotknow。AtthatmomentIwasverybusytryingtounscrewaboltthathadgotstuckinmyengine。Iwasverymuchworried,foritwasbecomingcleartomethatthebreakdownofmyplanewasextremelyserious。AndIhadsolittledrinking-waterleftthatIhadtofearfortheworst。
"Thethorns—whatusearethey"Thelittleprinceneverletgoofaquestion,oncehehadaskedit。Asforme,Iwasupsetoverthatbolt。AndIansweredwiththefirstthingthatcameintomyhead:"Thethornsareofnouseatall。Flowershavethornsjustforspite!""Oh!"
Therewasamomentofcompletesilence。Thenthelittleprinceflashedbackatme,withakindofresentfulness:"Idon’tbelieveyou!Flowersareweakcreatures。Theyarename。Theyreassurethemselvesasbesttheycan。Theybelievethattheirthornsareterribleweapons。。。"Ididnotanswer。AtthatinstantIwassayingtomyself:"Ifthisboltstillwon’tturn,Iamgoingtoknockitoutwiththehammer。"Againthelittleprincedisturbedmythoughts。
"Andyouactuallybelievethattheflowers--""Oh,no!"Icried。"No,nono!Idon’tbelieveanything。Iansweredyouwiththefirstthingthatcameintomyhead。Don’tyousee—Iamverybusywithmattersofconsequence!"Hestaredatme,thunderstruck。
"Mattersofconsequence!"
Helookedatmethere,withmyhammerinmyhand,myfingersblackwithengine-grease,bendingdownoveranobjectwhichseemedtohimextremelyugly。。。
"Youtalkjustlikethegrown-ups!"Thatmademealittleashamed。Buthewenton,relentlessly:"Youmixeverythinguptogether。。。Youconfuseeverything。。。"Hewasreallyveryangry。Hetossedhisgoldencurlsinthebreeze。
"Iknowaplanetwherethereisacertainred-facedgentleman。Hehasneversmelledaflower。Hehasneverlookedatastar。Hehasneverlovedanyone。Hehasneverdoneanythinginhislifebutaddupfigures。Andalldayhesaysoverandover,justlikeyou:‘Iambusywithmattersofconsequence!‘Andthatmakeshimswellupwithpride。Butheisnotaman—heisamushroom!""Awhat"
"Amushroom!"
Thelittleprincewasnowwhitewithrage。
"Theflowershavebeengrowingthornsformillionsofyears。Formillionsofyearsthesheephavebeeneatingthemjustthesame。AndisitnotamatterofconsequencetotrytounderstandwhytheflowersgotosomuchtroubletogrowthornswhichareneverofanyusetothemIsthewarfarebetweenthesheepandtheflowersnotimportantIsthisnotofmoreconsequencethanafatred-facedgentleman’ssumsAndifIknow—I,myself—oneflowerwhichisuniqueintheworld,whichgrowsnowherebutonmyplanet,butwhichonelittlesheepcandestroyinasinglebitesomemorning,withoutevennoticingwhatheisdoing—Oh!Youthinkthatisnotimportant!"Hisfaceturnedfromwhitetoredashecontinued:“Ifsomeonelovesaflower,ofwhichjustonesingleblossomgrowsinallthemillionsandmillionsofstars,itisenoughtomakehimhappyjusttolookatthestars。Hecansaytohimself,’Somewhere,myfloweristhere。。。’Butifthesheepeatstheflower,inonemomentallhisstarswillbedarkened。。。Andyouthinkthatisnotimportant!”Hecouldnotsayanythingmore。Hiswordswerechokedbysobbing。
Thenighthadfallen。Ihadletmytoolsdropfrommyhands。Ofwhatmomentnowwasmyhammer,mybolt,orthirst,ordeathOnonestar,oneplanet,myplanet,theEarth,therewasalittleprincetobecomforted。Itookhiminmyarms,androckedhim。Isaidtohim:"Theflowerthatyouloveisnotindanger。Iwilldrawyouamuzzleforyoursheep。Iwilldrawyouarailingtoputaroundyourflower。Iwill—"Ididnotknowwhattosaytohim。Ifeltawkwardandblundering。IdidnotknowhowIcouldreachhim,whereIcouldovertakehimandgoonhandinhandwithhimoncemore。
Itissuchasecretplace,thelandoftears。