小王子 Le Petit Prince‧Chap1

我六歲的時候，在一本描寫有關原始森林的書上看到一張壯麗的畫，那本書叫做「自然的真實故事」，那是一隻蟒蛇正在吞食一隻動物的畫，這就是那張畫的複寫。

那本書上說：「蟒蛇沒有咀嚼，就把牠的獵物整個吞下，之後牠便沒法動，牠需要睡六個月來消化肚子裡的東西。」我對這些叢林的探險深思一番之後，就用一隻彩色鉛筆動手完成了我的第一張畫，我的第一張畫就像這樣。

我把我的傑作拿給大人看，然後問他們，我的畫是不是很可怕？
但大人卻回答：「可怕？一頂帽子怎麼會可怕？」
我畫的不是一頂帽子。是一隻大蟒蛇在消化一隻象。但大人們不能理解我的畫，於是我又畫了一張大蟒蛇肚子裡的樣子，這樣大人們應該可以看得更清處，大人總是需要很多解釋。我的第二張畫就像這樣。

這時那些大人們的反應是勸我放下那些大蟒蛇的畫，把興趣放在地理、歷史、算術和文法上面。那就是為什麼我在六歲的時候，就放棄了畫家這個偉大的志業。我對我第一張和第二張畫的失敗感到灰心。大人們從來不會暸解事情，而對小孩來說，要一直向他們解釋，是一件令人厭煩的事。

所以我選擇了另一個職業，學會駕駛飛機。世界上的每個角落我幾乎都飛過了。對我來說地理的確是很有用，我一眼就可以分辨中國和亞利桑那，在夜裡迷失時，這樣的知識是很有用的。

在這一生中，我接觸了很多總是嚴肅的人，我在很多大人之中生活。我更近、更密切地觀察他們，但這並沒有因此改變我對他們的看法。

每當我遇見一個看起來比較精明的人時，我就會做一個實驗，把我一直保存的第一張畫給他看，我想知道這個人是不是真的有理解力，但我得到的回答總是「這是一頂帽子。」，不管這個人是男的還是女的。於是我就不再跟他談蟒蛇、原始森林或星星。我會遷就他，談橋牌、高爾夫球、政治或者領帶，然後這個大人就會很高興能認識像我這樣通情達理的人。

Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.

In the book it said: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion."

I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked something like this:

I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.

But they answered: "Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?"

My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of a boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:

The grown-ups' response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar. That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.

So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.

In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn't much improved my opinion of them.

Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say:

"That is a hat."

Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.

註：《小王子》是法國童話，法文原書名為Le Petit Prince，作者是聖艾修伯里，1943年在紐約出版，被譯成超過 180種語言，銷售量超過8千萬冊，還有拍成電影和動畫片、改編成話劇和音樂劇演出。

圖片出處：http://www.odaha.com/