當一個人想賣弄風趣的時候，往往會扯一點謊。關於我講的那些點燈人的故事，並不是全然的真實，這可能會讓那些不認識地球的人產生一些錯誤的觀念。
其實人類在地球上所佔的空間很小，假如地球上的20億人口緊靠著站立，就像有些大型聚會一樣，他們能夠輕易的擠進一個二十平方公里的公共廣場。這樣的話，所有的人類可以被堆放在太平洋的一個小島上。
當然囉，如果你跟那些大人們這樣說，他們是不會相信的，他們認為自己佔有很大的空間，自以為像猢猻樹一樣重要，你可以建議他們自己算算看，他們崇拜數字，數字可以取悅他們。但是不要浪費你的時間在這些無謂的課外作業上，這是沒有用的，相信我。
小王子對於他抵達地球時看不見半個人感到十分驚訝，他開始擔心是不是自己走錯了地方，當他看到沙地上一個金黃色蜷曲的東西在月光下閃爍，他脫口而出：「晚安！」
「這是哪個星球？」小王子問。
「這是地球，而這裡是非洲。」那條蛇回答他。
「啊！...那麼地球上沒有人嗎？」小王子問。
「這裡是沙漠，沙漠裡沒有人，地球是很大的。」那條蛇說。
小王子坐在一塊石頭上，抬頭望著天空說：「我在想，天空裡閃爍的每一個星星，是為了讓人們總有一天都能找到屬於自己的星星。看看我的星球，他剛好在我們的頭上...但它是多麼遠啊！」
那條蛇說：「它很美。你來這裡來幹什麼？」
「我和一朵花出了點問題。」小王子說。
「哦！」那條蛇哦了一聲之後，兩人便又陷入了沈默。
最後，小王子終於打破了沉默問道：「哪裡有人啊？沙漠裡有點孤單。」
「在人群中也是孤單的。」蛇說。
小王子凝視了那條蛇很久說：「你是很有趣的動物，不到一根手指頭粗。」
「但我卻比國王的指頭更厲害。」蛇回答他。
小王子笑了起來：「你不會很厲害的...你甚至連腳都沒有...你不能去任何地方旅行...」
「我能你送到很遠的地方，比任何一艘船還遠。」蛇說。
那條蛇繞著小王子的腳踝，把自己蜷起來像一條金手鍊似地說：「任何我碰觸到的人，我都會將他送回他來的地方，但你這麼純潔，而且來自星星...。」
小王子沒有回答牠。
「我憐憫你，如此柔弱、孤單的在這花崗石的地球上。我可以幫助你，要是有一天你很想念你的星球的話，我可以...」
小王子說：「哦！我知道你很好，但是為什麼你講話總像謎？」
「我能解決這些。」那條蛇說。
接著他們都陷入沉默了。
When one wishes to play the wit, he sometimes wanders a little from the truth. I have not been altogether honest in what I have told you about the lamplighters. And I realize that I run the risk of giving a false idea of our planet to those who do not know it. Men occupy a very small place upon the Earth. If the two billion inhabitants who people its surface were all to stand upright and somewhat crowded together, as they do for some big public assembly, they could easily be put into one public square twenty miles long and twenty miles wide. All humanity could be piled up on a small Pacific islet.
The grown-ups, to be sure, will not believe you when you tell them that. They imagine that they fill a great deal of space. They fancy themselves as important as the baobabs. You should advise them, then, to make their own calculations. They adore figures, and that will please them. But do not waste your time on this extra task. It is unnecessary. You have, I know, confidence in me.
When the little prince arrived on the Earth, he was very much surprised not to see any people. He was beginning to be afraid he had come to the wrong planet, when a coil of gold, the color of the moonlight, flashed across the sand.
"Good evening," said the little prince courteously.
"Good evening," said the snake.
"What planet is this on which I have come down?" asked the little prince.
"This is the Earth; this is Africa," the snake answered.
"Ah! Then there are no people on the Earth?"
"This is the desert. There are no people in the desert. The Earth is large," said the snake.
The little prince sat down on a stone, and raised his eyes toward the sky.
"I wonder," he said, "whether the stars are set alight in heaven so that one day each one of us may find his own again . . . Look at my planet. It is right there above us. But how far away it is!"
"It is beautiful," the snake said. "What has brought you here?"
"I have been having some trouble with a flower," said the little prince.
"Ah!" said the snake.
And they were both silent.
"Where are the men?" the little prince at last took up the conversation again. "It is a little lonely in the desert . . ."
"It is also lonely among men," the snake said.
The little prince gazed at him for a long time.
"You are a funny animal," he said at last. "You are no thicker than a finger . . ."
"But I am more powerful than the finger of a king," said the snake.
The little prince smiled.
"You are not very powerful. You haven't even any feet. You cannot even travel . . ."
"I can carry you farther than any ship could take you," said the snake.
He twined himself around the little prince's ankle, like a golden bracelet.
"Whomever I touch, I send back to the earth from whence he came," the snake spoke again. "But you are innocent and true, and you come from a star . . ."
The little prince made no reply.
"You move me to pity--you are so weak on this Earth made of granite," the snake said. "I can help you, some day, if you grow too homesick for your own planet. I can--"
"Oh! I understand you very well," said the little prince. "But why do you always speak in riddles?"
"I solve them all," said the snake.
And they were both silent.
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
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