小王子 第4期:画一头羊

 　　Remember, I had crashed in the desert a thousand miles from any inhabited region.

　　你们不要忘记，我当时处在远离人烟千里之外的地方。

　　And yet my little man seemed neither to be straying uncertainly among the sands, nor to be fainting from fatigue¹ or hunger or thirst or fear.

　　而这个小家伙给我的印象是，他既不象迷了路的样子，也没有半点疲乏、饥渴、惧怕的神情。

　　Nothing about him gave any suggestion of a child lost in the middle of the desert, a thousand miles from any human habitation.

　　他丝毫不象是一个迷失在旷无人烟的大沙漠中的孩子。

　　When at last I was able to speak, I said to him:

　　当我在惊讶之中终于又能说出话来的时候，对他说道：

　　But– what are you doing here?

　　唉，你在这儿干什么？

　　And in answer he repeated, very slowly, as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence:

　　可是他却不慌不忙地好象有一件重要的事一般，对我重复地说道：

　　If you please– draw me a sheep.

　　请…给我画一只羊

　　When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey.

　　当一种神秘的东西把你镇住的时候，你是不敢不听从它的支配的，

　　Absurd as it might seem to me, a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death,

　　在这旷无人烟的沙漠上，面临死亡的危险的情况下，尽管这样的举动使我感到十分荒诞，

　　I took out of my pocket a sheet of paper and my fountain-pen.

　　我还是掏出了一张纸和一支钢笔。

　　But then I remembered how my studies had been concentrated on geography, history, arithmetic, and grammar,

　　这时我却又记起，我只学过地理、历史、算术和语法，

　　and I told the little chap (a little crossly, too) that I did not know how to draw.

　　就有点不大高兴地对小家伙说我不会画画。

　　He answered me:“That doesn’t matter. Draw me a sheep.”

　　他回答我说：“没有关系，给我画一只羊吧！”

　　But I had never drawn² a sheep.

　　因为我从来没有画过羊，

　　So I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn so often.

　　我就给他重画我所仅仅会画的两副画中的

　　It was that of the boa constrictor from the outside.

　　那副闭着肚皮的巨蟒。

　　And I was astounded³ to hear the little fellow greet it with.

　　我听了他的话，简直目瞪口呆。

　　No, no, no! I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor.

　　不，不！我不要蟒蛇，它肚子里还有一头象。

　　A boa constrictor is a very dangerous creature, and an elephant is very cumbersome⁴.

　　他接着说：“巨蟒这东西太危险，大象又太占地方。”

　　Where I live, everything is very small. What I need is a sheep. Draw me a sheep.

　　我住的地方非常小，我需要一只羊。给我画一只羊吧。

　　So then I made a drawing.

　　我就给他画了。

1 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

2 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

3 astounded   

v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶

参考例句：

• His arrogance astounded her. 他的傲慢使她震惊。
• How can you say that? I'm absolutely astounded. 你怎么能说出那种话？我感到大为震惊。

4 cumbersome   

adj.笨重的，不便携带的

参考例句：

• Although the machine looks cumbersome,it is actually easy to use.尽管这台机器看上去很笨重，操作起来却很容易。
• The furniture is too cumbersome to move.家具太笨，搬起来很不方便。