Oh, little prince! Bit by bit I came to understand the secrets of your sad little life... For a long time you had found your only entertainment in the quiet pleasure of looking at the sunset. I learned that new detail on the morning of the fourth day, w hen you said to me:
"I am very fond of sunsets. Come, let us go look at a sunset now."
"But we must wait," I said.
"Wait? For what?"
"For the sunset. We must wait until it is time."
At first you seemed to be very much surprised. And then you laughed to yourself. You said to me:
"I am always thinking that I am at home!"
Just so. Everybody knows that when it is noon in the United States the sun is setting over France.
If you could fly to France in one minute, you could go straight into the sunset, right from noon. Unfortunately, France is too far away for that. But on your tiny planet, my little prince, all you need do is move your chair a few steps. You can see the day end and the twilight falling whenever you like... "One day," you said to me, "I saw the sunset forty-four times!"
And a little later you added:
"You know-- one loves the sunset, when one is so sad..."
"Were you so sad, then?" I asked, "on the day of the forty-four sunsets?"
But the little prince made no reply.
啊!小王子,就這樣,我逐漸懂得了你那憂郁的生活。過(guò)去相當(dāng)長(zhǎng)的時(shí)間里你唯一的樂(lè)趣就是觀賞那夕陽(yáng)西下的溫柔晚景。這個(gè)新的細(xì)節(jié),是我在第四天早晨知道的。你當(dāng)時(shí)對(duì)我說(shuō)道:
“我喜歡看日落。我們?nèi)タ匆换厝章浒桑?rdquo;
“可是得等著…”
“等什么?”
“等太陽(yáng)落山。”
開(kāi)始,你顯得很驚奇的樣子,隨后你笑自己的糊涂。你對(duì)我說(shuō):
“我總以為是在我的家鄉(xiāng)呢!”
確實(shí),大家都知道,在美國(guó)是正午時(shí)分,在法國(guó),正夕陽(yáng)西下,只要在一分鐘內(nèi)趕到法國(guó)就可看到日落?上Х▏(guó)是那么的遙遠(yuǎn)。而在你那樣的小行星上,你只要把你的椅子挪動(dòng)幾步就行了。這樣,你便可隨時(shí)看到你想看的夕陽(yáng)余輝…
“一天,我看見(jiàn)過(guò)四十三次日落。”
過(guò)一會(huì)兒,你又說(shuō):
“你知道,當(dāng)人們感到非?鄲灂r(shí),總是喜歡日落的。”
“一天四十三次,你怎么會(huì)這么苦悶?”
小王子沒(méi)有回答。