“My life is very monotonous，” the fox said. “I hunt chickens； men hunt me. All the chickens are just alike， and all the men are just alike. And， in consequence， I am a little bored. But if you tame me， it will be as if the sun came to shine on my life. I shall know the sound of a step that will be different from all the others. Other steps send me hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me， like music， out of my burrow. And then look： you see the grain-fields down yonder？ I do not eat bread. Wheat is of no use to me. The wheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But you have hair that is the colour of gold. Think how wonderful that will be when you have tamed me！ The grain， which is also golden， will bring me back the thought of you. And I shall love to listen to the wind in the wheat... ”

The fox gazed at the little prince， for a long time. “Please—tame me！” he said.

“I want to， very much，” the little prince replied. “But I have not much time. I have friends to discover， and a great many things to understand.”

“One only understands the things that one tames，” said the fox. “Men have no more time to understand anything. They buy things already made at the shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buy friendship， and so men have no friends any more. If you want a friend， tame me... ”

“What must I do， to tame you？” asked the little prince.

“You must be very patient，” replied the fox. “First you will sit down at a little distance from me—like that—in the grass. I shall look at you out of the corner of my eye， and you will say nothing. Words are the source of misunderstandings. But you will sit a little closer to me， every day... ”

The next day the little prince came back.

“It would have been better to come back at the same hour，” said the fox. “If， for example， you come at four o’clock in the afternoon， then at three o’clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happier as the hour advances. At four o’clock， I shall already be worrying and jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am！ But if you come at just any time， I shall never know at what hour my heart is to be ready to greet you... One must observe the proper rites... ”

“What is a rite？” asked the little prince.

“Those also are actions too often neglected，” said the fox. “They are what make one day different from other days， one hour from other hours. There is a rite， for example， among my hunters. Every Thursday they dance with the village girls. So Thursday is a wonderful day for me！ I can take a walk as far as the vineyards. But if the hunters danced at just any time， every day would be like every other day， and I should never have any vacation at all.”

So the little prince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drew near—

“Go and look again at the roses. You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me， and I will make you a present of a secret.”

The little prince went away， to look again at the roses. “You are not at all like my rose，” he said. “As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you， and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend， and now he is unique in all the world… ”

And he went back to meet the fox.

“Goodbye，” he said.

“Goodbye，” said the fox. “And now here is my secret， a very simple secret： It is only with the heart that one can see rightly； what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

“What is essential is invisible to the eye，” the little prince repeated， so that he would be sure to remember…

“Men have forgotten this truth，” said the fox. “But you must not forget it. You become responsible， forever， for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose... ”

“I am responsible for my rose，” the little prince repeated， so that he would be sure to remember.

“我的生活單調(diào)乏味，”狐貍說，“我捉雞，人捉我。所有的雞都是一模一樣的，所有的人也都是一模一樣的。因此，我感到有些厭煩了。但是如果你馴服了我，我的生活將會(huì)充滿陽光和歡樂。我將會(huì)分辨出一種與眾不同的腳步聲。聽到別的腳步聲，我會(huì)急急忙忙躲進(jìn)地下洞穴。而唯獨(dú)你的腳步聲會(huì)像音樂一樣，喚我出洞。再說，你瞧瞧，你看到那邊的麥田了嗎？我從來不吃面包，小麥也對(duì)我毫無用處。麥田也不會(huì)使我產(chǎn)生任何聯(lián)想。那是可悲的。但是你有一頭金黃色的頭發(fā)。一旦你馴養(yǎng)我，想象一下那該是多美好的事?。∧墙瘘S色的小麥會(huì)讓我聯(lián)想起你來。而我也會(huì)喜歡聽穿過麥田的風(fēng)聲……”

狐貍盯著小王子看了很久?！罢?qǐng)你——請(qǐng)你馴養(yǎng)我吧！”狐貍說道。

“我想馴養(yǎng)你，非常想，”小王子回答道，“但是我沒有那么多時(shí)間。我得去找朋友，還要去學(xué)習(xí)理解許多許多的事情?！?/p>

“只有人們馴服了事物，才能理解事物，”狐貍說道，“人們?cè)僖矝]有時(shí)間去認(rèn)識(shí)新的事物了。他們總是到商店里買現(xiàn)成的東西。但是世界上沒有販賣友誼的商店，所以人們?cè)僖矝]有朋友了。要是你想交一個(gè)朋友，就請(qǐng)馴養(yǎng)我吧……”

“馴養(yǎng)你，那我必須怎么做呢？”小王子問道。

“你必須很耐心，”狐貍答道，“首先你坐在草地上，離我有一些距離——就像這樣。我會(huì)偷偷地用眼角觀察你，你什么也別說。言語是誤會(huì)的根源。但你每天都會(huì)坐得離我更近一些……”

第二天，小王子又來了。

“你最好每天都在同一個(gè)時(shí)刻過來，”狐貍說道，“比如說你下午四點(diǎn)來，那我從三點(diǎn)開始就會(huì)感到快樂。離四點(diǎn)越近，我就會(huì)越來越快樂。四點(diǎn)一到，我就會(huì)坐立不安。我會(huì)讓你看到我究竟有多快樂！但是如果你來的時(shí)間不固定，我就不知道該什么時(shí)候開始準(zhǔn)備迎接你……我們應(yīng)該遵循正確的儀式……”

“什么是儀式？”小王子問道。

“這也是經(jīng)常被人們遺忘的行為，”狐貍說，“儀式就是，使某一天不同于其他日子，使某一時(shí)刻不同于其他時(shí)刻。比如說，捉我的那些獵人就有一個(gè)儀式。每逢周四，他們都和村里的姑娘們跳舞。因此，周四對(duì)我來說是一個(gè)美妙的日子！我可以外出散步，直到葡萄園邊上。但是如果獵人們隨便什么時(shí)候都跳舞，每天都和其他日子一樣，那我也就沒有任何娛樂的時(shí)間了?！?/p>

就這樣，小王子馴服了狐貍。然而，分別的時(shí)刻就要到了——

“你再去看看那些玫瑰花吧。你現(xiàn)在會(huì)明白，你的那朵花是天下獨(dú)一無二的玫瑰。然后再回到我的身邊向我告別，那時(shí)我將贈(zèng)予你一個(gè)秘密作為離別禮物。”

于是小王子就跑去再看看那些玫瑰花?！澳銈円稽c(diǎn)也不像我的那朵玫瑰花，”他說道，“對(duì)我而言，你們什么都不是。沒有人馴養(yǎng)過你們，你們也沒有馴養(yǎng)過別人。你們就像我第一次見到我的狐貍一樣，它那時(shí)和其他成千上萬的狐貍沒什么區(qū)別。但是現(xiàn)在它成為我的朋友，現(xiàn)在它就是世界上獨(dú)一無二的狐貍了……”

小王子回到了狐貍的身邊。

“再見，”他說道。

“再見，”狐貍回應(yīng)道，“這就是我的秘密，它很簡(jiǎn)單：只有心靈才能洞察一切；事物的本質(zhì)是肉眼無法看到的?！?/p>

“事物的本質(zhì)是肉眼無法看到的。”小王子重復(fù)著這句話，以便能記在心間……

“人們已經(jīng)忘記了這個(gè)真理，”狐貍說，“但是你千萬不要忘記。你要對(duì)你馴服過的一切永遠(yuǎn)負(fù)責(zé)。你要對(duì)你的那朵玫瑰花負(fù)責(zé)……”

“我要對(duì)我的那朵玫瑰花負(fù)責(zé)。”小王子重復(fù)著這句話，以便能記在心間。

monotonous adj. 枯燥無味的；單調(diào)的

in consequence 因此；結(jié)果

tame v. 馴服；抑制

underneath prep. 在……之下；在……下面

burrow n. 洞穴，地洞

yonder adv. 在那邊，在遠(yuǎn)處

gaze at 凝視；瞄；注目；盯

reply n. 回答，答復(fù)

discover v. 發(fā)現(xiàn)；碰見

patient adj. 有耐性的；能容忍的

misunderstanding n. 誤解；誤會(huì)

rite n. 儀式，典禮，禮儀

neglect v. 疏忽；忽略

departure n. 離開，離去；起程

unique adj. 獨(dú)一無二的；唯一的

essential adj. 基本的；必要的

invisible adj. 看不見的；不易為視線所見的

responsible adj. 盡責(zé)的；負(fù)有責(zé)任的