So I lived my life alone，without anyone that I could really talk to，until I had an accident with my plane in the Desert of Sahara，six years ago.Something was broken in my engine.And as I had with me neither a mechanic nor any passengers，I set myself to attempt the difficult repairs all alone.It was a question of life or death for me:I had scarcely(勉強(qiáng))enough drinking water to last a week.

The first night， then， I went to sleep on the sand， a thousand miles from any human habitation.I was more isolated than a shipwrecked sailor on a raft in the middle of the ocean.Thus you can imagine my amazement，at sunrise，when I was awakened by an odd little voice.It said:

“If you please—draw me a sheep！ ”

“What！ ”

“Draw me a sheep！ ”

I jumped to my feet，completely thunderstruck.I blinked（眨眼）my eyes hard.I looked carefully all around me.And I saw a most extraordinary small person，who stood there examining me with great seriousness.Here you may see the best portrait that， later， I was able to make of him.But my drawing is certainly very much less charming than its model.

That， however， is not my fault.The grown-ups discouraged me in my painter's career when I was six years old， and I never learned to draw anything， except boas from the outside and boas from the inside.

Now I stared at this sudden apparition（幽靈）in astonishment.Remember，I had crashed in the desert a thousand miles from any inhabited region.And yet my little man seemed neither to be straying（迷路）uncertainly among the sands， nor to be fainting from fatigue （疲勞），or hunger， or thirst，or fear.Nothing about him gave any suggestion of a child lost in the middle of the desert，a thousand miles from any human habitation.When at last I was able to speak，I said to him:

我就這樣孤獨(dú)地生活著，沒(méi)有一個(gè)能真正談得來(lái)的人，一直到六年前在撒哈拉沙漠里我飛機(jī)發(fā)生的那次故障。我的發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)里有個(gè)東西損壞了。當(dāng)時(shí)由于我既沒(méi)有帶機(jī)械師也沒(méi)有帶旅客，我就試圖獨(dú)自完成這個(gè)困難的維修工作。這對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)是個(gè)生與死的問(wèn)題。我隨身帶的水只夠飲用一個(gè)星期。

第一天晚上，我就睡在這遠(yuǎn)離人間煙火的大沙漠里。我比大海中伏在小木筏上的遇難者還要孤獨(dú)得多。而在第二天拂曉，當(dāng)一個(gè)奇怪的小聲音叫醒我的時(shí)候，你們可以想象我當(dāng)時(shí)是多么吃驚。這小小的聲音說(shuō)道：

“請(qǐng)你給我畫一只羊，好嗎？”

“?。?”

“給我畫一只羊……”

我像是受到驚雷轟擊一般，一下子就站立起來(lái)。我使勁地眨了眨眼睛，仔細(xì)地看了看。我看見(jiàn)一個(gè)十分奇怪的小家伙嚴(yán)肅地朝我凝眸望著。這是后來(lái)我給他畫出來(lái)的最好的一副畫像?？墒?，我的畫當(dāng)然要比他本人的模樣遜色得多。

但這不是我的過(guò)錯(cuò)。六歲時(shí)，大人們使我對(duì)我的畫家生涯失去了勇氣，除了畫過(guò)露著肚皮和閉著肚皮的蟒蛇，后來(lái)再?zèng)]有學(xué)過(guò)畫。

我驚奇地睜大著眼睛看著這突然出現(xiàn)的小家伙。你們不要忘記，我當(dāng)時(shí)處在遠(yuǎn)離人煙千里之外的地方。而這個(gè)小家伙給我的印象是，他既不像迷了路的樣子，也沒(méi)有半點(diǎn)疲乏、饑渴、懼怕的神情。他絲毫不像是一個(gè)迷失在曠無(wú)人煙的大沙漠中的孩子。當(dāng)我在驚訝之中終于又能說(shuō)出話來(lái)的時(shí)候，對(duì)他說(shuō)道：

“唉，你在這兒干什么？”

可是他不慌不忙地好像有一件重要的事一般，對(duì)我重復(fù)地說(shuō)道：“請(qǐng)……給我畫一只羊……”

當(dāng)一種神秘的東西把你鎮(zhèn)住的時(shí)候，你是不敢不聽(tīng)從它的支配的。在這曠無(wú)人煙的沙漠里，面臨死亡的危險(xiǎn)的情況下，盡管這樣的舉動(dòng)對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)十分荒誕，但我還是掏出了一張紙和一支鋼筆。那時(shí)我卻又記起，我只學(xué)過(guò)地理、歷史、算術(shù)和語(yǔ)法，就有點(diǎn)不大高興地對(duì)小家伙說(shuō)我不會(huì)畫畫。他回答我說(shuō)：

“沒(méi)有關(guān)系，給我畫一只羊吧！”

但我從來(lái)沒(méi)有畫過(guò)羊，我就給他重畫我所僅僅會(huì)畫的兩幅畫中的那幅閉著肚皮的巨蟒?！安?，不，不！我不要蟒蛇，它肚子還有一頭大象?！蔽衣?tīng)了他的話，簡(jiǎn)直目瞪口呆。他接著說(shuō)：“巨蟒這東西太危險(xiǎn)，大象又太占地方。我住的地方任何事物都非常小，我只需要一只羊。給我畫一只羊吧?！?/p>

我就給他畫了。

他專心地看著，隨后又說(shuō)：

“我不要，這只羊已經(jīng)病得很重了。給我重新畫一只?！?/p>

我又畫了起來(lái)。

我的這位朋友天真可愛(ài)地笑了，并且客氣地拒絕道：“你看，你畫的不是小羊，是頭公羊，還有犄角呢?！?/p>

于是我又重新畫了一張。

“But—what are you doing here？ ”

And in answer he repeated， very slowly， as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence （后果）：“If you please—draw me a sheep...”

When a mystery is too overpowering （極強(qiáng)大的），one dare not disobey.Absurd as it might seem to me，a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death，I took out of my pocket a sheet of paper and my fountain-pen.But then I remembered how my studies had been concentrated on geography， history， arithmetic， and grammar， and a little crossly， too， I told the little chap that I did not know how to draw.He answered me:

“That doesn't matter.Draw me a sheep...”

But I had never drawn a sheep.So I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn so often.It was that of the boa constrictor（蟒）from the outside.And I was astounded（感到震驚的） to hear the little fellow greet it with，“No， no，no！ I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor.A boa constrictor is a very dangerous creature，and an elephant is very cumbersome （大而笨重的）.Where I live，everything is very small.What I need is a sheep.Draw me a sheep.”

So then I made a drawing.

He looked at it carefully，and then he said:

“No.This sheep is already very sickly.Make me another.”

So I made another drawing.

My friend smiled gently and indulgently （縱容地）.

“You see yourself，” he said， “that this is not a sheep.This is a ram.It has horns.”

So then I did my drawing over once more.

But it was rejected too，just like the others.

“This one is too old.I want a sheep that will live a long time.”

By this time my patience was exhausted，because I was in a hurry to start taking my engine apart.So I tossed off this drawing.And I threw out an explanation with it.

“This is only his box.The sheep you asked for is inside.”

I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my young judge:

“That is exactly the way I wanted it！ Do you think that this sheep will have to have a great deal of grass？”

“Why？ ”

“Because where I live everything is very small...”

“There will surely be enough grass for him，” I said. “It is a very small sheep that I have given you.”

He bent his head over the drawing:

“Not so small that—Look！ He has gone to sleep...”

And that is how I made the acquaintance of the little prince.

這幅畫同前幾幅一樣又被拒絕了。

“這一只太老了。我想要一只能活得長(zhǎng)的羊。”

我不耐煩了。因?yàn)槲壹庇谝痖_(kāi)發(fā)動(dòng)機(jī)，于是就草草畫了這張畫，并且匆匆地對(duì)他說(shuō)道：

“這是一只箱子，你要的羊就在里面?！?/p>

這時(shí)我十分驚奇地看到我的這位小評(píng)判員喜笑顏開(kāi)。他說(shuō)：

“這正是我想要的，你說(shuō)這只羊需要很多草嗎？”

“為什么問(wèn)這個(gè)呢？”

“因?yàn)槲易〉牡胤饺魏问挛锒挤浅Ｐ　?/p>

“我給你畫的是一只很小的小羊，地方小也夠喂養(yǎng)它的?！?/p>

他把腦袋靠近這張畫。

“并不像你說(shuō)得那么小……瞧！它睡著了……”

就這樣，我認(rèn)識(shí)了小王子。

巧筆妙記

Ⅰ.詞塊積累

1.habitation n.居?。蛔∷?；住處

2.isolated adj.偏遠(yuǎn)的；孤立的；孤獨(dú)的

3.jump to one's feet跳了起來(lái)

4.concentrate on全神貫注于……

Ⅱ.難句分析

as引導(dǎo)倒裝句

在這曠無(wú)人煙的沙漠里，面臨死亡的危險(xiǎn)的情況下，盡管這樣的舉動(dòng)對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)有些荒誕，但我還是掏出了一張紙和一支鋼筆。

_______might _______，a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death，I took out of my pocket a sheet of paper and my fountainpen.

【點(diǎn)石成金】as表“盡管”之意時(shí)，常用于引導(dǎo)倒裝句，倒裝的成分可以是表語(yǔ)和狀語(yǔ)。當(dāng)?shù)寡b的成分是單數(shù)可數(shù)名詞且前面無(wú)修飾語(yǔ)時(shí)，要省略名詞前的不定冠詞。

Hard as he tried，he didn't pass the exam in the end.

盡管很努力，他最終還是沒(méi)有通過(guò)考試。

改錯(cuò)：To our great relief， a kid as he is， the child can look after himself well.

【答案】Absurd as it；seem to me；去掉冠詞a。