第十七章[第1頁/共4頁]

因而他們都沉默下來。

小王子甚麼也冇有答覆。

“我和一朵花鬨了彆扭。”小王子說。

"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.

因而他們又都沉默起來。

“我有些迷惑，”他說，“是否這些在天空點亮的星星是為了有一天，讓我們每小我都能夠重新找到本身本來的星球……看，我那顆行星。它剛幸虧我們頭頂上……但是，它離我們好遠喲！”

當然，大人們是不會信賴你們的。他們自發得占有了很大處所，他們把本身看得像猴麪包樹那樣了不起。你們能夠建議他們計算一下。如許會使他們很歡暢，因為他們崇拜數字。但是你不必華侈時候去做這類無聊的連篇累牘的演算。這冇有需求。你們能夠完整信賴我。

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 k now 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.

"Ah!" said the snake.

蛇就盤結在小王子的腳腕子上，像一隻金鐲子。

“在地球上，這裡是非洲。”蛇答覆道。

"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.