Antoine de Saint-Exupery
安托万 德 圣艾克絮佩里
Chapter 1
第一章
Once when I was six years old I saw magnificent picture in a book ，called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boaconstrictor in the act of swallowing an animal.Here is a copy of the drawing.
曾经当我六岁的时候，我在一本关于原始森林的名为《自然的真实故事》的书中看到过一个令人印象深刻的图片。它是一条蟒蛇正在吞咽一只动物的动作的图片。这是这幅画的副本。
In the book it said: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move , and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion."
在这本书中提到：“蟒蛇不加以咀嚼就整个吞下它们捕获的食物。在这之后，它们不能蠕动，并且它们会为了它们所需要的消化在六个月内保持睡眠的状态。”
I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing.My Drawing Number One.It looked like this:
我陷入了很深的思考中，而后开始了“穿越丛林的奇旅”。在采用彩色铅笔进行一些工作后，我成功的创作了我的第一幅作品。我的作品一号。它像这样：
I showed my masterpiece to the grow-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.
我向大人们展示了我的杰作，并且询问他们是否这幅画使他们感觉恐慌。
But they answered: "Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?"
但是他们回答：“恐慌？为什么有人会被一顶帽子吓到？”
My drawing was not a picture of a hat.It was a picture of boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grow-ups were not able to understand it ,
I made another drawing : I drew the inside of the boa constrictor,so that the grow-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:
我的作品并不是一顶帽子的图片。它是一条蟒蛇正在消化一头大象的图片。但是自从大人们不能理解它，我又创作了另一幅画。我描绘了蟒蛇肚子里的情况，以便于大人们可以更清晰的看到它。他们经常需要让一些事情被解释。我的画作二号想这样：
The grow-ups' response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawing of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar.That is why, at the age of six , I gave up what might have been magnificent career as a painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
大人们的回应，此刻，是建议我搁置蟒蛇的画作，无论里面还是表面，相反的，全身心投入到地理、历史、算术、语法。这就是为什么，在六岁的时候，我放弃做可能让我成为一位画家的壮丽事业。我已经被我的作品一号和作品二号的失败的打击失去了信心，大人们永远不会通过他们自己理解任何事，对于孩子们来说，经常永远为他们解释事，是令人生厌的。
So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night , such knowledge is valuable.
因此，随后，我选择了其它专业，并学习了驾驶飞机。我已经飞行了所有的世界中的部分，同时地理对我而言，一直是很有用的。一瞥，我就可以分辨出中国和亚利桑那州。如果一个人在夜晚迷路，这样的知识是很有用的。
In the course of this life, I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn't much impoved my opinion of them .
在我人生的过程中，我遇到过很多只关心事情结果的人，。我生活在很多这样成年人之中。就在眼前，我已熟悉地目睹了他们。但是那并没有过多的改善我对他们的看法。
Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I would try to find out, so, If this was a person of ture understanding. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say:
无论何时，我遇到似乎对我来说是有清晰判断能力的他们中的一个，我尝试给他们展示我的作品一号，这是我一直在做的。我会尽力去找到，因此，是否，一个有真正聪明的人。但是无论是谁，他或她，都通常这样说：
"That is a hat".
“那是顶帽子”
Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forest, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.
而后我永远不会对那个人谈论到蟒蛇或原始森林或星星。我会强迫自己降低到他的水平。我会跟他谈论桥牌、高尔夫球、政治和领带同时成年人会很欣喜因为遇到了一个如此明智的人。
译者：楚荆
