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And now six years have already gone by…

那已经是六年前的事了……

I have never yet told this story. The companions who met me on my return were well content to see me alive.

我还从未跟人讲过这个故事。我的同伴们见到我还活着，都非常高兴。

I was sad, but I told them: "I am tired."

我很悲伤，但我跟他们说：“我很累。”

Now my sorrow is comforted a little. That is to say-- not entirely.

如今我多少好了一些。也就是说……没有完全好起来。

But I know that he did go back to his planet, because I did not find his body at daybreak.

但我知道他确是已经回到他的星球上去了，因为那天天亮时，我没找他的尸体。

It was not such a heavy body… and at night I love to listen to the stars. It is like five hundred million little bells…

其实他的身体没那么重……夜晚，我喜欢倾听星星的声音。它们就像五亿个小铃铛……

But there is one extraordinary thing…

还有一件意外的事情。

when I drew the muzzle for the little prince, I forgot to add the leather strap to it.

当我帮小王子画嘴套的时候，忘了把皮带加上去！

He will never have been able to fasten it on his sheep.

他可能永远都没有办法把嘴套给绵羊戴上。

So now I keep wondering: what is happening on his planet? Perhaps the sheep has eaten the flower…

所以我会想：“他的星球会发生些什么事呢？那只绵羊很可能把花给吃了……”

At one time I say to myself: "Surely not! The little prince shuts his flower under her glass globe every night, and he watches over his sheep very carefully…"

有时我会对自己说：“一定不会的！小王子每天晚上都会把花放在玻璃罩下面，而且他会严密看守他的绵羊……”

Then I am happy. And there is sweetness in the laughter of all the stars.

这时我就很开心，所有的星星也都温柔地笑着。

But at another time I say to myself: "At some moment or other one is absent-minded, and that is enough!

但有时我又会自己说：“人难免会有一两次疏忽，而一次就够了！

On some one evening he forgot the glass globe, or the sheep got out, without making any noise, in the night…"

若是某个晚上他忘了玻璃罩，或者那只绵羊趁夜间悄无声息地跑出来……”

And then the little bells are changed to tears…

这时那些铃铛全都变成了泪珠……

Here, then, is a great mystery.

这实在是一个很大的奥秘。

For you who also love the little prince, and for me, nothing in the universe can be the same if somewhere, we do not know where,

你和我一样热爱小王子，对你我来说，在我们不认识的某个地方，

a sheep that we never saw has-- yes or no?-- eaten a rose…

有一只我们不认识的绵羊，它有没有吃掉一朵玫瑰花，会令整个宇宙都不一样……

Look up at the sky. Ask yourselves: is it yes or no? Has the sheep eaten the flower?

仰望天空，问问你自己：“绵羊吃没吃掉那朵花儿呢？”

And you will see how everything changes…

你会看到所有一切是如何变成另一个模样……

And no grown-up will ever understand that this is a matter of so much importance!

没有一个大人明白这有多么重要！

This is, to me, the loveliest and saddest landscape in the world.

对我来说，这是世上最美丽也最哀伤的景色。

It is the same as that on the preceding page, but I have drawn it again to impress it on your memory.

它和前一页的景色一样，只是我把它再画了一次，来让你看得更清楚。

It is here that the little prince appeared on Earth, and disappeared.

小王子就是在这里出现和消失的。

Look at it carefully so that you will be sure to recognize it in case you travel some day to the African desert.

请认真看看这幅景色，以便确信自己如果哪一天去非洲旅行，能够在沙漠里认出这个地方。

And, if you should come upon this spot, please do not hurry on.

如果你会路过那里，我请求你，千万别太匆忙。

Wait for a time, exactly under the star.

请你在这颗星的正下方等一等！

Then, if a little man appears who laughs, who has golden hair and who refuses to answer questions, you will know who he is.

如果有一个孩子向你走来，如果他爱笑，如果他长着金黄色的头发，如果你向他提问时他不回答，你准能猜得出他是谁。

If this should happen, please comfort me. Send me word that he has come back……

那么请给我些许安慰，请告知我：他回来了。

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