chapter 8
I soon learned to know this flower better.On the little prince's planet the flowers had always been very simple.They had only one ring of petals;they took up no room at all;they were a trouble to nobody.On moring they would appear in the grass,and by night they would have faded peacefully away.But one day,from a seed blown from no one knew where,a new flower came up;and the little prince had watched very closely over this small sprout which was not like any other small sprouts on this planet.It might,you see,have been a new kind of baobab.
The shrub soon stoped growing,and began to get ready to produce a flower.The little prince,who was present at the first appearance of a huge bud,felt at once that some sort of miraculous apparition must emerge from it.But the flower was not satisfied to complete the preparations for her beauty in the shelter of her green chamber.She chose her colours with the greatest care.She adjusted her petals one by one.She did not wish to go out into the world all rumpled,like the field poppies.It was only in the full radiance of her beauty that she wished to appear.Oh,yes!She was a coquettish creature!And her mysterious adornment lasted for days and days.
Then one morning,exactly at sunrise,she suddenly showed herself.
And,after working with all this painstaking precision,she yawned and said:
"Ah! I am scarcely awake.I beg that you will excuse me.My petals are still all disarranged..."
But the little prince could not restrain his admiration:
"oh!How beautiful you are!"
"Am I not?" the flower responded,sweetly."And I was born at the same moment as the sun..."
The little prince could guess easily enough that she was not any too modest - but how moving - and exciting - she was!
"I think it is time for breakfast," she added an instant later,"If you would have the kindness to think of my needs - "
And the little prince,completely abashed,went to look for a sprinkling-can of fresh water.So,he tended the flower.
So,too,she began very quickly to torment him with her vanity - which was,if the truth be known,a little difficult to deal with.One day,for instance,when she was speaking of her four thorns,she said to the little prince:
"Let the tigers come with their claws!"
"There are no tigers on my planet,"the little prince objected."And,anyway,tigers do not eat weeds."
"I am not a weed," the flower replied,sweetly.
"Please excuse me..."
"I am not at all afraid of tigers," she went on,"but I have a horror of drafts.I suppose you wouldn't have a screen for me?"
"A horror of drafts - that is bad luck,for a plant,"remarked the little prince ,and added to himself,"This flower is a very complex creature..."
"At night I want you to put me under a glass globe.It is very cold where you live.In the place I came from - "
But she interrupted herself at that point.She had come in the form of a seed.She could not have known anything of any other worlds.Embarrassed over having let herself be caught on the verge of such a native untruth,she coughed two or three times,in order to put the little prince in the wrong.
"The screen?"
"I was just going to look for it when you spoke to me..."
Then she forced her cough a little more so that he should suffer from remorse just the same.
So the little prince,in spite of all the good will that was inseparable from his love,had soon come to doubt her.He had taken seriously words which were without importance,and it made him very unhappy.
"I ought not to have listened to her,"he confided to me one day."One never ought to listen to the flowers.One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance.Mine perfumed all my planet.But I did not know how to take pleasure in all her grace.This tale of claws,which disturbed me so much,should only have filled my heart with tenderness and pity."
And he continued his confidences:
"The fact is that I did not know how to understand anything!I ought to have judged by deeds and not by words.She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me.I ought never to have run away from her...I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems.Flowers are so inconsistent!But I was too young to know how to love her..."
第八章
很快，我对这朵花有了更多的了解。在小王的星球上，长出来的花一直都是很简单的。那些花只有一圈花瓣，不占地方，不妨碍任何人。它们早晨在草丛中盛开，到了傍晚就安静地凋谢。可是有一天，这朵花发芽了，不知道是从哪飘来的一颗种子发育而成的。小王子仔细观察过这棵与众不同的小苗。这玩意儿，说不定是猴面包树的新品种吧。
这株灌木很快不再长高了，并且冒出了一朵花。小王子看到花苞如此大，立刻预感到这里面一定会出现奇迹。但是这朵花躲在自己的绿房子里，迟迟不肯露出美丽的容颜。她精心的挑选颜色，一片片地调整花瓣的位置。她不愿像虞美人那样，皱巴巴地来到这个世界上。她只想光彩夺目地绽放光芒。噢，是的！她就是如此臭美！她神神秘秘地把自己打扮了很多天。
然后在一个清晨，日出时刻，她突然露出了自己的容颜。
已经精心打扮了这么多天，她却打着哈欠说：
“哎呀！我还没睡醒。请原谅，我的头发还乱蓬蓬地。。。”
但是小王子情不自禁地称赞：
“啊！你太漂亮了！”
“可不是吗？”它甜美地回答，“而且我出生时太阳正好在。。。”
小王子很快就看出这朵花不太谦虚，但她长得是多么楚楚动人啊！
“该吃早饭了，”她很快又说，“请你也想着给我也准备一点。。。”
小王子感到不好意思，他找到了一个装满清水的喷壶，给这朵花浇水。
就这样，这朵虚荣的花开始折磨小王子，说实话，这确实有点难以对付。比如说，有一天，她聊到她的四根刺，她对小王子说：
“让老虎张牙舞爪的来吧！”
“我的星球上可没有老虎，”小王子反驳道：“再说，老虎也不吃草。”
“我不是草。”花甜美的答道。
“请原谅我。。。”
“我一点也不怕老虎，”她继续说，“但是我受不了穿堂风。你能给我档一扇屏风吗？”
“受不了穿堂风，这对植物来说太不幸了。”小王子评论道，他心里想，“这朵花真是让人难懂啊。。。”
“到了晚上我希望你能给我罩上一个玻璃罩。你这里太冷了。我家乡那边。。。”
说到这里，她突然停住了。她来的时候还是一颗种子。别的地方她可一点也不知道。这么幼稚的谎话差点就被当场揭穿，她感到羞愧不已，假装咳嗽了两三声，好顺势责怪起小王子来：
“屏风呢？”
“我本来要去找的，但是你在跟我说话。。。”
她又假装咳嗽了几声，还是想让小王子感到自责。
尽管小王子真心喜欢这朵花，愿意去爱护她，但很快也产生了怀疑。小王子把一些无关紧要的话当了真，结果为自己平添了许多烦恼。
“我本不应该把她的话当真，”有一天小王子对我倾诉，“你根本不该把花的话当真。你只要看看她的容貌，闻闻她的芬芳就够了。我的那朵花让我的整个星球芳香四溢，但我却不懂得为此感到快乐。那些关于老虎爪子的胡话让我很生气，可那本该让我对她更同情，更怜爱的。”
他继续对我说：
“其实那时我什么都不懂！我应该看她的行动，而不是听她说的话。她清香四溢，光彩照人，我不应该离开她的。我该看出她藏在笨拙的小花招后面的片片深情。花儿总是那么口是心非！但是当时我太年轻，不懂得如何去爱她。。”