小王子 第13期:警惕危险

And one day he said to me: You ought to make a beautiful drawing, so that the children where you live can see exactly how all this is.

有一天，他劝我用心地画一副漂亮的图画，好叫我家乡的孩子们对这件事有一个深刻的印象。

That would be very useful to them if they were to travel some day.

他还对我说：如果将来有一天他们出外旅行，这对他们是很有用的。

Sometimes," he added, "there is no harm in putting off a piece of work until another day.

有时候，人们把自己的工作推到以后去做，并没有什么妨害，

But when it is a matter of baobabs, that always means a catastrophe.

但要遇到拔猴面包树苗这种事，那就非造成大灾难不可。

I knew a planet that was inhabited by a lazy man. He neglected three little bushes...

我遇到过一个星球，上面住着一个懒家伙，他放过了三棵小树苗…

So, as the little prince described it to me, I have made a drawing of that planet.

于是，根据小王子的说明，我把这个星球画了下来。

I do not much like to take the tone of a moralist.

我从来不大愿意以道学家的口吻来说话，

But the danger of the baobabs is so little understood, and such considerable risks would be run by anyone who might get lost on an asteroid,

可是猴面包树的危险，大家都不大了解，对迷失在小行星上的人来说，危险性非常之大，

that for once I am breaking through my reserve.

因此这一回，我贸然打破了我的这种不喜欢教训人的惯例。

"Children," I say plainly, "watch out for the baobabs!"

我说：“孩子们，要当心那些猴面包树呀!”

My friends, like myself, have been skirting this danger for a long time, with-out ever knowing it;

为了叫我的朋友们警惕这种危险——他们同我一样长期以来和这种危险接触，却没有意识到它的危险性

and so it is for them that I have worked so hard over this drawing.

我花了很大的功夫画了这副画。

The lesson which I pass on by this means is worth all the trouble it has cost me.

我提出的这个教训意义是很重大的，花点功夫是很值得的。

Perhaps you will ask me, "Why is there no other drawing in this book as magnificent and impressive as this drawing of the baobabs?"

你们也许要问，“为什么这本书中别的画都没有这副画那么壮观呢?”

The reply is simple.

回答很简单。

I have tried. But with the others I have not been successful.

别的画我也曾经试图画得好些，却没成功。

When I made the drawing of the baobabs I was carried beyond myself by the inspiring force of urgent necessity.

而当我画猴面包树时，有一种急切的心情在激励着我。