Chapter 2 First Encounter in the Desert
So I lived my life alone, without anyone that I could really talk to, until I had an accident with my plane in the Desert of Sahara, six years ago. Something was broken in my engine. And as I had with me neither a mechanic nor any passengers, I set myself to attempt the difficult repairs all alone. It was a question of life or death for me: I had scarcely enough drinking water to last a week.
set myself to do 着手做–undertake
attempt the repairs 尝试维修
a question of life or death 一个生死攸关的问题
have scarcely enough drinking water 几乎没有足够的饮用水
So I 主语lived谓语 my life宾语 alone状语, 介词短语做状语without anyone （定语从句修饰anyone ： that I could really talk to）, 结果状语until I had an accident with my plane in the Desert of Sahara,six years ago.
And as I had with me neither a mechanic nor any passengers,I set myself to attempt the difficult repairs all alone.
1. as在此是连词，后面接主格“因为，由于”，引导原因状语从句。延伸一点：as because since三词均可表因果，但because语气最强，as一般置于句首，语气较弱，且口语化，since常用于书面语，表示多为对方已知或稍加分析便可得知的原因，译作“既然”
2. Set sb./sth. To do sth.让…去做..
3. all alone=all by myself=by my own自己来
所以我独自生活，没有一个可以交心的朋友，直到六年前我的飞机在撒哈拉沙漠上空出了意外。飞机引擎里的某个部件坏了，并且我的飞机上没有机修师和乘客。我只能独自尝试修理飞机。这对我来说是一个生死攸关的问题：我携带的饮用水只够我饮用一个星期。
The first night, then, I went to sleep on the sand, a thousand miles from any human habitation. I was more isolated than a shipwrecked sailor on a raft in the middle of the ocean. Thus you can imagine my amazement, at sunrise, when I was awakened by an odd little voice. It said:
“If you please — draw me a sheep!”
“What!”
“Draw me a sheep!”
…on the sand,(which is) a thousand miles.
第一晚我在沙漠上睡觉，最近有人烟的地方离这里也有上千英里。我比在大洋中央船只失事的水手更孤立无援。因此你能想象我的惊讶。在 日出时分，我被一个细细的奇怪的声音吵醒了，这个声音说：
“如果你方便的话 — 给我画只羊！”
“什么鬼？”
“给我画只羊！”
I jumped to my feet, completely thunderstruck. I blinked my eyes hard. I looked carefully all around me. And I saw a most extraordinary small person, who stood there examining me with great seriousness. Here you may see the best portrait that, later, I was able to make of him. But my drawing is certainly very much less charming than its model.
here you may see the best portrait that, later, I was able to make of him.
here(状语作引导词不作句子成分) you(主语) may see(谓语) the best portrait(宾语) that(关系代词代替先行词引导定语从句，并做make的宾语), later(从句中的状语), I（从句中的主语） was able to make（从句中的谓语）of him（修饰先行词的定语）。
句子转换：
I was able to make the best portrait of him.
the best portrait that I was able to make of him
Here you may see the best portrait of him.
jump to one’s feet 一下子站了起来
examine with great seriousness 严肃端详
I blinked my eyes hard. 我使劲眨了眨眼。 hard 这里是副词，用来修饰 blink；
我被吓得跳了起来，使劲的眨了眨眼。我仔细的看了看四周，然后看到一个非常奇特的小男孩，他站在那里严肃的端详着我。这里你可以看到我为他画的一副最好的肖像画。虽然我的画还是比他本人更逊色。
That, however, is not my fault. The grown-ups discouraged me in my painter’s career when I was six years old, and I never learned to draw anything, except boas from the outside and boas from the inside.
is not my fault 这不是我的错
然而这并不是我的错，在我6岁的时候大人们就让我对我的画家生涯灰心了，除了蟒蛇的内部和蟒蛇的外部。我就再也没有学过画其他东西了。
Now I stared at this sudden apparition with my eyes fairly starting out of my head in astonishment. Remember, I had crashed in the desert a thousand miles from any inhabited region. And yet my little man seemed neither to be straying uncertainly among the sands, nor to be fainting from fatigue or hunger or thirst or fear. Nothing about him gave any suggestion of a child lost in the middle of the desert, a thousand miles from any human habitation. When at last I was able to speak, I said to him:
“But — what are you doing here?”
with my eyes fairly starting out of my head in astonishment 直意就是“我的眼睛惊奇的快要从我头里出来”，这当然是一种夸张。astonishment 意为“惊奇”。fairly 简直give suggestion of 表现出..的迹象
现在盯着这个突然出现的幽灵，惊奇的眼睛快要从眼眶里掉出来。想一想，我在沙漠上空远离人烟的地方失事。然而这个小家伙既不像在沙漠中迷路了，看起来也一点都不疲倦、饥渴、害怕。这一点都不像在远离人烟的沙漠中迷路的小孩嘛。当我缓过神来，我对他说：
“但是- – 你在这里做什么呢？”
And in answer he repeated, very slowly, as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence:
“If you please — draw me a sheep…”
in answer 做为回答
speak of 说某事
a matter of great consequence 一个会带来重要后果的问题
就像要说一件严肃的问题一样，他慢慢回答到：
“如果你方便的话——画一只羊给我……”
When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey. Absurd as it might seem to me, a thousand miles from any human habitation and in danger of death, I took out of my pocket a sheet of paper and my fountain-pen. But then I remembered how my studies had been concentrated on geography, history, arithmetic and grammar, and I told the little chap (a little crossly, too) that I did not know how to draw. He answered me:
“That doesn’t matter. Draw me a sheep…”
When a mystery is too overpowering, one dare not disobey.
当神秘的东西使得你心惊肉跳时，你不敢不听他的命令。
Absurd as it might seem to me
as有“尽管”的意思，引导让步状语从句，等于though。as和though这样使用时，常常采用部分倒装形式。正常语序是：As/though it might seem absurd to me。
a sheet of paper 一张纸
fountain pen 钢笔
concentrated on 专心于
but then 然而
当神秘的东西使得你心惊肉跳时，你不敢不听他的命令。虽然在人烟很远及死亡很近的情况下，这听起来很荒唐。我从口袋里拿出钢笔及一张纸。然而我想起我所学的都是地理、历史、算术和文法，于是我告诉这个小家伙我不会画画。他回复我：
“没有关系，给我画只羊……”
But I had never drawn a sheep. So I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn so often. It was that of the boa constrictor from the outside. And I was astounded to hear the little fellow greet it with,
It was that of the boa constrictor from the outside.
要和前句一起理解，that 表示之前的picture.
little fellow 小家伙
be astounded at 对……感到震惊
但是我从来没有画过羊，所以我选择从我最常画的两幅画中，画一幅蟒蛇外部的图给他。但对于这个小家伙的回应我却很吃惊
“No, no, no! I do not want an elephant inside a boa constrictor. A boa constrictor is a very dangerous creature, and an elephant is very cumbersome. Where I live, everything is very small. What I need is a sheep. Draw me a sheep.”
So then I made a drawing.
不，不，不！我不想一只大象在蟒蛇的肚子里。蟒蛇非常危险，大象大而笨重。而在我住的地方，所有东西都非常小。我需要的是一只羊，给我画只羊。
于是我做了这幅画.
He looked at it carefully, then he said:
“No. This sheep is already very sickly. Make me another.”
So I made another drawing.
他仔细的看着这幅画，然后说：
“不，这只羊已经病得很重了。给我再画一只。”
所以我画了另外一幅。
My friend smiled gently and indulgently.
“You see yourself,” he said, “that this is not a sheep. This is a ram. It has horns.”
So then I did my drawing over once more.
我的朋友露出亲切可爱的微笑。
“你自己看看，”他说，“这不是小羊，这是公羊，它长着角呢”
所以我又画了一幅画。
But it was rejected too, just like the others.
“This one is too old. I want a sheep that will live a long time.”
By this time my patience was exhausted, because I was in a hurry to start taking my engine apart. So I tossed off this drawing.
toss off 轻而易举完成/把。。。一饮而尽
但是这幅画和其他画一样也被拒绝了。
“这只羊太老了，我要一只能活久一点的羊。”
到了这个时候我的耐心已经耗尽了，因为我急着修我的飞机零件呢。所以我粗粗画了一张给他。
And I threw out an explanation with it.
“This is only his box. The sheep you asked for is inside.”
I was very surprised to see a light break over the face of my young judge:
“That is exactly the way I wanted it! Do you think that this sheep will have to have a great deal of grass?”
The light break over 溢出the face 形容眉开眼笑
a great deal of 大量
然后我这样解释到：
“这是它的盒子，你的小羊在盒子里。”
我很惊讶的看到我的小法官眉开眼笑：
“这就是我要的！你觉得这只羊要很多草吗？”
“Why?”
“Because where I live everything is very small…”
“There will surely be enough grass for him,” I said. “It is a very small sheep that I have given you.”
He bent his head over the drawing.
“Not so small that — Look! He has gone to sleep…”
And that is how I made the acquaintance of the little prince.
bend head over 低头看
Not so small that 也不是很小嘛
make the acquaintance 成为朋友
“为什么？”
“因为在我住的地方，所有东西都很小。”
“肯定会有足够的草给它吃的”我说，“我给你的是一直非常小的羊”
他弯下头看着画。
“也不是很小嘛~看！它睡着了……”
这就是我如何和小王子成为朋友的。
Reflection: How lucky that you can meet someone who understands you.
