Chapter 7 Warfare Between the Sheep and Flowers
On the fifth day — again, as always, it was thanks to the sheep — the secret of the little prince’s life was revealed to me. Abruptly, without anything to lead up to it, and as if the question had been born of long and silent meditation on his problem, he demanded:
lead up to 导致（a particular event）；逐渐引到 (某一个话题)（a particular subject）
be born of 由…孕育而生
long and silent meditation 长而静的沉思
在15天的时候 —— 要再次感谢我们的羊 —— 小王子的秘密正在慢慢揭开。 没有任何事先征兆，或许对于这个问题，他已经经过了长而静的沉思，他问道：
I did not know. At that moment I was very busy trying to unscrew a bolt that had got stuck in my engine. I was very much worried, for it was becoming clear to me that the breakdown of my plane was extremely serious. And I had so little drinking-water left that I had to fear for the worst.
become clear to me 事情变得清晰
我不知道。。那个时候我正忙着拧掉卡在飞机引擎里的一个螺栓。我内心十分焦急，因为我的飞机的故障非常严重，而我只有一丁点水了。我必须要做最坏的打算。
be upset over something 对某事沮丧
I did not answer. At that instant I was saying to myself: “If this bolt still won’t turn, I am going to knock it out with the hammer.” Again the little prince disturbed my thoughts:
knock sth out 把…敲开
disturb my thought 打扰/妨碍了我的思绪
“And you actually believe that the flowers–”
“Oh, no!” I cried. “No, no, no! I don’t believe anything. I answered you with the first thing that came into my head. Don’t you see — I am very busy with matters of consequence!”
He stared at me, thunderstruck.
“Matters of consequence!”
“你真的相信花儿——”
我叫喊道：“噢，不！我不相信任何东西。我只是在信口开河啊。你难道没看到我正在忙重要的事情吗！”
他惊讶的看着我
“重要的事情！”
He looked at me there, with my hammer in my hand, my fingers black with engine-grease, bending down over an object which seemed to him extremely ugly…
“You talk just like the grown-ups!”
That made me a little ashamed. But he went on, relentlessly:
“You mix everything up together… You confuse everything…”
He was really very angry. He tossed his golden curls in the breeze.
他看着我，我这时正手持锤子，手指沾满了有无，弯着腰对着一块他认为很丑的东西。
“你说起话来就像大人一样！”
这话让我有点羞愧。但他不屈不挠地继续道：
“你是非不分……你混淆黑白……”
他非常生气，金发在风中凌乱。
“I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman. He has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved any one. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures. And all day he says over and over, just like you: ‘I am busy with matters of consequence!’ And that makes him swell up with pride. But he is not a man — he is a mushroom!”
“A what?”
“A mushroom!”
The little prince was now white with rage.
white with rage气得面色发白
我知道有个星球上住着一个红脸先生。他从未嗅过一朵花。他从未看过星星。他从未爱过人。他什么事都没做过除了做数字加法。而且他每天像你一样不停的说：“我正在忙重要的事呢！”这让他骄傲的膨胀。但他不是人 ——他是一个蘑菇！
“是什么？”
“是蘑菇！”
小王子气得脸色发白。
“The flowers have been growing thorns for millions of years. For millions of years the sheep have been eating them just the same. And is it not a matter of consequence to try to understand why the flowers go to so much trouble to grow thorns which are never of any use to them? Is the warfare between the sheep and the flowers not important? Is this not of more consequence than a fat red-faced gentleman’s sums? And if I know — I, myself — one flower which is unique in the world, which grows nowhere but on my planet, but which one little sheep can destroy in a single bite some morning, without even noticing what he is doing — Oh! You think that is not important!”
His face turned from white to red as he continued:
花儿长刺已经好几百年了好吧。这几百万年来羊都吃花。花儿为什么要历经艰难长出对她们没有用的荆棘来，这难道不是需要了解的重要问题吗？羊与花的战争不重要吗？这不是比红脸男人的数字更重要的事吗？并且如果我知道一朵花对这个世界是唯一的，除了我的星球上其他地方都没有的。如果某天早晨一只小羊一不留神就吃掉她了。你认为这不重要吗？
他的脸从白变红，然后说：
“If some one loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. He can say to himself, ‘Somewhere, my flower is there…’ But if the sheep eats the flower, in one moment all his stars will be darkened… And you think that is not important!”
He could not say anything more. His words were choked by sobbing.
Words were choked by sobbing.泣不成声
“假如某人喜欢一朵花，即时她只是数百万星星之中的一朵花而已，也会让他爱上看星星。”，他想到他的花就在其中的某颗星星之上，就会充满幸福。但如果小羊吃了花，在这一瞬间，所有的星星都黯淡了……难道你还认为这不是一件重要的事吗？
他不能继续说下去了，他泣不成声。
The night had fallen. I had let my tools drop from my hands. Of what moment now was my hammer, my bolt, or thirst, or death? On one star, one planet, my planet, the Earth, there was a little prince to be comforted. I took him in my arms, and rocked him. I said to him:
【翻译】夜幕已然降临，我把手中的工具放下。现在，我的锤子、螺栓、饥渴抑或死亡，还重要吗？
这句话中，moment 是抽象意思，意为“重要，重大”，等于importance。
Of what moment = Of what importance = How important。
这是一个特殊疑问句，实际表达反问的意思。我改写一下：
Of what importance now was my hammer, my bolt, or thirst, or death?
How important now was my hammer, my bolt, or thirst, or death?
of 表示“事物具有的品质或特性”，之后一般跟表示“意义的抽象名词”，例如：quality（质量）, value（价值），use（用途）, importance（重要性）, significance（意义）, beauty（美丽），moment（重要，重大）等。
把“of + 抽象名词” 理解为形容词用法。例如：
This method is of use. 这种方法有用处。（of use = useful）
This book is of value. 这本书有价值。（of value = valuable）
The meeting is of importance. 会议很重要。（of importance = important）
我演绎一下结构的转换：
of use = useful
用于特殊疑问句时，Of what + 名词 = How + 形容词:
of what use = how useful
What use is the book of? = Of what use is the book? = How useful is the book?
夜幕已然降临，我把手中的工具放下。现在，我的锤子、螺栓、饥渴抑或死亡，还重要吗？在一颗星球上，我的行星地球上，有一个小王子需要安慰。我把他搂进怀里，轻轻的摇着他。我对他说：
Respirator 普通口罩，用纸或布制作的
Surgical mask 医用口罩（预防新型冠状病毒推荐使用）
