Chapter 9 Away From Home
I believe that for his escape he took advantage of the migration of a flock of wild birds. On the morning of his departure he put his planet in perfect order. He carefully cleaned out his active volcanoes. He possessed two active volcanoes; and they were very convenient for heating his breakfast in the morning. He also had one volcano that was extinct. But, as he said, “One never knows!” So he cleaned out the extinct volcano, too. If they are well cleaned out, volcanoes burn slowly and steadily, without any eruptions. Volcanic eruptions are like fires in a chimney.
a flock of 一群…(schoolchildren, seagulls, questions)
put…in perfect order 把…整理得井井有条
active volcano(es) 活火山–extinct volcano 死火山
be convenient for 很方便用来…
我相信他的出走是借助于候鸟群迁徙。在他出走的那天早晨他把他的星球整理的井井有条。他小心地清理着他的活火山。他清理了两座活火山;他们通常都是早晨热面包用的。他也拥有一座死火山,但是谁又能确定呢,所以他清理了死火山。假如火山被清理干净了,他们会变得稳定,缓缓燃烧,并不会喷发。火山的运行原理就像炉火一样。
On our earth we are obviously much too small to clean out our volcanoes. That is why they bring no end of trouble upon us.
The little prince also pulled up, with a certain sense of dejection, the last little shoots of the baobabs. He believed that he would never want to return. But on this last morning all these familiar tasks seemed very precious to him. And when he watered the flower for the last time, and prepared to place her under the shelter of her glass globe, he realized that he was very close to tears.
shoots of 多株…
be close to tears 快要哭了
在地球上,要清理火山可就是一件麻烦事。这就是为什么它们给我们带来无尽的麻烦。
小王子也灰心地拔掉了最后几颗猴面包树。他感觉自己再也不会回来了。但在最后一个早晨,这些平常的例行公事,他都觉得恋恋不舍。当他最后一次浇花,并准备把花儿放进玻璃罩子之时,他发觉他已热泪盈眶。
“Goodbye,” he said to the flower.
But she made no answer.
“Goodbye,” he said again.
The flower coughed. But it was not because she had a cold.
“I have been silly,” she said to him, at last. “I ask your forgiveness. Try to be happy…”
He was surprised by this absence of reproaches. He stood there all bewildered, the glass globe held arrested in mid-air. He did not understand this quiet sweetness.
all bewildered 疑惑不解
held arrested in mid-air 被举在半空
小王子对花儿说:“再见”
但是花儿没有回答。
他又说:“再见”
花儿咳了几声,但她并没有感冒。
花儿终于开口了:“我真蠢,我请求你原谅我,希望你过的开心……”
小王子很惊讶预期中的责备没有到来。他疑惑不解地站在原地,拿着玻璃罩子的手还悬在半空。他不明白这种脉脉柔情。
“Of course I love you,” the flower said to him. “It is my fault that you have not known it all the while. That is of no importance. But you — you have been just as foolish as I. Try to be happy… Let the glass globe be. I don’t want it any more.”
“But the wind–”
“My cold is not so bad as all that… The cool night air will do me good. I am a flower.”
“But the animals–”
that is of no importance 现在说已经不重要了
let the glass globe be 把罩子拿到一边去吧
all that到那种程度,诸如此类
花儿对他说:“当然我是爱你的,都是我的错,从始至终我都没有言明。当然,现在说已经不重要了。
但是你……也和我一样蠢。希望你过的开心吧……让罩子一边去吧,我再也不需要它了。”
“但是风……”
“我并非如此的弱不禁风……晚风会对我好的,我是一朵花。”
“但是动物呢……”