Chapter 17 A Snake in the Desert
When one wishes to play the wit, he sometimes wanders a little from the truth. I have not been altogether honest in what I have told you about the lamplighters. And I realize that I run the risk of giving a false idea of our planet to those who do not know it. Men occupy a very small place upon the Earth. If the two billion inhabitants who people its surface were all to stand upright and somewhat crowded together, as they do for some big public assembly, they could easily be put into one public square twenty miles long and twenty miles wide. All humanity could be piled up on a small Pacific islet.
wander a little from the truth 偏离事实
run the risk 冒险
pile up 把…堆积/积累起来
假如某人想要卖弄聪明，那他有时会偏离事实。在我说点灯人的故事里我说的不完全是事实。我了解到这也许会让不了解我们星球的人产生误解。人们在地球上只居住了一块很小的地方。假如把二十亿站立的居民聚集起来参加大会，他们可以轻松的站在一个二十英里长、二十英里宽的广场上。可以把地球上所有的人堆积在一个太平洋小岛上。
The grown-ups, to be sure, will not believe you when you tell them that. They imagine that they fill a great deal of space. They fancy themselves as important as the baobabs. You should advise them, then, to make their own calculations. They adore figures, and that will please them. But do not waste your time on this extra task. It is unnecessary. You have, I know, confidence in me.
When the little prince arrived on the Earth, he was very much surprised not to see any people. He was beginning to be afraid he had come to the wrong planet, when a coil of gold, the color of the moonlight, flashed across the sand.
a coil of gold 一缕金光
当你告诉大人们这些时，他们才不会信呢。他们觉得他们应该占了一块很大的地方。他们幻想自己和猴面包树一样重要。你应该建议他们自己算算，他们热衷于数字，数字使他们愉快。但是请你不要浪费时间在这个事情上，这并不重要。我知道你相信我的话。
当小王子到达地球上的那一刻，他很惊讶没有看到任何人。他开始担忧他来错星球了。这时他看到沙漠上有个月白色的圆环在蠕动。
“Good evening,” said the little prince courteously.
“Good evening,” said the snake.
“What planet is this on which I have come down?” asked the little prince.
“This is the Earth; this is Africa,” the snake answered.
“Ah! Then there are no people on the Earth?”
“This is the desert. There are no people in the desert. The Earth is large,” said the snake.
The little prince sat down on a stone, and raised his eyes toward the sky.
“I wonder,” he said, “whether the stars are set alight in heaven so that one day each one of us may find his own again… Look at my planet. It is right there above us. But how far away it is!”
“It is beautiful,” the snake said. “What has brought you here?”
“I have been having some trouble with a flower,” said the little prince.
“Ah!” said the snake.
And they were both silent.
“晚上好，”小王子礼貌地说。
“晚上好，”蛇说。
“我降落到哪座星球上了啊？”小王子问到。
“这是地球；这里是非洲，”蛇回答道。
“啊！地球上没有人的吗？”
“这是沙漠，沙漠没有人的。地球可大着呢，”蛇说。
小王子坐在一块石头上，抬眼望向天空。
“我想知道，”小王子说，“一闪一闪亮晶晶，星星是否在告诉我们家在何方……看看我的星球，看起来就像在我们头顶闪烁，但实际上它可远着呢！”
“它真美，”蛇说，“什么风把你吹到这里来了？”
“我和一朵花儿闹矛盾呢，”小王子说。
“哦！”蛇说。
他们都缄口不言了。
“Where are the men?” the little prince at last took up the conversation again. “It is a little lonely in the desert…”
“It is also lonely among men,” the snake said.
The little prince gazed at him for a long time.
“You are a funny animal,” he said at last. “You are no thicker than a finger…”
“But I am more powerful than the finger of a king,” said the snake.
The little prince smiled.
“You are not very powerful. You haven’t even any feet. You cannot even travel…”
“I can carry you farther than any ship could take you,” said the snake.
He twined himself around the little prince’s ankle, like a golden bracelet.
“Whomever I touch, I send back to the earth from whence he came,” the snake spoke again. “But you are innocent and true, and you come from a star…”
The little prince made no reply.
“You move me to pity — you are so weak on this Earth made of granite,” the snake said. “I can help you, some day, if you grow too homesick for your own planet. I can–”
“Oh! I understand you very well,” said the little prince. “But why do you always speak in riddles?”
“I solve them all,” said the snake.
And they were both silent.
speak in riddles 表达含糊不清
“人类在哪里？”小王子终于打破了沉默。“在沙漠里有点孤独……”
“在人群之中也孤独，”蛇说。
小王子久久的凝视着它。
“你是个有趣的动物，”他最终说到。“你还没有一根手指粗……”
“但我可比国王的手指强大的多，”蛇说。
小王子小了。
“你可没有多强大。你连脚都没有。你不能旅行……”
“船能带你走多远，我能带你去更远。”蛇说。
它环绕在小王子的脚踝上，像个金镯子。
“我碰到谁，就能把他欢送回老家啊，”蛇重复道。“但你是纯真的，你是从星球上来的……”
小王子没有回答。
“你让我感到怜悯，你在这个花岗岩铸就的地球上太脆弱了，”蛇说。“如果某天你想家了，我能帮你。”
“噢！我很明白你的意思，”小王子说，“但怎么你的每句话都像谜语一样的？”
他们都不讲话了。
