白雪公主的绘本故事完整版英语（一起读名著THELITTLEPRINCE小王子8）

THE LITTLE PRINCE

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

CHAPTER 8

I soon learned more about the flower. Flowers were simple things on the little prince's planet and took up very little room. They only had a single ring of petals and were not at all demanding.They would appear in the grass one morning and fade away peacefully by evening.But one day, aseed that had blown in from some other place, gave birth to a new type of shoot and the little prince watched over it very closely.What if it was some new kind of baobab!But the shrub soon stopped growing, and began top roduce a flower. At the first appearance of a huge bud, the little prince felt he was in the presence of a miracle. But the flower took her time in its green sacntuary, getting ready to emerge. She chose her colours thoughtfully. She adjusted her petals one by one. After all, she did not wish to appear crumpled like a poppy. She wished to materialize in all her beauty. Oh was she proud! And these secret preparations lasted for many days. Then at sunrise one morning, she showed herself.She yawned and said: 'I am barely awake. Forgive me, my petals are such a mess.'But the little prince was full of admiration: 'Oh! How beautiful you are!'

　　很快我就进一步了解了这朵花儿。在小王子的星球上，过去一直都生长着一些只有一层花瓣的很简单的花。这些花非常小，一点也不占地方，从来也不会去打搅任何人。她们早晨在草丛中开放，晚上就凋谢了。不知从哪里来了一颗种子，忽然一天这种子发了芽。小王子特别仔细地监视着这棵与众不同的小苗：这玩意说不定是一种新的猴面包树。但是，这小苗不久就不再长了，而且开始孕育着一个花朵。看到在这棵苗上长出了一个很大很大的花蕾，小王子感觉到从这个花苞中一定会出现一个奇迹。然而这朵花藏在它那绿茵茵的房间中用了很长的时间来打扮自己。她精心选择着她将来的颜色，慢慢腾腾地装饰着，一片片地搭配着她的花瓣，她不愿像虞美人那样一出世就满脸皱纹。她要让自己带着光艳夺目的丽姿来到世间。是的，她是非常爱俏的。她用好些好些日子天仙般地梳妆打扮。然后，在一天的早晨，恰好在太阳升起的时候，她开放了。她已经精细地做了那么长的准备工作，却打着哈欠说道：“我刚刚睡醒，真对不起，瞧我的头发还是乱蓬蓬的……”小王子这时再也控制不住自己的爱慕心情：“你是多么美丽啊！”

'Am I not?' the flower responded sweetly. 'And I was born along withthe sun.'

　　花儿悠然自得地说：“是吧，我是与太阳同时出生的……”

The little prince could tell that she wasn't exactly humble. But she wasjust so wonderful!

　　小王子看出了这花儿不太谦虚，可是她确实丽姿动人。

'Is it not time for breakfast?' she asked a moment later.'If you would kindly think of my needs …' Feeling embarrassed, the little prince went to look for a sprinkling can and gave her some fresh, cool water.

　　她随后又说道：“现在该是吃早点的时候了吧，请你也想着给我准备一点……”小王子很有些不好意思，于是就拿着喷壶，打来了一壶清清的凉水，浇灌着花儿。

Very soon, she began to trouble him with her rather thorny pride. For instance, while speaking of her four thorns, she said to the little prince: 'Let the tigers show their claws!'

　　于是，就这样，这朵花儿就以她那有点敏感多疑的虚荣心折磨着小王子。例如，有一天，她向小王子讲起她身上长的四根刺：“老虎，让它张着爪子来吧

'We have no tigers on this planet,' the little prince pointed out. 'And,anyway, tigers do not eat weeds.'

　　小王子顶了她一句：“在我这个星球上没有老虎，而且，老虎是不会吃草的”。

'I am not a weed,' was the flower's gentle reply.'I'm sorry.''I am not at all afraid of tigers,' she went on, 'but I am horrified of gales.Would you have a screen for me?''Horrified of gales! That's not good luck for a plant, ' the little prince thought to himself. ' This flower is a complicated creature.''You need to place me under a dome at night. This planet is cold. Where I come from …'She stopped mid-sentence. She had come from a seed and could not have known about any other world. Embarrassed that her little lie had been exposed, she coughed a few times, to make the little prince feel bad for her. 'What happened to the screen?'

　花儿轻声说道：“我并不是草。”　　“真对不起。”　　“我并不怕什么老虎，可我讨厌穿堂风。你没有屏风？”　　小王子思忖着：“讨厌穿堂风……这对一株植物来说，真不走运，这朵花儿真不大好伺候……”　　“晚上您得把我保护好。你这地方太冷。在这里住得不好，我原来住的那个地方……”　　但她没有说下去。她来的时候是粒种子。她哪里见过什么别的世界。她叫人发现她是在说一个如此不太高明的谎话，她有点羞怒，咳嗽了两三声。她的这一招是要小王子处于有过失的地位，她说道：“屏风呢？”

'I was going to look for it but you were still speaking to me!'Then she forced another cough, so as to make him feel sorry.So, even though the little prince loved her and would do anything for her,he was now wary of her. Her harsh words had upset him and he felt miserable.

　　“我这就去拿。可你刚才说的是……”　　于是花儿放开嗓门咳嗽了几声，依然要使小王子后悔自己的过失。　　尽管小王子本来诚心诚意地喜欢这朵花，可是，这一来，却使他马上对她产生了怀疑。小王子对一些无关紧要的话看得太认真，结果使自己很苦恼。

'I shouldn't have paid any heed to her words,' he confided to me. 'You mustn't listen to flowers. You should simply admire them and enjoy their fragrance. My flower sweetened my planet with her scent, but I could find no pleasure in it. Her chatter about the claws, that so irritated me, should have made me feel bad for her instead.'

　　有一天他告诉我说：“我不该听信她的话，绝不该听信那些花儿的话，看看花，闻闻它就得了。我的那朵花使我的星球芳香四溢，可我不会享受它。关于老虎爪子的事，本应该使我产生同情，却反而使我恼火……”

He continued: 'I made a mistake! I should have judged her by her deed sand not by her words. She filled my world with light and her perfume. I should not have run away. I should have noticed that she cared underneath all her games. Flowers are incomprehensible! Or maybe I wasn't old enough to know how to love her.'

　　他还告诉我说：“我那时什么也不懂！我应该根据她的行为，而不是根据她的话来判断她。她使我的生活芬芳多彩，我真不该离开她跑出来。我本应该猜出在她那令人爱怜的花招后面所隐藏的温情。花是多么自相矛盾！我当时太年青，还不懂得爱她。”