译|《小王子》：第五章 猴面包树和灾难
As each day passed I would learn, in our talk, something about the little prince's planet, his departure from it, his journey. The information would come very slowly, as it might chance to fall from his thoughts. It was in this way that I heard, on the third day, about the catastrophe of the baobabs.
我逐渐在我们日常的言谈中了解到一些信息，关于小王子星球的事情，还有他出走的原因和旅行的目的。就这样，在第三天的时候，我明白了猴面包树造成的灾难。
This time, once more, I had the sheep to thank for it. For the little prince asked me abruptly-- as if seized by a grave doubt-- "It is true, isn't it, that sheep eat little bushes?"
"Yes, that is true."
"Ah! I am glad!"
I did not understand why it was so important that sheep should eat little bushes. But the little prince added:
"Then it follows that they also eat baobabs?"
这次事件又是与小羊有关，小王子突然忧心忡忡地问我：“羊以灌木为食，这应该是真的吧？”
“肯定呀，千真万确！”
“啊！这太令人兴奋了！”
我实在百思不得其解，为什么小羊以灌木为食这种不足为奇的小事，在他看来如此重要。
“那这么说，他们一样会吃猴面包树咯？”
I pointed out to the little prince that baobabs were not little bushes, but, on the contrary, trees as big as castles; and that even if he took a whole herd of elephants away with him, the herd would not eat up one single baobab.
The idea of the herd of elephants made the little prince laugh.
"We would have to put them one on top of the other," he said.
我告诉小王子猴面包树并非灌木植物，它们可以长得跟教堂一样高，即使他带回一群大象，也不见得能啃下一棵猴面包树。
在我说到一群大象的时候，小王子哈哈大笑起来。
他说：“那我们得把大象层层叠起才行。”
叠起来的大象
But he made a wise comment: "Before they grow so big, the baobabs start out by being little."
"That is strictly correct," I said. "But why do you want the sheep to eat the little baobabs?"
接着，他说了一句十分巧妙的话：“那猴面包树在长成参天大树之前，个头也就一丁点呀。”
“的确如此，”我说道，“可你为什么要让羊去吃小猴面包树呢？”
He answered me at once, "Oh, come, come!", as if he were speaking of something that was self-evident. And I was obliged to make a great mental effort to solve this problem, without any assistance.
小王子不假思索地回答：“哎！这还用说！”这事对他来说，似乎不言而喻。可是如果没人指点一二，我却要绞尽脑汁才能弄清答案。
Indeed, as I learned, there were on the planet where the little prince lived–as on all planets–good plants and bad plants. In consequence, there were good seeds from good plants, and bad seeds from bad plants.
据我所知，原来小王子所处的行星与其他星球无异，植物也有好坏之分。 因此，种子也就同样有优劣差别，益草出好种，毒草产坏籽。
But seeds are invisible. They sleep deep in the heart of the earth's darkness, until some one among them is seized with the desire to awaken. Then this little seed will stretch itself and begin– timidly at first–to push a charming little sprig inoffensively upward toward the sun.
不过种子通常隐而不发。它们在泥土深处沉睡，直到其中的某一粒产生觉醒的念头，破土而出。之后小种子便羞怯地准备伸展腰肢，在阳光的呵护下，悄无声息地长出秀气可人的小嫩芽。
If it is only a sprout of radish or the sprig of a rose-bush, one would let it grow wherever it might wish. But when it is a bad plant, one must destroy it as soon as possible, the very first instant that one recognizes it.
如果恰好是萝卜或玫瑰的芽苗，就任由它们自由自在地生长。而如果人们一眼认出那是一株坏植物的话，就会尽快将其连根拔起。
Now there were some terrible seeds on the planet that was the home of the little prince; and these were the seeds of the baobab. The soil of that planet was infested with them.
在小王子居住的星球上，现在就有一些令人头疼的家伙，那就是猴面包树的种子。那个星球的土壤容易让猴面包树泛滥成灾。
A baobab is something you will never, never be able to get rid of if you attend to it too late. It spreads over the entire planet. It bores clear through it with its roots. And if the planet is too small, and the baobabs are too many, they split it in pieces.
一棵猴面包树苗如果没有被及时处理，你就休想将它斩草除根。树枝会遍布全球，树根也会深入地心。如果这个小星球无法承受一定数量的猴面包树，最后就会被撑得支离破碎。
"It is a question of discipline," the little prince said to me later on. "When you've finished your own toilet in the morning, then it is time to attend to the toilet of your planet, just so, with the greatest care. You must see to it that you pull up regularly all the baobabs, at the very first moment when they can be distinguished from the rosebushes which they resemble so closely in their earliest youth. It is very tedious work", the little prince added, "but very easy."
“这是一个纪律问题。”小王子后来告诉我，“早晨梳洗完毕后，首要之事就是打理星球。你必须处处留心，按时清除所有猴面包树。它的嫩芽和玫瑰花苗极其相似，所以要认真辨别，一旦有所发现就要第一时间将其铲除。这实在是一件枯燥乏味的事情。”小王子又补充到，“还好只是小事一桩。”
在除草的小王子
And one day he said to me: You ought to make a beautiful drawing, so that the children where you live can see exactly how all this is. That would be very useful to them if they were to travel some day. Sometimes," he added, "there is no harm in putting off a piece of work until another day. But when it is a matter of baobabs, that always means a catastrophe. I knew a planet that was inhabited by a lazy man. He neglected three little bushes...
有一天，小王子劝我说：“你应该画一幅漂亮的插图，这样你家乡的儿童就能对这个情况一目了然。倘若他们某天想要出门旅行，这个对他们会有所帮助。”他接着说道：“有时候，人们推迟一些工作并无关大局，但应对处理猴面包树的问题，稍有拖延就可能酿成大祸。我就遇到过这样一个星球，上面住着一个懒汉，他对三棵小树苗视而不见……”
So, as the little prince described it to me, I have made a drawing of that planet. I do not much like to take the tone of a moralist. But the danger of the baobabs is so little understood, and such considerable risks would be run by anyone who might get lost on an asteroid, that for once I am breaking through my reserve. "Children," I say plainly, "watch out for the baobabs!"
于是，在小王子的描述下，我将那个星球的画面呈现了出来。我并不推崇像卫道士那样的说教方式。但关于猴面包树的危机大家还一无所知，这对某些迷失在小行星上的人而言，实在太过危险。因此这一次我将不再保持沉默，忍不住坦言：“孩子们，要当心那些猴面包树呀！”
猴面包树的灾难
My friends, like myself, have been skirting this danger for a long time, with-out ever knowing it, and so it is for them that I have worked so hard over this drawing.
The lesson which I pass on by this means is worth all the trouble it has cost me.
我的朋友们与我处境相同，长期以来对这样的危险知之甚少，也无从了解，所以这次我用尽全力完成这幅画，希望能让人们有所警惕。
这件事情大有可为，所以哪怕我耗费些心神也无关紧要。
Perhaps you will ask me, "Why is there no other drawing in this book as magnificent and impressive as this drawing of the baobabs?"
The reply is simple. I have tried. But with the others I have not been successful. When I made the drawing of the baobabs I was carried beyond myself by the inspiring force of urgent necessity.
或许你会产生疑问：“为什么这本书的其他插画不像这幅猴面包树图画这样壮观呢？”
答案十分简单。我试过，但未能如愿。当我在画这些猴面包树的时候，内心存有一个迫切的念头，这就是动力所在。
