苗疆小说网

第二十一章（第3页）

Itwasthenthatthefoxappeared。

"Goodmorning，"saidthefox。

"Goodmorning，"thelittleprincerespondedpolitely，althoughwhenheturnedaroundhesawnothing。

"Iamrighthere，"thevoicesaid，"undertheappletree。""Whoareyou"askedthelittleprince，andadded，"Youareveryprettytolookat。""Iamafox，"saidthefox。

"Comeandplaywithme，"proposedthelittleprince。"Iamsounhappy。""Icannotplaywithyou，"thefoxsaid。"Iamnottamed。""Ah!Pleaseexcuseme，"saidthelittleprince。

But，aftersomethought，headded:"Whatdoesthatmean—‘tame""Youdonotlivehere，"saidthefox。"Whatisitthatyouarelookingfor""Iamlookingformen，"saidthelittleprince。"Whatdoesthatmean—‘tame""Men，"saidthefox。"Theyhaveguns，andtheyhunt。Itisverydisturbing。Theyalsoraisechickens。Thesearetheironlyinterests。Areyoulookingforchickens""No，"saidthelittleprince。"Iamlookingforfriends。Whatdoesthatmean—‘tame""Itisanacttoooftenneglected，"saidthefox。Itmeanstoestablishties。""Toestablishties"

"Justthat，"saidthefox。"Tome，youarestillnothingmorethanalittleboywhoisjustlikeahundredthousandotherlittleboys。AndIhavenoneedofyou。Andyou，onyourpart，havenoneedofme。Toyou，Iamnothingmorethanafoxlikeahundredthousandotherfoxes。Butifyoutameme，thenweshallneedeachother。Tome，youwillbeuniqueinalltheworld。Toyou，Ishallbeuniqueinalltheworld。。。""Iambeginningtounderstand，"saidthelittleprince。"Thereisaflower。。。Ithinkthatshehastamedme。。。""Itispossible，"saidthefox。"OntheEarthoneseesallsortsofthings。""Oh，butthisisnotontheEarth!"saidthelittleprince。

Thefoxseemedperplexed，andverycurious。

"Onanotherplanet"

"Yes。"

"Aretherehuntersonthisplanet""No。"

"Ah，thatisinteresting!Aretherechickens""No。"

"Nothingisperfect，"sighedthefox。

Buthecamebacktohisidea。

"Mylifeisverymonotonous，"thefoxsaid。"Ihuntchickens;menhuntme。Allthechickensarejustalike，andallthemenarejustalike。And，inconsequence，Iamalittlebored。Butifyoutameme，itwillbeasifthesuncametoshineonmylife。Ishallknowthesoundofastepthatwillbedifferentfromalltheothers。Otherstepssendmehurryingbackunderneaththeground。Yourswillcallme，likemusic，outofmyburrow。Andthenlook:youseethegrain-fieldsdownyonderIdonoteatbread。Wheatisofnousetome。Thewheatfieldshavenothingtosaytome。Andthatissad。Butyouhavehairthatisthecolourofgold。Thinkhowwonderfulthatwillbewhenyouhavetamedme!Thegrain，whichisalsogolden，willbringmebackthethoughtofyou。AndIshalllovetolistentothewindinthewheat。。。"Thefoxgazedatthelittleprince，foralongtime。

"Please—tameme!"hesaid。

"Iwantto，verymuch，"thelittleprincereplied。"ButIhavenotmuchtime。Ihavefriendstodiscover，andagreatmanythingstounderstand。""Oneonlyunderstandsthethingsthatonetames，"saidthefox。"Menhavenomoretimetounderstandanything。Theybuythingsallreadymadeattheshops。Butthereisnoshopanywherewhereonecanbuyfriendship，andsomenhavenofriendsanymore。Ifyouwantafriend，tameme。。。""WhatmustIdo，totameyou"askedthelittleprince。

"Youmustbeverypatient，"repliedthefox。"Firstyouwillsitdownatalittledistancefromme—likethat—inthegrass。Ishalllookatyououtofthecornerofmyeye，andyouwillsaynothing。Wordsarethesourceofmisunderstandings。Butyouwillsitalittleclosertome，everyday。。。"Thenextdaythelittleprincecameback。

"Itwouldhavebeenbettertocomebackatthesamehour，"saidthefox。"If，forexample，youcomeatfouroclockintheafternoon，thenatthreeoclockIshallbegintobehappy。Ishallfeelhappierandhappierasthehouradvances。Atfouroclock，Ishallalreadybeworryingandjumpingabout。IshallshowyouhowhappyIam!Butifyoucomeatjustanytime，Ishallneverknowatwhathourmyheartistobereadytogreetyou。。。Onemustobservetheproperrites。。。""Whatisarite"askedthelittleprince。

"Thosealsoareactionstoooftenneglected，"saidthefox。"Theyarewhatmakeonedaydifferentfromotherdays，onehourfromotherhours。Thereisarite，forexample，amongmyhunters。EveryThursdaytheydancewiththevillagegirls。SoThursdayisawonderfuldayforme!Icantakeawalkasfarasthevineyards。Butifthehuntersdancedatjustanytime，everydaywouldbelikeeveryotherday，andIshouldneverhaveanyvacationatall。"Sothelittleprincetamedthefox。Andwhenthehourofhisdeparturedrewnear—"Ah，"saidthefox，"Ishallcry。""Itisyourownfault，"saidthelittleprince。"Ineverwishedyouanysortofharm;butyouwantedmetotameyou。。。""Yes，thatisso，"saidthefox。

"Butnowyouaregoingtocry!"saidthelittleprince。

"Yes，thatisso，"saidthefox。

"Thenithasdoneyounogoodatall!""Ithasdonemegood，"saidthefox，"becauseofthecolorofthewheatfields。"Andthenheadded:"Goandlookagainattheroses。Youwillunderstandnowthatyoursisuniqueinalltheworld。Thencomebacktosaygoodbyetome，andIwillmakeyouapresentofasecret。"Thelittleprincewentaway，tolookagainattheroses。

"Youarenotatalllikemyrose，"hesaid。"Asyetyouarenothing。Noonehastamedyou，andyouhavetamednoone。YouarelikemyfoxwhenIfirstknewhim。Hewasonlyafoxlikeahundredthousandotherfoxes。ButIhavemadehimmyfriend，andnowheisuniqueinalltheworld。"Andtheroseswereverymuchembarrassed。

"Youarebeautiful，butyouareempty，"hewenton。"Onecouldnotdieforyou。Tobesure，anordinarypasserbywouldthinkthatmyroselookedjustlikeyou—therosethatbelongstome。Butinherselfalonesheismoreimportantthanallthehundredsofyouotherroses:becauseitisshethatIhavewatered;becauseitisshethatIhaveputundertheglassglobe;becauseitisshethatIhaveshelteredbehindthescreen;becauseitisforherthatIhavekilledthecaterpillars（exceptthetwoorthreethatwesavedtobecomebutterflies）;becauseitisshethatIhavelistenedto，whenshegrumbled，orboasted，orevensometimeswhenshesaidnothing。Becausesheismyrose。

Andhewentbacktomeetthefox。

"Goodbye，"hesaid。

"Goodbye，"saidthefox。"Andnowhereismysecret，averysimplesecret:Itisonlywiththeheartthatonecanseerightly;whatisessentialisinvisibletotheeye。""Whatisessentialisinvisibletotheeye，"thelittleprincerepeated，sothathewouldbesuretoremember。

"Itisthetimeyouhavewastedforyourrosethatmakesyourrosesoimportant。""ItisthetimeIhavewastedformyrose—"saidthelittleprince，sothathewouldbesuretoremember。

"Menhaveforgottenthistruth，"saidthefox。"Butyoumustnotforgetit。Youbecomeresponsible，forever，forwhatyouhavetamed。Youareresponsibleforyourrose。。。""Iamresponsibleformyrose，"thelittleprincerepeated，sothathewouldbesuretoremember。