第五章
每天我都了解到一些关于小王子的星球、他的出走和旅行等事情。这些都是偶然和他交谈中不经意慢慢得到的。就这样，在遇到小王子的第三天，我就了解到关于猴面包树的危险。
这一次，我还要再次感谢那只绵羊，因为小王子好像是非常担心地问我道：“绵羊吃矮小的灌木，这是真的吗？”
“是的，是真的。”
“啊，我真高兴。”
我不明白绵羊吃矮小灌木这件事为什么如此重要。可小王子又补充说道：“那么，它们也吃猴面包树吗？”
我对小王子指出说，猴面包树可不是什么小灌木，而是像城堡那么大的大树，即便是带回一群大象，也啃不了一棵猴面包树。
一群大象这种想法使小王子大笑起来：“那可得把这些大象叠起来才行。”
然后，他又给出了一个非常聪敏的评论：“猴面包树在长大之前，开始也是小小的。”
“不错。”我说，“可是为什么你想叫你的羊去吃小猴面包树呢？”
他立刻回答我道：“哦，行了，行了。”似乎这是不言而喻的，我自己却被迫要费很大的脑力来解决这个问题。
的确，正如我之前了解到的，在小王子居住的星球上，也和别的星球一样，存在着好的植物和坏的植物，因此，也就存在来自好的植物的好的种子，和来自坏的植物的坏的种子。但是，我们是看不见种子的。
它们安静地沉睡在泥土中，直到其中的一粒忽然想要苏醒过来……于是它就伸展开身子，先是害羞地朝着太阳长出一棵秀丽可爱的小嫩苗。如果是小萝卜或是玫瑰的嫩苗，就任由它去恣意地生长。如果是一棵坏苗，一旦被辨认出来，就应该马上把它拔掉。
因为在小王子的星球上，有些非常可怕的种子……就是猴面包树的种子，这种种子多得成灾，它们会入侵整个星球的土地。而一棵猴面包树苗，假如你拔得太迟，就再也无法把它清除掉。它会盘踞整个星球。它会长出很多树根。如果星球很小，而猴面包树很多，它就把整个星球搞得支离破碎。
“这是个规矩问题。”小王子后来向我解释道，“每天早上洗漱完毕以后，必须非常仔细地给星球做清洁和打扮。你必须规定自己按时去拔掉猴面包树苗。这种树苗小的时候与玫瑰苗长得差不多，一旦你把它们认出来，就要把它拔掉。这是一件非常乏味的工作，但也很容易。”
有一天，小王子劝我不妨画一幅漂亮的图画，好让地球上的孩子们对于猴面包树的危害有一个深刻的印象。“如果他们出外旅行的时候，”他对我说，“你的画对他们是很有用的。有时候，人们把自己的工作延迟到以后去做，并没有什么危害，但要遇到拔猴面包树苗这种事，拖延就非造成大灾难不可。我了解到一个星球，上面住着一个懒惰的家伙，他忽视了三棵小猴面包树苗……”
于是，根据小王子的描述，我把这个有三棵猴面包树的星球画了下来。我非常不情愿以道德楷模自居，可是猴面包树的危险大家都不大了解，对迷失在小行星上的人来说，危险性非常之大，因此这一回，我贸然打破了我的这种不喜欢教训人的惯例，我简单直白地说：“孩子们，要当心那些猴面包树呀！”像我一样很长时间以来都避开了这个危险的朋友们，甚至都不知道这种危险的存在。因此为了他们，我花了很大的工夫画了这幅画。通过这种方式让大家学到的这节课，所有过程中的麻烦都值得了。你们也许要问，为什么这本书中别的画都没有这幅猴面包树的画那么壮观并且印象深刻呢？回答很简单：别的画我也曾经试图画得好些，却没成功。而当我画猴面包树时，有一种急切的心情在驱动着我。
Chaptr 5
As ach day passd I ould larn, n our talk, sothng aout th lttl prnc’s plant, hs dpartur fro t, hs journy. Th nforaton ould co vry sloly, as t ght chanc to fall fro hs thoughts. It as n ths ay that I hard, on th thrd day, aout th catastroph of th aoas.
Ths t, onc or, I had th shp to thank for t. For th lttl prnc askd aruptly— as f szd y a grav dout— "It s tru, sn’t t, that shp at lttl ushs""Ys, that s tru."
"Ah! I a glad!"
I dd not undrstand hy t as so portant that shp should at lttl ushs. But th lttl prnc addd:"Thn t follos that thy also at aoas"I pontd out to th lttl prnc that aoas r not lttl ushs, ut, on th contrary, trs as g as castls; and that vn f h took a hol hrd of lphants aay th h, th hrd ould not at up on sngl aoa.
Th da of th hrd of lphants ad th lttl prnc laugh.
"W ould hav to put th on on top of th othr," h sad.
But h ad a s cont:
"Bfor thy gro so g, th aoas start out y ng lttl.""That s strctly corrct," I sad. "But hy do you ant th shp to at th lttl aoas"H ansrd at onc, "Oh, co, co!", as f h r spakng of sothng that as slf-vdnt. And I as olgd to ak a grat ntal ffort to solv ths prol, thout any assstanc.
Indd, as I larnd, thr r on th plant hr th lttl prnc lvd— as on all plants— good plants and ad plants. In consqunc, thr r good sds fro good plants, and ad sds fro ad plants. But sds ar nvsl.
Thy slp dp n th hart of th arth’s darknss, untl so on aong th s szd th th dsr to aakn. Thn ths lttl sd ll strtch tslf and gn— tdly at frst— to push a charng lttl sprg noffnsvly upard toard th sun.
If t s only a sprout of radsh or th sprg of a ros-ush, on ould lt t gro hrvr t ght sh. But hn t s a ad plant, on ust dstroy t as soon as possl, th vry frst nstant that on rcognzs t.
No thr r so trrl sds on th plant that as th ho of th lttl prnc; and ths r th sds of th aoa. Th sol of that plant as nfstd th th.
A aoa s sothng you ll nvr, nvr al to gt rd of f you attnd to t too lat. It sprads ovr th ntr plant. It ors clar through t th ts roots. And f th plant s too sall, and th aoas ar too any, thy splt t n pcs...
"It s a quston of dscpln," th lttl prnc sad to latr on. "Whn you’v fnshd your on tolt n th ornng, thn t s t to attnd to th tolt of your plant, just so, th th gratst car. You ust s to t that you pull up rgularly all th aoas, at th vry frst ont hn thy can dstngushd fro th rosushs hch thy rsl so closly n thr arlst youth. It s vry tdous ork," th lttl prnc addd, "ut vry asy."And on day h sad to : "You ought to ak a autful drang, so that th chldrn hr you lv can s xactly ho all ths s. That ould vry usful to th f thy r to travl so day. Sots," h addd, "thr s no har n puttng off a pc of ork untl anothr day.
But hn t s a attr of aoas, that alays ans a catastroph. I kn a plant that as nhatd y a lazy an. H nglctd thr lttl ushs..."So, as th lttl prnc dscrd t to , I hav ad a drang of that plant. I do not uch lk to tak th ton of a oralst. But th dangr of th aoas s so lttl undrstood, and such consdral rsks ould run y anyon ho ght gt lost on an astrod, that for onc I a rakng through y rsrv. "Chldrn," I say planly, "atch out for th aoas!"My frnds, lk yslf, hav n skrtng ths dangr for a long t, thout vr knong t; and so t s for th that I hav orkd so hard ovr ths drang. Th lsson hch I pass on y ths ans s orth all th troul t has cost .
Prhaps you ll ask , "Why ar thr no othr drang n ths ook as agnfcnt and prssv as ths drang of th aoas"Th rply s spl. I hav trd. But th th othrs I hav not n succssful. Whn I ad th drang of th aoas I as carrd yond yslf y th nsprng forc of urgnt ncssty.