第八章

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圈花瓣的很普通的花。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，晚上就平静地凋谢了。但是突然有一天，不知从哪里来了一颗种子，长出了一种新的花朵。小王子特别仔细地监视着这棵与星球上其他任何植物都不同的小苗，它说不定是一种新的猴面包树。

但是，这棵小苗不久就不再长了，而是开始冒出了花苞，孕育了一个花朵。看到花苞长出一个很大的花蕾，小王子相信它一定会开出一朵出奇漂亮的花。然而这朵花藏在它那绿茵茵的房间里，迟迟不肯露出美丽的容颜，她用了很长的时间来打扮自己。她精心挑选她将来的颜色，慢腾腾地装扮着，一片片地调整花瓣的位置，她不希望自己仿佛野地里的虞美人那样一出世就满脸皱纹。她要让自己光艳夺目地来到世间。是的，她是非常在乎漂亮的。她用很多天时间天仙般地梳妆打扮。然后，在一天的早晨，恰好在太阳升起的时候，她露出了自己的真面目。

她已经精细地做了那么长的准备工作，却打着哈欠说道：“真不好意思呀……我刚刚起床……瞧我的头还是乱蓬蓬的……”

小王子这时再也控制不住自己的爱慕心情：

“哦，你真漂亮！”

“当然了，”花儿悠然自得地回应说，“我是与太阳同时出生的……”

小王子非常容易地就能看出这花儿不太谦虚，可是她确实漂亮动人。

片刻之后，她补充说道：“我想现在该是吃早点的时候了吧，不知您是否可以帮我……”

小王子很不好意思，赶紧拿来喷壶，打来了一壶清清的凉水，浇灌着花儿。

于是，就这样，这朵花儿就以她那有点敏感多疑的虚荣心开始折磨着小王子。例如，有一天，她对小王子讲起她身上长的四根刺：“老虎要来就来吧，我可不怕它的爪子！”

“在我这个星球上没有老虎。”小王子轻声反对说，“而且，老虎是不会吃草的。”

“我并不是草呀。”花儿娇柔地说。

“真对不起……”

“我并不怕什么老虎，可我讨厌风产生的气流。你有没有屏风？”

小王子思忖着：“讨厌风……这对一株植物来说，真不走运，这朵花儿的心事太复杂了……”

“晚上我希望您能把我放到一个玻璃罩里面。你这地方太冷。我原来住的那个地方……”

但她没有说下去。她来的时候是颗种子。她哪里见过什么别的地方。如此天真的谎言差点被小王子拆穿，她有点羞怒，立刻假装咳嗽了两三声。这么做是要小王子处于有过失的地位，她说：“屏风呢？”

“你刚才跟我说的时候，我就准备去拿……”

于是花儿放开嗓门咳嗽了几声，就是要使小王子后悔自己的过失。

所以，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，这让他很苦恼。

有一天他告诉我说：“我不该把她的话当真，不应听信那些花儿的话。我们只要欣赏花的样子，看看花，闻闻它就得了。我的花让我的星球布满芬芳，可我却不为此高兴，不会享受它。花说的关于老虎爪子的事让我很生气，其实她只是在撒娇，却反而使我恼火……”

他还告诉我说：

“我那时什么也不懂！我应该根据她的行为，而不是听她的话来判断她。她芳香四溢，让我的生活芬芳多彩，我真不该离开她跑出来。我早该猜到，在她那令人爱怜的小把戏后面隐藏着多少柔情啊。花的心事多么自相矛盾！我当时太年轻，还不懂得爱她。”

Chaptr 8

I soon larnd to kno ths flor ttr. On th lttl prnc’s plant th flors had alays n vry spl. Thy had only on rng of ptals; thy took up no roo at all; thy r a troul to noody. On ornng thy ould appar n th grass, and y nght thy ould hav fadd pacfully aay. But on day, fro a sd lon fro no on kn hr, a n flor had co up; and th lttl prnc had atchd vry closly ovr ths sall sprout hch as not lk any othr sall sprouts on hs plant. It ght, you s, hav n a n knd of aoa.

Th shru soon stoppd grong, and gan to gt rady to produc a flor. Th lttl prnc, ho as prsnt at th frst apparanc of a hug ud, flt at onc that so sort of raculous apparton ust rg fro t. But th flor as not satsfd to coplt th prparatons for hr auty n th shltr of hr grn char. Sh chos hr colours th th gratst car. Sh adjustd hr ptals on y on. Sh dd not sh to go out nto th orld all rupld, lk th fld popps. It as only n th full radanc of hr auty that sh shd to appar. Oh, ys! Sh as a coquttsh cratur! And hr ystrous adornnt lastd for days and days.

Thn on ornng, xactly at sunrs, sh suddnly shod hrslf.

And, aftr orkng th all ths panstakng prcson, sh yand and sad:"Ah! I a scarcly aak. I g that you ll xcus . My ptals ar stll all dsarrangd..."But th lttl prnc could not rstran hs adraton:"Oh! Ho autful you ar!"

"A I not" th flor rspondd, stly. "And I as orn at th sa ont as th sun..."Th lttl prnc could guss asly nough that sh as not any too odst— ut ho ovng— and xctng— sh as!

"I thnk t s t for rakfast," sh addd an nstant latr. "If you ould hav th kndnss to thnk of y nds—"And th lttl prnc, copltly aashd, nt to look for a sprnklng-can of frsh atr. So, h tndd th flor.

So, too, sh gan vry quckly to tornt h th hr vanty— hch as, f th truth knon, a lttl dffcult to dal th. On day, for nstanc, hn sh as spakng of hr four thorns, sh sad to th lttl prnc:"Lt th tgrs co th thr clas!""Thr ar no tgrs on y plant," th lttl prnc ojctd. "And, anyay, tgrs do not at ds.""I a not a d," th flor rpld, stly.

"Plas xcus ..."

"I a not at all afrad of tgrs," sh nt on, "ut I hav a horror of drafts. I suppos you ouldn’t hav a scrn for ""A horror of drafts— that s ad luck, for a plant," rarkd th lttl prnc, and addd to hslf, "Ths flor s a vry coplx cratur...""At nght I ant you to put undr a glass glo. It s vry cold hr you lv. In th plac I ca fro—"But sh ntrruptd hrslf at that pont. Sh had co n th for of a sd. Sh could not hav knon anythng of any othr orlds. Earassd ovr havng lt hrslf caught on th vrg of such a nav untruth, sh coughd to or thr ts, n ordr to put th lttl prnc n th rong.

"Th scrn"

"I as just gong to look for t hn you spok to ..."Thn sh forcd hr cough a lttl or so that h should suffr fro rors just th sa.

So th lttl prnc, n spt of all th good ll that as nsparal fro hs lov, had soon co to dout hr. H had takn srously ords hch r thout portanc, and t ad h vry unhappy.

"I ought not to hav lstnd to hr," h confdd to on day. "On nvr ought to lstn to th flors. On should sply look at th and rath thr fragranc. Mn prfud all y plant. But I dd not kno ho to tak plasur n all hr grac. Ths tal of clas, hch dsturd so uch, should only hav flld y hart th tndrnss and pty."And h contnud hs confdncs:"Th fact s that I dd not kno ho to undrstand anythng! I ought to hav judgd y dds and not y ords. Sh cast hr fragranc and hr radanc ovr . I ought nvr to hav run aay fro hr... I ought to hav gussd all th affcton that lay hnd hr poor lttl stratgs. Flors ar so nconsstnt! But I as too young to kno ho to lov hr..."