【Chapter 7】The Little Prince(小王子)

joker11111

Chapter 7

On the fifth day--again, as always, it was thanks to the sheep--the secret of the little prince's life was revealed to me. Abruptly, without anything to lead up to it, and as if the question had been born of long and silent meditation on his problem, he demanded:

"A sheep--if it eats little bushes, does it eat flowers, too? "

"A sheep," I answered, "eats anything it finds in its reach. "

"Even flowers that have thorns? "

"Yes, even flowers that have thorns. "

"Then the thorns--what use are they? "

I did not know. At that moment I was very busy trying to unscrew a bolt that had got stuck in my engine. I was very much worried, for it was becoming clear to me that the breakdown of my plane was extremely serious. And I had so little drinking-water left that I had to fear for the worst.

"The thorns--what use are they? "
The little prince never let go of a question, once he had asked it. As for me, I was upset over that bolt. And I answered with the first thing that came into my head:

"The thorns are of no use at all. Flowers have thorns just for spite! "

"Oh! "

There was a moment of complete silence. Then the little prince flashed back at me, with a kind of resentfulness:

"I don't believe you! Flowers are weak creatures. They are naive. They reassure themselves as best they can. They believe that their thorns are terrible weapons . . . "

I did not answer. At that instant I was saying to myself: "If this bolt still won't turn, I am going to knock it out with the hammer. " Again the little prince disturbed my thoughts:

"And you actually believe that the flowers--"

"Oh, no! " I cried. "No, no, no! I don't believe anything. I answered you with the first thing that came into my head. Don't you see--I am very busy with matters of consequence! "

He stared at me, thunderstruck.

"Matters of consequence! "

He looked at me there, with my hammer in my hand, my fingers black with engine-grease, bending down over an object which seemed to him extremely ugly . . .

"You talk just like the grown-ups! "

That made me a little ashamed. But he went on, relentlessly:

"You mix everything up together . . . You confuse everything . . . "

He was really very angry. He tossed his golden curls in the breeze.

"I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman. He has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved any one. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures. And all day he says over and over, just like you: 'I am busy with matters of consequence! ' And that makes him swell up with pride. But he is not a man--he is a mushroom! "

"A what? "

"A mushroom! "

The little prince was now white with rage.

"The flowers have been growing thorns for millions of years.For millions of years the sheep have been eating them just the same.
And is it not a matter of consequence to try to understand why the flowers go to so much trouble to grow thorns which are never of any use to them? Is the warfare between the sheep and the flowers not important? Is this not of more consequence than a fat red-faced gentleman's sums? And if I know--I, myself--one flower which is unique in the world, which grows nowhere but on my planet, but which one little sheep can destroy in a single bite some morning, without even noticing what he is doing--Oh! You think that is not important! "

His face turned from white to red as he continued:

"If some one loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars. He can say to himself, 'Somewhere, my flower is there . . . ' But if the sheep eats the flower, in one moment all his stars will be darkened . . . And you think that is not important! "

He could not say anything more. His words were choked by sobbing.

The night had fallen. I had let my tools drop from my hands. Of what moment now was my hammer, my bolt, or thirst, or death? On one star, one planet, my planet, the Earth, there was a little prince to be comforted. I took him in my arms, and rocked him. I said to him:

"The flower that you love is not in danger. I will draw you a muzzle for your sheep. I will draw you a railing to put around your flower. I will--"

I did not know what to say to him.I felt awkward and blundering.
I did not know how I could reach him, where I could overtake him and go on hand in hand with him once more.

It is such a secret place, the land of tears.

更多章节请点我

这位鱼油，如果喜欢本系列The Little Prince(小王子)帖子，请订阅 专辑☞（传送门）（不喜欢更要订阅 ）

joker11111

thorns：a stiff, sharp-pointed, straight or curved woody projection on the stem or other part of a plant..刺，荆棘
sobbing : cry noisily, making loud, convulsive gasps
matters of consequence :重要的事
white with rage：气的脸色煞白

几则读后感分享：
小时候会为一些无关痛痒的事情哭泣 当我觉得这些事情无关痛痒的时候 大概我就这样长大了 成为了一个grown-up

这一章节告诉我们的寓意是 不要总忙碌于工作 结果 成就 多关心留意一下你身边的人和事 身边的美景 身边的爱人 朋友 亲人 甚至身边那个时常陪伴在你身旁的宠物 他们的世界只有你

你以为只是一个无关紧要的小问题，却不知那影响着别人的整个世界。

sorry,我也觉得这一章的小王子是莫名其妙的。
首先，羊吃花又怎么样，羊吃别的东西又怎样，这是生存的法则，物竞天择，适者生存，这个世界本来就是弱肉强食，这个例子举的有点问题。
然后，我们多花些时间感受一下生活，有点诗情画意是好的，我也是那样的人，总是会为一些花花草草而伤感。
但是，我们不能强求别人也认同我们的想法，在我伤感的时候，我就绝不能让在乎我的人也放下他们手里的事情我一起伤感，这样不是以自我为中心么？
我不会让我身边的人牺牲自己的时间，陪着我去想这些东西，虽然自己是二次元的生物，但是不会要求旁人理解我的想法，毕竟每个人的生活方式都不一样。
最后，多花时间工作也没什么不对的，天知道那些拼命工作的grown-up们也都想抽些时间陪陪家人，可是为了责任为了一家人的生活，他们必须努力工作，连想伤感的时间都没有，他们不是更可悲么？
如果不沉浸在一堆数字里，让自己更加强 大，怎么让自己有能力去保护花儿，多花时间学习工作也没有错。


一直感动于“那朵独一无二的花”，小王子，我喜欢你纯粹的世界，我喜欢你的花，你的狐狸，他的日落，你小星球上的生活，我喜欢你的一切，于是我喜欢你，喜欢你的纯粹。

看了这章，还有一些读后感，感动的人们大都沉浸在小王子那不含一丝杂尘的内心，或者童心吧，这是我们长大后很多人都失去的东西，长大后我们的目光焦点大都放在车子，房子，票子等一系列功利性的事物，而很少时间去关心陪在身边重要的人，爱人，父母，有人觉得这章莫名其妙，有人觉得这章最为感动，“那朵独一无二的花”，我想，没有必要就纠结小王子的童真心态到底好与坏，读过这章之后，多留心关心自己生命中那重要的玫瑰花，她有开心和不开心得时刻，在她不开心时，在宇宙中万千星球的地球上，有一朵只属于你自己的玫瑰花她需要你的安慰，而你，应该放心自己手头所谓的重要的事，仅仅以一颗纯粹的心，陪着她，安慰她，仅此而已...

alltolove

他是不是来地球上找玫瑰花来了