第十七章

    当人们想卖弄他的机智时，通常会偏离一点真相。在给你们讲点灯人的时候，我就不那么忠实，很可能给不了解我们这个星球的人们造成一个错误的概念。其实在地球上，人们所占的空间非常。如果住在地球上的二十亿居民全部站着，就像参加聚会一样靠得紧些，那么一个二十海里见方的广场上就可以宽松地容纳。也就是可以把整个人类集中在太平洋中一个最的岛屿上。
    当然，大人们是不会相信你们的。他们自以为占据了很大地方，他们把自己看得像猴面包树那样了不起。你们可以建议他们计算一下。这样会使他们很高兴，因为他们崇拜数字。但是你无须浪费时间去做这种无聊的连篇累牍的演算。这没有必要。你们可以完全相信我。
    王子到达地球时一个人都看不到，他感到非常奇怪，当一圈金黄色的月亮的光芒，闪耀在沙地上时，他开始害怕他来到了一个错误的星球。
    王子很有礼貌地：“晚上好。”
    “晚上好。”蛇道。
    “我在什么星球上了？”王子问道。
    “在地球上，这里是非洲。”蛇回答道。
    “噢……难道地球上没有人吗？”
    “这里是沙漠，沙漠中没有人。地球是很大的。”蛇。
    王子坐在一块石头上，抬眼望着天空。
    “我有些疑惑，”他，“是否这些在天空点亮的星星是为了有一天，让我们每个人都可以重新找到自己原来的星球……看，我那颗行星。它恰好在我们头顶上……可是，它离我们好远哟！”
    “它很美。”蛇，“你到这里来干什么呢？”
    “我和一朵花闹了别扭。”王子。
    “啊！”蛇道。
    于是他们都沉默下来。
    “人在什么地方？”王子终于又开口，“在沙漠上，真有点孤独……”
    “在人群里也一样孤独的。”蛇。
    王子久久地看着蛇。
    “你是个奇怪的动物，和手指头一般大……”王子终于道。
    “但我比一个国王的手指更有威力。”蛇道。
    王子微笑着：
    “你并不那么有威力……你连脚都没有……你甚至都不能旅行……”
    “我可以把你带到很远的地方去，比任何一只船能去的地方还要远。”蛇道。
    蛇就盘结在王子的脚腕子上，像一只金镯子。
    “任何人被我碰触，我就把他送回他来的地方。”蛇还，“可是你是纯洁的、真实的，而且是从另一个星球上来的……”
    王子什么也没有回答。
    “在这个冷酷无情的地球上，你这么弱，我很可怜你。如果你非常怀念你的星球，那时我可以帮助你。我可以……”
    “啊！我很明白你的意思。”王子，“但是你为什么话总是像让人猜谜语似的？”
    “这些谜语我都能解开的。”蛇。
    于是他们又都沉默起来。
    Chapter 17
    When one wishestron inhabitants who people its surface were all to stand upright and somewhat crowded together, as they do for some big public assembly, they could easily be put   The grownnce arrived  when a coil of gold, the color of the moonlight, flashed across the sand.
    "Good evening," said the little prince courteously.
    "Good evening," said the snake.
    "What pla is this on which I have e down" asked the little prince.
    "This is the Earth; this is Africa," the snake answered.
    he snake.
    The little prince sat down on a stone, and raised his eyes toward the sky.
    "I wonder," he said, "whether the stars are set alight in y it is!""It is beautiful," the snake said. "What has brought you here""I have been having some trouble with a flower," said the little prince.
    "Ah!" said the snake.
    And they were both silent.
    "Where are the men" the little prince at last took up the conversation again. "It is a little lonely in the desert...""It is also lonely among men," the snake said.
    The little prince gazed at him for a long time.
    "You are a funny animal," he said at last. "You are no thicker than a finger...""But I am more powerful than the finger of a king," said the snake.
    rry you farther than any ship could take you," said the snake.
    He twined himself around the little prince's ankle, like a golden bracelet.
    "Whomever I touch, I send back to the earth from whence he came," the snake spoke agayou are so weak on this Earth made of granite," the snake said. "I can hee. "But why do you always speak in riddles""I solve them all," said the snake.
    And they were both silent.