第十七章 (第2/2页)

“在这个冷酷无情的地球上，你这么弱小，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。”小王子说，“但是你为什么说话总是像让人猜谜语似的？”

“这些谜语我都能解开的。”蛇说。

于是他们又都沉默起来。

Chaptr 17

Whn on shs to play th t, h sots andrs a lttl fro th truth. I hav not n altogthr honst n hat I hav told you aout th laplghtrs. And I ralz that I run th rsk of gvng a fals da of our plant to thos ho do not k no t. Mn occupy a vry sall plac upon th Earth. If th to llon nhatants ho popl ts surfac r all to stand uprght and sohat crodd togthr, as thy do for so g pulc assly, thy could asly put nto on pulc squar tnty ls long and tnty ls d. All huanty could pld up on a sall Pacfc slt.

Th gron-ups, to sur, ll not lv you hn you tll th that. Thy agn that thy fll a grat dal of spac. Thy fancy thslvs as portant as th aoas. You should advs th, thn, to ak thr on calculatons. Thy ador fg urs, and that ll plas th. But do not ast your t on ths xtra task. It s unncssary. You hav, I kno, confdnc n .

Whn th lttl prnc arrvd on th Earth, h as vry uch surprsd not to s any popl. H as gnnng to afrad h had co to th rong plant, hn a col of gold, th color of th oonlght, flashd across th sand.

"Good vnng," sad th lttl prnc courtously.

"Good vnng," sad th snak.

"What plant s ths on hch I hav co don" askd th lttl prnc.

"Ths s th Earth; ths s Afrca," th snak ansrd.

"Ah! Thn thr ar no popl on th Earth""Ths s th dsrt. Thr ar no popl n th dsrt. Th Earth s larg," sad th snak.

Th lttl prnc sat don on a ston, and rasd hs ys toard th sky.

"I ondr," h sad, "hthr th stars ar st alght n havn so that on day ach on of us ay fnd hs on agan... Look at y plant. It s rght thr aov us. But ho far aay t s!""It s autful," th snak sad. "What has rought you hr""I hav n havng so troul th a flor," sad th lttl prnc.

"Ah!" sad th snak.

And thy r oth slnt.

"Whr ar th n" th lttl prnc at last took up th convrsaton agan. "It s a lttl lonly n th dsrt...""It s also lonly aong n," th snak sad.

Th lttl prnc gazd at h for a long t.

"You ar a funny anal," h sad at last. "You ar no thckr than a fngr...""But I a or porful than th fngr of a kng," sad th snak.

Th lttl prnc sld.

"You ar not vry porful. You havn't vn any ft. You cannot vn travl...""I can carry you farthr than any shp could tak you," sad th snak.

H tnd hslf around th lttl prnc's ankl, lk a goldn raclt.

"Whovr I touch, I snd ack to th arth fro hnc h ca," th snak spok agan. "But you ar nnocnt and tru, and you co fro a star..."Th lttl prnc ad no rply.

"You ov to pty— you ar so ak on ths Earth ad of grant," th snak sad. "I can hlp you, so day, f you gro too hosck for your on plant. I can—""Oh! I undrstand you vry ll," sad th lttl prnc. "But hy do you alays spak n rddls""I solv th all," sad th snak.

And thy r oth slnt.