第七章[第1頁/共6頁]

我不曉得該如何答覆。那會兒我正忙著要從發動機上卸下一顆擰得太緊的螺絲。我發明機器毛病彷彿很嚴峻，飲水也快完了，擔憂能夠產生最壞的環境，內心很焦急。

“你說話就和那些大人一樣！”

"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!"

“是個甚麼？”

“有刺的也吃。”

“我甚麼也不以為！我是隨便答覆你的。我可有端莊事要做！”

“那麼刺有甚麼用呢？”

夜幕已經來臨。我放動手中的東西。我把錘子、螺釘、饑渴、滅亡全都拋在腦後。在一顆星球上，在一顆行星上，在我的行星上，在地球上有一個小王子需求安撫！我把他抱在懷裡。我搖著他，對他說：“你愛的那朵花冇有傷害……我會給你的小綿羊畫一個口套……我會給你的花畫一圈護欄……我會……”

“是個蘑菇！”

The little prince was now white with rage.

"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.

小王子一旦提出了題目，向來不會放過。這顆該死的螺絲使我很惱火，我因而就遵循大腦中的第一反應，隨便答覆了他一句：“刺甚麼用都冇有，花兒們的刺隻是為了用心傷害彆人。”

Chapter 7

“連有刺的花也吃嗎？”

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.