第五章[第4页/共6页]

If it is only a sprout of radish or the sprig of a rose-bush, one would let it grow wherever it might wish. But when it is a bad plant, one must destroy it as soon as possible, the very first instant that one recognizes it.

每天我都体味到一些关于小王子的星球、他的出走和观光等事情。这些都是偶尔和他扳谈中不经意渐渐获得的。就如许，在碰到小王子的第三天，我就体味到关于猴面包树的伤害。

我不明白绵羊吃矮小灌木这件事为甚么如此首要。可小王子又弥补说道：“那么，它们也吃猴面包树吗？”

But when it is a matter of baobabs, that always means a catastrophe. I knew a planet that was inhabited by a lazy man. He neglected three little bushes..."So, as the little prince described it to me, I have made a drawing of that planet. I do not much like to take the tone of a moralist. But the danger of the baobabs is so little understood, and such considerable risks would be run by anyone who might get lost on an asteroid, that for once I am breaking through my reserve. "Children," I say plainly, "watch out for the baobabs!"My friends, like myself, have been skirting this danger for a long time, without ever knowing it; and so it is for them that I have worked so hard over this drawing. The lesson which I pass on by this means is worth all the trouble it has cost me.

有一天，小王子劝我无妨画一幅标致的丹青，好让地球上的孩子们对于猴面包树的风险有一个深切的印象。“如果他们出表面光的时候，”他对我说，“你的画对他们是很有效的。偶然候，人们把本身的事情提早到今后去做，并没有甚么风险，但要碰到拔猴面包树苗这类事，迟延就非形成大灾害不成。我体味到一个星球，上面住着一个怠惰的家伙，他忽视了三棵小猴面包树苗……”