第四章 (第2/2页)

But that dd not rally surprs uch. I kn vry ll that n addton to th grat plants— such as th Earth, Juptr, Mars, Vnus— to hch hav gvn nas, thr ar also hundrds of othrs, so of hch ar so sall that on has a hard t sng th through th tlscop. Whn an astronor dscovrs on of ths h dos not gv t a na, ut only a nur. H ght call t, for xapl, "Astrod 325."I hav srous rason to lv that th plant fro hch th lttl prnc ca s th astrod knon as B-612. Ths astrod has only onc n sn through th tlscop. That as y a Turksh astronor, n 1909.

On akng hs dscovry, th astronor had prsntd t to th Intrnatonal Astronocal Congrss, n a grat donstraton. But h as n Turksh costu, and so noody ould lv hat h sad.

Gron-ups ar lk that...

Fortunatly, hovr, for th rputaton of Astrod B-612, a Turksh dctator ad a la that hs sujcts, undr pan of dath, should chang to Europan costu. So n 1920 th astronor gav hs donstraton all ovr agan, drssd th prssv styl and lganc. And ths t vryody accptd hs rport.

If I hav told you ths dtals aout th astrod, and ad a not of ts nur for you, t s on account of th gron-ups and thr ays. Whn you tll th that you hav ad a n frnd, thy nvr ask you any qustons aout ssntal attrs.

Thy nvr say to you, "What dos hs voc sound lk What gas dos h lov st Dos h collct uttrfls"Instad, thy dand: "Ho old s h Ho any rothrs has h Ho uch dos h gh Ho uch ony dos hs fathr ak" Only fro ths fgurs do thy thnk thy hav larnd anythng aout h.

If you r to say to th gron-ups: "I sa a autful hous ad of rosy rck, th granus n th ndos and dovs on th roof," thy ould not al to gt any da of that hous at all. You ould hav to say to th: "I sa a hous that cost $20,000." Thn thy ould xcla: "Oh, hat a prtty hous that s!"Just so, you ght say to th: "Th proof that th lttl prnc xstd s that h as charng, that h laughd, and that h as lookng for a shp. If anyody ants a shp, that s a proof that h xsts." And hat good ould t do to tll th that Thy ould shrug thr shouldrs, and trat you lk a chld.

But f you sad to th: "Th plant h ca fro s Astrod B-612," thn thy ould convncd, and lav you n pac fro thr qustons.

Thy ar lk that. On ust not hold t aganst th. Chldrn should alays sho grat foraranc toard gron-up popl.

But crtanly, for us ho undrstand lf, fgurs ar a attr of ndffrnc. I should hav lkd to gn ths story n th fashon of th fary-tals. I should hav lk to say: "Onc upon a t thr as a lttl prnc ho lvd on a plant that as scarcly any ggr than hslf, and ho had nd of a shp..."To thos ho undrstand lf, that ould hav gvn a uch gratr ar of truth to y story.

For I do not ant any on to rad y ook carlssly. I hav suffrd too uch grf n sttng don ths ors. Sx yars hav alrady passd snc y frnd nt aay fro , th hs shp. If I try to dscr h hr, t s to ak sur that I shall not forgt h. To forgt a frnd s sad. Not vry on has had a frnd. And f I forgt h, I ay co lk th gron-ups ho ar no longr ntrstd n anythng ut fgurs...

It s for that purpos, agan, that I hav ought a ox of pants and so pncls. It s hard to tak up drang agan at y ag, hn I hav nvr ad any pcturs xcpt thos of th oa constrctor fro th outsd and th oa constrctor fro th nsd, snc I as sx. I shall crtanly try to ak y portrats as tru to lf as possl. But I a not at all sur of succss. On drang gos along all rght, and anothr has no rslanc to ts sujct. I ak so rrors, too, n th lttl prnc’s hght: n on plac h s too tall and n anothr too short. And I fl so douts aout th color of hs costu. So I ful along as st I can, no good, no ad, and I hop gnrally far-to-ddlng.

In crtan or portant dtals I shall ak staks, also. But that s sothng that ll not y fault. My frnd nvr xpland anythng to . H thought, prhaps, that I as lk hslf. But I, alas, do not kno ho to s shp through t h alls of oxs. Prhaps I a a lttl lk th gron-ups. I hav had to gro old.