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.

第五天，还是羊的事，把小王子的生活秘密向我揭开了。

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:

好象默默地思索了很长时间以后，得出了什么结果一样，他突然没头没脑地问我：

A sheep–if it eats little bushes, does it eat flowers, too?

羊，要是吃小灌木，它也要吃花罗?

"A sheep," I answered, "eats anything it finds in its reach."

“它碰到什么吃什么”，我说。

Even flowers that have thorns?

连有刺的花也吃吗?

Yes, even flowers that have thorns.

有刺的也吃!

Then the thorns–what use are they?

那么刺有什么用呢?

I did not know.

我不知道该怎么回答。

At that moment, I was very busy trying to unscrew a bolt that had got stuck in my engine.

那会儿我正忙着要从发动机上卸下一颗拧得太紧的螺丝。

I was very much worried, for it was becoming clear to me that the breakdown of my plane was extremely serious.

心里很着急，我发现机器故障似乎很严重，

And I had so little drinking-water left that I had to fear for the worst.

饮水也快完了，担心可能发生最坏的情况，

The thorns–what use are they?

那么刺有什么用呢?

The little prince never let go of a question, once he had asked it.

小王子一旦提出了问题，从来不会放过。

As for me, I was upset over that bolt.

这个该死的螺丝使我很恼火，

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!"

我于是就随便回答了他一句：“刺么，什么用都没有，这纯粹是花的恶劣表现。”

Oh!

噢!

There was a moment of complete silence.

可是他沉默了一会儿之后，

Then the little prince flashed back at me, with a kind of resentfulness: "I don't believe you!"

怀着不满的心情冲我说：“我不信!”

Flowers are weak creatures. They are naive. They reassure themselves as best they can.

花是弱小的、淳朴的，它们总是设法保护自己，

They believe that their thorns are terrible weapons.

以为有了刺就可以显出自己的厉害。

I did not answer.

我默不作声。

At that instant I was saying to myself: "If this bolt still won't turn, I am going to knock it out with the hammer."

我当时想的，“如果这个螺丝再和我作对，我就一锤子敲掉它。”

Again the little prince disturbed my thoughts.

小王子又来打搅我的思绪了。

And you actually believe that the flowers,

你却认为花…

"Oh, no!" I cried. "No, no no! I don't believe anything."

“嗷，不，”我哭着说，“算了吧，算了吧!我什么也不认为!”

I answered you with the first thing that came into my head.

我是随便回答你的。

Don't you see–I am very busy with matters of consequence!

我可有正经事要做。