爱华网就在这当儿，跑来了一只狐狸。
“你好。”狐狸说。
“你好。”小王子很有礼貌地回答道。他转过身来，但什么也没有看到。
“我在这儿，在苹果树下。”那声音说。
“你是谁？”小王子说，“你很漂亮。”
“我是一只狐狸。”狐狸说。
“来和我一起玩吧，”小王子建议道，“我很苦恼……”
“我不能和你一起玩，”狐狸说，“我还没有被驯服呢。”
“啊！真对不起。”小王子说。
思索了一会儿，他又说道：
“什么叫‘驯服’呀？”
“你不是此地人。”狐狸说，“你来寻找什么？”
“我来找人。”小王子说，“什么叫‘驯服’呢？”
“人，”狐狸说，“他们有枪，他们还打猎，这真碍事！他们唯一的可取之 处就是他们也养鸡，你是来寻找鸡的吗？”
“不，”小王子说，“我是来找朋友的。什么叫‘驯服’呢？”
“这是已经早就被人遗忘了的事情，”狐狸说，“它的意思就是‘建立联系’。”
“建立联系？”
“一点不错，”狐狸说。“对我来说，你还只是一个小男孩，就像其他千万个小男孩一样。我不需要你。你也同样用不着我。对你来说，我也不过是一只狐狸，和其他千万只狐狸一样。但是，如果你驯服了我，我们就互相不可缺少了。对我来说，你就是世界上唯一的了；我对你来说，也是世界上唯一的了。”
“我有点明白了。”小王子说，“有一朵花……，我想，她把我驯服了……”
“这是可能的。”狐狸说，“世界上什么样的事都可能看到……”
“啊，这不是在地球上的事。”小王子说。
狐狸感到十分蹊跷。
“在另一个星球上？”
“是的。”
“在那个星球上，有猎人吗？”
“没有。”
“这很有意思。那么，有鸡吗？”
“没有。”
“没有十全十美的。”狐狸叹息地说道。
可是，狐狸又把话题拉回来：
“我的生活很单调。我捕捉鸡，而人又捕捉我。所有的鸡全都一样，所有的人也全都一样。因此，我感到有些厌烦了。但是，如果你要是驯服了我，我的生活就一定会是欢快的。我会辨认出一种与众不同的脚步声。其他的脚步声会使我躲到地下去，而你的脚步声就会象音乐一样让我从洞里走出来。再说，你看！你看到那边的麦田没有？我不吃面包，麦子对我来说，一点用也没有。我对麦田无动于衷。而这，真使人扫兴。但是，你有着金黄色的头发。那么，一旦你驯服了我，这就会十分美妙。麦子，是金黄色的，它就会使我想起你。而且，我甚至会喜欢那风吹麦浪的声音……”
狐狸沉默不语，久久地看着小王子。
“请你驯服我吧！”他说。
“我是很愿意的。”小王子回答道，“可我的时间不多了。我还要去寻找朋友，还有许多事物要了解。”
“只有被驯服了的事物，才会被了解。”狐狸说，“人不会再有时间去了解任何东西的。他们总是到商人那里去购买现成的东西。因为世界上还没有购买朋友的商店，所以人也就没有朋友。如果你想要一个朋友，那就驯服我吧！”
“那么应当做些什么呢？”小王子说。
“应当非常耐心。”狐狸回答道，“开始你就这样坐在草丛中，坐得离我稍微远些。我用眼角瞅着你，你什么也不要说。话语是误会的根源。但是，每天，你坐得靠我更近些……”
第二天，小王子又来了。
“最好还是在原来的那个时间来。”狐狸说道，“比如说，你下午四点钟来，那么从三点钟起，我就开始感到幸福。时间越临近，我就越感到幸福。到了四点钟的时候，我就会坐立不安；我就会发现幸福的代价。但是，如果你随便什么时候来，我就不知道在什么时候该准备好我的心情……应当有一定的仪式。”
“仪式是什么？”小王子问道。
“这也是一种早已被人忘却了的事。”狐狸说，“它就是使某一天与其他日子不同，使某一时刻与其他时刻不同。比如说，我的那些猎人就有一种仪式。他们每星期四都和村子里的姑娘们跳舞。于是，星期四就是一个美好的日子！我可以一直散步到葡萄园去。如果猎人们什么时候都跳舞，天天又全都一样，那么我也就没有假日了。”
就这样，小王子驯服了狐狸。当出发的时刻就快要来到时：
“啊！”狐狸说，“我一定会哭的。”
“这是你的过错，”小王子说，“我本来并不想给你任何痛苦，可你却要我驯 服你……”
“是这样的。”狐狸说。
“你可就要哭了！”小王子说。
“当然罗。”狐狸说。
“那么你什么好处也没得到。”
“由于麦子颜色的缘故，我还是得到了好处。”狐狸说。
_____________________________
It was thenthat the fox appeared.
"Goodmorning," said the fox.
"Goodmorning," the little prince responded politely, although when heturned around he saw nothing.
"I am righthere," the voice said, "under the appletree."
"Who are you?"asked the little prince, and added, "You are very pretty to lookat."
"I am a fox,"said the fox.
"Come and playwith me," proposed the little prince. "I am sounhappy."
"I cannot playwith you," the fox said. "I am not tamed."
"Ah! Pleaseexcuse me," said the little prince.
But, aftersome thought, he added:
"What doesthat mean-- 'tame'?"
"You do notlive here," said the fox. "What is it that you are lookingfor?"
"I am lookingfor men," said the little prince. "What does that mean--'tame'?"
"Men," saidthe fox. "They have guns, and they hunt. It is very disturbing.They also raise chickens. These are their only interests. Are youlooking for chickens?"
"No," said thelittle prince. "I am looking for friends. What does that mean--'tame'?"
"It is an acttoo often neglected," said the fox. It means to establishties."
"'To establishties'?"
"Just that,"said the fox. "To me, you are still nothing more than a little boywho is just like a hundred thousand other little boys. And I haveno need of you. And you, on your part, have no need of me. To you,I am nothing more than a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes.But if you tame me, then we shall need each other. To me, you willbe unique in all the world. To you, I shall be unique in all theworld..."
"I ambeginning to understand," said the little prince. "There is aflower... I think that she has tamed me..."
"It ispossible," said the fox. "On the Earth one sees all sorts ofthings."
"Oh, but thisis not on the Earth!" said the littleprince.
The fox seemedperplexed, and very curious.
"On anotherplanet?"
"Yes."
"Are therehunters on this planet?"
"No."
"Ah, that isinteresting! Are there chickens?"
"No."
"Nothing isperfect," sighed the fox.
But he cameback to his idea.
"My life isvery monotonous," the fox said. "I hunt chickens; men hunt me. Allthe chickens are just alike, and all the men are just alike. And,in consequence, I am a little bored. But if you tame me, it will beas if the sun came to shine on my life . I shall know the sound ofa step that will be different from all the others. Other steps sendme hurrying back underneath the ground. Yours will call me, likemusic, out of my burrow. And then look: you see the grain-fieldsdown yonder? I do not ea t bread. Wheat is of no use to me. Thewheat fields have nothing to say to me. And that is sad. But youhave hair that is the colour of gold. Think how wonderful that willbe when you have tamed me! The grain, which is also golden, willbring me bac k the thought of you. And I shall love to listen tothe wind in the wheat..."
The fox gazedat the little prince, for a long time.
"Please-- tameme!" he said.
"I want to,very much," the little prince replied. "But I have not much time. Ihave friends to discover, and a great many things tounderstand."
"One onlyunderstands the things that one tames," said the fox. "Men have nomore time to understand anything. They buy things all ready made atthe shops. But there is no shop anywhere where one can buyfriendship, and so men have no friends any more. If you want afriend, tame me..."
"What must Ido, to tame you?" asked the little prince.
"You must bevery patient," replied the fox. "First you will sit down at alittle distance from me-- like that-- in the grass. I shall look atyou out of the corner of my eye, and you will say nothing. Wordsare the source of misunderstandings. But yo u will sit a littlecloser to me, every day..."
The next daythe little prince came back.
"It would havebeen better to come back at the same hour," said the fox. "If, forexample, you come at four o'clock in the afternoon, then at threeo'clock I shall begin to be happy. I shall feel happier and happieras the hour advances. At four o'clock, I shall already be worryingand jumping about. I shall show you how happy I am! But if you comeat just any time, I shall never know at what hour my heart is to beready to greet you... One must observe the properrites..."
"What is arite?" asked the little prince.
"Those alsoare actions too often neglected," said the fox. "They are what makeone day different from other days, one hour from other hours. Thereis a rite, for example, among my hunters. Every Thursday they dancewith the village girls. So Thursday is a wonderful day for me! Ican take a walk as far as the vineyards. But if the hunters dancedat just any time, every day would be like every other day, and Ishould never have any vacation at all."
So the littleprince tamed the fox. And when the hour of his departure drewnear--
"Ah," said thefox, "I shall cry."
"It is yourown fault," said the little prince. "I never wished you any sort ofharm; but you wanted me to tame you..."
"Yes, that isso," said the fox.
"But now youare going to cry!" said the little prince.
"Yes, that isso," said the fox.
"Then it hasdone you no good at all!"
"It has doneme good," said the fox, "because of the color of the wheat fields."And then he added:
"Go and lookagain at the roses. You will understand now that yours is unique inall the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will makeyou a present of a secret."
The littleprince went away, to look again at theroses.
"You are notat all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one hastamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when Ifirst knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand otherfoxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in allthe world."
And the roseswere very much embarrassed.
"You arebeautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die foryou. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my roselooked just like you-- the rose that belongs to me. But in herselfalone she is more important than all the hundreds of you otherroses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is shethat I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that Ihave sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I havekilled the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved tobecome butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to,when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she saidnothing. Because she is my rose.
And he wentback to meet the fox.
"Goodbye," hesaid.
"Goodbye,"said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: Itis only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essentialis invisible to the eye."
"What isessential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, sothat he would be sure to remember.
"It is thetime you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose soimportant."
"It is thetime I have wasted for my rose--" said the little prince, so thathe would be sure to remember.
"Men haveforgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it.You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You areresponsible for your rose..."
"I am responsible for my rose," the little princerepeated, so that he would be sure to remember.
