Oh, little prince! Bit by bit I came to understand the secrets of your sad little life… For a long time you had found your only entertainment in the quiet pleasure of looking at the sunset. I learned¹ that new detail on the morning of the fourth day, w hen you said to me:

 

"I am very fond of sunsets. Come, let us go look at a sunset now."

 

"But we must wait," I said.　

 

"Wait? For what?"

 

"For the sunset. We must wait until it is time."

 

At first you seemed to be very much surprised. And then you laughed to yourself. You said to me:

 

"I am always thinking that I am at home!"

 

Just so. Everybody knows that when it is noon in the United States the sun is setting² over France.

 

If you could fly to France in one minute, you could go straight into the sunset, right from noon. Unfortunately, France is too far away for that. But on your tiny planet³, my little prince, all you need do is move your chair a few steps. You can see the day end and the twilight⁴ falling whenever you like…

 

"One day," you said to me, "I saw the sunset forty-four times!"　

 

And a little later you added:

 

"You know-- one loves the sunset, when one is so sad…"

 

"Were you so sad, then?" I asked, "on the day of the forty-four sunsets?"

 

But the little prince made no reply.

 

啊！小王子，就这样，我逐渐懂得了你那忧郁的生活。过去相当长的时间里你唯一的乐趣就是观赏那夕阳西下的温柔晚景。这个新的细节，是我在第四天早晨知道的。你当时对我说道：

 

“我喜欢看日落。我们去看一回日落吧!”

 

“可是得等着……”

 

“等什么?”

 

“等太阳落山。”

 

开始，你显得很惊奇的样子，随后你笑自己的糊涂。你对我说：

 

“我总以为是在我的家乡呢!”

 

确实，大家都知道，在美国是正午时分，在法国，正夕阳西下，只要在一分钟内赶到法国就可看到日落。

 

可惜法国是那么的遥远。而在你那样的小行星上，你只要把你的椅子挪动几步就行了。这样，你便可随时看到你想看的夕阳余辉……

 

“一天，我看见过四十四次日落。”

 

过一会儿，你又说：

 

“你知道，当人们感到非常苦闷时，总是喜欢日落的。”

 

“一天四十四次，你怎么会这么苦闷?”

 

小王子没有回答。

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