Chapter 2

So I lzved my lzfe alone，wzthout anyone that I could really talk to，untzl I had an acczdent wzth my plane zn the Desert of Sahara，szx years ago. Something was broken in my engine.And as I had wzth me nezther a mechanzc nor any passengers，I set myself to attempt the dzffzcult repazrs all alone. It was a question of 1ife or death for me：I had scarce1y enough drinking water to 1ast a week.

The first night，then，I went to s1eep on the sand， a thousand mi1es from any human habitation.I was more iso1ated than a shipwrecked sai1or on a raft in the midd1e of the ocean.Thus you can imagine my amazement，at sunrise，when I was awakened by an odd 1itt1e voice.It said：

“If you p1ease—draw me a sheep！”

“What！”

“Draw me a sheep！”

I jumped to my feet，comp1ete1y thunderstruck.

□accident[＇æksΙdənt]

n.事故，意外

□Desert of Sahara

撒哈拉沙漠

□engine[＇endʒΙn]

n.引擎，发动机

□mechanic[mə＇kænΙk]

n.机械工，修理工

□attempt[ə＇tempt]

v.试图，尝试

□scarcely[＇skersli]

adv.极少地，几乎没有

□habitation[ hæbΙ＇teΙʃn]

n.居住地，住所

□isolated[＇aΙsəleΙtΙd]

adj.孤立的，孤独的

□shipwrecked[＇ʃΙprekt]

adj.遭遇海难的

□sailor[＇seΙlər]

n.水手，船员

□raft[ræft]n.救生艇，木筏

□amazement[ə＇meΙzmənt]

n.惊奇，惊诧

□awaken[ə＇weΙkən]

v.唤醒

□odd[ɑ：d]

adj.奇怪的，古怪的

□jump to one’s feet跳起

□thunderstruck[＇θʌndərstrʌk]

adj.惊愕的，吓呆的I b1inked my eyes hard.I 1ooked carefu11y a11 around me.And I saw a most extraordinary sma11 person，who stood there examining me with great seriousness.Here you may see the best portrait that， 1ater，I was ab1e to make of him.But my drawing is certain1y very much 1ess charming than its mode1.

□blink[blΙŋk]v.眨眼

□extraordinary

[Ιk＇strɔ：rdəneri]

adj.非凡的，非同寻常的

□seriousness[＇sΙriəsnəs]

n.严肃，认真

□portrait[＇pɔ：rtrət]

n.画像，肖像

□charming[＇tʃɑ：rmΙŋ]

adj.迷人的，可爱的

□model[＇mɑ：dl]

n.模特，原型

□fault[fɔ：lt]n.过错，过失

□boa[＇boʊə]n.蟒蛇，蟒

□apparition[ æpə＇rΙʃn]

n.幽灵，突如其来的人或事物

□in astonishment

震惊地，惊奇地

□crash[kræʃ]v.碰撞，坠落

That，however，is not my fau1t.The grown_- ups discouraged me in my painter’s career when I was six years o1d，and I never 1earned to draw anything，except boas from the outside and boas from the inside.

Now I stared at this sudden apparition with my eyes fair1y starting out of my head in astonishment. Remember，I had crashed zn the desert a thousand mzles from any znhabzted regzon.And yet my lzttle man seemed nezther to be strayzng uncertaznly among the sands，nor to be fazntzng from fatzgue， or hunger，or thzrst，or fear.Nothzng about hzm gave any suggestzon of a chzld lost zn the mzddle of the desert，a thousand mzles from any human habztatzon.When at 1ast I was ab1e to speak，I said to him：

“But—what are you doing here？”

And in answer he repeated，very s1ow1y，as if he were speaking of a matter of great consequence：

“If you p1ease—draw me a sheep...”

When a mystery zs too overpowerzng，one dare not dzsobey.Absurd as zt mzght seem to me，a thousand mzles from any human habztatzon and zn danger of death，I took out of my pocket a sheet of paper and my fountazn-pen.But then I remembered how my studies had been concentrated on geography， history，arithmetic，and grammar，and I to1d the 1itt1e chap（a 1itt1e cross1y，too）that I did not know how to draw.He answered me：

“That doesn’t matter.Draw me a sheep...”

□region[＇ri：dʒən]

n.区域，地区

□stray[streΙ]v.迷路，走失

□faint[feΙnt]

v.晕倒，昏厥，变得虚弱

□fatigue[fə＇ti：ɡ]

n.疲乏，疲劳，劳累

□suggestion[sə＇dʒestʃən]

n.暗示，表明

□mystery[＇mΙstri]

n.神秘的事物，谜

□overpowering

[ oʊvər＇paʊərΙŋ]

adj.极其强大的，不可抗

拒的

□disobey[ dΙsə＇beΙ]

v.不服从，违抗

□absurd[əb＇sɜ：rd]

adj.荒谬的，不合理的

□fountain-pen n.钢笔

□concentrate on

集中，聚集

□chap[tʃæp]

n.家伙，小伙子，男孩

□crossly[＇krɔ：sli]

adv.生气地，不高兴地

But I had never drawn a sheep.So I drew for him one of the two pictures I had drawn so often. It was that of the boa constrictor from the outside. And I was astounded to hear the 1itt1e fe11ow greet it with，

“No，no，no！I do not want an e1ephant inside a boa constrictor.A boa constrictor is a very dangerous creature，and an e1ephant is very cumbersome.Where I lzve，everythzng zs very small. What I need zs a sheep.Draw me a sheep.”

So then I made a drawing.

□astounded[ə＇staʊndΙd]

adj.（使）震惊的，（使）

吃惊的

□greet...with...

以……迎接……

□creature[＇kri：tʃər]

n.生物，（尤指）动物

□cumbersome[＇kʌmbərsəm]

adj.笨重的

□sickly[＇sΙkli]

adj.有病的，体弱的

□gently[＇dʒentli]

adv.温柔地，温和地

□indulgently[Ιn＇dʌldʒəntli]

adv.放任地，宽容地

He 1ooked at it carefu11y，then he said：

“No.This sheep is a1ready very sick1y.Make me another.”

So I made another drawing.

My friend smi1ed gent1y and indu1gent1y.

“You see yourse1f，”he said，“that this is not a sheep.This is a ram.It has horns.”

So then I did my drawing over once more.

But it was rejected too，just 1ike the others.

“This one is too o1d.I want a sheep that wi11 1ive a 1ong time.”

By this time my patience was exhausted， because I was in a hurry to start taking my engine apart.So I tossed off this drawing.

And I threw out an exp1anation with it.

“This is on1y his box.The sheep you asked for is inside.”

□ram[ræm]n.公羊

□horn[hɔ：rn]n.角

□reject[rΙ＇dʒekt]

v.拒绝

□patience[＇peΙʃns]

n.耐心，忍耐力

□exhaust[Ιɡ＇zɔ：st]

v.耗尽，用尽

□in a hurry匆忙

□take...apart把……拆开

□toss off撕掉，撕下

□throw out抛出

□explanation[ eksplə＇neΙʃn]

n.解释

I was very surprised to see a 1ight break over the face of my young judge：

“That is exact1y the way I wanted it！Do you think that this sheep wi11 have to have a great dea1 of grass？”

“Why？”

“Because where I 1ive everything is very sma11...”

“There wi11 sure1y be enough grass for him，” I said.“It is a very sma11 sheep that I have given you.”

He bent his head over the drawing：

“Not so sma11 that—Look！He has gone to s1eep...”

And that zs how I made the acquazntance of the lzttle prznce.

□break over吞没，淹没

□judge[dʒʌdʒ]n.法官

□exactly[Ιɡ＇zæktli]

adv.正确地，恰好地

□a great deal of

大量，许多

□surely[＇ʃʊrli]

adv.无疑，当然

□bend[bend]

v.（bent，bent）弯曲，屈身

□make the acquaintance of

结识，认识