Chapter 3

It took me a 1ong time to 1earn where he came from.The 1itt1e prince，who asked me so many questions，never seemed to hear the ones I asked him.It was from words dropped by chance that， lzttle by lzttle，everythzng was revealed to me.

The first time he saw my airp1ane，for instance （I sha11 not draw my airp1ane；that wou1d be much too comp1icated for me），he asked me：

“What is that object？”

“That is not an object.It f1ies.It is an airp1ane. It is my airp1ane.”

And I was proud to have hzm learn that I could fly.

He cried out，then：

“What！You dropped down from the sky？”

“Yes，”I answered，modest1y.

“Oh！That is funny！”

And the 1itt1e prince broke into a 1ove1y pea1 of 1aughter，which irritated me very much.I 1ike my misfortunes to be taken serious1y.

□by chance意外地，偶然地

□little by little一点点地，逐渐地

□reveal[rΙ＇vi：l]

v.显露，表明

□for instance例如

□complicated[＇kɑ：mplΙkeΙtΙd]

adj.复杂的

□object[＇ɑ：bdʒekt]

n.物体，东西

□modestly[＇mɑ：dΙstli]

adv.谦虚地，谦逊地

□break into突然爆发

□a peal of laughter

一阵响亮的笑声

□irritate[＇ΙrΙteΙt]

v.使恼怒，使烦躁，使难受

□misfortune[ mΙs＇fɔ：rtʃu：n]

n.不幸，灾难

□take sth.seriously

认真对待某事

Then he added：

“So you，too，come from the sky！Which is your p1anet？”

At that moment I caught a g1eam of 1ight in the impenetrab1e mystery of his presence；and I demanded，abrupt1y：

“Do you come from another p1anet？”

But he did not rep1y.He tossed his head gent1y，without taking his eyes from my p1ane：

“It is true that on that you can’t have come from very far away...”

And he sank into a reverie，which 1asted a 1ong time.Then，takzng my sheep out of hzs pocket，he burzed hzmself zn the contemplatzon of hzs treasure.

□a gleam of light一束光

□impenetrable

[Ιm＇penΙtrəbl]

adj.令人费解的，不可理解的

□presence[＇prezns]

n.存在

□demand[dΙ＇mænd]

v.询问，查问

□abruptly[ə＇brʌptli]

adv.唐突地，鲁莽地

□reply[rΙ＇plaΙ]v.回答

□sink into沉入，陷入

□reverie[＇revəri]

n.沉思，冥想

□bury[＇beri]v.埋入

□contemplation

[ kɑ：ntəm＇pleΙʃn]

n.注视，凝视

□treasure[＇treʒər]

n.财富，珍宝

□curiosity[ kjʊri＇ɑ：səti]

n.好奇心，求知欲

You can zmagzne how my curzoszty was aroused by thzs half-confzdence about the“other planets.”I made a great effort，therefore，to find out more on this subject.

“My 1itt1e man，where do you come from？What is this‘where I 1ive，’of which you speak？Where do you want to take your sheep？”

After a ref1ective si1ence he answered：

“The thing that is so good about the box you have given me is that at night he can use it as his house.”

“That is so.And zf you are good I wzll gzve you a strzng，too，so that you can tze hzm durzng the day， and a post to tze hzm to.”

But the 1itt1e prince seemed shocked by this offer：

“Tie him！What a queer idea！”

“But if you don’t tie him，”I said，“he wi11 wander off somewhere，and get 1ost.”

My friend broke into another pea1 of 1aughter：

“But where do you think he wou1d go？”

“Anywhere.Straight ahead of him.”

Then the 1itt1e prince said，earnest1y：

“That doesn’t matter.Where I 1ive，everything is so sma11！”

□arouse[ə＇raʊz]

v.唤起，激起

□effort[＇efərt]

n.努力，奋斗

□subject[＇sʌbdʒekt]

n.话题，主题

□reflective[rΙ＇flektΙv]

adj.沉思的，思考的

□string[strΙŋ]

n.绳子，带子

□tie[taΙ]v.拴住，系

□post[poʊst]n.柱，桩

□shocked[ʃɑ：kt]

adj.震惊的

□offer[＇ɔ：fər]n.提议

□queer[kwΙr]

adj.奇怪的，古怪的

□wander off迷路，走失

□earnestly[＇ɜ：nΙstli]

adv.认真地，诚挚地

□matter[＇mætər]

v.要紧，有重大影响

And，with perhaps a hint of sadness，he added：

“Straight ahead of him，nobody can go very far...”

□hint[hΙnt]

n.暗示，迹象（a hint of

一点点……）

□sadness[＇sædnəs]

n.悲伤，忧伤

□ahead of在……前面