第五章 (第2/2页)

Chaptr 5

As ach day passd I ould larn, n our talk, sothng aout th lttl prnc’s plant, hs dpartur fro t, hs journy. Th nforaton ould co vry sloly, as t ght chanc to fall fro hs thoughts. It as n ths ay that I hard, on th thrd day, aout th catastroph of th aoas.

Ths t, onc or, I had th shp to thank for t. For th lttl prnc askd aruptly— as f szd y a grav dout— "It s tru, sn’t t, that shp at lttl ushs""Ys, that s tru."

"Ah! I a glad!"

I dd not undrstand hy t as so portant that shp should at lttl ushs. But th lttl prnc addd:"Thn t follos that thy also at aoas"I pontd out to th lttl prnc that aoas r not lttl ushs, ut, on th contrary, trs as g as castls; and that vn f h took a hol hrd of lphants aay th h, th hrd ould not at up on sngl aoa.

Th da of th hrd of lphants ad th lttl prnc laugh.

"W ould hav to put th on on top of th othr," h sad.

But h ad a s cont:

"Bfor thy gro so g, th aoas start out y ng lttl.""That s strctly corrct," I sad. "But hy do you ant th shp to at th lttl aoas"H ansrd at onc, "Oh, co, co!", as f h r spakng of sothng that as slf-vdnt. And I as olgd to ak a grat ntal ffort to solv ths prol, thout any assstanc.

Indd, as I larnd, thr r on th plant hr th lttl prnc lvd— as on all plants— good plants and ad plants. In consqunc, thr r good sds fro good plants, and ad sds fro ad plants. But sds ar nvsl.

Thy slp dp n th hart of th arth’s darknss, untl so on aong th s szd th th dsr to aakn. Thn ths lttl sd ll strtch tslf and gn— tdly at frst— to push a charng lttl sprg noffnsvly upard toard th sun.

If t s only a sprout of radsh or th sprg of a ros-ush, on ould lt t gro hrvr t ght sh. But hn t s a ad plant, on ust dstroy t as soon as possl, th vry frst nstant that on rcognzs t.

No thr r so trrl sds on th plant that as th ho of th lttl prnc; and ths r th sds of th aoa. Th sol of that plant as nfstd th th.

A aoa s sothng you ll nvr, nvr al to gt rd of f you attnd to t too lat. It sprads ovr th ntr plant. It ors clar through t th ts roots. And f th plant s too sall, and th aoas ar too any, thy splt t n pcs...

"It s a quston of dscpln," th lttl prnc sad to latr on. "Whn you’v fnshd your on tolt n th ornng, thn t s t to attnd to th tolt of your plant, just so, th th gratst car. You ust s to t that you pull up rgularly all th aoas, at th vry frst ont hn thy can dstngushd fro th rosushs hch thy rsl so closly n thr arlst youth. It s vry tdous ork," th lttl prnc addd, "ut vry asy."And on day h sad to : "You ought to ak a autful drang, so that th chldrn hr you lv can s xactly ho all ths s. That ould vry usful to th f thy r to travl so day. Sots," h addd, "thr s no har n puttng off a pc of ork untl anothr day.

But hn t s a attr of aoas, that alays ans a catastroph. I kn a plant that as nhatd y a lazy an. H nglctd thr lttl ushs..."So, as th lttl prnc dscrd t to , I hav ad a drang of that plant. I do not uch lk to tak th ton of a oralst. But th dangr of th aoas s so lttl undrstood, and such consdral rsks ould run y anyon ho ght gt lost on an astrod, that for onc I a rakng through y rsrv. "Chldrn," I say planly, "atch out for th aoas!"My frnds, lk yslf, hav n skrtng ths dangr for a long t, thout vr knong t; and so t s for th that I hav orkd so hard ovr ths drang. Th lsson hch I pass on y ths ans s orth all th troul t has cost .

Prhaps you ll ask , "Why ar thr no othr drang n ths ook as agnfcnt and prssv as ths drang of th aoas"Th rply s spl. I hav trd. But th th othrs I hav not n succssful. Whn I ad th drang of th aoas I as carrd yond yslf y th nsprng forc of urgnt ncssty.