XVII
當人們想要說得俏皮些的時候，說話就可能會不大實在。在給你們講點燈人的時候，我就不那麼忠實，很可能給不了解我們這個星球的人們造成一個錯誤的概念。在地球上，人們所佔的位置非常小。如果住在地球上的二十億居民全站著，並且象開大會一樣靠得緊些，那麼就可以從容地站在一個二十海里見方的廣場上。也就是說可以把整個人類集中在太平洋中一個最小的島嶼上。
當然，大人們是不會相信你們的。他們自以為要佔很大地方，他們把自己看得象猴麵包樹那樣大得了不起。你們可以建議他們計算一下。這樣會使他們很高興，因為他們非常喜歡數目字。可是你們無須浪費時間去做這種乏味的連篇累牘的演算。這沒有必要。你們可以完全相信我。
小王子到了地球上感到非常奇怪，他一個人也沒有看到，他正擔心自己跑錯了星球。這時，在沙地上有一個月光色的圓環在蠕動。
小王子毫無把握地隨便說了聲：「晚安。」
「晚安。」蛇說道。
「我落在什麼行星上？」小王子問道。
「在地球上，在非洲。」蛇回答道。
「啊！……怎麼，難道說地球上沒有人嗎？」
「這裡是沙漠，沙漠中沒有人。地球是很大的。」蛇說。
小王子坐在一塊石頭上，抬眼望著天空，說道：
「我捉摸這些星星閃閃發亮是否為了讓每個人將來有一天都能重新找到自己的星球。看，我那顆行星。它恰好在我們頭頂上……可是，它離我們好遠喲！」
「它很美。」蛇說，「你到這裡來幹什麼呢？」
「我和一朵花鬧了彆扭。」小王子說。
「啊！」蛇說道。
於是他們都沉默下來。
「人在什麼地方？」小王子終於又開了腔。「在沙漠上，真有點孤獨……」
「到了有人的地方，也一樣孤獨。」蛇說。
小王子長時間地看著蛇。
「你是個奇怪的動物，細得象個手指頭……。」小王子終於說道。
「但我比一個國王的手指更有威力。」蛇說道。
小王子微笑著說：
「你並不那麼有威力…………你連腳都沒有…………你甚至都不能旅行……」
「我可以把你帶到很遠的地方去，比一隻船能去的地方還要遠。」蛇說道。
蛇就盤結在小王子的腳腕子上，象一隻金鐲子。
「被我碰觸的人，我就把他送回老家去。」蛇還說，「可是你是純潔的，而且是從另一個星球上來的……」
小王子什麼也沒有回答。
「在這個花崗石的地球上，你這麼弱小，我很可憐你。如果你非常懷念你的星球，那時我可以幫助你。我可以……」
「啊！我很明白你的意思。」小王子說，「但是你為什麼說話總是象讓人猜謎語似的？」
「這些謎語我都能解開的。」蛇說。
於是他們又都沉默起來。
[ Chapter 17 ] - the little prince makes the acquaintance of the snake
When one wishes to play the wit, he sometimes wanders a little from the truth. I have not been altogether ho in what I have told you about the lamplighters. And I realize that I run the risk of giving a false idea of our plao those who do not k now it. Men occupy a very small place upon the Earth. If the two billion inhabitants who people its surface were all to stand upright and somewhat crowded together, as they do for some big public assembly, they could easily be put into one public square twenty miles long and twenty miles wide. All humanity could be piled up on a small Pacific islet.
The grown-ups, to be sure, will not believe you when you tell them that. They imagihat they fill a great deal of space. They fancy themselves as important as the baobabs. You should advise them, then, to make their own calculations. They adore fig ures, and that will please them. But do not waste your time on this extra task. It is unnecessary. You have, I know, fiden me.
Whetle prince arrived on the Earth, he was very much surprised not to see any people. He was beginning to be afraid he had e to the wrong pla, when a coil of gold, the color of the moonlight, flashed across the sand.
"Good evening," said the little prince courteously.
"Good evening," said the snake.
"la is this on which I have e down?" asked the little prince.
"This is the Earth; this is Africa," the snake answered.
"Ah! Then there are no people on the Earth?"
"This is the desert. There are no people in the desert. The Earth is large," said the snake.
The little pri down on a stone, and raised his eyes toward the sky.
"I wonder," he said, "whether the stars are set alight in heaven so that one day eae of us may find his own again... Look at my pla. It is right there above us. But how far away it is!"
"It is beautiful," the snake said. "What has brought you here?"
"I have been having some trouble with a flower," said the little prince.
"Ah!" said the snake.
And they were both silent.
"Where are the men?" the little pri last took up the versation again. "It is a little lonely in