− the rose arrives at the little prince's planet
I soon learned to know this flower better. On the little prince's planet the flowers
had always been very simple. They had only one ring of petals; they took up no
room at all; they were a trouble to nobody. (在小王子的星球上，过去一直都生长着一些只有一层花瓣的简单的花。她们非常小，一点也不占地方，从来也不会去打搅任何人。)One morning they would appear in thegrass, and by night they would have faded peacefully away.(她们早晨在草丛中盛放，晚上就凋谢了) But one day, from aseed blown from no one knew where, a new flower had come up;(忽然有一天，不知从哪儿飘来的种子，发了芽，跟以往的花朵完全不一样) and the littleprince had watched very closely over this small sprout which was not like anyother small sprouts on his planet. It might, you see, have been a new kind ofbaobab.(但也要警惕这是不是新式猴面包树树苗Ծ‸Ծ)
But the shrub soon stopped growing, and began to get ready to produce a flower. Thelittle prince, who was present at the first appearance of a huge bud(n. sprout, shoot; guy, fellow (Slang)花蕾), felt at oncethat some sort of miraculous(miraculous adj.非凡的; 奇迹般的。助记：mirac ulous。词根：mir，表示"惊奇; 看") apparition must emerge from it. But the flower wasnot satisfied to complete the preparations for her beauty in the shelter of her greenchamber (n. room (particularly a bedroom); office; meeting room; legislature; compartment ).(然而这朵花藏在她那绿茵茵的房间里花了很长时间精心装扮自己) She chose her colours with the greatest care. She adjusted her petals oneby one. (她一片片地搭配她的花瓣)She did not wish to go out into the world all rumpled(adj. wrinkled, creased, folded; mussed, disheveled 凌乱的，弄皱地)(她不愿一出世就像虞美人那样满脸皱纹), like the fieldpoppies. It was only in the full radiance of her beauty that she wished to appear.(她希望自己足以光彩夺目地来到世间)
Oh, yes! She was a coquettish(adj.卖弄风情地) creature! And her mysterious adornment (n.装饰品)lasted fordays and days.(好些日子她都天仙般的梳妆打扮)
Then one morning, exactly at sunrise, she suddenly showed herself.
And, after working with all this painstaking( painstaking adj.辛苦的（非常仔细和勤奋的）【记】pains痛；辛苦，taking拿：拿出辛苦－辛苦的) precision(精细), she yawned and said:
"Ah! I am scarcely(adv. barely, hardly; almost not ) awake. I beg that you will excuse me. My petals are still alldisarranged(弄乱的)..."
But the little prince could not restrain his admiration(而小王子再也控制不住自己的爱慕之心):
"Oh! How beautiful you are!"
"Am I not?" the flower responded, sweetly. "And I was born at the same momentas the sun..."
The little prince could guess easily enough that she was not any too modest−− buthow moving−− and exciting−− she was!
(小王子看出了这花儿不太谦虚，但她确实丽姿动人)
"I think it is time for breakfast," she added an instant later. "If you would have thekindness to think of my needs−−"
And the little prince, completely abashed(adj.羞愧的), went to look for a sprinkling−can(喷壶) offresh water. So, he tended(照料) the flower.
So, too, she began very quickly to torment (n./v.痛苦)him with her vanity−− which was, if the truth be known, a little difficult to deal with. One day, for instance, when she was speaking of her four thorns, she said to the little prince:
"Let the tigers come with their claws!"
"There are no tigers on my planet," the little prince objected(回怼). "And, anyway, tigers do not eat weeds."
"I am not a weed," the flower replied, sweetly.
"Please excuse me..."
"I am not at all afraid of tigers," she went on, "but I have a horror of drafts(我讨厌穿堂风). I suppose you wouldn't have a screen for me?"
"A horror of drafts−− that is bad luck, for a plant," remarked the little prince, and added to himself, "This flower is a very complex creature..."
"At night I want you to put me under a glass globe. It is very cold where you live.
In the place I came from−−" (她又在满嘴跑火车了...)
But she interrupted herself at that point. She had come in the form of a seed. She could not have known anything of any other worlds. (她来的时候不过是一粒种子，哪里见过什么别的世界(ﾟoﾟ))Embarassed over having let herself be caught on the verge of such a naïve untruth, she coughed two or three times, in order to put the little prince in the wrong.
"The screen?"
"I was just going to look for it when you spoke to me..."
Then she forced her cough a little more so that he should suffer from remorse(懊恼) just the same. (于是花儿放开嗓门咳嗽了好几声，依然要使小王子后悔自己的过失)
So the little prince, in spite of all the good will that was inseparable(不可分割的) from his love, had soon come to doubt her.(小王子本来诚心诚意地喜欢这花，这一来却使他马上对她产生了怀疑) He had taken seriously words which were without importance, and it made him very unhappy.
"I ought not to have listened to her," he confided(v.吐露) to me one day. "One never ought to listen to the flowers. One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance. Mine perfumed all my planet.(我的那朵花使我的星球芳香四溢) But I did not know how to take pleasure in all her grace(n.优雅. )(可是我却不懂得享受她的好)This tale of claws, which disturbed me so much, should only have filled my heart with tenderness(温柔) and pity."
And he continued his confidences:
"The fact is that I did not know how to understand anything! (我那时太年轻，什么也不懂！)I ought to have judged by deeds and not by words. She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. (她使我的生活芬芳多彩)I ought never to have run away from her...(我真不该离开她擅自跑了出来) I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little strategems.(我本应该猜出她那令人爱怜的花招背后所隐藏的温情) Flowers are so inconsistent!
But I was too young to know how to love her..."(我那时太年轻，还不懂得如何爱她)
