Le Petit Prince

小王子：儿童文学里的成人世界不仅是有史以来最受欢迎的儿童故事之一，更是一则歌颂纯真智慧的寓言。——纽约时报本文首次编辑于2015年10月16日（即电影『小王子』在中国上映后），现在措辞上加以改进后推送。...

销量仅次于『圣经』的经典

《小王子》是儿童文学作品，也是写给成年人看的童话，用作者圣·埃克絮佩里自己的话来说，是写成“还是孩子时”的那个大人看的作品。这是一本可以在孩童时代听妈妈朗读的书，也是一本可以在青春时期和恋人一起默念的书，更是一本可以在任何年龄让自己感受一次纯真的爱，再为纯真的爱而感动一次的书。

他走过一个又一个星球，却始终放不下对她的思念。深情终究是一趟孤独的旅程，她是他永远的牵绊。

爱情是彼此之间至为甜蜜的臣服。

我们都是傻痴痴的小狐狸，徒具一副精明的外表。

——张小娴

小说充满诗意的忧郁、淡淡的哀愁，用明白如话的语言写出了引人深思的哲理和令人感动的韵味。这种韵味，具体说来，就是简单的形式和深刻的内涵相契合。整部童话，文字很干净，形式很简洁，甚至简单。

世界上只有极少数作品，既高贵又朴素，既深刻又平易近人，从内容到形式都近乎完美，《小王子》就是这样一部奇书，它如同镜子一样，照出完美身上业已习成的庸俗，从而回响起湮没已久的童心。——周国平

The Little Prince(French: Le Petit Prince) is a poetic tale, with watercolour illustrations by the author, in which a pilot stranded in the desert meets a young prince fallen to Earth from a tiny asteroid. The story is philosophical and includes social criticism, remarking on the strangeness of the adult world. It was written during a dark, restless, but productive period for Saint-Exupéry after he fled to North America subsequent to the Fall of France during the Second World War, witnessed first hand by the author and captured in his memoir Flight to Arras.

Maloney, Jennifer. 'The Little Prince' lands at the Morgan Library: A New Exhibit Explores the Author's Years Writing in New York, The Wall Street Journal, January 23, 2014.

Saint-Exupéry next to his crashed Simoun (lacking an all-critical radio) after crashing into the Sahara about 3 am during an air race to Saigon, Vietnam. His survival ordeal was about to begin (Egypt, 1935).

《小王子》是作家安东尼·德·圣-埃克苏佩里于1942写成的著名法国儿童文学短篇小说。本书的主人公是来自外星球的小王子。书中以一位飞行员作为故事叙述者，讲述了小王子从自己星球出发前往地球的过程中，所经历的各种历险。作者以小王子的孩子式的眼光，透视出成人的空虚、盲目和愚妄，用浅显天真的语言写出了人类的孤独寂寞、没有根基随风流浪的命运。同时，也表达出作者对金钱关系的批判，对真善美的讴歌。

The adult fable, as described in one review, is actually "...an allegory of Saint-Exupéry's own life—his search for childhood certainties and interior peace, his mysticism, his belief in human courage and brotherhood....", plus his enduring love for his wife Consuelo "but also an allusion to the tortured nature of their relationship."

James, Barry. ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPERY: The Life and Death of the Little Prince,The New York Times, October 28, 1993.

Though ostensibly styled as a children's book, The Little Prince makes several profound and idealistic observations about life and human nature. For example, Saint-Exupéry tells of a fox meeting the young prince during his travels on Earth. The story's essence is contained in the lines uttered by the fox to the little prince:

人只有用心才能看清事物，本质用眼睛是看不到的。

One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.

全句为Voici mon secret. Il est très simple(Here is my secret. It is very simple): on ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.Other key thematic messages are articulated by the fox, such as:

驯服的意思就是“建立联系”

But if you tame me, then we shall need each other.

假如你驯养了我，我们就彼此需要了。

你要永远对你所驯养的对象负责。

Tu deviens responsable pour toujours de ce que tu as apprivoisé.

You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.

是你对你的玫瑰所付出的时间，才使你的玫瑰变得重要。

C'est le temps que tu as perdu pour ta rose qui fait ta rose si importante.

It is the time you have lost for your rose that makes your rose so important.

The fox's messages are arguably the book's most famous quotations because they deal with human relationships.

The Rose in The Little Princewas likely inspired by Saint-Exupéry's Salvadoran wife, Consuelo (Montreal, 1942).

文中小王子的那朵自负而任性的玫瑰乃基于作者的萨尔瓦多籍妻子康斯薇洛·德·圣-埃克苏佩里，而小行星 B-612则源于其以多火山而著名的祖国萨尔瓦多。尽管两人的婚姻并不圆满，他还是像小王子温柔地爱护他的玫瑰一样把她放在心上。小王子在地球上遇到的玫瑰丛则实际象征着圣埃克苏佩里的不忠等婚姻问题。

有证据表明，故事中的狐狸说的那句玫瑰之唯一而特别只因他爱她的话，源于作者的纽约密友汉密尔顿。《小王子》标志性的语句“人只有用自己的心才能看清事物”据说也是汉密尔顿说的。

Reif, Rita. A Charming Prince Turns 50, His Luster Intact, The New York Times, September 19, 1993.

至于纸质读本，建议选择《小王子》出版70周年纪念版，著名作家周国平作序推荐（译者为黄荭）。精装版的纸质，从内容到排版都很用心，插图精美，更附上英译本The Little Prince及Le petit prince(法文版)作者手稿。