Chapter8-therosearrivesatthelittleprince'splanetIsoonlearnedtoknowthisflowerbetter.Onthelittleprince‘splanettheflowershadalwaysbeenverysimple.Theyhadonlyoneringofpetals;theytookupnoroomatall;theywereatroubletonobody.Onemorningtheywouldappearinthegrass,andbynighttheywouldhavefadedpeacefullyaway.Butoneday,fromaseedblownfromnooneknewwhere,anewflowerhadcomeup;andthelittleprincehadwatchedverycloselyoverthissmallsproutwhichwasnotlikeanyothersmallsproutsonhisplanet.Itmight,yousee,havebeenanewkindofbaobab.Theshrubsoonstoppedgrowing,andbegantogetreadytoproduceaflower.Thelittleprince,whowaspresentatthefirstappearanceofahugebud,feltatoncethatsomesortofmiraculousapparitionmustemergefromit.Buttheflowerwasnotsatisfiedtocompletethepreparationsforherbeautyintheshelterofhergreenchamber.Shechosehercolourswiththegreatestcare.Sheadjustedherpetalsonebyone.Shedidnotwishtogooutintotheworldallrumpled,likethefieldpoppies.Itwasonlyinthefullradianceofherbeautythatshewishedtoappear.Oh,yes!Shewasacoquettishcreature!Andhermysteriousadornmentlastedfordaysanddays.Thenonemorning,exactlyatsunrise,shesuddenlyshowedherself.And,afterworkingwithallthispainstakingprecision,sheyawnedandsaid:"Ah!Iamscarcelyawake.Ibegthatyouwillexcuseme.Mypetalsarestillalldisarranged..."Butthelittleprincecouldnotrestrainhisadmiration:"Oh!Howbeautifulyouare!""AmInot?"theflowerresponded,sweetly. "AndIwasbornatthesamemomentasthesun..."Thelittleprincecouldguesseasilyenoughthatshewasnotanytoomodest--buthowmoving--andexciting--shewas!"Ithinkitistimeforbreakfast,"sheaddedaninstantlater. "Ifyouwouldhavethekindnesstothinkofmyneeds--"Andthelittleprince,completelyabashed,wenttolookforasprinkling-canoffreshwater.So,hetendedtheflower.So,too,shebeganveryquicklytotormenthimwithhervanity--whichwas,ifthetruthbeknown,alittledifficulttodealwith.Oneday,forinstance,whenshewasspeakingofherfourthorns,shesaidtothelittleprince:"Letthetigerscomewiththeirclaws!""Therearenotigersonmyplanet,"thelittleprinceobjected. "And,anyway,tigersdonoteatweeds.""Iamnotaweed,"theflowerreplied,sweetly."Pleaseexcuseme...""Iamnotatallafraidoftigers,"shewenton, "butIhaveahorrorofdrafts.Isupposeyouwouldn‘thaveascreenforme?""Ahorrorofdrafts--thatisbadluck,foraplant,"remarkedthelittleprince,andaddedtohimself, "Thisflowerisaverycomplexcreature...""AtnightIwantyoutoputmeunderaglassglobe.Itisverycoldwhereyoulive.IntheplaceIcamefrom--"Butsheinterruptedherselfatthatpoint.Shehadcomeintheformofaseed.Shecouldnothaveknownanythingofanyotherworlds.Embarassedoverhavingletherselfbecaughtonthevergeofsuchauntruth,shecoughedtwoorthreetimes,inordertoputthelittleprinceinthewrong."Thescreen?""Iwasjustgoingtolookforitwhenyouspoketome..."Thensheforcedhercoughalittlemoresothatheshouldsufferfromremorsejustthesame.Sothelittleprince,inspiteofallthegoodwillthatwasinseparablefromhislove,hadsooncometodoubther.Hehadtakenseriouslywordswhichwerewithoutimportance,anditmadehimveryunhappy."Ioughtnottohavelistenedtoher,"heconfidedtomeoneday. "Oneneveroughttolistentotheflowers.Oneshouldsimplylookatthemandbreathetheirfragrance.Mineperfumedallmyplanet.ButIdidnotknowhowtotakepleasureinallhergrace.Thistaleofclaws,whichdisturbedmesomuch,shouldonlyhavefilledmyheartwithtendernessandpity."Andhecontinuedhisconfidences:"ThefactisthatIdidnotknowhowtounderstandanything!Ioughttohavejudgedbydeedsandnotbywords.Shecastherfragranceandherradianceoverme.Ioughtnevertohaverunawayfromher...Ioughttohaveguessedalltheaffectionthatlaybehindherpoorlittlestratagems.Flowersaresoinconsistent!ButIwastooyoungtoknowhowtoloveher..."中文： 第 8章 很快我就进一步了解了这朵花儿。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很简单的花。这些花非常小，一点也不占地方，从来也不会去打搅任何人。她们早晨在草丛中开放，晚上就凋谢了。不知从哪里来了一颗种子,忽然一天这种子发了芽。小王子特别仔细地监视着这棵与众不同的小苗：这玩艺说不定是一种新的猴面包树。但是，这小苗不久就不再长了，而且开始孕育着一个花朵。看到在这棵苗上长出了一个很大很大的花蕾，小王子感觉到从这个花苞中一定会出现一个奇迹。然而这朵花藏在它那绿茵茵的房间中用了很长的时间来打扮自己。她精心选择着她将来的颜色，慢慢腾腾地妆饰着，一片片地搭配着她的花瓣，她不愿象虞美人那样一出世就满脸皱纹。她要让自己带着光艳夺目的丽姿来到世间。是的，她是非常爱俏的。她用好些好些日子天仙般地梳妆打扮。然后，在一天的早晨，恰好在太阳升起的时候，她开放了。她已经精细地做了那么长的准备工作，却打着哈欠说道：“我刚刚睡醒，真对不起，瞧我的头发还是乱蓬蓬的…”小王子这时再也控制不住自己的爱慕心情：“你是多么美丽啊！”花儿悠然自得地说：“是吧，我是与太阳同时出生的…”小王子看出了这花儿不太谦虚，可是她确实丽姿动人。她随后又说道：“现在该是吃早点的时候了吧，请你也想着给我准备一点…”小王子很有些不好意思，于是就拿着喷壶，打来了一壶清清的凉水，浇灌着花儿。于是，就这样，这朵花儿就以她那有点敏感多疑的虚荣心折磨着小王子。例如，有一天，她向小王子讲起她身上长的四根刺：“老虎，让它张着爪子来吧！”小王子顶了她一句:“在我这个星球上没有老虎,而且,老虎是不会吃草的”。花儿轻声说道：“我并不是草。”“真对不起。”“我并不怕什么老虎，可我讨厌穿堂风。你没有屏风？”小王子思忖着：“讨厌穿堂风…这对一株植物来说，真不走运，这朵花儿真不大好伺候…”“晚上您得把我保护好。你这地方太冷。在这里住得不好，我原来住的那个地方…”但她没有说下去。她来的时候是粒种子。她哪里见过什么别的世界。她叫人发现她是在凑一个如此不太高明的谎话，她有点羞怒，咳嗽了两三声。她的这一招是要小王子处于有过失的地位，她说道：“屏风呢？”“我这就去拿。可你刚才说的是…”于是花儿放开嗓门咳嗽了几声，依然要使小王子后悔自己的过失。尽管小王子本来诚心诚意地喜欢这朵花，可是，这一来，却使他马上对她产生了怀疑。小王子对一些无关紧要的话看得太认真，结果使自己很苦恼。有一天他告诉我说：“我不该听信她的话，绝不该听信那些花儿的话，看看花，闻闻它就得了。我的那朵花使我的星球芳香四溢，可我不会享受它。关于老虎爪子的事，本应该使我产生同情，却反而使我恼火…”他还告诉我说：“我那时什么也不懂！我应该根据她的行为，而不是根据她的话来判断她。她使我的生活芬芳多彩，我真不该离开她跑出来。我本应该猜出在她那令人爱怜的花招后面所隐藏的温情。花是多么自相矛盾！我当时太年青,还不懂得爱她。”