Chapter5-wearewarnedastothedangersofthebaobabsAseachdaypassedIwouldlearn,inourtalk,somethingaboutthelittleprince‘splanet,hisdeparturefromit,hisjourney.Theinformationwouldcomeveryslowly,asitmightchancetofallfromhisthoughts.ItwasinthiswaythatIheard,onthethirdday,aboutthecatastropheofthebaobabs.Thistime,oncemore,Ihadthesheeptothankforit.Forthelittleprinceaskedmeabruptly--asifseizedbyagravedoubt-- "Itistrue,isn‘tit,thatsheepeatlittlebushes?""Yes,thatistrue.""Ah!Iamglad!"Ididnotunderstandwhyitwassoimportantthatsheepshouldeatlittlebushes.Butthelittleprinceadded:"Thenitfollowsthattheyalsoeatbaobabs?"Ipointedouttothelittleprincethatbaobabswerenotlittlebushes,but,onthecontrary,treesasbigascastles;andthatevenifhetookawholeherdofelephantsawaywithhim,theherdwouldnoteatuponesinglebaobab.Theideaoftheherdofelephantsmadethelittleprincelaugh."Wewouldhavetoputthemoneontopoftheother,"hesaid.Buthemadeawisecomment:"Beforetheygrowsobig,thebaobabsstartoutbybeinglittle.""Thatisstrictlycorrect,"Isaid. "Butwhydoyouwantthesheeptoeatthelittlebaobabs?"Heansweredmeatonce, "Oh,come,come!",asifhewerespeakingofsomethingthatwasself-evident.AndIwasobligedtomakeagreatmentalefforttosolvethisproblem,withoutanyassistance.Indeed,asIlearned,therewereontheplanetwherethelittleprincelived--asonallplanets--goodplantsandbadplants.Inconsequence,thereweregoodseedsfromgoodplants,andbadseedsfrombadplants.Butseedsareinvisible.Theysleepdeepintheheartoftheearth‘sdarkness,untilsomeoneamongthemisseizedwiththedesiretoawaken.Thenthislittleseedwillstretchitselfandbegin--timidlyatfirst--topushacharminglittlespriginoffensivelyupwardtowardthesun.Ifitisonlyasproutofradishorthesprigofarose-bush,onewouldletitgrowwhereveritmightwish.Butwhenitisabadplant,onemustdestroyitassoonaspossible,theveryfirstinstantthatonerecognizesit.Nowthereweresometerribleseedsontheplanetthatwasthehomeofthelittleprince;andthoseweretheseedsofthebaobab.Thesoilofthatplanetwasinfestedwiththem.Abaobabissomethingyouwillnever,neverbeabletogetridofifyouattendtoittoolate.Itspreadsovertheentireplanet.Itboresclearthroughitwithitsroots.Andiftheplanetistoosmall,andthebaobabsaretoomany,theysplititinpieces..."Itisaquestionofdiscipline,"thelittleprincesaidtomelateron. "Whenyou‘vefinishedyourowntoiletinthemorning,thenitistimetoattendtothetoiletofyourplanet,justso,withthegreatestcare.Youmustseetoitthatyoupullupregularlyallthebaobabs,attheveryfirstmomentwhentheycanbedistinguishedfromtherosebusheswhichtheyresemblesocloselyintheirearliestyouth.Itisverytediouswork,"thelittleprinceadded, "butveryeasy."Andonedayhesaidtome: "Yououghttomakeabeautifuldrawing,sothatthechildrenwhereyoulivecanseeexactlyhowallthisis.Thatwouldbeveryusefultothemiftheyweretotravelsomeday.Sometimes,"headded, "thereisnoharminputtingoffapieceofworkuntilanotherday.Butwhenitisamatterofbaobabs,thatalwaysmeansacatastrophe.Iknewaplanetthatwasinhabitedbyalazyman.Heneglectedthreelittlebushes..."So,asthelittleprincedescribedittome,Ihavemadeadrawingofthatplanet.Idonotmuchliketotakethetoneofamoralist.Butthedangerofthebaobabsissolittleunderstood,andsuchconsiderableriskswouldberunbyanyonewhomightgetlostonanasteroid,thatforonceIambreakingthroughmyreserve. "Children,"Isayplainly, "watchoutforthebaobabs!"Myfriends,likemyself,havebeenskirtingthisdangerforalongtime,withouteverknowingit;andsoitisforthemthatIhaveworkedsohardoverthisdrawing.ThelessonwhichIpassonbythismeansisworthallthetroubleithascostme.Perhapsyouwillaskme, "Whyaretherenootherdrawinginthisbookasmagnificentandimpressiveasthisdrawingofthebaobabs?"Thereplyissimple.Ihavetried.ButwiththeothersIhavenotbeensuccessful.WhenImadethedrawingofthebaobabsIwascarriedbeyondmyselfbytheinspiringforceofurgentnecessity.中文：第 5 章每天我都了解到一些关于小王子的星球，他的出走和旅行等事情。这些都是偶然从各种反应中慢慢得到的。就这样，第三天我就了解到关于猴面包树的悲剧。这一次又是因为羊的事情，突然小王子好象是非常担心地问我道：“羊吃小灌木，这是真的吗？”“是的，是真的。”“啊，我真高兴。”我不明白羊吃小灌木这件事为什么如此重要。可小王子又说道：“因此，它们也吃猴面包树罗？”我对小王子说，猴面包树可不是小灌木，而是象教堂那么大的大树；即便是带回一群大象，也啃不了一棵猴面包树。一群大象这种想法使小王子发笑：“那可得把这些大象一只叠一只地垒起来。”他很有见识地说：“猴面包树在长大之前，开始也是小小的。”“不错。可是为什么你想叫你的羊去吃小猴面包树呢？”他回答我道：“唉！这还用说！”似乎这是不言而喻的。可是我自己要费很大的心劲才能弄懂这个问题。原来，在小王子的星球上就象其他所有星球上一样，有好草和坏草；因此，也就有益草的草籽和毒草的草籽，可是草籽是看不见的。它们沉睡在泥土里，直到其中的一粒忽然想要苏醒过来…于是它就伸展开身子，开始腼腆地朝着太阳长出一棵秀丽可爱的小嫩苗。如果是小萝卜或是玫瑰的嫩苗，就让它去自由地生长。如果是一棵坏苗，一旦被辨认出来，就应该马上把它拔掉。因为在小王子的星球上，有些非常可怕的种子…这就是猴面包树的种子。在那里的泥土里，这种种子多得成灾。而一棵猴面包树苗，假如你拔得太迟，就再也无法把它清除掉。它就会盘踞整个星球。它的树根能把星球钻透，如果星球很小，而猴面包树很多，它就把整个星球搞得支离破碎。“这是个纪律问题。”小王子后来向我解释道。“当你早上梳洗完毕以后，必须仔细地给星球梳洗，必须规定自己按时去拔掉猴面包树苗。这种树苗小的时候与玫瑰苗差不多，一旦可以把它们区别开的时候，就要把它拔掉。这是一件非常乏味的工作，但很容易。”有一天，他劝我用心地画一副漂亮的图画，好叫我家乡的孩子们对这件事有一个深刻的印象。他还对我说：“如果将来有一天他们出外旅行，这对他们是很有用的。有时候，人们把自己的工作推到以后去做，并没有什么妨害，但要遇到拔猴面包树苗这种事，那就非造成大灾难不可。我遇到过一个星球，上面住着一个懒家伙，他放过了三棵小树苗…”于是，根据小王子的说明，我把这个星球画了下来。我从来不大愿意以道学家的口吻来说话，可是猴面包树的危险，大家都不大了解，对迷失在小行星上的人来说，危险性非常之大，因此这一回，我贸然打破了我的这种不喜欢教训人的惯例。我说：“孩子们，要当心那些猴面包树呀！”为了叫我的朋友们警惕这种危险——他们同我一样长期以来和这种危险接触，却没有意识到它的危险性——我花了很大的功夫画了这副画。我提出的这个教训意义是很重大的，花点功夫是很值得的。你们也许要问，为什么这本书中别的画都没有这副画那么壮观呢？回答很简单：别的画我也曾经试图画得好些，却没成功。而当我画猴面包树时，有一种急切的心情在激励着我。