第四章[第1页/共5页]

They are like that. One must not hold it against them. Children should always show great forbearance toward grown-up people.

It is for that purpose, again, that I have bought a box of paints and some pencils. It is hard to take up drawing again at my age, when I have never made any pictures except those of the boa constrictor from the outside and the boa constrictor from the inside, since I was six. I shall certainly try to make my portraits as true to life as possible. But I am not at all sure of success. One drawing goes along all right, and another has no resemblance to its subject. I make some errors, too, in the littl e prince’s height: in one place he is too tall and in another too short. And I feel some doubts about the color of his costume. So I fumble along as best I can, now good, now bad, and I hope generally fair-to-middling.

In certain more important details I shall make mistakes, also. But that is something that will not be my fault. My friend never explained anything to me. He thought, perhaps, that I was like himself. But I, alas, do not know how to see sheep through t he walls of boxes. Perhaps I am a little like the grown-ups. I have had to grow old.

幸亏，为了小行星B-612的名誉，土耳其的一个统治者，制定法律迫使他的群众都要穿欧式打扮，不然就处以极刑。1920年，这位天文学家穿了一身非常高雅的打扮，又在大会上重新做了一次论证。这一次统统的人都接管他的观点。

也恰是因为这个原因，我买了一盒颜料和一些铅笔。现在，重新再来画画，真困难啊！像我如许年纪的人，并且除了六岁时画过闭着肚皮的和敞开肚皮的巨蟒外，别的甚么也没有尝试过。当然，我必然要把这些画尽量地画得逼真，但我本身也没有掌控胜利。一张画得还能够，另一张就不像了。另有身材比例大小，我画得有点不精确。在这个处所小王子画得大了些，另一个处所又画得小了些。对他衣服的色彩我也拿不准。因而我就摸索着尝尝这改改那，归正我就这么笨手笨脚地画了大抵。我很能够在某些首要的细节上画错了。这就得请大师谅解我了。因为我的这个朋友向来也不加申明解释。他以为我同他一样。但是，我却不晓得如何透过盒子瞥见小绵羊。我大抵有点像大人们了。我必定本身变老了。