【英文原版书阅读计划】—<The little prince>Chapter4（上）

英文原版书阅读计划《小王子》—Chapter4（上） 亲爱的小伙伴们，国庆小长假过后，今天这个新周一已经是大家节后常规上课的第三天了吧？漫长的七天school day是不是让大家觉得有些疲惫呢？不用担心，桑小妮带着小王子来陪伴大家啦！大家千万不要把阅读原版书当作一种负担，希望桑小妮每次的精心准备都能够为大家带来新的mind adventure.如果你把阅读当作是一种任务去完成呢，多少会失去一些趣味和意义。所以小伙伴们，来吧！放心心情，享受故事吧！   在上周的故事里，作者问了小王子很多问题，他总是避而不答，作者只能从只言片语中努力了解他。 作者知道了他不认识飞机，他也不想把我画给他的羊用绳子拴起来。因为在他住的地方，并不能走远。本章节会对小王子居住的B-612星球做一个详细的叙述，包括是谁发现过这颗小行星都会有涉及，还有在今天的故事里，作者再次对成人世界发表意见——那些数字是多么无趣，用数据来定义他人是一件多么肤浅的事情，而偏偏大人们只信这一套！“房顶上有花的漂亮房子”变成了“两万块钱”，“住着小王子的脆弱星球”变成了“B- 612”......作为一名成年人，看到这些例子，是不是很容易引发共鸣呢，我们纯真的童心，是不是也早都不见了呢...... 那么我们一起来读吧，我们一起来读第四章节的上半部分吧！ I had thus learned a second fact of great importance: this was that the planet the little prince came from was scarcely any larger than a house! But that did not really surprise me much. I knew very well that in addition to the great planets-- such as the Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus-- to which we have given names, there are also hundreds of others, some of which are so small that one has a hard time seeing them through the telescope. When an astronomer discovers one of these he does not give it a name, but only a number. He might call it, for example, "Asteroid 325."  I have serious reason to believe that the planet from which the little prince came is the asteroid known as B-612. This asteroid has only once been seen through the telescope. That was by a Turkish astronomer, in 1909. On making his discovery, the astronomer had presented it to the International Astronomical Congress, in a great demonstration. But he was in Turkish costume, and so nobody would believe what he said.Grown-ups are like that... Fortunately, however, for the reputation of Asteroid B-612, a Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects, under pain of death, should change to European costume. So in 1920 the astronomer gave his demonstration all over again, dressed with impressive style and elegance. And this time everybody accepted his report. If I have told you these details about the asteroid, and made a note of its number for you, it is on account of the grown-ups and their ways.  我还了解到另一件重要的事，就是他老家所在的那个星球比一座房子大不了多少。    这倒并没有使我感到太奇怪。我知道除地球、木星、火星、金星这几个有名称的大行星以外，还有成百个别的星球，它们有的小得很，就是用望远镜也很难看见。当一个天文学者发现了其中一个星星，他就给它编上一个号码，例如把它称作“325小行星”。    我有重要的根据认为小王子所来自的那个星球是小行星B612。这颗小行星仅仅在1909年被一个土耳其天文学家用望远镜看见过一次。    当时他曾经在一次国际天文学家代表大会上对他的发现作了重要的论证。但由于他所穿衣服的缘故，那时没有人相信他。那些大人们就 是这样。    幸好，土耳其的一个独裁者，为了小行星B612的声誉，迫使他的人民都要穿欧式服装，否则就处以死刑。1920年，这位天文学家穿了一身非常漂亮的服装，重新作了一次论证。这一次所有的人都同意他的看法。    我给你们讲关于小行星B612的这些细节，并且告诉你们它的编号，这是由于这些大人的缘故。这些大人们就爱数目字。 Little Prince - Chapter 4 • 讲义总结 •   I had thus learned a second fact of great importance: this was that the planet the little prince came from was scarcely any larger than a house! 这句话意思就是：the little prince came from a planet that was almost as large as a house.小王子的星球可能就和一个房子差不多大/小王子的星球比一个房子大不了多少。 「scarcely」是我们第二天讲的否定词哦，大家还记得吗？ … there are also hundreds of others, some of which are so small that one has a hard time seeing them through the telescope. 除了那些有名有号的大星球以外，还有成百上千个小星球，它们都太小了，以至于就算用望远镜都很难看到。 「sb. have a hard time doing 」:就是“某人做某事有困难”，这里指“人们要看到那些小星球难上加难”。 Fortunately, however, for the reputation of Asteroid B-612, a Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects, under pain of death, should change to European costume. 之前，那个土耳其天文学家发现了B-612，却在展示成果时因为穿的自己的民族服饰就没有受到重视。还好（fortunately），土耳其的统治者，为了挽回B－612的荣誉（for the reputation of），规定所有民众都穿上欧洲那边的衣服，感觉是要洋气多了（impressive style and elegance），因此这次大家都接受了他的报告。 「subjects 」：表示“所有的民众”。 「under pain of death」：表示“就是如果违抗就以死刑处置”。 这里有什么深层含义呢？其实还是作者在嘲讽成人世界那一套莫名其妙的套路，大家总是要制定种种规则，把每个人都改造的和其他人大同小异，不遵从主流，主流就不会看重你（即使你发现了一颗小行星）。