ask the indulgence of the children who may read this book for dedicating it to a grown-up. I have a serious reason: he is the best friend I have in the world. I have another reason: this grown-up understands everything, even books about children. I have a third reason: he lives in France where he is hungry and cold. He needs cheering up. If all these reasons are not enough, I will dedicate the book to the child from whom this grown-up grew. All grown-ups were once children-- although few of them remember it. And so I correct my dedication:
    Chapter 1
    - we are introduced to the narrator, a pilot, and his ideas about grown-ups
    Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest. It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing.
    In the book it said: "Boa constrictors swallow their prey whole, without chewing it. After that they are not able to move, and they sleep through the six months that they need for digestion."
    I pondered deeply, then, over the adventures of the jungle. And after some work with a colored pencil I succeeded in making my first drawing. My Drawing Number One. It looked like this:
    I showed my masterpiece to the grown-ups, and asked them whether the drawing frightened them.
    But they answered: "Frighten? Why should any one be frightened by a hat?"
    My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant. But since the grown-ups were not able to understand it, I made another drawing: I drew the inside of the boa constrictor, so that the grown-ups could see it clearly. They always need to have things explained. My Drawing Number Two looked like this:
    The grown-ups‘ response, this time, was to advise me to lay aside my drawings of boa constrictors, whether from the inside or the outside, and devote myself instead to geography, history, arithmetic and grammar. That is why, at the age of six, I gave up what might have been a magnificent career as a painter. I had been disheartened by the failure of my Drawing Number One and my Drawing Number Two. Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.
    So then I chose another profession, and learned to pilot airplanes. I have flown a little over all parts of the world; and it is true that geography has been very useful to me. At a glance I can distinguish China from Arizona. If one gets lost in the night, such knowledge is valuable.
    In the course of this life I have had a great many encounters with a great many people who have been concerned with matters of consequence. I have lived a great deal among grown-ups. I have seen them intimately, close at hand. And that hasn‘t much improved my opinion of them.
    Whenever I met one of them who seemed to me at all clear-sighted, I tried the experiment of showing him my Drawing Number One, which I have always kept. I would try to find out, so, if this was a person of true understanding. But, whoever it was, he, or she, would always say:"That is a hat."
    Then I would never talk to that person about boa constrictors, or primeval forests, or stars. I would bring myself down to his level. I would talk to him about bridge, and golf, and politics, and neckties. And the grown-up would be greatly pleased to have met such a sensible man.
    中文：
    小 王 子　
    [法] 圣德克旭貝里
    獻(xiàn)給列翁.維爾特
    我請(qǐng)孩子們?cè)徫野堰@本書獻(xiàn)給了一個(gè)大人。我有一個(gè)很重要的理由：這個(gè)大人是我在世界上的朋友。我還有另一個(gè)理由：這個(gè)大人他什么都能懂，甚至給孩子們寫的書他也能懂。我的第三個(gè)理由是：這個(gè)大人住在法國，他在那里挨餓、受凍。他很需要安慰。如果這些理由還不夠的話，那么我愿意把這本書獻(xiàn)給兒童時(shí)代的這個(gè)大人。所有的大人都曾經(jīng)是個(gè)孩子。（可惜，只有很少的一些大人記得這一點(diǎn)。）因此，我就把獻(xiàn)詞改為：
    獻(xiàn)給還是小男孩時(shí)的列翁.維爾特
    書名——《小王子》（法語書名，Le Petit Prince）。
    作者——圣?？颂K佩里（法文名，Antoine de Saint-Exupéry）。
    原作語言——法語。
    作品類別——兒童文學(xué)，短篇小說。
    作品體裁——寓言。
    寫作時(shí)間和地點(diǎn)——1942年的夏天和秋天，那時(shí)圣埃克蘇佩里暫住在美國紐約的長島。
    出版情況——1943年美國 Reynal & Hitchcock Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc 率先出版了《小王子》的法語版和英譯版。因二次世界大戰(zhàn)，作者 的祖國法國直到1946年才由Gallimard 出版社出了第一個(gè)法國版。
    敘述者——一個(gè)飛行員因飛機(jī)故障迫降在撒哈拉大沙漠，他在那里遇見了小王子。六年后，他講述了這段奇遇故事。
    敘事視角——故事以第一人稱敘事，雖然其中大部份篇章是飛行員在復(fù)述小王子一人旅行的故事。
    語氣——描述飛行員與小王子夢(mèng)幻般的相遇是甜蜜的傷感；而對(duì)大人世界缺乏想象力和功利主義，則表露出無奈和憂心。
    背景：
    地點(diǎn)——非洲撒哈拉大沙漠和太空。
    主人公——小王子，飛行員，花，狐貍。
    主要沖突——飛行員與小王子的天真無邪觀點(diǎn)，同大人世界令人窒息的教條之間的沖突。
    上升情節(jié)（起勢(shì)情節(jié)）——花兒使小王子感到苦惱與迷茫，盡管他依然是那么愛他的那朵花，卻還是獨(dú)自一人離開了自己的星球，開始了旅行。在訪問了鄰近的幾座星球后來到地球。他漫步在沙漠尋找人類，他找到了狐貍。
    高潮——狐貍告訴了小王子一個(gè)秘密，使小王子認(rèn)識(shí)到他的玫瑰花的價(jià)值。
    下降情節(jié)（收勢(shì)情節(jié)）——小王子向飛行員轉(zhuǎn)述狐貍告訴他的那個(gè)秘密；小王子被蛇咬后死去，心靈回自己的星球去了。
    主題——偏見與成見的危險(xiǎn)，人生探索的啟迪，所有的大人起先都是孩子，正因?yàn)閷?duì)某物某事付出過才使得某物某事變得如此重要，勇于承擔(dān)責(zé)任的重要。
    母題——秘密，飛行員的畫，馴養(yǎng)，正經(jīng)事。
    象征——星星，沙漠，火車，水，酒鬼，國王，點(diǎn)燈人，第二顆星球的愛慕虛榮的人，地理學(xué)家，商人，玫瑰，狐貍。
    預(yù)示——當(dāng)小王子初遇蛇時(shí)，蛇暗示它能讓小王子回到自己的星球；狐貍在小王子將離開的時(shí)候給他啟示，叫他回去再看看那5000朵玫瑰。小王子回來跟狐貍告別的時(shí)候狐貍告訴了他一個(gè)秘密（即一個(gè)答案）："本質(zhì)的東西是用眼睛看不見的，只能用心去看。正因?yàn)槟悖ㄐ⊥踝樱槟愕拿倒寤ㄙM(fèi)的時(shí)光，才使得你的玫瑰變得如此重要。對(duì)你馴養(yǎng)過的東西，你永遠(yuǎn)都有責(zé)任。你必須對(duì)你的玫瑰負(fù)責(zé)。”
    基調(diào)——作品基調(diào)是溫柔的、童真的、充滿哲理的，憂傷而又帶有神秘氣息的。
    譯文：
    當(dāng)我還只有六歲的時(shí)候，在一本描寫原始森林的名叫《真實(shí)的故事》的書中，看到了一副精彩的插畫，畫的是一條蟒蛇正在吞食一只大野獸。頁頭上就是那副畫的摹本。
    這本書中寫道：“這些蟒蛇把它們的獵獲物不加咀嚼地囫圇吞下，爾后就不能再動(dòng)彈了；它們就在長長的六個(gè)月的睡眠中消化這些食物?！碑?dāng)時(shí)，我對(duì)叢林中的奇遇想得很多，于是，我也用彩色鉛筆畫出了我的第一副圖畫。我的第一號(hào)作品。它是這樣的：
    我把我的這副杰作拿給大人看，我問他們我的畫是不是叫他們害怕。
    他們回答我說：“一頂帽子有什么可怕的？”
    我畫的不是帽子，是一條巨蟒在消化著一頭大象。于是我又把巨蟒肚子里的情況畫了出來，以便讓大人們能夠看懂。這些大人總是需要解釋。我的第二號(hào)作品是這樣的：
    大人們勸我把這些畫著開著肚皮的，或閉上肚皮的蟒蛇的圖畫放在一邊，還是 把興趣放在地理、歷史、算術(shù)、語法上。就這樣，在六歲的那年，我就放棄了當(dāng)畫家這一美好的職業(yè)。我的第一號(hào)、第二號(hào)作品的不成功，使我泄了氣。這些大人 們，靠他們自己什么也弄不懂，還得老是不斷地給他們作解釋。這真叫孩子們膩味。
    后來，我只好選擇了另外一個(gè)職業(yè)，我學(xué)會(huì)了開飛機(jī)，世界各地差不多都飛到過。的確，地理學(xué)幫了我很大的忙。我一眼就能分辨出中國和亞里桑那。要是夜里迷失了航向，這是很有用的。
    這樣，在我的生活中，我跟許多嚴(yán)肅的人有過很多的接觸。我在大人們中間生活過很長時(shí)間。我仔細(xì)地觀察過他們，但這并沒有使我對(duì)他們的看法有多大的改變。
    當(dāng)我遇到一個(gè)頭腦看來稍微清楚的大人時(shí)，我就拿出一直保存著的我那第一號(hào)作品來測(cè)試測(cè)試他。我想知道他是否真的有理解能力?？墒?，得到的回答總是： “這是頂帽子?！蔽揖筒缓退劸掾?，原始森林呀，或者星星之類的事。我只得遷就他們的水平，和他們談些橋牌呀，高爾夫球呀，政治呀，領(lǐng)帶呀這些。于是大 人們就十分高興能認(rèn)識(shí)我這樣一個(gè)通情達(dá)理的人。