第五章[第2页/共6页]

They sleep deep in the heart of the earth’s darkness, until some one among them is seized with the desire to awaken. Then this little seed will stretch itself and begin― timidly at first― to push a charming little sprig inoffensively upward toward the sun.

But he made a wise comment:

I did not understand why it was so important that sheep should eat little bushes. But the little prince added:"Then it follows that they also eat baobabs"I pointed out to the little prince that baobabs were not little bushes, but, on the contrary, trees as big as castles; and that even if he took a whole herd of elephants away with him, the herd would not eat up one single baobab.

Now there were some terrible seeds on the planet that was the home of the little prince; and these were the seeds of the baobab. The soil of that planet was infested with them.

"Ah! I am glad!"

“不错。”我说，“但是为甚么你想叫你的羊去吃小猴面包树呢？”

Chapter 5

The idea of the herd of elephants made the little prince laugh.

我不明白绵羊吃矮小灌木这件事为甚么如此首要。可小王子又弥补说道：“那么，它们也吃猴面包树吗？”

“啊，我真欢畅。”

A baobab is something you will never, never be able to get rid of if you attend to it too late. It spreads over the entire planet. It bores clear through it with its roots. And if the planet is too small, and the baobabs are too many, they split it in pieces...