介绍:
学了这么多年的英语，你看过一本英文原著吗？
其实每天少刷10分钟的朋友圈，就能看完一本英文原著。
微信搜索公众号【知米阅读】并关注，跟着我从这里开始，读完你人生的第一本英文原著。
读书要趁早，成长要趁早，让我们在阅读中开始成长的每一天！
[ Chapter 5 ]
As each day passed I would learn, in our talk, something about the little
prince‘s planet, his departure from it, his journey.
The information would come very slowly, as it might chance to fall from his thoughts.
It was in this way that I heard, on the third day, about the catastrophe of the baobabs.
This time, once more, I had the sheep to thank for it.
For the little prince asked me abruptly-- as if seized by a grave doubt—
"It is true, isn‘t it, that sheep eat little bushes?"
"Yes, that is true."
"Ah! I am glad!"
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.
The idea of the herd of elephants made the little prince laugh.
"We would have to put them one on top of the other," he said.
But he made a wise comment:
"Before they grow so big, the baobabs start out by being little."
"That is strictly correct," I said. "But why do you want the sheep to eat the little
baobabs?"
He answered me at once, "Oh, come, come!", as if he were speaking of
something that was self-evident（显而易见的）.
And I was obliged to（不得不） make a great mental effort to solve this problem, without any assistance.
Indeed, as I learned, there were on the planet where the little prince lived-- as
on all planets-- good plants and bad plants.
In consequence, there were good seeds from good plants, and bad seeds from bad plants.
But seeds are invisible.
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（腼腆地） at
first-- to push a charming little sprig inoffensively upward toward the sun.
If it is only a sprout（嫩芽） of radish（小罗卜） or the sprig（枝丫） of a rose-bush（玫瑰丛）, one would let it grow wherever it might wish.
But when it is a bad plant, one must destroy it as soon as possible, the very first instant that one recognizes it.
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. A baobab is something you will never, never be able to get rid of （摆脱）if you attend to it too late.
It spreads over the entire planet. It bores clear through（贯穿） it with its roots.
And if the planet is too small, and the baobabs are too many, they split it in pieces...
"It is a question of discipline," the little prince said to me later on.
"When you‘ve finished your own toilet in the morning, then it is time to attend to the toilet
of your planet, just so, with the greatest care.
You must see to it that you pull up regularly all the baobabs, at the very first moment when they can be distinguished from the rosebushes which they resemble so closely in their earliest youth.
It is very tedious（单调乏味的） work," the little prince added, "but very easy."
And one day he said to me: "You ought to make a beautiful drawing, so that the
children where you live can see exactly how all this is.
That would be very useful to them if they were to travel some day.
Sometimes," he added, "there is no harm in putting off a piece of work until another day.
But when it is a matter of baobabs, that always means a catastrophe.
I knew a planet that was inhabited by a lazy man. He neglected three little bushes..."
So, as the little prince described it to me, I have made a drawing of that planet.
I do not much like to take the tone of a moralist（道德家）.
But the danger of the baobabs is so little understood, and such considerable risks would be run by anyone who might get lost on an asteroid, that for once I am breaking through my reserve.
"Children," I say plainly, "watch out for the baobabs!"
My friends, like myself, have been skirting（在…的边缘） this danger for a long time, without
ever knowing it;
and so it is for them that I have worked so hard over this drawing.
The lesson which I pass on by this means is worth all the trouble it has cost me.
Perhaps you will ask me, "Why are there no other drawing in this book as magnificent and impressive as this drawing of the baobabs?"
The reply is simple. I have tried. But with the others I have not been successful.
When I made the drawing of the baobabs I was carried beyond myself by the
inspiring force of urgent necessity.
好啦，英文原版的朗读到这里就结束了，下面我们一起来学习一下本章节的重点词汇和句型。
1. The information would come very slowly, as it might chance to fall from his thoughts.
「chance」在这里做动词，表示 “偶然发生” ，举个例子，We chanced to meet that day.那天我们碰到了。
「fall from」 ：除了有 “落下” 还有 “从某人口中说出” 的意思，这里是后者。
整句是说，关于他的信息都慢慢出现了，因为小王子偶尔也会说出他在想什么。
2. 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.
这段话我都在讲猴面包树到底是有多么大。大家看看就明白了，这个就是带一群大象过来都吃不完一棵的猴面包树。（猴面包树照片）
猴面包树属，又称猢狲树属。猴面包树高达5至30米，树枝长得像树根一样，树干非常粗，直径可以到达7至11米粗，需要几十个人手拉着手才能合抱一圈。
猴面包树结的果子可以吃。猴面包树的果实重40多斤，切片火烤，味道很像面包，所以叫”面包树”。
3. Before they grow so big, the baobabs start out by being little.
作者之前说猴面包树很大，小王子这里的意思是说，猴面包树没长大前也是个宝宝，一开始也很小。
「start out」：to begin one’s life，生命开始的时候。这句还蛮有哲理的，不管多强大的东西一开始都是很弱小的。
后面小王子还说：Sometimes, there is no harm in putting off a piece of work until another day. But when it is a matter of baobabs, that always means a catastrophe.有时候，工作拖延到另外一天不会引起什么后果。但要是这工作是清理猴面包树，拖延必然造成一场灾难。
「catastrophe」： “ 超级大灾难，世界末日 ”，比如地震、海啸、龙卷风、大洪水，这些都是catastrophe。
4. He answered me at once, “Oh, come, come!”, as if he were speaking of something that was self-evident. And I was obliged to make a great mental effort to solve this problem, without any assistance.
他立马回答道“嗨，得了吧你！”，就好像他说的话多浅显似的。但没人帮我，我必须要思考很久才能解决这个问题。
「self－evident」： “ 显而易见的” ，这个单词这样记——self是自己，evident是证据，“自己”把“证据”交出来，所以就是“显而易见的”。
「be obliged to do」：“必须做某事”。这里是说，我为了理解小王子的“言外之意”，必须要想很久。（大人们真蠢呀~）
「make a great effort to do」：“费很大劲做某事”，
「mental」，“头脑的，智力的”，加在这个词组里，就表示 “ 需要思考很久 ”。
5. They sleep deep in the heart of the earth’s darkness, until someone 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.
它们（种子们）长眠于黑暗的地下，直到有一天，其中有一颗忽然想要苏醒了。 于是它舒展身子，最先羞答答地朝太阳伸出一枝天真可爱的嫩芽。
“sleep”、 “ the desire to awaken” 、“stretch itself”、 “timidly” 、“ inoffensively”这些词都用来拟人的写作方法来描述种子，这一段真是很萌很萌的英语，大家可以多读读，体会一下。
6.It bores clear through it with its roots.
「bore」：“ 刺穿 ”，原句意为，猴面包树用它们的树根刺穿星球。
「clear」：这里作副词表示程度，等于completely，表示 “完全地、十足地”
7. When you’ve finished your own toilet in the morning, then it is time to attend to the toilet of your planet, just so, with the greatest care.
「toilet」：这里toilet不少同学有点晕，toilet 这个词在19世纪晚期之前，都只有personal grooming（个人卫生）的意思，比如洗澡，洗头梳头。后来才衍生出其他的意思。在文中是说，早上你自己梳洗完毕之后，你要给你的星球梳洗。
「attend to」：“照料”，接上一条，对星球应该怎么照料呢？那就是清理火山，拔猴面包树苗（pull up regularly all the baobabs ）啦，这样一讲是不是懂了？
8.…at the very first moment when they can be distinguished from the rosebushes which they resemble so closely in their earliest youth.
「be distinguished from」：“区分”，这里是指将玫瑰种子和猴面包树种子区分开来，因为两个种子在萌芽时期（ in their earliest youth）长得很像（resemble so closely）。
这里也是在影射一些东西。小王子认为玫瑰是美好的，而面包树是邪恶的，但美好和邪恶在他们的萌芽时期都是一样的。而且邪恶应该要及早制止，否则邪恶的势力就会越来越大。
9. I do not much like to take the tone of a moralist. But the danger of the baobabs is so
little understood, and such considerable risks would be run by anyone who might get
lost on an asteroid, that for once I am breaking through my reserve.
我一向不愿意摆出说教的架势。可是对猴面包树的危害，一般人都不了解，要是有人碰巧迷了路停留在一颗小行星上，情况就会变得极其严峻。所以这一次，我破戒了。
「take the tone of a moralist」的意思是以说教的口吻
「 the danger is so little understood」： 是说人们对猴面包树的危害所知甚少。little是个否定词，表示“几乎没有”。
「I am breaking through my reserve」：reserve 的意思是 “ 内敛、矜持” ，再结合 break through 的意思，这句 breaking through my reserve 就容易理解了，就是说我打破了自己的矜持。
大家还在听
