【本节导读】“忘记朋友是一件很伤心的事。并不是每个人都有过真正的朋友。如果我忘记他的话，我就有可能会变得像大人们一样，除了数字以外不会对其他任何东西感兴趣了…”
本节为《小王子》第四章的第二部分。“我”在这一节告诉我的儿童朋友们，只有儿童才懂得生活的意义，才懂得神话世界对于儿童的真实含义。大人们不懂得这一点，孩子要对大人有极大的忍耐力才行。我还告诉我的儿童朋友们，我把小王子的故事写下来，是为了不忘记自己的朋友，忘记朋友是一件悲哀的事情。
【#刘博士英语学习法问答#】我是全职妈妈，女儿今年快3岁了。我想教她学英语，可是自己英语底子很差。我应该怎样教女儿英语才好？
刘博士回答：谢谢你的来信和信任。我不是儿童教育专家，以下只是我个人的观点，仅作参考。
1） 孩子这个年龄是自然学习语言的最佳年龄，语言其实包括母语、外语、音乐和自然界的语言。而此刻其实孩子时刻接触母语是最重要的。
2） 提供语言的环境和语言互动比教孩子更重要。对于这个年龄的孩子建议让孩子在醒着的时候周围时刻被音乐、故事和父母的话语包围。如果想让孩子学英语，就给她一个专门的英语空间和时间，如儿童房的一面墙只有英语画，专门有一段时间（如合计不低于1小时）听英语儿歌、音乐或故事或节目；
3） 习惯养成。给孩子养成定点定时听故事或是听睡前故事的习惯，不仅能解放大人，更重要的是让孩子养成听故事的习惯和兴趣。有些家长反映孩子不喜欢读书，不喜欢听故事。我的建议是家长陪孩子一个月的时间，和孩子一同读书听故事试一下。
4） 儿童以后能学好英语的秘诀就是，让孩子在学英语之前听上两年她最喜欢的英语故事/双语故事。
【本课单词】
Convince [kənˈvɪns] (verb):
If someone or something convinces you of something, they make you believe that it is true or that it exists.
Forbearance [[fɔrˈberəns] (noun):
If you say that someone has shown forbearance, you admire them for behaving in a calm and sensible way about something that they have a right to be very upset or angry about.
Indifference [ɪnˈdɪfərəns] (noun)
If you accuse someone of indifference to something, you mean that they have a complete lack of interest in it.
Figure [ˈfɪɡjər] (noun)
A figure is any of the ten written symbols from 0 to 9 that are used to represent a number.
Costume [ˈkɑːstuːm] (noun)
The clothes worn by people at a particular time in history, or in a particular country, are referred to as a particular type of costume.
【刘博士译文】
小王子
第四章 第二部分
正因为如此，你也许会对大人们说：“小王子是存在的，证据就是他很迷人，他还总是笑，而且他还在寻找一只绵羊。如果有人想问你要一只绵羊的话，这就证明是有那样一个人的。”可你这么对大人们说管用吗？他们只会耸耸肩，然后把你当小孩子对待。可是如果你对他们说：“他来自的行星叫做小行星B612”，这时候他们才会相信你，他们才不会再用各种问题来让你没有片刻安宁。
他们就是这个样子的。不过我们孩子不要因此和他们过意不去。孩子们应该对大人始终要有极大的忍耐力才行。
不过当然了，对于我们这些懂得生活含义的人来说，数字才是无关紧要的东西。我本想以神话故事（fairy tales）的方式来给这个故事起头的。我本想这样叙述的：“从前有一个小王子，他生活在一个比他自己大不了多少的星球上，他希望能有一只羊……”
对于那些懂得生活含义的人来说，这种开头才会让我的故事听起来带有更多的真实感。
我不希望任何读者用心不在焉的方式来读我这本书，因为我是承受了太多的悲伤才将这些记忆全部书写下来。我的朋友带着他的绵羊离我而去已经有六年的时间了。我之所以努力想把他记录下来，就是为了让我自己不会忘记他。忘记朋友是一件很伤心的事。并不是每个人都有过真正的朋友。如果我忘记他的话，我就有可能会变得像大人们一样，除了数字以外不会对其他任何东西感兴趣了…
也正是出于这个原因，我买了一盒颜料还有一些铅笔。到了我这个年纪再从操画画这行是很困难的。自从我在六岁的时候画过一些从外面看和从里面看的蟒蛇图画以外，我再也没有画过任何画。当然了，我会尽可能让我的人像画画得忠实于小王子本人。但我并不能保证我能成功做到这一点。有时候画的一幅画还行，可另一幅画却一点不像王子本人。在小王子的身高方面，我也常常犯错误：在有一张画里把他画得太高了，而在另一张画里又把他画得太矮了。而且我对他服装的颜色也有些不大确定。所以我一边摸索着一边尽我最大的努力，有的时候画得好，有的时候画得糟，不过我希望总体上能是还行或是过得去的水平。
另外，我在一些非常重要的细节上也常会弄错。可这种错误不能怪到我的身上。我的这位朋友从来不向我做任何具体的解释。他也许以为我和他是一类人。可是，唉，我真不知道怎样能透过盒子的侧壁看到绵羊。也许我已经有点像大人们那样了。我总得长大吧。
【English Text]
The Little Prince
Chapter Four part 2
Just so, you might say to them: "The proof that the little prince existed is that he was charming, that he laughed, and that he was looking for a sheep. If anybody wants a sheep, that is a proof that he exists." And what good would it do to tell them that? They would shrug their shoulders, and treat you like a child. But if you said to them: "The planet he came from is Asteroid B612," then they would be convinced, and leave you in peace from their questions.
They are like that. One must not hold it against them. Children should always show great forbearance toward grownup people.
But certainly, for us who understand life, figures are a matter of indifference. I should have liked to begin this story in the fashion of the fairytales. I should have like to say: "Once upon a time there was a little prince who lived on a planet that was scarcely any bigger than himself, and who had need of a sheep..."
To those who understand life, that would have given a much greater air of truth to my story.
For I do not want any one to read my book carelessly. I have suffered too much grief in setting down these memories. Six years have already passed since my friend went away from me, with his sheep. If I try to describe him here, it is to make sure that I shall not forget him. To forget a friend is sad. Not every one has had a friend. And if I forget him, I may become like the grownups who are no longer interested in anything but figures...
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 little 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 the walls of boxes. Perhaps I am a little like the grownups. I have had to grow old.
