So I lived my life alone, without anyone that I could really talk to, until I hadan accident with my plane in the Desert of Sahara, six years ago.

我就这样孤独地生活着，没有一个能真正谈得来的人，一直到六年前在撒哈拉沙漠上发生了那次故障。

Something was broken in my engine.

我的发动机里有个东西损坏了。

And as I had with me neither a mechanic nor any passengers, I set myself to attempt the difficult repairs all alone.

当时由于我既没有带机械师也没有带旅客，我就试图独自完成这个困难的维修工作。

It was a question of life or death for me: I had scarcely enough drinking water to last a week.

这对我来说是个生与死的问题。我随身带的水只够饮用一星期。

The first night, then, I went to sleep on the sand, a thousand miles from any human habitation.

第一天晚上我就睡在这远离人间烟火的大沙漠上。

I was more isolated than a shipwrecked sailor on a raft in the middle of the ocean.

我比大海中伏在小木排上的遇难者还要孤独得多。

Thus you can imagine my amazement, at sunrise,when I was awakened by an odd little voice.

而在第二天拂晓，当一个奇怪的小声音叫醒我的时候，你们可以想见我当时是多么吃惊。

It said:"If you please– draw me a sheep!”

这小小的声音说道：“请你给我画一只羊，好吗？”

What!

啊！

Draw me a sheep!

给我画一只羊…

I jumped to my feet, completely thunderstruck. I blinked my eyes hard.

我象是受到惊雷轰击一般，一下子就站立起来。

I looked carefully all around me.

我使劲地揉了揉眼睛，仔细地看了看。

And I saw a most extraordinary small person,who stood there examining me with great seriousness.

我看见一个十分奇怪的小家伙严肃地朝我凝眸望着。

Here you may see the best portrait that, later, I was able to make of him.

这是后来我给他画出来的最好的一副画像。

But my drawing is certainly very much less charming than its model.

可是，我的画当然要比他本人的模样逊色得多。

That, however, is not my fault.

这不是我的过错。

The grown-ups discouraged me in my painter’s career when I was six years old, and I never learned to draw anything,

六岁时，大人们使我对我的画家生涯失去了勇气，

except boas from the outside and boas from the inside.

除了画过开着肚皮和闭着肚皮的蟒蛇，后来再没有学过画。

Now I stared at this sudden apparition with my eyes fairly starting out of my head in astonishment.

我惊奇地睁大着眼睛看着这突然出现的小家伙。