Chapter 10

- the little prince visits the king

He found himself in the neighborhood of the asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, and 330. He began, therefore, by visiting them, in order to add to his knowledge.

The first of them was inhabited by a king. Clad in royal purple and ermine, he was seated upon a throne which was at the same time both simple and majestic.

"Ah! Here is a subject," exclaimed the king, when he saw the little prince coming.

And the little prince asked himself:

"How could he recognize me when he had never seen me before?"

He did not know how the world is simplified for kings. To them, all men are subjects.

"Approach, so that I may see you better," said the king, who felt consumingly proud of being at last a king over somebody.

The little prince looked everywhere to find a place to sit down; but the entire planet was crammed and obstructed by the king's magnificent ermine robe. So he remained standing upright, and, since he was tired, he yawned.

"It is contrary to etiquette to yawn in the presence of a king," the monarch said to him. "I forbid you to do so."

"I can't help it. I can't stop myself," replied the little prince, thoroughly embarrassed. "I have come on a long journey, and I have had no sleep..."

"Ah, then," the king said. "I order you to yawn. It is years since I have seen anyone yawning. Yawns, to me, are objects of curiosity. Come, now! Yawn again! It is an order."

"That frightens me... I cannot, any more..." murmured the little prince, now completely abashed.

"Hum! Hum!" replied the king. "Then I-- I order you sometimes to yawn and sometimes to--"

He sputtered a little, and seemed vexed.

For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected. He tolerated no disobedience. He was an absolute monarch. But, because he was a very good man, he made his orders reasonable.

"If I ordered a general," he would say, by way of example, "if I ordered a general to change himself into a sea bird, and if the general did not obey me, that would not be the fault of the general. It would be my fault."

"May I sit down?" came now a timid inquiry from the little prince.

"I order you to do so," the king answered him, and majestically gathered in a fold of his ermine mantle.

But the little prince was wondering... The planet was tiny. Over what could this king really rule?

"Sire," he said to him, "I beg that you will excuse my asking you a question--"

"I order you to ask me a question," the king hastened to assure him.

"Sire-- over what do you rule?"

"Over everything," said the king, with magnificent simplicity.

"Over everything?"

The king made a gesture, which took in his planet, the other planets, and all the stars.

"Over all that?" asked the little prince.

"Over all that," the king answered.

For his rule was not only absolute: it was also universal.

"And the stars obey you?"

"Certainly they do," the king said. "They obey instantly. I do not permit insubordination."

Such power was a thing for the little prince to marvel at. If he had been master of such complete authority, he would have been able to watch the sunset, not forty-four times in one day, but seventy-two, or even a hundred, or even two hundred times, with out ever having to move his chair. And because he felt a bit sad as he remembered his little planet which he had forsaken, he plucked up his courage to ask the king a favor:

"I should like to see a sunset... do me that kindness... Order the sun to set..."

"If I ordered a general to fly from one flower to another like a butterfly, or to write a tragic drama, or to change himself into a sea bird, and if the general did not carry out the order that he had received, which one of us would be in the wrong?" the king demanded. "The general, or myself?"

"You," said the little prince firmly.

"Exactly. One much require from each one the duty which each one can perform," the king went on. "Accepted authority rests first of all on reason. If you ordered your people to go and throw themselves into the sea, they would rise up in revolution. I have the right to require obedience because my orders are reasonable."

"Then my sunset?" the little prince reminded him: for he never forgot a question once he had asked it.

"You shall have your sunset. I shall command it. But, according to my science of government, I shall wait until conditions are favorable."

"When will that be?" inquired the little prince.

"Hum! Hum!" replied the king; and before saying anything else he consulted a bulky almanac. "Hum! Hum! That will be about-- about-- that will be this evening about twenty minutes to eight. And you will see how well I am obeyed."

The little prince yawned. He was regretting his lost sunset. And then, too, he was already beginning to be a little bored.

"I have nothing more to do here," he said to the king. "So I shall set out on my way again."

"Do not go," said the king, who was very proud of having a subject. "Do not go. I will make you a Minister!"

"Minister of what?"

"Minster of-- of Justice!"

"But there is nobody here to judge!"

"We do not know that," the king said to him. "I have not yet made a complete tour of my kingdom. I am very old. There is no room here for a carriage. And it tires me to walk."

"Oh, but I have looked already!" said the little prince, turning around to give one more glance to the other side of the planet. On that side, as on this, there was nobody at all...

"Then you shall judge yourself," the king answered. "that is the most difficult thing of all. It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom."

"Yes," said the little prince, "but I can judge myself anywhere. I do not need to live on this planet.

"Hum! Hum!" said the king. "I have good reason to believe that somewhere on my planet there is an old rat. I hear him at night. You can judge this old rat. From time to time you will condemn him to death. Thus his life will depend on your justice. But you will pardon him on each occasion; for he must be treated thriftily. He is the only one we have."

"I," replied the little prince, "do not like to condemn anyone to death. And now I think I will go on my way."

"No," said the king.

But the little prince, having now completed his preparations for departure, had no wish to grieve the old monarch.

"If Your Majesty wishes to be promptly obeyed," he said, "he should be able to give me a reasonable order. He should be able, for example, to order me to be gone by the end of one minute. It seems to me that conditions are favorable..."

As the king made no answer, the little prince hesitated a moment. Then, with a sigh, he took his leave.

"I made you my Ambassador," the king called out, hastily.

He had a magnificent air of authority.

"The grown-ups are very strange," the little prince said to himself, as he continued on his journey.

在附近的宇宙中，還有 325、326、327、328、329、330 等幾顆小行星。他就開始訪問這幾顆星球，想在那里找點(diǎn)事干，并且學(xué)習(xí)學(xué)習(xí)。

第一顆星球上住著一個(gè)國王。國王穿著用紫紅色和白底黑花的毛皮做成的大禮服，坐在一個(gè)很簡單卻又十分威嚴(yán)的寶座上。

當(dāng)他看見小王子時(shí)，喊了起來：

“啊，來了一個(gè)臣民。”

小王子思量著：“他從來也沒有見過我，怎么會(huì)認(rèn)識(shí)我呢？”

他哪里知道，在那些國王的眼里，世界是非常簡單的：所有的人都是臣民。

國王十分驕傲，因?yàn)樗K于成了某個(gè)人的國王，他對(duì)小王子說道：“靠近些，好讓我好好看看你。”

小王子看看四周，想找個(gè)地方坐下來，可是整個(gè)星球被國王華麗的白底黑花皮袍占滿了。他只好站在那里，但是因?yàn)槠＞肓耍蚱鸸穪怼?/p>

君王對(duì)他說：“在一個(gè)國王面前打哈欠是違反禮節(jié)的。我禁止你打哈欠。”

小王子羞愧地說道：“我實(shí)在忍不住，我長途跋涉來到這里，還沒有睡覺呢。”

國王說：“那好吧，我命令你打哈欠。好些年來我沒有看見過任何人打哈欠。對(duì)我來說，打哈欠倒是新奇的事。來吧，再打個(gè)哈欠！這是命令。”

“這倒叫我有點(diǎn)緊張…我打不出哈欠來了…”小王子紅著臉說。

“嗯！嗯！”國王回答道：“那么我…命令你忽而打哈欠，忽而…”

他嘟嘟囔囔，顯出有點(diǎn)惱怒。

因?yàn)閲跛蟮闹饕潜３炙耐?yán)受到尊敬。他不能容忍不聽他的命令。他是一位絕對(duì)的君主。可是，他卻很善良，他下的命令都是有理智的。

他常常說：“如果我叫一位將軍變成一只海鳥，而這位將軍不服從我的命令，那么這就不是將軍的過錯(cuò)，而是我的過錯(cuò)。”

小王子靦腆地試探道：“我可以坐下嗎？”

“我命令你坐下。”國王一邊回答，一邊莊重地把他那白底黑花皮袍大襟挪動(dòng)了一下。

可是小王子感到很奇怪。這么小的行星，國王他對(duì)什么進(jìn)行統(tǒng)治呢？

他對(duì)國王說：“陛下…請(qǐng)?jiān)彛蚁雴柲?/p>

國王急忙搶著說道：“我命令你問我。”

“陛下…你統(tǒng)治什么呢？”

國王非常簡單明了地說：“我統(tǒng)治一切。”

“一切？”

國王輕輕地用手指著他的行星和其他的行星，以及所有的星星。

小王子說：“統(tǒng)治這一切？”

“統(tǒng)治這一切。”

原來他不僅是一個(gè)絕對(duì)的君主，而且是整個(gè)宇宙的君主。

“那么，星星都服從您嗎？”

“那當(dāng)然！”國王對(duì)他說，“它們立即就得服從。我是不允許無紀(jì)律的。”

這樣的權(quán)力使小王子驚嘆不已。如果掌握了這樣的權(quán)力，那么，他一天就不只是看到四十三次日落，而可以看到七十二次，甚至一百次，或是二百次日落，也不必要去挪動(dòng)椅子了！由于他想起了他那被遺棄的小星球，心里有點(diǎn)難過，他大膽地向國王提出了一個(gè)請(qǐng)求：

“我想看日落，請(qǐng)求您…命令太陽落山吧…”

國王說道：“如果我命令一個(gè)將軍象一只蝴蝶那樣從這朵花飛到那朵花，或者命令他寫作一個(gè)悲劇劇本或者變一只海鳥，而如果這位將軍接到命令不執(zhí)行的話，那么，是他不對(duì)還是我不對(duì)呢？”

“那當(dāng)然是您的不對(duì)。”小王子肯定地回答。

“一點(diǎn)也不錯(cuò)，”國王接著說，“向每個(gè)人提出的要求應(yīng)該是他們所能做到的。權(quán)威首先應(yīng)該建立在理性的基礎(chǔ)上。如果命令你的老百姓去投海，他們非起來革命不可。我的命令是合理的，所以我有權(quán)要?jiǎng)e人服從。”

“那么我提出的日落呢？”小王子一旦提出一個(gè)問題，他是不會(huì)忘記這個(gè)問題的。

“日落么，你會(huì)看到的。我一定要太陽落山，不過按照我的統(tǒng)治科學(xué)，我得等到條件成熟的時(shí)候。”

小王子問道：“這要等到什么時(shí)候呢？”

國王在回答之前，首先翻閱了一本厚厚的日歷，嘴里慢慢說道：“嗯！嗯！日落大約…大約…在今晚七時(shí)四十分的時(shí)候！你將看到我的命令一定會(huì)被服從的。”

小王子又打起哈欠來了。他遺憾沒有看到日落。他有點(diǎn)厭煩了，他對(duì)國王說：“我沒有必要再呆在這兒了。我要走了。”

這位因?yàn)閯倓傆辛艘粋€(gè)臣民而十分驕傲自得的國王說道：

“別走，別走。我任命你當(dāng)大臣。”

“什么大臣”

“嗯……司法大臣！”

“可是，這兒沒有一個(gè)要審判的人。”

“很難說呀，”國王說道。“我很老了，我這地方又小，沒有放鑾駕的地方，另外，一走路我就累。因此我還沒有巡視過我的王國呢！”

“噢！可是我已經(jīng)看過了。”小王子說道，并探身朝星球的那一側(cè)看了看。那邊也沒有一個(gè)人…

“那么你就審判你自己呀！”國王回答他說。“這可是最難的了。審判自己比審判別人要難得多啊！你要是能審判好自己，你就是一個(gè)真正有才智的人。”

“我嗎，隨便在什么地方我都可以審度自己。我沒有必要留在這里。”

國王又說：“嗯…嗯…我想，在我的星球上有一只老耗子。夜里，我聽見它的聲音。你可以審判它，不時(shí)地判處它死刑。因此它的生命取決于你的判決。可是，你要有節(jié)制地使用這只耗子，每次判刑后都要赦免它，因?yàn)橹挥羞@一只耗子。”

“可是我不愿判死刑，我想我還是應(yīng)該走。”小王子回答道。

“不行。”國王說。

但是小王子，準(zhǔn)備完畢之后，不想使老君主難過，說道：如果國王陛下想要不折不扣地得到服從，你可以給我下一個(gè)合理的命令。比如說，你可以命令我，一分鐘之內(nèi)必須離開。我認(rèn)為這個(gè)條件是成熟的…”

國王什么也沒有回答。起初，小王子有些猶疑不決，隨后嘆了口氣，就離開了…

“我派你當(dāng)我的大使。”國王匆忙地喊道。

國王顯出非常有權(quán)威的樣子。

小王子在旅途中自言自語地說：“這些大人真奇怪。”

Chapter 11

- the little prince visits the conceited man

The second planet was inhabited by a conceited man.

"Ah! Ah! I am about to receive a visit from an admirer!" he exclaimed from afar, when he first saw the little prince coming.

For, to conceited men, all other men are admirers.

"Good morning," said the little prince. "That is a queer hat you are wearing."

"It is a hat for salutes," the conceited man replied. "It is to raise in salute when people acclaim me. Unfortunately, nobody at all ever passes this way."

"Yes?" said the little prince, who did not understand what the conceited man was talking about.

"Clap your hands, one against the other," the conceited man now directed him.

The little prince clapped his hands. The conceited man raised his hat in a modest salute.

"This is more entertaining than the visit to the king," the little prince said to himself. And he began again to clap his hands, one against the other. The conceited man against raised his hat in salute.

After five minutes of this exercise the little prince grew tired of the game's monotony.

"And what should one do to make the hat come down?" he asked.

But the conceited man did not hear him. Conceited people never hear anything but praise.

"Do you really admire me very much?" he demanded of the little prince.

"What does that mean-- 'admire'?"

"To admire mean that you regard me as the handsomest, the best-dressed, the richest, and the most intelligent man on this planet."

"But you are the only man on your planet!"

"Do me this kindness. Admire me just the same."

"I admire you," said the little prince, shrugging his shoulders slightly, "but what is there in that to interest you so much?"

And the little prince went away.

"The grown-ups are certainly very odd," he said to himself, as he continued on his journey.

第二個(gè)行星上住著一個(gè)愛虛榮的人。

“喔唷！一個(gè)崇拜我的人來拜訪了！”這個(gè)愛虛榮的人一見到小王子，老遠(yuǎn)就叫喊起來。

在那些愛虛榮的人眼里，別人都成了他們的崇拜者。

“你好！”小王子說道。“你的帽子很奇怪。”

“這是為了向人致意用的。”愛虛榮的人回答道，“當(dāng)人們向我歡呼的時(shí)候，我就用帽子向他們致意。可惜，沒有一個(gè)人經(jīng)過這里。”

小王子不解其意。說道：“啊？是嗎？”

愛虛榮的人向小王子建議道：“你用一只手去拍另一只手。”

小王子就拍起巴掌來。這位愛虛榮者就謙遜地舉起帽子向小王子致意。

小王子心想：“這比訪問那位國王有趣。”于是他又拍起巴掌來。愛虛榮者又舉起帽子來向他致意。

小王子這樣做了五分鐘，之后對(duì)這種單調(diào)的把戲有點(diǎn)厭倦了，說道：

“要想叫你的帽子掉下來，該怎么做呢？”

可這回愛虛榮者聽不進(jìn)他的話，因?yàn)榉彩菒厶摌s的人只聽得進(jìn)贊美的話。

他問小王子道：“你真的欽佩我嗎？”

“欽佩是什么意思？”

“欽佩么，就是承認(rèn)我是星球上最美的人，服飾最好的人，最富有的人，最聰明的人。”

“可您是您的星球上唯一的人呀！”

“讓我高興吧，請(qǐng)你還是來欽佩我吧！”

小王子輕輕地聳了聳肩膀，說道：“我欽佩你，可是，這有什么能使你這樣感興趣的？”

于是小王子就走開了。

小王子在路上自言自語地說了一句：“這些大人，肯定是十分古怪的。”

Chapter 12

- the little prince visits the tippler

The next planet was inhabited by a tippler. This was a very short visit, but it plunged the little prince into deep dejection.

"What are you doing there?" he said to the tippler, whom he found settled down in silence before a collection of empty bottles and also a collection of full bottles.

"I am drinking," replied the tippler, with a lugubrious air.

"Why are you drinking?" demanded the little prince.

"So that I may forget," replied the tippler.

"Forget what?" inquired the little prince, who already was sorry for him.

"Forget that I am ashamed," the tippler confessed, hanging his head.

"Ashamed of what?" insisted the little prince, who wanted to help him.

"Ashamed of drinking!" The tippler brought his speech to an end, and shut himself up in an impregnable silence.

And the little prince went away, puzzled.

"The grown-ups are certainly very, very odd," he said to himself, as he continued on his journey.

小王子所訪問的下一個(gè)星球上住著一個(gè)酒鬼。訪問時(shí)間非常短，可是它卻使小王子非常憂傷。

“你在干什么？”小王子問酒鬼，這個(gè)酒鬼默默地坐在那里，面前有一堆酒瓶子，有的裝著酒，有的是空的。

“我喝酒。”他陰沉憂郁地回答道。

“你為什么喝酒？”小王子問道。

“為了忘卻。”酒鬼回答。

小王子已經(jīng)有些可憐酒鬼。他問道：“忘卻什么呢？”

酒鬼垂下腦袋坦白道：“為了忘卻我的羞愧。”

“你羞愧什么呢？”小王子很想救助他。

“我羞愧我喝酒。”酒鬼說完以后就再也不開口了。

小王子迷惑不解地離開了。

在旅途中，他自言自語地說道：“這些大人確實(shí)真叫怪。”

Chapter 13

- the little prince visits the businessman

The fourth planet belonged to a businessman. This man was so much occupied that he did not even raise his head at the little prince's arrival.

"Good morning," the little prince said to him. "Your cigarette has gone out."

"Three and two make five. Five and seven make twelve. Twelve and three make fifteen. Good morning. Fifteen and seven make twenty-two. Twenty-two and six make twenty-eight. I haven't time to light it again. Twenty-six and five make thirty-one. Phew! Then that makes five-hundred-and-one-million, six-hundred-twenty-two-thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one."

"Five hundred million what?" asked the little prince.

"Eh? Are you still there? Five-hundred-and-one million-- I can't stop... I have so much to do! I am concerned with matters of consequence. I don't amuse myself with balderdash. Two and five make seven..."

"Five-hundred-and-one million what?" repeated the little prince, who never in his life had let go of a question once he had asked it.

The businessman raised his head.

"During the fifty-four years that I have inhabited this planet, I have been disturbed only three times. The first time was twenty-two years ago, when some giddy goose fell from goodness knows where. He made the most frightful noise that resounded all over the place, and I made four mistakes in my addition. The second time, eleven years ago, I was disturbed by an attack of rheumatism. I don't get enough exercise. I have no time for loafing. The third time-- well, this is it! I was saying, then, five -hundred-and-one millions--"

"Millions of what?"

The businessman suddenly realized that there was no hope of being left in peace until he answered this question.

"Millions of those little objects," he said, "which one sometimes sees in the sky."

"Flies?"

"Oh, no. Little glittering objects."

"Bees?"

"Oh, no. Little golden objects that set lazy men to idle dreaming. As for me, I am concerned with matters of consequence. There is no time for idle dreaming in my life."

"Ah! You mean the stars?"

"Yes, that's it. The stars."

"And what do you do with five-hundred millions of stars?"

"Five-hundred-and-one million, six-hundred-twenty-two thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one. I am concerned with matters of consequence: I am accurate."

"And what do you do with these stars?"

"What do I do with them?"

"Yes."

"Nothing. I own them."

"You own the stars?"

"Yes."

"But I have already seen a king who--"

"Kings do not own, they reign over. It is a very different matter."

"And what good does it do you to own the stars?"

"It does me the good of making me rich."

"And what good does it do you to be rich?"

"It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are ever discovered."

"This man," the little prince said to himself, "reasons a little like my poor tippler..."

Nevertheless, he still had some more questions.

"How is it possible for one to own the stars?"

"To whom do they belong?" the businessman retorted, peevishly.

"I don't know. To nobody."

"Then they belong to me, because I was the first person to think of it."

"Is that all that is necessary?"

"Certainly. When you find a diamond that belongs to nobody, it is yours. When you discover an island that belongs to nobody, it is yours. When you get an idea before any one else, you take out a patent on it: it is yours. So with me: I own the stars, because nobody else before me ever thought of owning them."

"Yes, that is true," said the little prince. "And what do you do with them?"

"I administer them," replied the businessman. "I count them and recount them. It is difficult. But I am a man who is naturally interested in matters of consequence."

The little prince was still not satisfied.

"If I owned a silk scarf," he said, "I could put it around my neck and take it away with me. If I owned a flower, I could pluck that flower and take it away with me. But you cannot pluck the stars from heaven..."

"No. But I can put them in the bank."

"Whatever does that mean?"

"That means that I write the number of my stars on a little paper. And then I put this paper in a drawer and lock it with a key."

"And that is all?"

"That is enough," said the businessman.

"It is entertaining," thought the little prince. "It is rather poetic. But it is of no great consequence."

On matters of consequence, the little prince had ideas which were very different from those of the grown-ups.

"I myself own a flower," he continued his conversation with the businessman, "which I water every day. I own three volcanoes, which I clean out every week (for I also clean out the one that is extinct; one never knows). It is of some use to my volcanoes, and it is of some use to my flower, that I own them. But you are of no use to the stars..."

The businessman opened his mouth, but he found nothing to say in answer. And the little prince went away.

"The grown-ups are certainly altogether extraordinary," he said simply, talking to himself as he continued on his journey.

第四個(gè)行星是一個(gè)實(shí)業(yè)家的星球。這個(gè)人忙得不可開交，小王子到來的時(shí)候，他甚至連頭都沒有抬一下。

小王子對(duì)他說：“您好。您的煙卷滅了。”

“三加二等于五。五加七等于十二。十二加三等于十五。你好。十五加七，二十二。二十二加六，二十八。沒有時(shí)間去再點(diǎn)著它。二十六加五，三十一。哎喲！一共是五億一百六十二萬二千七百三十一。”

“五億什么呀？”

“嗯？你還待在這兒那？五億一百萬…我也不知道是什么了。我的工作很多…我是很嚴(yán)肅的，我可是從來也沒有功夫去閑聊！二加五得七…”

“五億一百萬什么呀？”小王子重復(fù)問道。一旦他提出了一個(gè)問題，是從來也不會(huì)放棄的。

這位實(shí)業(yè)家抬起頭，說：

“我住在這個(gè)星球上五十四年以來，只被打攪過三次。第一次是二十二年前，不知從哪里跑來了一只金龜子來打攪我。它發(fā)出一種可怕的噪音，使我在一筆帳目中出了四個(gè)差錯(cuò)。第二次，在十一年前，是風(fēng)濕病發(fā)作，因?yàn)槲胰狈﹀憻捤隆Ｎ覜]有功夫閑逛。我可是個(gè)嚴(yán)肅的人。現(xiàn)在…這是第三次！我計(jì)算的結(jié)果是五億一百萬…”

“幾百萬什么？”

這位實(shí)業(yè)家知道要想安寧是無望的了，就說道：

“幾百萬個(gè)小東西，這些小東西有時(shí)出現(xiàn)在天空中。”

“蒼蠅嗎？”

“不是，是些閃閃發(fā)亮的小東西。”

“是蜜蜂嗎？”

“不是，是金黃色的小東西，這些小東西叫那些懶漢們胡思亂想。我是個(gè)嚴(yán)肅的人。我沒有時(shí)間胡思亂想。”

“啊，是星星嗎？”

“對(duì)了，就是星星。”

“你要拿這五億星星做什么？”

“五億一百六十二萬七百三十一顆星星。我是嚴(yán)肅的人，我是非常精確的。”

“你拿這些星星做什么？”

“我要它做什么？”

“是呀。”

“什么也不做。它們都是屬于我的。”

“星星是屬于你的？”

“是的。”

“可是我已經(jīng)見到過一個(gè)國王，他…”

“國王并不占有，他們只是進(jìn)行‘統(tǒng)治’。這不是一碼事。”

“你擁有這許多星星有什么用？”

“富了就可以去買別的星星，如果有人發(fā)現(xiàn)了別的星星的話。”

小王子自言自語地說：“這個(gè)人想問題有點(diǎn)象那個(gè)酒鬼一樣。”

可是他又提了一些問題：

“你怎么能占有星星呢？”

“那么你說星星是誰的呀？”實(shí)業(yè)家不高興地頂了小王子一句。

“我不知道，不屬于任何人。”

“那么，它們就是我的，因?yàn)槭俏业谝粋€(gè)想到了這件事情的。”

“這就行了嗎？”

“那當(dāng)然。如果你發(fā)現(xiàn)了一顆沒有主人的鉆石，那么這顆鉆石就是屬于你的。當(dāng)你發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)島是沒有主的，那么這個(gè)島就是你的。當(dāng)你首先想出了一個(gè)辦法，你就去領(lǐng)一個(gè)專利證，這個(gè)辦法就是屬于你的。既然在我之前不曾有任何人想到要占有這些星星，那我就占有這些星星。”

“這倒也是。可是你用它們來干什么？”小王子說。

“我經(jīng)營管理這些星星。我一遍又一遍地計(jì)算它們的數(shù)目。這是一件困難的事。但我是一個(gè)嚴(yán)肅認(rèn)真的人！”

小王子仍然還不滿足，他說：

“對(duì)我來說，如果我有一條圍巾，我可以用它來圍著我的脖子，并且能帶走它。我有一朵花的話，我就可以摘下我的花，并且把它帶走。可你卻不能摘下這些星星呀！”

“我不能摘，但我可以把它們存在銀行里。”

“這是什么意思呢？”

“這就是說，我把星星的數(shù)目寫在一片小紙頭上，然后把這片紙頭鎖在一個(gè)抽屜里。”

“這就算完事了嗎？”

“這樣就行了。”

小王子想道：“真好玩。這倒蠻有詩意，可是，并不算是了不起的正經(jīng)事。”

關(guān)于什么是正經(jīng)事，小王子的看法與大人們的看法非常不同。他接著又說：

“我有一朵花，我每天都給她澆水。我還有三座火山，我每星期把它們?nèi)即驋咭槐椤＿B死火山也打掃。誰知道它會(huì)不會(huì)再復(fù)活。我擁有火山和花，這對(duì)我的火山有益處，對(duì)我的花也有益處。但是你對(duì)星星并沒有用處…”

實(shí)業(yè)家張口結(jié)舌無言以對(duì)。于是小王子就走了。

在旅途中，小王子只是自言自語地說了一句：“這些大人們真是奇怪極了。”

Chapter 14

- the little prince visits the lamplighter

The fifth planet was very strange. It was the smallest of all. There was just enough room on it for a street lamp and a lamplighter. The little prince was not able to reach any explanation of the use of a street lamp and a lamplighter, somewhere in the heavens, on a planet which had no people, and not one house. But he said to himself, nevertheless:

"It may well be that this man is absurd. But he is not so absurd as the king, the conceited man, the businessman, and the tippler. For at least his work has some meaning. When he lights his street lamp, it is as if he brought one more star to life, or one flower. When he puts out his lamp, he sends the flower, or the star, to sleep. That is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful."

When he arrived on the planet he respectfully saluted the lamplighter.

"Good morning. Why have you just put out your lamp?"

"Those are the orders," replied the lamplighter. "Good morning."

"What are the orders?"

"The orders are that I put out my lamp. Good evening."

And he lighted his lamp again.

"But why have you just lighted it again?"

"Those are the orders," replied the lamplighter.

"I do not understand," said the little prince.

"There is nothing to understand," said the lamplighter. "Orders are orders. Good morning."

And he put out his lamp.

Then he mopped his forehead with a handkerchief decorated with red squares.

"I follow a terrible profession. In the old days it was reasonable. I put the lamp out in the morning, and in the evening I lighted it again. I had the rest of the day for relaxation and the rest of the night for sleep."

"And the orders have been changed since that time?"

"The orders have not been changed," said the lamplighter. "That is the tragedy! From year to year the planet has turned more rapidly and the orders have not been changed!"

"Then what?" asked the little prince.

"Then-- the planet now makes a complete turn every minute, and I no longer have a single second for repose. Once every minute I have to light my lamp and put it out!"

"That is very funny! A day lasts only one minute, here where you live!"

"It is not funny at all!" said the lamplighter. "While we have been talking together a month has gone by."

"A month?"

"Yes, a month. Thirty minutes. Thirty days. Good evening."

And he lighted his lamp again.

As the little prince watched him, he felt that he loved this lamplighter who was so faithful to his orders. He remembered the sunsets which he himself had gone to seek, in other days, merely by pulling up his chair; and he wanted to help his friend.

"You know," he said, "I can tell you a way you can rest whenever you want to..."

"I always want to rest," said the lamplighter.

For it is possible for a man to be faithful and lazy at the same time.

The little prince went on with his explanation:

"Your planet is so small that three strides will take you all the way around it. To be always in the sunshine, you need only walk along rather slowly. When you want to rest, you will walk-- and the day will last as long as you like."

"That doesn't do me much good," said the lamplighter. "The one thing I love in life is to sleep."

"Then you're unlucky," said the little prince.

"I am unlucky," said the lamplighter. "Good morning."

And he put out his lamp.

"That man," said the little prince to himself, as he continued farther on his journey, "that man would be scorned by all the others: by the king, by the conceited man, by the tippler, by the businessman. Nevertheless he is the only one of them all who does not seem to me ridiculous. Perhaps that is because he is thinking of something else besides himself."

He breathed a sigh of regret, and said to himself, again:

"That man is the only one of them all whom I could have made my friend. But his planet is indeed too small. There is no room on it for two people..."

What the little prince did not dare confess was that he was sorry most of all to leave this planet, because it was blest every day with 1440 sunsets!

第五顆行星非常奇怪，是這些星星中最小的一顆。行星上剛好能容得下一盞路燈和一個(gè)點(diǎn)路燈的人。小王子怎么也解釋不通：這個(gè)坐落在天空某一角落，既沒有房屋又沒有居民的行星上，要一盞路燈和一個(gè)點(diǎn)燈的人做什么用。

但他自己猜想：“可能這個(gè)人思想不正常。但他比起國王，比起那個(gè)愛虛榮的人，那個(gè)實(shí)業(yè)家和酒鬼，卻要好些。至少他的工作還有點(diǎn)意義。當(dāng)他點(diǎn)著了他的路燈時(shí)，就象他增添了一顆星星，或是一朵花。當(dāng)他熄滅了路燈時(shí)，就象讓星星或花朵睡著了似的。這差事真美妙，就是真正有用的了。”

小王子一到了這個(gè)行星上，就很尊敬地向點(diǎn)路燈的人打招呼：

“早上好。——你剛才為什么把路燈滅了呢？”

“早上好。——這是命令。”點(diǎn)燈的回答道。

“命令是什么？”

“就是熄掉我的路燈。——晚上好。”

于是他又點(diǎn)燃了路燈。

“那么為什么你又把它點(diǎn)著了呢？”

“這是命令。”點(diǎn)燈的人回答道。

“我不明白。”小王子說。

“沒什么要明白的。命令就是命令。”點(diǎn)燈的回答說。“早上好。”

于是他又熄滅了路燈。

然后他拿一塊有紅方格子的手絹擦著額頭。

“我干的是一種可怕的職業(yè)。以前還說得過去，早上熄燈，晚上點(diǎn)燈，剩下時(shí)間，白天我就休息，夜晚我就睡覺…”

“那么，后來命令改變了，是嗎？”

點(diǎn)燈的人說：“命令沒有改，慘就慘在這里了！這顆行星一年比一年轉(zhuǎn)得更快，而命令卻沒有改。”

“結(jié)果呢？”小王子問。

“結(jié)果現(xiàn)在每分鐘轉(zhuǎn)一圈，我連一秒鐘的休息時(shí)間都沒有了。每分鐘我就要點(diǎn)一次燈，熄一次燈！”

“真有趣，你這里每天只有一分鐘長？”

“一點(diǎn)趣味也沒有，”點(diǎn)燈的說，“我們倆在一塊說話就已經(jīng)有一個(gè)月的時(shí)間了。”

“一個(gè)月？”

“對(duì)。三十分鐘。三十天！——晚上好。”

于是他又點(diǎn)著了了他的路燈。

小王子瞅著他，他喜歡這個(gè)點(diǎn)燈人如此忠守命令。這時(shí)，他想起了他自己從前挪動(dòng)椅子尋找日落的事。他很想幫助他的這位朋友。

“告訴你，我知道一種能使你休息的辦法，你要什么時(shí)候休息都可以。”

“我老是想休息。”點(diǎn)燈人說。

因?yàn)椋粋€(gè)人可以同時(shí)是忠實(shí)的，又是懶惰的。

小王子接著說：

“你的這顆行星這樣小，你三步就可以繞它一圈。你只要慢慢地走，就可以一直在太陽的照耀下，你想休息的時(shí)候，你就這樣走…那么，你要白天又多長它就有多長。”

“這辦法幫不了我多打忙，生活中我喜歡的就是睡覺。”點(diǎn)燈人說。

“真不走運(yùn)。”小王子說。

“真不走運(yùn)。”點(diǎn)燈人說。“早上好。”

于是他又熄滅了路燈。

小王子在他繼續(xù)往前旅行的途中，自言自語地說道：

“這個(gè)人一定會(huì)被其他那些人，國王呀，愛虛榮的呀，酒鬼呀，實(shí)業(yè)家呀，所瞧不起。可是唯有他不使我感到荒唐可笑。這可能是因?yàn)樗P(guān)心的是別的事，而不是他自己。”

他惋惜地嘆了口氣，并且又對(duì)自己說道：

“本來這是我唯一可以和他交成朋友的人。可是他的星球確實(shí)太小了，住不下兩個(gè)人…”

小王子沒有勇氣承認(rèn)的是：他留戀這顆令人贊美的星星，特別是因?yàn)樵谀抢锩慷男r(shí)就有一千四百四十次日落！

Chapter 15

- the little prince visits the geographer

The sixth planet was ten times larger than the last one. It was inhabited by an old gentleman who wrote voluminous books.

"Oh, look! Here is an explorer!" he exclaimed to himself when he saw the little prince coming.

The little prince sat down on the table and panted a little. He had already traveled so much and so far!

"Where do you come from?" the old gentleman said to him.

"What is that big book?" said the little prince. "What are you doing?"

"I am a geographer," the old gentleman said to him.

"What is a geographer?" asked the little prince.

"A geographer is a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts."

"That is very interesting," said the little prince. "Here at last is a man who has a real profession!" And he cast a look around him at the planet of the geographer. It was the most magnificent and stately planet that he had ever seen.

"Your planet is very beautiful," he said. "Has it any oceans?"

"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.

"Ah!" The little prince was disappointed. "Has it any mountains?"

"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.

"And towns, and rivers, and deserts?"

"I couldn't tell you that, either."

"But you are a geographer!"

"Exactly," the geographer said. "But I am not an explorer. I haven't a single explorer on my planet. It is not the geographer who goes out to count the towns, the rivers, the mountains, the seas, the oceans, and the deserts. The geographer is much too important to go loafing about. He does not leave his desk. But he receives the explorers in his study. He asks them questions, and he notes down what they recall of their travels. And if the recollections of any one among them seem interesting to him, the geographer orders an inquiry into that explorer's moral character."

"Why is that?"

"Because an explorer who told lies would bring disaster on the books of the geographer. So would an explorer who drank too much."

"Why is that?" asked the little prince.

"Because intoxicated men see double. Then the geographer would note down two mountains in a place where there was only one."

"I know some one," said the little prince, "who would make a bad explorer."

"That is possible. Then, when the moral character of the explorer is shown to be good, an inquiry is ordered into his discovery."

"One goes to see it?"

"No. That would be too complicated. But one requires the explorer to furnish proofs. For example, if the discovery in question is that of a large mountain, one requires that large stones be brought back from it."

The geographer was suddenly stirred to excitement.

"But you-- you come from far away! You are an explorer! You shall describe your planet to me!"

And, having opened his big register, the geographer sharpened his pencil. The recitals of explorers are put down first in pencil. One waits until the explorer has furnished proofs, before putting them down in ink.

"Well?" said the geographer expectantly.

"Oh, where I live," said the little prince, "it is not very interesting. It is all so small. I have three volcanoes. Two volcanoes are active and the other is extinct. But one never knows."

"One never knows," said the geographer.

"I have also a flower."

"We do not record flowers," said the geographer.

"Why is that? The flower is the most beautiful thing on my planet!"

"We do not record them," said the geographer, "because they are ephemeral."

"What does that mean-- 'ephemeral'?"

"Geographies," said the geographer, "are the books which, of all books, are most concerned with matters of consequence. They never become old-fashioned. It is very rarely that a mountain changes its position. It is very rarely that an ocean empties itself of its waters. We write of eternal things."

"But extinct volcanoes may come to life again," the little prince interrupted. "What does that mean-- 'ephemeral'?"

"Whether volcanoes are extinct or alive, it comes to the same thing for us," said the geographer. "The thing that matters to us is the mountain. It does not change."

"But what does that mean-- 'ephemeral'?" repeated the little prince, who never in his life had let go of a question, once he had asked it.

"It means, 'which is in danger of speedy disappearance.'"

"Is my flower in danger of speedy disappearance?"

"Certainly it is."

"My flower is ephemeral," the little prince said to himself, "and she has only four thorns to defend herself against the world. And I have left her on my planet, all alone!"

That was his first moment of regret. But he took courage once more.

"What place would you advise me to visit now?" he asked.

"The planet Earth," replied the geographer. "It has a good reputation."

And the little prince went away, thinking of his flower.

第六顆行星則要大十倍。上面住著一位老先生，他在寫作大部頭的書。

“瞧！來了一位探險(xiǎn)家。”老先生看到小王子時(shí)，叫了起來。

小王子在桌旁坐下，有點(diǎn)氣喘吁吁。他跑了多少路啊！

“你從哪里來的呀？”老先生問小王子。

“這一大本是什么書？你在這里干什么？”小王子問道。

“我是地理學(xué)家。”老先生答道。

“什么是地理學(xué)家？”

“地理學(xué)家，就是一種學(xué)者，他知道哪里有海洋，哪里有江河、城市、山脈、沙漠。”

“這倒挺有意思。”小王子說。“這才是一種真正的行當(dāng)。”他朝四周圍看了看這位地理學(xué)家的星球。他還從來沒有見過一顆如此壯觀的行星。

“您的星球真美呀。上面有海洋嗎？”

“這我沒法知道。”地理學(xué)家說。

“啊！”小王子大失所望。“那么，山脈呢？”

“這，我沒法知道。”地理學(xué)家說。

“那么，有城市、河流、沙漠嗎？”

“這，我也沒法知道。”地理學(xué)家說。

“可您還是地理學(xué)家呢！”

“一點(diǎn)不錯(cuò)，”地理學(xué)家說，“但是我不是探察家。我手下一個(gè)探察家都沒有。地理學(xué)家是不去計(jì)算城市、河流、山脈、海洋、沙漠的。地理學(xué)家很重要，不能到處跑。他不能離開他的辦公室。但他可以在辦公室里接見探察家。他詢問探察家，把他們的回憶記錄下來。如果他認(rèn)為其中有個(gè)探察家的回憶是有意思的，那么地理學(xué)家就對(duì)這個(gè)探察家的品德做一番調(diào)查。”

“這是為什么呢？”

“因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)說假話的探察家會(huì)給地理書帶來災(zāi)難性的后果。同樣，一個(gè)太愛喝酒的探察家也是如此。”

“這又是為什么？”小王子說。

“因?yàn)楹茸砹司频娜税岩粋€(gè)看成兩個(gè)，那么，地理學(xué)家就會(huì)把只有一座山的地方寫成兩座山。”

“我認(rèn)識(shí)一個(gè)人，他要是搞探察的話，就很可能是個(gè)不好的探察員。”小王子說。

“這是可能的。因此，如果探察家的品德不錯(cuò)，就對(duì)他的發(fā)現(xiàn)進(jìn)行調(diào)查。”

“去看一看嗎？”

“不。那太復(fù)雜了。但是要求探察家提出證據(jù)來。例如，假使他發(fā)現(xiàn)了一座大山，就要求他帶來一些大石頭。”

地理學(xué)家忽然忙亂起來。

“正好，你是從老遠(yuǎn)來的么！你是個(gè)探察家！你來給我介紹一下你的星球吧！”

于是，已經(jīng)打開登記簿的地理學(xué)家，削起他的鉛筆來。他首先是用鉛筆記下探察家的敘述，等到探察家提出了證據(jù)以后再用墨水筆記下來。

“怎么樣？”地理學(xué)家詢問道。

“啊！我那里，”小王子說道，“沒有多大意思，那兒很小。我有三座火山，兩座是活的，一座是熄滅了的。但是也很難說。”

“很難說。”地理學(xué)家說道。

“我還有一朵花。”

“我們是不記載花卉的。”地理學(xué)家說。

“這是為什么？花是最美麗的東西。”

“因?yàn)榛ɑ苁嵌虝旱摹！?/p>

“什么叫短暫？”

“地理學(xué)書籍是所有書中最嚴(yán)肅的書。”地理學(xué)家說道，“這類書是從不會(huì)過時(shí)的。很少會(huì)發(fā)生一座山變換了位置，很少會(huì)出現(xiàn)一個(gè)海洋干涸的現(xiàn)象。我們要寫永恒的東西。”

“但是熄滅的火山也可能會(huì)再復(fù)蘇的。”小王子打斷了地理學(xué)家。“什么叫短暫？”

“火山是熄滅了的也好，蘇醒的也好，這對(duì)我們這些人來講都是一回事。”地理學(xué)家說，“對(duì)我們來說，重要的是山。山是不會(huì)變換位置的。”

“但是，‘短暫’是什么意思？”小王子再三地問道。他一旦提出一個(gè)問題是從不放過的。

“意思就是：有很快就會(huì)消失的危險(xiǎn)。”

“我的花是很快就會(huì)消失的嗎？”

“那當(dāng)然。”

小王子自言自語地說：“我的花是短暫的，而且她只有四根刺來防御外侮！可我還把她獨(dú)自留在家里！”

這是他第一次產(chǎn)生了后悔，但他又重新振作起來：

“您是否能建議我去看些什么？”小王子問道。

“地球這顆行星，”地理學(xué)家回答他說，“它的名望很高…”

于是小王子就走了，他一邊走一邊想著他的花。

Chapter 16

- the narrator discusses the Earth's lamplighters

So then the seventh planet was the Earth.

The Earth is not just an ordinary planet! One can count, there 111 kings (not forgetting, to be sure, the Negro kings among them), 7000 geographers, 900,000 businessmen, 7,500,000 tipplers, 311,000,000 conceited men-- that is to say, about 2,000,000,000 grown-ups.

To give you an idea of the size of the Earth, I will tell you that before the invention of electricity it was necessary to maintain, over the whole of the six continents, a veritable army of 462,511 lamplighters for the street lamps.

Seen from a slight distance, that would make a splendid spectacle. The movements of this army would be regulated like those of the ballet in the opera. First would come the turn of the lamplighters of New Zealand and Australia. Having set their lamps alight, these would go off to sleep. Next, the lamplighters of China and Siberia would enter for their steps in the dance, and then they too would be waved back into the wings. After that would come the turn of the lamplighters of Russia and the Indies; then those of Africa and Europe, then those of South America; then those of South America; then those of North America. And never would they make a mistake in the order of their entry upon the stage. It would be magnificent.

Only the man who was in charge of the single lamp at the North Pole, and his colleague who was responsible for the single lamp at the South Pole-- only these two would live free from toil and care: they would be busy twice a year.

第七個(gè)行星，于是就是地球了。

地球可不是一顆普通的行星！它上面有一百一十一個(gè)國王（當(dāng)然，沒有漏掉黑人國王），七千個(gè)地理學(xué)家，九十萬個(gè)實(shí)業(yè)家，七百五十萬個(gè)酒鬼，三億一千一百萬個(gè)愛虛榮的人，也就是說，大約有二十億的大人。

為了使你們對(duì)地球的大小有一個(gè)概念，我想要告訴你們：在發(fā)明電之前，在六的大洲上，為了點(diǎn)路燈，需要維持一支為數(shù)四十六萬二千五百一十一人的真正大軍。

從稍遠(yuǎn)的地方看過去，它給人以一種壯麗輝煌的印象。這支軍隊(duì)的行動(dòng)就象歌劇院的芭蕾舞動(dòng)作一樣，那么有條不紊。首先出現(xiàn)的是新西蘭和澳大利亞的點(diǎn)燈人。點(diǎn)著了燈，隨后他們就去睡覺了。于是就輪到中國和西伯利亞的點(diǎn)燈人走上舞臺(tái)。隨后，他們也藏到幕布后面去了。于是就又輪到俄羅斯和印度的點(diǎn)燈人了。然后就是非洲和歐洲的。接著是南美的，再就是北美的。他們從來也不會(huì)搞錯(cuò)他們上場(chǎng)的次序。真了不起。

北極僅有一盞路燈，南極也只有一盞；唯獨(dú)北極的點(diǎn)燈人和他南極的同行，過著閑逸、懶散的生活：他們每年只工作兩次。

Chapter 17

- the little prince makes the acquaintance of the snake

When one wishes to play the wit, he sometimes wanders a little from the truth. I have not been altogether honest in what I have told you about the lamplighters. And I realize that I run the risk of giving a false idea of our planet to those who do not k now it. Men occupy a very small place upon the Earth. If the two billion inhabitants who people its surface were all to stand upright and somewhat crowded together, as they do for some big public assembly, they could easily be put into one public square twenty miles long and twenty miles wide. All humanity could be piled up on a small Pacific islet.

The grown-ups, to be sure, will not believe you when you tell them that. They imagine that they fill a great deal of space. They fancy themselves as important as the baobabs. You should advise them, then, to make their own calculations. They adore fig ures, and that will please them. But do not waste your time on this extra task. It is unnecessary. You have, I know, confidence in me.

When the little prince arrived on the Earth, he was very much surprised not to see any people. He was beginning to be afraid he had come to the wrong planet, when a coil of gold, the color of the moonlight, flashed across the sand.

"Good evening," said the little prince courteously.

"Good evening," said the snake.

"What planet is this on which I have come down?" asked the little prince.

"This is the Earth; this is Africa," the snake answered.

"Ah! Then there are no people on the Earth?"

"This is the desert. There are no people in the desert. The Earth is large," said the snake.

The little prince sat down on a stone, and raised his eyes toward the sky.

"I wonder," he said, "whether the stars are set alight in heaven so that one day each one of us may find his own again... Look at my planet. It is right there above us. But how far away it is!"

"It is beautiful," the snake said. "What has brought you here?"

"I have been having some trouble with a flower," said the little prince.

"Ah!" said the snake.

And they were both silent.

"Where are the men?" the little prince at last took up the conversation again. "It is a little lonely in the desert..."

"It is also lonely among men," the snake said.

The little prince gazed at him for a long time.

"You are a funny animal," he said at last. "You are no thicker than a finger..."

"But I am more powerful than the finger of a king," said the snake.

The little prince smiled.

"You are not very powerful. You haven't even any feet. You cannot even travel..."

"I can carry you farther than any ship could take you," said the snake.

He twined himself around the little prince's ankle, like a golden bracelet.

"Whomever I touch, I send back to the earth from whence he came," the snake spoke again. "But you are innocent and true, and you come from a star..."

The little prince made no reply.

"You move me to pity-- you are so weak on this Earth made of granite," the snake said. "I can help you, some day, if you grow too homesick for your own planet. I can--"

"Oh! I understand you very well," said the little prince. "But why do you always speak in riddles?"

"I solve them all," said the snake.

And they were both silent.

當(dāng)人們想要說得俏皮些的時(shí)候，說話就可能會(huì)不大實(shí)在。在給你們講點(diǎn)燈人的時(shí)候，我就不那么忠實(shí)，很可能給不了解我們這個(gè)星球的人們?cè)斐梢粋€(gè)錯(cuò)誤的概念。在地球上，人們所占的位置非常小。如果住在地球上的二十億居民全站著，并且象開大會(huì)一樣靠得緊些，那么就可以從容地站在一個(gè)二十海里見方的廣場(chǎng)上。也就是說可以把整個(gè)人類集中在太平洋中一個(gè)最小的島嶼上。

當(dāng)然，大人們是不會(huì)相信你們的。他們自以為要占很大地方，他們把自己看得象猴面包樹那樣大得了不起。你們可以建議他們計(jì)算一下。這樣會(huì)使他們很高興，因?yàn)樗麄兎浅Ｏ矚g數(shù)目字。可是你們無須浪費(fèi)時(shí)間去做這種乏味的連篇累牘的演算。這沒有必要。你們可以完全相信我。

小王子到了地球上感到非常奇怪，他一個(gè)人也沒有看到，他正擔(dān)心自己跑錯(cuò)了星球。這時(shí)，在沙地上有一個(gè)月光色的圓環(huán)在蠕動(dòng)。

小王子毫無把握地隨便說了聲：“晚安。”

“晚安。”蛇說道。

“我落在什么行星上？”小王子問道。

“在地球上，在非洲。”蛇回答道。

“啊！…怎么，難道說地球上沒有人嗎？”

“這里是沙漠，沙漠中沒有人。地球是很大的。”蛇說。

小王子坐在一塊石頭上，抬眼望著天空，說道：

“我捉摸這些星星閃閃發(fā)亮是否為了讓每個(gè)人將來有一天都能重新找到自己的星球。看，我那顆行星。它恰好在我們頭頂上…可是，它離我們好遠(yuǎn)喲！”

“它很美。”蛇說，“你到這里來干什么呢？”

“我和一朵花鬧了別扭。”小王子說。

“啊！”蛇說道。

于是他們都沉默下來。

“人在什么地方？”小王子終于又開了腔。“在沙漠上，真有點(diǎn)孤獨(dú)…”

“到了有人的地方，也一樣孤獨(dú)。”蛇說。

小王子長時(shí)間地看著蛇。

“你是個(gè)奇怪的動(dòng)物，細(xì)得象個(gè)手指頭…。”小王子終于說道。

“但我比一個(gè)國王的手指更有威力。”蛇說道。

小王子微笑著說：

“你并不那么有威力……你連腳都沒有……你甚至都不能旅行…”

“我可以把你帶到很遠(yuǎn)的地方去，比一只船能去的地方還要遠(yuǎn)。”蛇說道。

蛇就盤結(jié)在小王子的腳腕子上，象一只金鐲子。

“被我碰觸的人，我就把他送回老家去。”蛇還說，“可是你是純潔的，而且是從另一個(gè)星球上來的…”

小王子什么也沒有回答。

“在這個(gè)花崗石的地球上，你這么弱小，我很可憐你。如果你非常懷念你的星球，那時(shí)我可以幫助你。我可以…”

“啊！我很明白你的意思。”小王子說，“但是你為什么說話總是象讓人猜謎語似的？”

“這些謎語我都能解開的。”蛇說。

于是他們又都沉默起來。

Chapter 18

- the little prince goes looking for men and meets a flower

The little prince crossed the desert and met with only one flower. It was a flower with three petals, a flower of no account at all.

"Good morning," said the little prince.

"Good morning," said the flower.

"Where are the men?" the little prince asked, politely.

The flower had once seen a caravan passing.

"Men?" she echoed. "I think there are six or seven of them in existence. I saw them, several years ago. But one never knows where to find them. The wind blows them away. They have no roots, and that makes their life very difficult."

"Goodbye," said the little prince.

"Goodbye," said the flower.

小王子穿過沙漠。他只見過一朵花，一個(gè)有著三枚花瓣的花朵，一朵很不起眼的小花…

“你好。”小王子說。

“你好。”花說。

“人在什么地方？”小王子有禮貌地問道。

有一天，花曾看見一支駱駝商隊(duì)走過：

“人嗎？我想大約有六七個(gè)人，幾年前，我瞅見過他們。可是，從來不知道到什么地方去找他們。風(fēng)吹著他們到處跑。他們沒有根，這對(duì)他們來說是很不方便的。”

“再見了。”小王子說。

“再見。”花說。