Le Petit Prince / The Little Prince — ĐœĐ° Ń„Ń€Đ°ĐœŃ†ŃƒĐ·ŃĐșĐ°Đč і Đ°ĐœĐłĐ»Ń–ĐčсĐșĐ°Đč ĐŒĐŸĐČах. ĐĄŃ‚Đ°Ń€ĐŸĐœĐșĐ° 4

Đ€Ń€Đ°ĐœŃ†ŃƒĐ·ŃĐșĐ°-Đ°ĐœĐłĐ»Ń–ĐčсĐșая ĐșĐœŃ–ĐłĐ°-Đ±Ń–Đ»Ń–ĐœĐłĐČĐ°

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Le Petit Prince

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

The Little Prince

— Si j’ordonnais Ă  un gĂ©nĂ©ral de voler d’une fleur Ă  l’autre Ă  la façon d’un papillon, ou d’écrire une tragĂ©die, ou de se changer en oiseau de mer, et si le gĂ©nĂ©ral n’exĂ©cutait pas l’ordre reçu, qui, de lui ou de moi, serait dans son tort?

“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?”

— Ce serait vous, dit fermement le petit prince.

“You,” said the little prince firmly.

— Exact. Il faut exiger de chacun ce que chacun peut donner, reprit le roi. L’autoritĂ© repose d’abord sur la raison. Si tu ordonnes Ă  ton peuple d’aller se jeter Ă  la mer, il fera la rĂ©volution. J’ai le droit d’exiger l’obĂ©issance parce que mes ordres sont raisonnables.

“Exactly. One must 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.”

— Alors mon coucher de soleil? rappela le petit prince qui jamais n’oubliait une question une fois qu’il l’avait posĂ©e.

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

— Ton coucher de soleil, tu l’auras. Je l’exigerai. Mais j’attendrai, dans ma science du gouvernement, que les conditions soient favorables.

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

— Quand ça sera-t-il? s’informa le petit prince.

“When will that be?” inquired the little prince.

— Hem! Hem! lui rĂ©pondit le roi, qui consulta d’abord un gros calendrier, hem! hem! ce sera, vers
 vers
 ce sera ce soir vers sept heures quarante! Et tu verras comme je suis bien obĂ©i.

“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!”

Le petit prince bĂąilla. Il regrettait son coucher de soleil manquĂ©. Et puis il s’ennuyait dĂ©jĂ  un peu:

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

— Je n’ai plus rien à faire ici, dit-il au roi. Je vais repartir!

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

— Ne pars pas, rĂ©pondit le roi qui Ă©tait si fier d’avoir un sujet. Ne pars pas, je te fais ministre!

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

— Ministre de quoi?

“Minister of what?”

— De
 de la justice!

“Minster of — of Justice!”

— Mais il n’y a personne à juger!

“But there is nobody here to judge!”

— On ne sait pas, lui dit le roi. Je n’ai pas fait encore le tour de mon royaume. Je suis trùs vieux, je n’ai pas de place pour un carrosse, et ça me fatigue de marcher.

“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! Mais j’ai dĂ©jĂ  vu, dit le petit prince qui se pencha pour jeter encore un coup d’Ɠil sur l’autre cĂŽtĂ© de la planĂšte. Il n’y a personne lĂ -bas non plus


“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


— Tu te jugeras donc toi-mĂȘme, lui rĂ©pondit le roi. C’est le plus difficile. Il est bien plus difficile de se juger soi-mĂȘme que de juger autrui. Si tu rĂ©ussis Ă  bien te juger, c’est que tu es un vĂ©ritable sage.

“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.”

— Moi, dit le petit prince, je puis me juger moi-mĂȘme n’importe oĂč. Je n’ai pas besoin d’habiter ici.

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

— Hem! Hem! dit le roi, je crois bien que sur ma planĂšte il y a quelque part un vieux rat. Je l’entends la nuit. Tu pourras juger ce vieux rat. Tu le condamneras Ă  mort de temps en temps. Ainsi sa vie dĂ©pendra de ta justice. Mais tu le gracieras chaque fois pour l’économiser. Il n’y en a qu’un.

“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.”

— Moi, rĂ©pondit le petit prince, je n’aime pas condamner Ă  mort, et je crois bien que je m’en vais.

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

— Non, dit le roi.

“No,” said the king.

Mais le petit prince, ayant achevé ses préparatifs, ne voulut point peiner le vieux monarque:

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

— Si Votre MajestĂ© dĂ©sirait ĂȘtre obĂ©ie ponctuellement, elle pourrait me donner un ordre raisonnable. Elle pourrait m’ordonner, par exemple, de partir avant une minute. Il me semble que les conditions sont favorables


“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
”

Le roi n’ayant rien rĂ©pondu, le petit prince hĂ©sita d’abord, puis, avec un soupir, prit le dĂ©part.

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

— Je te fais mon ambassadeur, se hñta alors de crier le roi.

“I make you my Ambassador,” the king called out, hastily.

Il avait un grand air d’autoritĂ©.

He had a magnificent air of authority.

Les grandes personnes sont bien Ă©tranges, se dit le petit prince, en lui-mĂȘme, durant son voyage.

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

CHAPITRE XI

XI

La seconde planÚte était habitée par un vaniteux:

The second planet was inhabited by a conceited man.

— Ah! Ah! VoilĂ  la visite d’un admirateur! s’écria de loin le vaniteux dĂšs qu’il aperçut le petit prince.

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

Car, pour les vaniteux, les autres hommes sont des admirateurs.

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

— Bonjour, dit le petit prince. Vous avez un drîle de chapeau.

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

— C’est pour saluer, lui rĂ©pondit le vaniteux. C’est pour saluer quand on m’acclame. Malheureusement il ne passe jamais personne par ici.

“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.”

— Ah oui? dit le petit prince qui ne comprit pas.

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

— Frappe tes mains l’une contre l’autre, conseilla donc le vaniteux.

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

Le petit prince frappa ses mains l’une contre l’autre. Le vaniteux salua modestement en soulevant son chapeau.

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

«Ça c’est plus amusant que la visite au roi», se dit en lui-mĂȘme le petit prince. Et il recommença de frapper ses mains l’une contre l’autre. Le vaniteux recommença de saluer en soulevant son chapeau.

“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 again raised his hat in salute.

Aprùs cinq minutes d’exercice le petit prince se fatigua de la monotonie du jeu:

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

— Et, pour que le chapeau tombe, demanda-t-il, que faut-il faire?

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

Mais le vaniteux ne l’entendit pas. Les vaniteux n’entendent jamais que les louanges.

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

— Est-ce que tu m’admires vraiment beaucoup? demanda-t-il au petit prince.

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

— Qu’est-ce que signifie admirer?

“What does that mean — ‘admire’?”

— Admirer signifie reconnaĂźtre que je suis l’homme le plus beau, le mieux habillĂ©, le plus riche et le plus intelligent de la planĂšte.

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

— Mais tu es seul sur ta planùte!

“But you are the only man on your planet!”

— Fais-moi ce plaisir. Admire-moi quand mĂȘme!

“Do me this kindness. Admire me just the same.”

— Je t’admire, dit le petit prince, en haussant un peu les Ă©paules, mais en quoi cela peut-il bien t’intĂ©resser?

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

Et le petit prince s’en fut.

And the little prince went away.

Les grandes personnes sont dĂ©cidĂ©ment bien bizarres, se dit-il simplement en lui-mĂȘme durant son voyage.

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

CHAPITRE XII

Đ„II

La planÚte suivante était habitée par un buveur. Cette visite fut trÚs courte, mais elle plongea le petit prince dans une grande mélancolie:

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

— Que fais-tu lĂ ? dit-il au buveur, qu’il trouva installĂ© en silence devant une collection de bouteilles vides et une collection de bouteilles pleines.

“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.

— Je bois, rĂ©pondit le buveur, d’un air lugubre.

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

— Pourquoi bois-tu? lui demanda le petit prince.

“Why are you drinking?” demanded the little prince.

— Pour oublier, rĂ©pondit le buveur.

“So that I may forget,” replied the tippler.

— Pour oublier quoi? s’enquit le petit prince qui dĂ©jĂ  le plaignait.

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

— Pour oublier que j’ai honte, avoua le buveur en baissant la tĂȘte.

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

— Honte de quoi? s’informa le petit prince qui dĂ©sirait le secourir.

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

— Honte de boire! acheva le buveur qui s’enferma dĂ©finitivement dans le silence.

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

Et le petit prince s’en fut, perplexe.

And the little prince went away, puzzled.

Les grandes personnes sont dĂ©cidĂ©ment trĂšs trĂšs bizarres, se disait-il en lui-mĂȘme durant le voyage.

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

CHAPITRE XIII

XIII

La quatriĂšme planĂšte Ă©tait celle du businessman. Cet homme Ă©tait si occupĂ© qu’il ne leva mĂȘme pas la tĂȘte Ă  l’arrivĂ©e du petit prince.

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.

— Bonjour, lui dit celui-ci. Votre cigarette est Ă©teinte.

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

— Trois et deux font cinq. Cinq et sept douze. Douze et trois quinze. Bonjour. Quinze et sept vingt-deux. Vingt-deux et six vingt-huit. Pas le temps de la rallumer. Vingt-six et cinq trente et un. Ouf! Ça fait donc cinq cent un millions six cent vingt-deux mille sept cent trente et un.

“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.”

— Cinq cents millions de quoi?

“Five hundred million what?” asked the little prince.

— Hein? Tu es toujours lĂ ? Cinq cent un millions de
 je ne sais plus
 J’ai tellement de travail! Je suis sĂ©rieux, moi, je ne m’amuse pas Ă  des balivernes! Deux et cinq sept


“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
”

— Cinq cent un millions de quoi, rĂ©pĂ©ta le petit prince qui jamais de sa vie, n’avait renoncĂ© Ă  une question, une fois qu’il l’avait posĂ©e.

“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.

Le businessman leva la tĂȘte:

The businessman raised his head.

— Depuis cinquante-quatre ans que j’habite cette planĂšte-ci, je n’ai Ă©tĂ© dĂ©rangĂ© que trois fois. La premiĂšre fois ç’a Ă©tĂ©, il y a vingt-deux ans, par un hanneton qui Ă©tait tombĂ© Dieu sait d’oĂč. Il rĂ©pandait un bruit Ă©pouvantable, et j’ai fait quatre erreurs dans une addition.

“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.

La seconde fois ç’a Ă©tĂ©, il y a onze ans, par une crise de rhumatisme. Je manque d’exercice. Je n’ai pas le temps de flĂąner. Je suis sĂ©rieux, moi. La troisiĂšme fois
 la voici! Je disais donc cinq cent un millions


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 de quoi?

“Millions of what?”

Le businessman comprit qu’il n’était point d’espoir de paix:

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

— Millions de ces petites choses que l’on voit quelquefois dans le ciel.

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

— Des mouches?

“Flies?”

— Mais non, des petites choses qui brillent.

“Oh, no. Little glittering objects.”

— Des abeilles?

“Bees?”

— Mais non. Des petites choses dorĂ©es qui font rĂȘvasser les fainĂ©ants. Mais je suis sĂ©rieux, moi! Je n’ai pas le temps de rĂȘvasser.

“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! des Ă©toiles?

“Ah! You mean the stars?”

— C’est bien ça. Des Ă©toiles.

“Yes, that’s it. The stars.”

— Et que fais-tu de cinq cents millions d’étoiles?

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

— Cinq cent un millions six cent vingt-deux mille sept cent trente et un. Je suis sĂ©rieux, moi, je suis prĂ©cis.

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

— Et que fais-tu de ces Ă©toiles?

“And what do you do with these stars?”

— Ce que j’en fais?

“What do I do with them?”

— Oui.

“Yes.”

— Rien. Je les possùde.

“Nothing. I own them.”

— Tu possĂšdes les Ă©toiles?

“You own the stars?”

— Oui.

“Yes.”

— Mais j’ai dĂ©jĂ  vu un roi qui


“But I have already seen a king who — ”

— Les rois ne possĂšdent pas. Ils «rĂšgnent» sur. C’est trĂšs diffĂ©rent.

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

— Et Ă  quoi cela te sert-il de possĂ©der les Ă©toiles?

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

— Ça me sert Ă  ĂȘtre riche.

“It does me the good of making me rich.”

— Et Ă  quoi cela te sert-il d’ĂȘtre riche?

“And what good does it do you to be rich?”

— À acheter d’autres Ă©toiles, si quelqu’un en trouve.

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

Celui-lĂ , se dit en lui-mĂȘme le petit prince, il raisonne un peu comme mon ivrogne.

“This man,” the little prince said to himself, “reasons a little like my poor tippler
”

Cependant il posa encore des questions:

Nevertheless, he still had some more questions.

— Comment peut-on possĂ©der les Ă©toiles?

“How is it possible for one to own the stars?”

— À qui sont-elles? riposta, grincheux, le businessman.

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

— Je ne sais pas. À personne.

“I don’t know. To nobody.”

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