“那么，它们就是我的，因为是我第一个想到了这件事情的。”

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

“这就行了吗？”

“Is that all that is necessary?”

“那当然。如果你发现了一颗没有主人的钻石，那么这颗钻石就是属于你的。当你发现一个岛是没有主的，那么这个岛就是你的。当你首先想出了一个办法，你就去领一个专利证，这个办法就是属于你的。既然在我之前不曾有任何人想到要占有这些星星，那我就占有这些星星。”

“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.”

“这倒也是。可是你用它们来干什么？”小王子说。

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

“我经营管理这些星星。我一遍又一遍地计算它们的数目。这是一件困难的事。但我是一个严肃认真的人！”

“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.”

小王子仍然还不满足，他说：

The little prince was still not satisfied.

“对我来说，如果我有一条围巾，我可以用它来围着我的脖子，并且能带走它。我有一朵花的话，我就可以摘下我的花，并且把它带走。可你却不能摘下这些星星呀！”

“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…”

“我不能摘，但我可以把它们存在银行里。”

“No. But I can put them in the bank.”

“这是什么意思呢？”

“Whatever does that mean?”

“这就是说，我把星星的数目写在一片小纸头上，然后把这片纸头锁在一个抽屉里。”

“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.”

“这就算完事了吗？”

“And that is all?”

“这样就行了。”

“That is enough,” said the businessman.

小王子想道：“真好玩。这倒蛮有诗意，可是，并不算是了不起的正经事。”

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

关于什么是正经事，小王子的看法与大人们的看法非常不同。

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

他接着又说：“我有一朵花，我每天都给她浇水。我还有三座火山，我每星期把它们全都打扫一遍。连死火山也打扫。谁知道它会不会再复活。我拥有火山和花，这对我的火山有益处，对我的花也有益处。但是你对星星并没有用处……”

“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…”

实业家张口结舌无言以对。于是小王子就走了。

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

在旅途中，小王子只是自言自语地说了一句：“这些大人们真是奇怪极了。”

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

XIV

XIV

第五颗行星非常奇怪，是这些星星中最小的一颗。行星上刚好能容得下一盏路灯和一个点路灯的人。

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.

小王子怎么也解释不通：这个坐落在天空某一角落，既没有房屋又没有居民的行星上，要一盏路灯和一个点灯的人做什么用。
但他自己猜想：

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:

“可能这个人思想不正常。但他比起国王，比起那个爱虚荣的人，那个实业家和酒鬼，却要好些。至少他的工作还有点意义。当他点着了他的路灯时，就象他增添了一颗星星，或是一朵花。当他熄灭了路灯时，就象让星星或花朵睡着了似的。这差事真美妙，就是真正有用的了。”

“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.”

小王子一到了这个行星上，就很尊敬地向点路灯的人打招呼：

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

“早上好。——你刚才为什么把路灯灭了呢？”

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

“早上好。——这是命令。”点灯的回答道。

“Those are the orders,” replied the lamplighter. “Good morning.”

“命令是什么？”

“What are the orders?”

“就是熄掉我的路灯。——晚上好。”

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

于是他又点燃了路灯。

And he lighted his lamp again.

“那么为什么你又把它点着了呢？”

“But why have you just lighted it again?”

“这是命令。”点灯的人回答道。

“Those are the orders,” replied the lamplighter.

“我不明白。”小王子说。

“I do not understand,” said the little prince.

“没什么要明白的。命令就是命令。”点灯的回答说。“早上好。”

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

于是他又熄灭了路灯。

And he put out his lamp.

然后他拿一块有红方格子的手绢擦着额头。

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

“我干的是一种可怕的职业。以前还说得过去，早上熄灯，晚上点灯，剩下时间，白天我就休息，夜晚我就睡觉……”

“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.”

“那么，后来命令改变了，是吗？”

“And the orders have been changed since that time?”

点灯的人说：“命令没有改，惨就惨在这里了！这颗行星一年比一年转得更快，而命令却没有改。”

“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!”

“结果呢？”小王子问。

“Then what?” asked the little prince.

“结果现在每分钟转一圈，我连一秒钟的休息时间都没有了。每分钟我就要点一次灯，熄一次灯！”

“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!”

“真有趣，你这里每天只有一分钟长？”

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

“一点趣味也没有，”点灯的说，“我们俩在一块说话就已经有一个月的时间了。”

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

“一个月？”

“A month?”

“对。三十分钟。三十天！——晚上好。”

“Yes, a month. Thirty minutes. Thirty days. Good evening.”

于是他又点着了了他的路灯。

And he lighted his lamp again.

小王子瞅着他，他喜欢这个点灯人如此忠守命令。

As the little prince watched him, he felt that he loved this lamplighter who was so faithful to his orders.

这时，他想起了他自己从前挪动椅子寻找日落的事。他很想帮助他的这位朋友。

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.

“告诉你，我知道一种能使你休息的办法，你要什么时候休息都可以。”

“You know,” he said, “I can tell you a way you can rest whenever you want to…”

“我老是想休息。”点灯人说。

“I always want to rest,” said the lamplighter.

因为，一个人可以同时是忠实的，又是懒惰的。

For it is possible for a man to be faithful and lazy at the same time. The little prince went on with his explanation:

小王子接着说：
“你的这颗行星这样小，你三步就可以绕它一圈。你只要慢慢地走，就可以一直在太阳的照耀下，你想休息的时候，你就这样走……那么，你要白天又多长它就有多长。”

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.”

“这办法帮不了我多打忙，生活中我喜欢的就是睡觉。”点灯人说。

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

“真不走运。”小王子说。

“Then you’re unlucky,” said the little prince.

“真不走运。”点灯人说。“早上好。”

“I am unlucky,” said the lamplighter. “Good morning.”

于是他又熄灭了路灯。

And he put out his lamp.

小王子在他继续往前旅行的途中，自言自语地说道：
“这个人一定会被其他那些人，国王呀，爱虚荣的呀，酒鬼呀，实业家呀，所瞧不起。可是唯有他不使我感到荒唐可笑。这可能是因为他所关心的是别的事，而不是他自己。”

“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.”

他惋惜地叹了口气，

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

并且又对自己说道：“本来这是我唯一可以和他交成朋友的人。可是他的星球确实太小了，住不下两个人……”

“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…”

小王子没有勇气承认的是：他留恋这颗令人赞美的星星，特别是因为在那里每二十四小时就有一千四百四十次日落！

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!

XV

XV

第六颗行星则要大十倍。上面住着一位老先生，他在写作大部头的书。

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

“瞧！来了一位探险家。”老先生看到小王子时，叫了起来。

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

小王子在桌旁坐下，有点气喘吁吁。他跑了多少路啊！

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

“你从哪里来的呀？”老先生问小王子。

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

“这一大本是什么书？你在这里干什么？”小王子问道。

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

“我是地理学家。”老先生答道。

“I am a geographer,” said the old gentleman.

“什么是地理学家？”

“What is a geographer?” asked the little prince.

“地理学家，就是一种学者，他知道哪里有海洋，哪里有江河、城市、山脉、沙漠。”

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

“这倒挺有意思。”小王子说。“这才是一种真正的行当。”

“That is very interesting,” said the little prince. “Here at last is a man who has a real profession!”

他朝四周围看了看这位地理学家的星球。他还从来没有见过一颗如此壮观的行星。

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.

“您的星球真美呀。上面有海洋吗？”

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

“这我没法知道。”地理学家说。

“I couldn’t tell you,” said the geographer.

“啊！”小王子大失所望。“那么，山脉呢？”

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

“这，我没法知道。”地理学家说。

“I couldn’t tell you,” said the geographer.

“那么，有城市、河流、沙漠吗？”

“And towns, and rivers, and deserts?”

“这，我也没法知道。”地理学家说。

“I couldn’t tell you that, either.”

“可您还是地理学家呢！”

“But you are a geographer!”

“一点不错，”地理学家说，“但是我不是探察家。我手下一个探察家都没有。地理学家是不去计算城市、河流、山脉、海洋、沙漠的。

“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.

地理学家很重要，不能到处跑。他不能离开他的办公室。但他可以在办公室里接见探察家。他询问探察家，把他们的回忆记录下来。如果他认为其中有个探察家的回忆是有意思的，那么地理学家就对这个探察家的品德做一番调查。”

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.”

“这是为什么呢？”

“Why is that?”

“因为一个说假话的探察家会给地理书带来灾难性的后果。同样，一个太爱喝酒的探察家也是如此。”

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

“这又是为什么？”小王子说。

“Why is that?” asked the little prince.

“因为喝醉了酒的人把一个看成两个，那么，地理学家就会把只有一座山的地方写成两座山。”

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

“我认识一个人，他要是搞探察的话，就很可能是个不好的探察员。”小王子说。

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

“这是可能的。因此，如果探察家的品德不错，就对他的发现进行调查。”

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

“去看一看吗？”

“One goes to see it?”

“不。那太复杂了。但是要求探察家提出证据来。例如，假使他发现了一座大山，就要求他带来一些大石头。”

“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.”

地理学家忽然忙乱起来。

The geographer was suddenly stirred to excitement.

“正好，你是从老远来的么！你是个探察家！你来给我介绍一下你的星球吧！”

“But you — you come from far away! You are an explorer! You shall describe your planet to me!”

于是，已经打开登记簿的地理学家，削起他的铅笔来。他首先是用铅笔记下探察家的叙述，等到探察家提出了证据以后再用墨水笔记下来。

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.

“怎么样？”地理学家询问道。

“Well?” said the geographer expectantly.

“啊！我那里，”小王子说道，“没有多大意思，那儿很小。我有三座火山，两座是活的，一座是熄灭了的。但是也很难说。”

“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.”

“很难说。”地理学家说道。

“One never knows,” said the geographer.

“我还有一朵花。”

“I have also a flower.”

“我们是不记载花卉的。”地理学家说。

“We do not record flowers,” said the geographer.

“这是为什么？花是最美丽的东西。”

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

“因为花卉是短暂的。”

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

“什么叫短暂？”

“What does that mean — ‘ephemeral’?”

“地理学书籍是所有书中最严肃的书。”地理学家说道，“这类书是从不会过时的。很少会发生一座山变换了位置，很少会出现一个海洋干涸的现象。我们要写永恒的东西。”

“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.”

“但是熄灭的火山也可能会再复苏的。”小王子打断了地理学家。“什么叫短暂？”

“But extinct volcanoes may come to life again,” the little prince interrupted. “What does that mean — ‘ephemeral’?”