— Tak sú teda moje, pretože ja som si na ne pomyslel prvý.

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

— A to stačí?

“Is that all that is necessary?”

— Prirodzene. Keď nájdeš diamant, ktorý nepatrí nikomu, je tvoj. Keď nájdeš ostrov, ktorý nepatrí nikomu, je tvoj. Keď na niečo prídeš prvý, dáš si vynález patentovať: je tvoj. A ja vlastním hviezdy, lebo predo mnou nikdy nikomu ani na um neprišlo, že by ich mohol vlastniť.

“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.”

— To je pravda, — povedal Malý princ. — A čo s nimi robíš?

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

— Spravujem ich. Spočítavam a prepočítavam, — odpo— vedal biznismen. — Je to náročná práca. Ale ja som vážny človek!

“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.”

Malý princ ešte nebol spokojný.

The little prince was still not satisfied.

— Ak ja vlastním hodvábnu šatku, môžem si ju uviazať na krk a odniesť. Ak ja vlastním nejakú kvetinu, môžem si svoju kvetinu odtrhnúť a odniesť. No ty si nemôžeš natrhať hviezdy!

“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…”

— Nie, ale môžem si ich uložiť do banky.

“No. But I can put them in the bank.”

— Čo to znamená?

“Whatever does that mean?”

— To znamená, že na papierik napíšem počet svojich hviezd. A potom ten papierik zamknem do zásuvky.

“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.”

— A to je všetko?

“And that is all?”

— To stačí!

“That is enough,” said the businessman.

„To je zábavné,“ pomyslel si Malý princ. „Je to takmer čarovné. Ale nie je to veľmi vážne.“

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

Malý princ mal o vážnych veciach celkom iné predstavy ako dospelí.

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

— Ja vlastním kvetinu, — povedal ešte, — a každý deň ju 48 polievam. Vlastním tri sopky a vymetám ich každý týždeň. Lebo vymetám aj tú vyhasnutú. Človek nikdy nevie. Pre moje sopky je osožné, pre moju kvetinu je osožné, že ich vlastním. Ale ty nie si hviezdam osožný…

“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…”

Biznismen otvoril ústa, ale nenašiel vhodnú odpoveď, a Malý princ odišiel.

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

„Dospelí sú rozhodne až neuveriteľne čudní,“ vravel si v duchu Malý princ počas cesty.

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

XIV

XIV

Piata planéta bola veľmi zvláštna. Bola zo všetkých najmenšia. Bolo na nej iba toľko miesta, aby ta mohla vojsť pouličná lampa a lampár.

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.

Malý princ si nevedel vysvetliť, načo môže byť kdesi na oblohe, na planéte bez domov, bez obyvateľov pouličná lampa a lampár. Aj tak si v duchu povedal:

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:

„Možno je tu prítomnosť tohto človeka nezmyselná. A predsa má väčší zmysel ako život kráľa, márnivca, biznismena a pijana. Aspoň jeho práca má zmysel. Keď rozsvieti pouličnú lampu, akoby nechal narodiť o hviezdu alebo o kvetinu viac. Keď lampu zhasne, akoby kvetinu alebo hviezdu uspal. Je to pekné zamestnanie. A je naozaj užitočné,, pretože je pekné.“

“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.”

Keď pristál na planéte, úctivo lampára pozdravil:

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

— Dobrý deň. Prečo si práve zhasol lampu?

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

— Je to príkaz, — odpovedal lampár. — Dobrý deň.

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

— Čo znamená príkaz?

“What are the orders?”

— To znamená, že musím zhasnúť lampu. Dobrý večer.

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

A znova j u zažal.

And he lighted his lamp again.

— Ale prečo si ju hneď zažal?

“But why have you just lighted it again?”

— Je to príkaz, — odpovedal lampár.

“Those are the orders,” replied the lamplighter.

— Nerozumiem, — povedal Malý princ.

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

— Tu niet čomu rozumieť, — vravel lampár. — Príkaz je príkaz. Dobrý deň.

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

A zhasol lampu.

And he put out his lamp.

Potom si utrel čelo vreckovkou s červenými kockami.

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

— Mám hrozné zamestnanie. Kedysi malo zmysel. Zhášal som ráno a zažínal večer. Celý deň som mohol od počívať a celú noc som mohol spať…

“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.”

— A odvtedy sa príkaz zmenil?

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

— Príkaz sa nezmenil, — odpovedal lampár. — Práve v tom väzí celá pohroma. Planéta sa z roka na rok krútila čoraz rýchlejšie, a príkaz sa nezmenil!

“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!”

— No a? — spýtal sa Malý princ.

“Then what?” asked the little prince.

— No a teraz, keď sa otočí raz za minútu, nemôžem si ani na sekundu odpočinúť. Zažíham a zhášam raz za minútu!

“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!”

— To je smiešne! Deň u teba trvá minútu!

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

— To vôbec nie je smiešne, — povedal lampár. — Už je to mesiac, čo sa spolu rozprávame.

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

— Mesiac?

“A month?”

— Áno. Tridsať minút. Tridsať dní. Dobrý večer.

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

A znova zažal svoju lampu.

And he lighted his lamp again.

Malý princ naňho hľadel a začal mať rád tohto lampára, ktorý bol taký verný príkazu.

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

Spomenul si na západy slnka, čo sám kedysi vyhľadával, posúvajúc si stoličku. Chcel svojmu priateľovi pomôcť:

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.

— Vieš… poznám spôsob, ako si môžeš odpočinúť, keď budeš chcieť..

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

— Pravdaže chcem, — povedal lampár.

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

Veď človek môže byť zároveň verný i unavený.

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

Malý princ pokračoval:
— Tvoja planéta je taká malá, že ju obídeš tromi krokmi. Musíš len tak pomaly kráčať, aby si bol ustavične na slnku. Keď si budeš chcieť odpočinúť, vykročíš… a deň bude trvať tak dlho, ako budeš chcieť.

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.”

— To mi nepomôže, — povedal lampár. — Ja veľmi rád spím.

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

— Takú možnosť nemáš, — povedal Malý princ.

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

— Takú možnosť nemám, — prisvedčil lampár. — Dobrý deň.

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

A zhasol lampu.

And he put out his lamp.

„Týmto človekom by všetci ostatní, kráľ, márnivec, pijan a biznismen pohŕdali,“ vravel si Malý princ, zatiaľ čo pokračoval vo svojej ceste. „A predsa on jediný sa mi nezdá smiešny. Možno preto, že sa zaoberá niečím iným ako samým sebou.“

“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.”

Ľútostivo si vzdychol a ešte si povedal:

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

„Iba s ním by som sa vedel spriateliť. No jeho planéta je naozaj veľmi malá. Nie je tam miesto pre dvoch.

“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…”

Ale Malý princ sa neodvážil priznať si, že za touto šťastnou planétou ľutuje najmä pre tých tisíc štyristo štyridsať západov slnka za dvadsaťštyri hodín!

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

Šiesta planéta bola desať ráz väčšia. Býval na nej starý pán, ktorý písal hrubizné knihy.

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

— Aha! Tu máme cestovateľa! — zvolal, keď zazrel Malého princa.

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

Malý princ si sadol na stôl a trošku dychčal. Už tak veľa cestoval!

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

— Odkiaľ prichádzaš? — spýtal sa ho starý pán.

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

— Čo je to za hrubú knihu? — povedal Malý princ. — Čo tu robíte?

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

— Som zemepisec, — odpovedal starý pán.

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

— Čo je to zemepisec?

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

— Je to vedec, ktorý vie, kde sú moria, veľké rieky, mestá, vrchy a púšte.

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

— To je veľmi zaujímavé, — povedal Malý princ. — Konečne skutočné zamestnanie!

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

— A poobzeral sa okolo seba po zemepiscovej planéte. Ešte nikdy nevidel takú veľkolepú planétu.

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.

— Vaša planéta je veľmi pekná. Sú na nej aj oceány?

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

— Ja to nemôžem vedieť, — odpovedal zemepisec.

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

— Ach! — Malý princ bol sklamaný. — A vrchy?

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

— Ja to nemôžem vedieť, — povedal zemepisec.

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

— A mestá a veľké rieky a púšte?

“And towns, and rivers, and deserts?”

— Ani to nemôžem vedieť, — odpovedal zemepisec.

“I couldn’t tell you that, either.”

— Veď ste zemepisec!

“But you are a geographer!”

— Správne, — povedal zemepisec, — ale nie som cestovateľ. Nemám ani jedného cestovateľa. Zemepisec nechodí robiť súpis miest, riek, vrchov, morí, oceánov a púští.

“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.

Zemepisec je priveľmi dôležitý na to, aby sa túlal. Neopúšťa svoju pracovňu. Ale prijíma tu návštevy cestovateľov. Vypytuje sa ich a zaznamenáva si ich spomienky. A keď sa mu spomienky niektorého z nich zdajú zaujímavé, zemepisec si dá preskúmať mravné správanie cestovateľa.

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.”

— A prečo?

“Why is that?”

— Pretože cestovateľ, ktorý by klamal, spôsobil by v zemepisných knihách ozajstné katastrofy. A takisto cestovateľ, ktorý by priveľa pil.

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

— A prečo? — spýtal sa Malý princ.

“Why is that?” asked the little prince.

— Pretože pijani vidia dvojmo. A tak by zemepisec mohol zaznačiť dva vrchy tam, kde je iba jeden.

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

— Poznám kohosi, kto by bol zlým cestovateľom, — po— znamenal Malý princ.

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

— To je možné. Keď sa teda mravné správanie cestovateľa zdá dobré, jeho objav sa overí.

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

— Niekto sa ta ide pozrieť?

“One goes to see it?”

— Nie. To je príliš zložité. Ale od cestovateľa sa požaduje, aby predložil dôkazy. Ak objaví, napríklad, nejaký veľký vrch, požadujeme, aby z neho doniesol veľké kamene.

“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.”

Zemepisec sa náhle vzrušil.

The geographer was suddenly stirred to excitement.

— Ale ty prichádzaš zďaleka! Ty si cestovateľ! Opíš mi svoju planétu!

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

A zemepisec roztvoril knihu záznamov a ostrúhal si ceruzku. Rozprávanie cestovateľa sa najprv zaznamenáva ceruzkou. Aby sa mohlo zaznačiť atramentom, treba čakať, kým cestovateľ nepredloží dôkazy.

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.

— Nuž? — vyzval zemepisec Malého princa.

“Well?” said the geographer expectantly.

— Och, u mňa to nieje veľmi zaujímavé, — povedal Malý princ, — je to celkom maličké. Mám tri sopky. Dve sú v činnosti a jedna je vyhasnutá. Ale človek nikdy nevie.

“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.”

— Človek nikdy nevie, — opakoval zemepisec.

“One never knows,” said the geographer.

— Mám aj jednu kvetinu.

“I have also a flower.”

— My kvetiny nezaznamenávame.

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

— A prečo? To je to najkrajšie!

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

— Pretože kvetiny sú pominuteľné.

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

— Čo znamená pominuteľné?

“What does that mean — ‘ephemeral’?”

— Zemepisné knihy sú najdokonalejšie zo všetkých kníh, — povedal zemepisec. — Nikdy nezastarajú. Veľmi zriedka sa stáva, aby vrch zmenil miesto. Veľmi zriedka sa stáva, aby oceán vyschol. My píšeme o stálych veciach.

“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.”

— Ale vyhasnuté sopky sa môžu prebudiť, — prerušil ho Malý princ. — Čo znamená pominuteľné?

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