The Little Prince

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

《小王子》是法國(guó)作家安托萬(wàn)·德·圣一?？颂K佩里于1942年寫(xiě)成的著名法國(guó)兒童文學(xué)短篇小說(shuō)。小說(shuō)的主人公是來(lái)自外星球的小王子。小說(shuō)以一位飛行員作為故事敘述者，講述了小王子從自己星球出發(fā)前往地球的過(guò)程中，所經(jīng)歷的各種歷險(xiǎn)。作者以小王子的孩子式的眼光，透視出成人的空虛、盲目、愚妄和死板教條，用天真簡(jiǎn)單的語(yǔ)言寫(xiě)出了人類(lèi)的孤獨(dú)寂寞。同時(shí)，也表達(dá)出作者對(duì)金錢(qián)關(guān)系的批判，對(duì)真善美的謳歌。

本文節(jié)選自《小王子》第七章。

The fourth planet belonged to a businessman.

This man was so much occupied that he did not evenraise his head at the little prince ' s arrival.

"Good morning，" the little prince said to him. "Your cig-arette 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 somuch to do！

I am concerned with matters of consequence.

I don' t amuse myself with balderdash. Two and Fivemake seven...

"Five-hundred-and-one million what？" repeated the lit-tle prince，

who never in his life had let go of a question once he hadasked it.

The businessman raised his head.

During the Fifty- four years that I have inhabited thisplanet， I have been disturbed only three times.

The First time was twenty-two years ago， when some gid-dy goose fell from goodness knows where.

He made the most frightful noise that resounded all overthe place，

and I made four mistakes in my addition.

The second time， eleven years ago， I was disturbed byan attack of theumatism.

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 nohope of being left in peace until he answered this question.

Millions of those little objects， he said， which one some-times sees in the sky.

Flies？

Oh， no. Little glittering objects.

Bees？

Oh， no. Little golden objects that set lazy men to idledreaming.

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 accu-rate.

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 differentmatter.

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 areever discovered.

"This man，" the little prince said to himself， "reasons alittle 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 personto think of it.

Is that all that is necessary？

Certainly. When you find a diamond that belongs to no-body， it is yours.

When you discover an island that belongs to nobody， itis yours.

When you get an idea before any one else， you take outa patent on it： it is yours.

So with me：l own the stars， because nobody else beforeme ever thought of owning them."

"Yes， that is true，" said the little prince. "And what doyou 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 ofconsequence.

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 itaway 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 lit-tle paper.

And then I put this paper in a drawer and lock it with akey.

And that is all？

"That is enough，" said the businessman.

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

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

I myself own a flower， he continued his conversationwith the businessman， which I water every day.

I own three volcanoes， which I clean out every week （forI 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 tomy flower， that I own them.

But you are of no use to the stars...

The businessman opened his mouth， but he found noth-ing 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 jour-ney.

The fifth planet was very strange.

It was the smallest of all.

There was just enough room on it for a street lamp and alamplighter.

The little prince was not able to reach any explanation ofthe use of a street lamp and a lamplighter，

somewhere in the heavens， on a planet which had no peo-ple， and not one house.

But he said to himself， nevertheless， It may well be thatthis 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 onemore star to life， or one flower.

When he puts out his lamp， he sends the flower， or thestar， to sleep.

That is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful，it is truly useful.

When he arrived on the planet he respectfully salutedthe lamplighter.

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

"Those are the orders，" replied the lamplighter. "Goodmorning."

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 lamp lighter.

"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.

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(kāi)交，小王子到來(lái)的時(shí)候，他甚至連頭都沒(méi)有抬一下。

小王子對(duì)他說(shuō)：“您好。您的煙卷滅了?！?/p>

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。

我沒(méi)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(wàn)二千七百三十一。

“五億什么呀？”小王子問(wèn)。

嗯？你還待在這兒呢？

五億一百萬(wàn)，我不能停下來(lái)。我的工作很多！

我關(guān)注事情的結(jié)果。

我可是從來(lái)也沒(méi)有功夫去閑聊！二加五得七

“五億一百萬(wàn)什么呀？”小王子重復(fù)問(wèn)道。

一旦他提出了一個(gè)問(wèn)題，是從來(lái)也不會(huì)放棄的。

這位實(shí)業(yè)家抬起頭說(shuō)。

我住在這個(gè)星球上五十四年以來(lái)，只被打攪過(guò)三次。

第一次是二十二年前，不知從哪里跑來(lái)了一只

金龜子來(lái)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?/p>

我沒(méi)有功夫閑逛。

現(xiàn)在……這是第三次！

我計(jì)算的結(jié)果是五億一百萬(wàn)……

幾百萬(wàn)什么？

這位實(shí)業(yè)家知道要想安寧是無(wú)望的了，就說(shuō)道：

幾百萬(wàn)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(méi)有時(shí)間胡思亂想。

我沒(méi)有時(shí)間胡思亂想。

啊，是星星嗎？

對(duì)了，就是星星。

你要拿這五億顆星星做什么？

五億一百六十二萬(wàn)七百三十一顆星星。

我關(guān)注正經(jīng)事，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(jiàn)到過(guò)一個(gè)國(guó)王，他……

國(guó)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？

它可以使我變得富有。

變富有了你想干什么？

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

小王子自言自語(yǔ)地說(shuō)：“這個(gè)人想問(wèn)題有點(diǎn)像

那個(gè)酒鬼一樣?！?/p>

可是他又提了一些問(wèn)題：

你怎么能占有星星呢？

“那么你說(shuō)星星是誰(shuí)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(méi)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(méi)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(zhuān)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?？墒悄阌盟鼈儊?lái)干什么？”小王子說(shuō)。

我經(jīng)營(yíng)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(mǎn)足，

他說(shuō)，對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，如果我有一條圍巾，

我可以用它來(lái)圍著我的脖子，并且能帶走它。

我有一朵花的話(huà)，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(shuō)，我把星星的數(shù)目寫(xiě)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?！鄙倘苏f(shuō)。

小王子想道：“真好玩。這倒蠻有詩(shī)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，小王子的看法和大人們的看法非常不同。

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(shuí)知道它會(huì)不會(huì)再?gòu)?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(méi)有用處……

實(shí)業(yè)家張口結(jié)舌無(wú)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(yǔ)地說(shuō)了一句：“這些大人們真是奇怪極了?！?/p>

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，要一盞路燈和一個(gè)點(diǎn)燈的人做什么用，

這個(gè)坐落在天空某一角落，既沒(méi)有房屋又沒(méi)有居民的行星上。

但他自己猜想，可能這個(gè)人思想不正常。

但他比起國(guó)王，比起那個(gè)愛(ài)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)，就像他增添了一顆星星，或是一朵花。

當(dāng)他熄滅了路燈時(shí)，就像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?！秉c(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(shuō)。

“沒(méi)什么要明白的。命令就是命令。”點(diǎn)燈的回答說(shuō)?！霸缟虾??！?/p>

于是他又熄滅了路燈。