第十三章 (第2/2页)

“是这样的。可是你用星星来干什么？”小王子说。

“我经营管理它们。我一遍又一遍地计算它们的数目。这很困难。但我是一个正经的人！”

小王子仍然还不满足，他说：

“如果我有一条围巾，我可以围在脖子上带走它。如果我有一朵花，我可以摘下花朵带走它。可你却不能从天上摘下这些星星呀！”

“是的，我不能摘下来，但我可以把它们存在银行里。”

“存银行是什么意思？”

“这是说，我把星星的数目写在纸上，然后把这张重要的纸锁在一个抽屉里。”

“这样就行了吗？”

“这样就行了。”

“这倒很有诗意，也很好玩，可是，这并不算是了不起的正经事啊。”小王子想。

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：“我有一朵花，我每天都给她浇水。我还有三座火山，我每星期清理它们，连死火山也清理。谁知道它会不会再复活呢！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……”

这个商人张口结舌、无言以对。于是小王子离开了。

再次开始自己的旅程，小王子心想：“这些大人们真是很特别，全部都奇怪极了。”

Chaptr 13

Th fourth plant longd to a usnssan. Ths an as so uch occupd that h dd not vn ras hs had at th lttl prnc's arrval.

"Good ornng," th lttl prnc sad to h. "Your cgartt has gon out.""Thr and to ak fv. Fv and svn ak tlv. Tlv and thr ak fftn. Good ornng. Fftn and svn ak tnty-to. Tnty-to and sx ak tnty-ght. I havn't t to lght t agan. Tnty-sx and fv ak thrty-on. Ph! Thn that aks fv-hundrd-and-on-llon, sx-hundrd-tnty-to-thousand, svn-hundrd-thrty-on.""Fv hundrd llon hat" askd th lttl prnc.

"Eh Ar you stll thr Fv-hundrd-and-on llon— I can't stop... I hav so uch to do! I a concrnd th attrs of consqunc. I don't aus yslf th aldrdash. To and fv ak svn...""Fv-hundrd-and-on llon hat" rpatd th lttl prnc, ho nvr n hs lf had lt go of a quston onc h had askd t.

Th usnssan rasd hs had.

"Durng th ffty-four yars that I hav nhatd ths plant, I hav n dsturd only thr ts. Th frst t as tnty-to yars ago, hn so gddy goos fll fro goodnss knos hr. H ad th ost frghtful nos that rsoundd all ovr th plac, and I ad four staks n y addton. Th scond t, lvn yars ago, I as dsturd y an attack of rhuats. I don't gt nough xrcs. I hav no t for loafng. Th thrd t— ll, ths s t! I as sayng, thn, fv -hundrd-and-on llons—""Mllons of hat"

Th usnssan suddnly ralzd that thr as no hop of ng lft n pac untl h ansrd ths quston.

"Mllons of thos lttl ojcts," h sad, "hch on sots ss n th sky.""Fls"

"Oh, no. Lttl glttrng ojcts.""Bs"

"Oh, no. Lttl goldn ojcts that st lazy n to dl drang. As for , I a concrnd th attrs of consqunc. Thr s no t for dl drang n y lf.""Ah! You an th stars"

"Ys, that's t. Th stars."

"And hat do you do th fv-hundrd llons of stars""Fv-hundrd-and-on llon, sx-hundrd-tnty-to thousand, svn-hundrd-thrty-on. I a concrnd th attrs of consqunc: I a accurat.""And hat do you do th ths stars""What do I do th th"

"Ys."

"Nothng. I on th."

"You on th stars"

"Ys."

"But I hav alrady sn a kng ho—""Kngs do not on, thy rgn ovr. It s a vry dffrnt attr.""And hat good dos t do you to on th stars""It dos th good of akng rch.""And hat good dos t do you to rch""It aks t possl for to uy or stars, f any ar vr dscovrd.""Ths an," th lttl prnc sad to hslf, "rasons a lttl lk y poor tpplr..."Nvrthlss, h stll had so or qustons.

"Ho s t possl for on to on th stars""To ho do thy long" th usnssan rtortd, pvshly.

"I don't kno. To noody."

"Thn thy long to , caus I as th frst prson to thnk of t.""Is that all that s ncssary""Crtanly. Whn you fnd a daond that longs to noody, t s yours. Whn you dscovr an sland that longs to noody, t s yours. Whn you gt an da for any on ls, you tak out a patnt on t: t s yours. So th : I on th stars, caus noody ls for vr thought of onng th.""Ys, that s tru," sad th lttl prnc. "And hat do you do th th""I adnstr th," rpld th usnssan. "I count th and rcount th. It s dffcult. But I a a an ho s naturally ntrstd n attrs of consqunc."Th lttl prnc as stll not satsfd.

"If I ond a slk scarf," h sad, "I could put t around y nck and tak t aay th . If I ond a flor, I could pluck that flor and tak t aay th . But you cannot pluck th stars fro havn...""No. But I can put th n th ank.""Whatvr dos that an"

"That ans that I rt th nur of y stars on a lttl papr. And thn I put ths papr n a drar and lock t th a ky.""And that s all"

"That s nough," sad th usnssan.

"It s ntrtanng," thought th lttl prnc. "It s rathr potc. But t s of no grat consqunc."On attrs of consqunc, th lttl prnc had das hch r vry dffrnt fro thos of th gron-ups.

"I yslf on a flor," h contnud hs convrsaton th th usnssan, "hch I atr vry day. I on thr volcanos, hch I clan out vry k (for I also clan out th on that s xtnct; on nvr knos). It s of so us to y volcanos, and t s of so us to y flor, that I on th. But you ar of no us to th stars..."Th usnssan opnd hs outh, ut h found nothng to say n ansr. And th lttl prnc nt aay.

"Th gron-ups ar crtanly altogthr xtraordnary," h sad sply, talkng to hslf as h contnud on hs journy.