chapter 14
The fifth planet was very strange. It was the smallest of all. There was just enough room on it for a street lamp and lamplighter . 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:
"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."
When he arrived on the planet he respectfully saluted the lamplighter.
"Good morning. Why have you just put out your lamp?"
"Those are the orders," replied the lamplighter ."Good morning."
"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 lamplighter.
"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.
Then he mopped his forehead with a handkerchief decorated with red squaters.
"I fellow 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."
"And the orders have been changed since that time?"
"The orders have not been changed," said the lamplighter.That is the tragedy! From year to year the planet has turned more repidly and the orders have not been changed!"
"Then what?" asked the little prince.
"Then - the planet now make 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!"
"That is very funny! A day lasts only one minute;here where you live!"
"It is not funny at all!" said the lamplighter. "While we have been talking together a month has gone by."
"A month?"
"Yes,a month. Thirty minutes. Thirty days. Good evening."
And he lighted his lamp again.
As the little prince wathched him, he felt that he loved this lamplighter who was so faithful to his orders. 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.
"You know," he said,"I can tell you a way you can rest whenever you want to..."
"I always want to rest," said the lamplighter.
For it is possible for a man to be faithful and lazy at the same time.
The little prince went on with his explanation:
"Your planet is so small that three strides will take you all the day 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."
"That doesn't do me much good," said the lamplighter."The one thing I love in life is to sleep."
"Then you are unlucky," said the little prince.
"I am unlucky," said the lamplighter."Good morning."
And he put out his lamp.
"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."
He breathed a sigh of regret,and said to himself ,again:
"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."
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!
十四章
第五颗星球非常奇怪，是所有星球中的最小的一个。那里只能容得下一盏路灯和一个点灯的人。小王子也没弄明白在浩瀚的太空中，在某个既没有房屋也没有居民的星球上，要一盏路灯和一个点灯的人有什么用。但他对自己说道：
“这也许是个荒唐的人。不过他没有国王、爱慕虚荣的人、生意人和酒鬼荒唐。至少他的工作多少有点意义。当他点亮路灯，就好像催眠了星星和花。这真是个美好的职业。既然美好，那么当然有用。”
到达这个星球之后，他恭恭敬敬地向点灯人问好“
“早上好。为什么你刚才把路灯熄灭了呢？”
“这是规定。”点灯人回答，“早上好。”
“规定是什么？”
“规定就是熄灭我的路灯。晚上好。”
接着他又把路灯点亮了。
“那你为什么又把路灯点亮了？”
“这是规定。”点灯人说。
“我不明白。”小王子说。
“不需要明白。”点灯人说，“规定就是规定。早上好。”
说完，他又把路灯熄灭了。
然后用一块红格子手绢擦了擦额头。
“我这份工作很辛苦。以前还挺合理的。我早上熄灯，晚上点灯。白天其余的时间我可以休息，晚上其余的时间我可以睡觉。”
“后来规定变了吗？”
“规定没有变。”点灯人说，”麻烦就出在这里！这个星球一年比一年转得快。可是规定却从来没有变过！“
“然后呢？”小王子问。
“然后，现在这个星球每分钟转一圈，我连一秒钟的休息时间都没有。我每分钟要点一次灯，熄一次灯。”
“太好玩儿了！你这里一天只有一分钟！”
“一点也不好玩儿！”点灯人说，“我们说话的这会儿已经过去一个月了。”
“一个月？”
“是啊。一个月。三十分钟。三十天。晚上好。”
他又点亮了路灯。
小王子看着他，他喜欢这个忠于职守的点灯人。他想起自己以前，只要挪一下椅子就能追着看日落。他想帮帮这位朋友。
“你知道吗，”他说，“我有一个办法，能让你想什么时候休息就什么时候休息。”
“我什么时候都想休息。”点灯人说。
因为人可能既做到尽职尽责，有想偷懒。
小王子继续解释说：
“你的星球这么小，迈三大步就能绕上一圈。你只要慢慢的走，太阳就永远在你头顶。你想休息的时候，就这样走，想白天有多长就有多长。”
“这对我有什么用。”点灯人说，“平生我最喜欢的就是睡觉”
“那你真倒霉。”小王子说。
“我是很倒霉。”点灯人说，“早上好。”
说完，他熄灭了路灯。
“那家伙，”小王子继续踏上了他的旅程，自言自语道，“他会被其他人嘲笑的，国王、爱慕虚荣的人、酒鬼、生意人都会嘲笑他的。可在我看来，他才是唯一不荒唐的人。也许这是因为他那么辛苦忙碌却不是为了他自己。”
他惋惜的叹了口气，又在心里想：
“这是遇见的几个人中唯一有望成为我的朋友的人、可惜他的星球实在太小了，容不下两个人。”
小王子不敢承认的是：离开这个星球让他感到惋惜，最重要的是在这个星球上每天都能看见1440次日落！