chapter13
The fourth planet belonged to a businessman. This man was so much occupied that he did not even raise his head at the little prince's arrival.
"Good morning," the little prince said to him. "Your cigarette 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 so much to do! I am concerned with matters of consequence. I don't amuse myself with balderdash. Two and five make seven..."
."Five-hundred-and-one million what?" repeated the little prince, who never in his life had let go of a question once he had asked it.
The businessman raised his head.
"During the fifty-four years that I have inhabited this planet, I have been disturbed only three times. The first time was twenty-two years ago,when some giddy goose fell from goodness knows where. He made the most frightful noise that resounded all over the place, and I made four mistakes in my addition. The second time,eleven years ago,I was disturbed by an attack of rheumatism. 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 no hope of being left in peace until he answered this question.
"Millions of those little objects," he said, "which one sometimes sees in the sky."
"Files?"
"Oh,no.Little glittering objects."
"Bees?"
"Oh,no.Little golden objects that set lazy men to idle dreaming. As for me,I am concerned with matters of consequence. There is no time for idle dreaming in my life."
"Ah! You mean the starts?"
"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 accurate."
"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 different matter."
"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 are ever discovered."
"This man," the little prince said to himself, "reasons a little 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 person to think of it."
"Is that all that is necessary?"
"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 anyone 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."
"Yes, that is true," said the little prince. "And what do you 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 of consequence."
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 it away with me. But you cannot pluck the stars from heaven..."
"No. I can put them in the bank."
"Whatever does it mean?"
"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."
"And that is all?"
" That is enough," said the businessman.
"It is entertaining," thought the little prince. "It is rather poetic. But it is of no great consequence."
On matters of consequence, the little prince had ideas which were very different from those of the grown-ups.
"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..."
The businessman opened his mouth, but he found nothing 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 journey.
十三章
第四颗星球上住的是一位生意人。这个人非常忙，小王子到的时候他连头都没有抬。
“早上好，”小王子跟他打招呼。“你的香烟已经熄灭了。”
第三段不翻译，没意思
“五亿什么啊？”
“咦？你还在这里？五亿零一百。。。我也不知道。。。我有很多事情要做呢！我在做正经事，可没空说废话！二加五等于七。。。”
“五亿零一百多万什么啊？”小王子又问了一遍。只要提了问题，他就非得到答案不可。
生意人抬起了头。
“我在这个星球上住了五十四年，中间只被扰乱过三次。第一次是二十二年前，当时天知道从哪儿掉下来一只金龟子，发出很响的噪声，害得我加法算错了四处。第二次是十一年前，我的风湿病犯了。我缺少运动。我没工夫闲逛。第三次，就是这次！我刚才说的是，五亿零一百。。。”
“几百万什么？”
生意人突然意识到，不回答他的问题就别指望片刻安宁。
“几百万个那些小东西，有时人们能看到这些小东西在天上。”
“苍蝇吗？”
“不是，是会发光的小东西。”
“蜜蜂？”
“不是，是金黄色的小东西，让懒人做白日梦。但是我，我在做正经事，可没时间做白日梦。”
“啊！你说的是星星？”
“没错，就是星星。”
“你用五亿颗星星做什么呢？”
“五亿零一百六十二万两千七百三十一颗。我是个严肃认真的人，非常讲究精准。”
“那你用这些星星做什么呢？”
“我用它们做什么呢？”
“是啊”
“什么也不做。我拥有它们。”
“你拥有这些星星？”
“是的。”
“不过我曾见过一个国王，他。。。”
“国王不占有星星，他们只是统治。这根本不一样。”
“拥有这么多星星对你有什么好处呢？”
“好处就是它们能让我很富有。”
“变得富有又能怎么样呢？”
“如果有星星被发现了，我就可以买下来。”
“这个人，”小王子心里想，“他说起话来有点像那个可怜的酒鬼。”
不过，他还是有许多问题。
“人怎么能够拥有星星呢？”
“那你说这些星星属于谁呢？”生意人不耐烦地反问道。
“不知道。不属于任何人吧。”
“那就属于我，因为我是第一个想到拥有它们的人。”
“这样就行了？”
“当然了。如果你发现一颗没有主人的钻石，那么钻石就归你所有。如果你发现一座没有主人的小岛，那么小岛就归你所有。如果你最先想到一个创意，你去申请了专利，那么这个创意就归你所有。我拥有星星，因为在我之前没有人想到拥有它们。”
“嗯，那倒是，”小王子说。“但是你用它们做什么呢？”
“我管理它们，”生意人回答道。“我一遍又一遍地数。这件事很难。但是我生来喜欢做正经事啊。”
小王子还是不满意。
“如果我拥有一条围巾，我可以把它围在脖子上，随身带走。如果我拥有一朵花，我就可以把它摘下来，随身带走。但是你不能把星星从天上摘下来。。。”
“是不能。但我可以把它们存到银行里。”
“这是怎么回事？”
“就是说，我把星星的编号写在一张小纸条上。然后把这张纸条放进抽屉里，用锁把抽屉锁上。”
“这就够了？”
“这就够了。”
“这很好玩，”小王子心里想。“着挺有诗意的。不过这算不上非常正经的事。”
关于什么是正经事，小王子的看法和那些大人截然不同。
他接着与生意人说道，“我拥有一朵花，我每天给她浇水。我拥有三座火山，我每周为它们清扫，连那座死火山我也一样清扫，谁知道以后它什么时候喷发呢。我对我拥有的火山是有用的，我对我拥有的花朵是有用的。但是你对那些星星来说并没有什么用。。。”
生意人张开了嘴，却回答不出来。于是，小王子离开了。
“大人真是很奇怪啊。”小王子心里想，继续踏上了他的旅程。