Chapter 10 爱发号施令的国王

Chapter 10

He found himself in the neighborhood of the asteroids 325,326,327,328,329, and 330.

他发现自己的周围还有 325、326、327、328、329、330 等几颗小行星。

He began, therefore, by visiting them, in order to add to his knowledge.

因此他就开始访问它们，以增长知识。

The first of them was inhabited by a king.

第一颗星球上住着一个国王。

Clad in royal purple and ermine, he was seated upon a throne which was at the same time both simple and majestic.

他穿着蓝紫色的貂皮（长袍），坐在一个很简单却又十分威严的宝座上。

"Ah! Here is a subject," exclaimed the king, when he saw the little prince coming.

当他看见小王子时，喊了起来：“啊，来了一个臣民。”

And the little prince asked himself: "How could he recognize me when he had never seen me before"?

小王子思量着：“他从来也没有见过我，怎么会认识我呢？”

He did not know how the world is simplified for kings. To them, all men are subjects.

他哪里知道，在那些国王们的眼里，世界是非常简单的：对于他们来说，所有的人都是臣民。

"Approach, so that I may see you better," said the king, who felt consumingly proud of being at last a king over somebody.

国王十分骄傲，因为他终于成了某个人的国王，他对小王子说道：“靠近些，好让我好好看看你。”

The little prince looked everywhere to find a place to sit down; but the entire planet was crammed and obstructed by the king's magnificent ermine robe.

小王子看看四周，想找个地方坐下来，可是整个星球被国王华丽的貂皮长袍占满了。

So he remained standing upright, and, since he was tired, he yawned.

他只好继续站着，但是因为疲倦了，他打起哈欠来。

"It is contrary to etiquette to yawn in the presence of a king," the monarch said to him. "I forbid you to do so".

君王对他说：“在一个国王面前打哈欠是违反礼节的。我禁止你打哈欠。”

"I can't help it. I can't stop myself," replied the little prince,thoroughly embarrassed.

小王子十分羞愧地说道：“我实在忍不住，我无法制止我自己。

"I have come on a long journey, and I have had no sleep. . ."

我长途跋涉来到这里，还没有睡觉呢。”

"Ah,then," the king said. "I order you to yawn. It is years since I have seen anyone yawning.

国王说：“那好吧，我命令你打哈欠。好些年来我都没有看见过任何人打哈欠了。

Yawns,to me, are objects of curiosity.

对我来说，打哈欠倒是新奇的事。

Come,now! Yawn again! It is an order".

来吧，现在！再打个哈欠！这是命令。”

"That frightens me. . . I cannot, any more. . ." murmured the little prince, now completely abashed.

“这倒是吓到我了……我打不出哈欠来了……”小王子红着脸嘟囔说。

"Hum! Hum"! replied the king. "Then I-- I order you sometimes to yawn and sometimes to--"

“嗯！嗯！”国王回答道：“那么我……命令你忽而打哈欠，忽而……”

He sputtered a little, and seemed vexed.

他嘟嘟囔囔，显出有点恼怒。

For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected.

因为国王所坚持的主要是保持他的威严受到尊敬。

He tolerated no disobedience.

他不能容忍违抗命令。

He was an absolute monarch.

他是一位专制的君主。

But, because he was a very good man, he made his orders reasonable.

可是因为他很善良，他下的命令都是合理的。

"If I ordered a general to change himself into a sea bird, and if the general did not obey me, that would not be the fault of the general. It would be myfault".

他常常说：“如果我叫一位将军变成一只海鸟，而这位将军不服从我的命令，那么这就不是将军的过错，而是我的过错。”

"May I sit down"? came now a timid inquiry from the little prince.

小王子腼腆地试探道：“我可以坐下吗？”

"I order you to do so," the king answered him, and majestically gathered in a fold of his ermine mantle.

“我命令你坐下。”国王一边回答，一边庄重地把他那貂皮大襟收拢折叠了一下。

But the little prince was wondering. . .

可是小王子感到很奇怪。

The planet was tiny. Over what could this king really rule?

这么小的行星，国王他对什么进行统治呢？

"Sire,"he said to him, "I beg that you will excuse my asking you aquestion--"

他对国王说：“陛下……请原谅，我想问您……”

"I order you to ask me a question," the king hastened to assure him.

国王急忙抢着说道：“我命令你问我问题。”

"Sire--over what do you rule"?

“陛下……你统治什么呢？”

"Overe verything," said the king, with magnificent simplicity.

国王非常简单明了地说：“我统治一切。”

"Over everything"?

“一切？”

The king made a gesture, which took in his planet, the other planets, and all the stars.

国王轻轻地用手指着他的行星和其他的行星，以及所有的星星。

"Over all that"? asked the little prince.

小王子说：“统治这一切？”

"Over all that," the king answered.

“统治这一切。”

For his rule was not only absolute: it was also universal.

原来他不仅是一个绝对的君主，而且是整个宇宙的君主。

"And the stars obey you"?

“那么，这些星球都服从您吗？”

"Certainly they do," the king said. "They obey instantly. I do not permit insubordination".

“那当然！”国王对他说，“它们立即就得服从。我是不允许无纪律的。”

Such power was a thing for the little prince to marvel at.

这样的权力使得小王子惊叹不已。

If he had been master of such complete authority, he would have been able to watch the sunset, not forty-four times in one day, but seventy-two, or even a hundred, or even two hundred times, without ever having to move his chair.

如果他已经掌握了这样彻底的权力，那么，他就可以看到日落了，并非一天只能看到四十四次，而可以看到七十二次，甚至一百次，或是二百次日落，也不必要去挪动椅子了！

And because he felt a bit sad as he remembered his little planet, which he had forsaken, he plucked up his courage to ask the king a favour:

由于他想起了他那被遗弃的小星球，心里有点难过，他大胆地向国王提出了一个请求：

"I should like to see a sunset. . . do me that kindness. . . Order the sun to set. . ."

“我想看日落，请求您……命令太阳落山吧……”

"If I ordered a general to fly from one flower to another like a butterfly, or to write a tragic drama, or to change himself into a sea bird, and if the general did not carry out the order that he had received, which one of us would be in the wrong"? the king demanded. "The general, or myself"?

国王说道：“如果我命令一个将军像一只蝴蝶那样从这朵花飞到那朵花，或者命令他写作一个悲剧剧本或者变一只海鸟，而如果这位将军接到命令不执行的话，那么，是他不对还是我不对呢？”

"You,"said the little prince firmly.

“那当然是您的不对。”小王子肯定地回答。

"Exactly. One must require from each one the duty which each one can perform," the king went on.

“一点也不错，”国王接着说，“向每个人提出的要求应该是他们所能做到的。”

"Accepted authority rests first of all on reason.

“权威首先应该建立在理性的基础上。

If you ordered your people to go and throw themselves into the sea, they would rise up in revolution.

如果命令你的老百姓去投海，他们会起来革命。

I have the right to require obedience because my orders are reasonable".

我的命令是合理的，所以我有权要别人服从。”

"Then my sunset"? the little prince reminded him: for he never forgot a question once he had asked it.

“那么我提出的日落呢？”小王子一旦提出一个问题，他是不会忘记这个问题的。

"You shall have your sunset. I shall command it.

“你会看到日落么的。我应该命令它。

But, according to my science of government, I shall wait until conditions are favourable".

不过按照我的统治科学，我得等到条件成熟的时候。”

"When will that be"? inquired the little prince.

小王子问道：“这会是什么时候呢？”

"Hum! Hum"! replied the king; and before saying anything else he consulted a bulky almanac.

“嗯！嗯！”国王在回答之前，首先翻阅了一本厚厚的日历，嘴里慢慢说道。

"Hum! Hum! That will be about-- about-- that will be this evening about twenty minutes to eight. And you will see how well I am obeyed".

“嗯！嗯！那将大约……会在今晚七时四十分的时候！你将看到我的命令是怎样被服从的。”

The little prince yawned.

小王子打起哈欠来了。

He was regretting his lost sunset. And then, too, he was already beginning to be a little bored.

他遗憾没有看到日落，他有点厌烦了。

"I have nothing more to do here," he said to the king.

他对国王说：“我在这儿没有什么更多的事儿要做了。

"So I shall set out on my way again".

我应该重新启程了。”

"Do not go," said the king, who was very proud of having a subject.

这位因为刚刚有了一个臣民而十分骄傲自得的国王说道：“别走。

"Do not go. I will make you a Minister"!

别走，我任命你当大臣。”

"Minister of what"?

“什么大臣？”

"Minister of-- of Justice"!

“嗯……司法大臣！”

"But there is nobody here to judge"!

“可是，这儿没有一个要审判的人。”

"We do not know that," the king said to him.

“我们不知道这些，”国王说道。

"I have not yet made a complete tour of my kingdom. I am very old. There is no room here for a carriage. And it tires me to walk".

“我很老了，我这地方又小，没有放銮驾的地方，另外，一走路我就累。因此我还没有巡视过我的王国呢！”

"Oh, but I have looked already"! said the little prince, turning around to give one more glance to the other side of the planet. On that side, as on this, there was nobody at all. . .

“噢！可是我已经看过了。”小王子说道，并探身朝星球的那一侧看了看。在那边也没有一个人……

"Then you shall judge yourself," the king answered. "that is the most difficult thing of all.

“那么你就审判你自己呀！”国王回答他说。“这可是最难的了。

It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others.

审判自己比审判别人要难得多啊！

If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom."

你要是能正确审度好自己，那么你就是一个真正有才智的人。”

"Yes,"said the little prince, "but I can judge myself anywhere. I do not need to live on this planet".

“是的，随便在什么地方我都可以审度自己。我没有必要留在这个星球上。”

"Hum! Hum"! said the king. "I have good reason to believe that somewhere on my planet there is an old rat.

国王又说：“嗯……嗯……我想，在我的星球上有一只老耗子。

I hear him at night.

夜里，我听见它的声音。

You can judge this old rat. From time to time you will condemn him to death.

你可以审判这只老耗子，不时地判处它死刑。

Thus his life will depend on your justice.

因此它的生命取决于你的判决。

But you will pardon him on each occasion; for he must be treated thriftily. He is the only one we have".

可是，你要有节制地使用这只耗子，每次判刑后都要赦免它，因为只有这一只耗子。”

"I,"replied the little prince, "do not like to condemn anyone to death. And now I think I will go on my way".

“可是我不愿判死刑，我想我还是应该走。”小王子回答道。

"No,"said the king.

“不行。”国王说。

But the little prince, having now completed his preparations for departure, had nowish to grieve the old monarch.

但是小王子准备完毕之后，不想使老君主难过。

"If Your Majesty wishes to be promptly obeyed," he said, "he shouldbe able to give me a reasonable order.

“如果国王陛下想要不折不扣地得到服从，你可以给我下一个合理的命令。

He should be able, for example, to order me to be gone by the end of one minute. It seems to me that conditions are favourable. . ."

比如说，你可以命令我，一分钟之内必须离开。我认为这个条件是成熟的……”

As the king made no answer, the little prince hesitated a moment. Then, with a sigh, he took his leave.

国王什么也没有回答。起初，小王子有些犹疑不决，随后叹了口气，就离开了……

"I made you my Ambassador," the king called out, hastily.

“我派你当我的大使。”国王匆忙地喊道。

He had a magnificent air of authority.

国王显出非常有权威的样子。

"The grown-ups are very strange," the little prince said to himself, as he continued on his journey.

小王子在旅途中自言自语地说：“这些大人真奇怪。”