Chapter 13 数星星的商人

Chapter 13

The fourth planet belonged to a businessman.

第四个行星属于一个商人。

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

这个人忙得不可开交，小王子到来的时候，他甚至连头都没有抬一下。

"Good morning," the little prince said to him. "Your cigarette has gone out."

小王子对他说：“早上好，您的烟卷灭了。”

"Three and two make five. Five and seven make twelve. Twelve and three make fifteen.

恩。“3+2=5。5+7=12。12+3=15。

Good morning. Fifteen and seven make twenty-two. Twenty-two and six make twenty-eight.

你好。15+7=22。22+6=28。

I haven't time to light it again.

我没有时间去再点着它。

Twenty-six and five make thirty-one, Phew!

哎哟！26+5=31.

Then that makes five-hundred-and-one-million, six-hundred-twenty-two-thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one."

一共是501,622,731。

"Five hundred million what?" asked the little prince.

“五亿什么呀？”小王子问。

"Eh? Are you still there? Five-hundred-and-one million-- I can't stop. . . I have so much to do!

“嗯？你还待在这儿那？五亿一百万…… 我停不下来。我要做的太多了！

I am concerned with matters of consequence.

我关心的都是重要的事。

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

我不用闲聊来娱乐自己。二加五得七.

"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.

“五亿一百万什么呀？”小王子重复道，一旦他提出了一个问题，是从来也不会放弃的。

The businessman raised his head.

这位商人抬起头说：

During the fifty-four years that I have inhabited this planet, I have been disturbed only three times.

“我住在这个星球上五十四年以来，只被打搅过三次。”

The first was twenty-two years ago, when some giddy goose fell from goodness knows where.

第一次是二十二年前，不知从哪里跑来了一只金龟子来打搅我。

He made the most frightful noise that resounded all over the place, and I made four mistakes in my addition.

它发出最可怕的噪音，到处鸣响，我在我的加法中出了四个差错。

The second time, eleven years ago, I was disturbed by an attack of rheumatism.

第二次，在十一年前，我被风湿病的袭击打扰了。

I don't get enough exercise. I have no time for loafing.

我没有足够的锻炼。我没空游手好闲。

The third time-- well, this is it! I was saying, then, five-hundred-and-one millions. . ."

第三次，好吧，这就是！我正说着，五亿一百万......

"Millions of what?"

“几百万什么？”

"The businessman suddenly realized that there was no hope of being left in peace until he answered this question.

这位商人突然意识到，在他回答这个问题之前，想不被打扰是没有希望的。

"Millions of those little objects," he said, "which one sometimes sees in the sky."

“几百万个那些东西，” 他说，“人们有时能在天空看见它们。”

"Flies?"

“苍蝇？

"Oh, no. Little glittering objects."

“不是，闪闪发亮的小东西。”

"Bees?"

“蜜蜂？”

"Oh, no. Little golden objects that set lazymen to idle dreaming."

“哦，不是的。金黄色的小东西，会叫那些懒汉们胡思乱想。

As for me, I am concerned with matters of consequence.

对我来说，我只关心重要的事情。

There is no time for idle dreaming in my life."

我的生活里没有时间胡思乱想。”

"Ah! You mean the stars?"

“啊！你是说星星吗？”

"Yes, that's it. The stars."

“对了，就是星星。”

"And what do you do with five-hundred millions of stars?"

“你要拿这五亿星星做什么？”

"Five-hundred-and-one million, six-hundred-twenty-two thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one.

“五亿一百六十二万二千七百三十一颗。

I am concerned with matters of consequence: I am accurate.

“我只关心重要的事情。我是非常精确的。”

"And what do you do with these stars?"

“你拿这些星星做什么？”

"What do I do with them?"

“我要它做什么？”

"Yes."

“是呀。”

"Nothing. I own them."

“什么也不做。我拥有它们。

"You own the stars?"

“你拥有星星？”

"Yes."

“是的。”

"But I have already seen a king who--"

“可是我已经见到过一个国王，他……”

"Kings do not own, they reign over. It is a very different matter. "

“国王并不拥有，他们‘统治’。这不是非常不同的事情。”

"And what good does it do you to own the stars?"

“你拥有星星对你有什么好处呢？”

"It does me the good of making me rich."

“它给我的好处是让我变得富有。”

"And what good does it do you to be rich?"

“富有对你又有什么好处呢？”

"It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are ever discovered."

“它给我的好处是让我能买更多的星星，如果有任何星星被发现了的话。”

"This man," the little prince said to himself, "reasons a little like my poor tippler. . ."

小王子自言自语地说：“这个人，理论起来有点像我可怜的酒鬼。”

Nevertheless, he still had some more questions. "How is it possible for one to own the stars?"

然而，他还有更多的问题，“人怎么能拥有星星呢？”

"To whom do they belong?" the businessman retorted, peevishly.

“那它们属于谁？”商人暴躁地反驳。

"I don't know. To nobody."

“我不知道，不属于任何人。”

"Then they belong to me, because I was the "first person to think of it."

“那么，它们就属于我，因为是我第一个想到了这件事情的人。”

"Is that all that is necessary?"

“那就是所有必要的吗？”

Certainly. When you find a diamond that belongs to nobody, it is yours.

那当然。如果你发现了一颗不属于任何人的钻石，它就是你的。

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

当你发现一个不属于任何人的岛屿，它就是你的。

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

当你先于其他任何人想到一个主意，你就去领一个专利证，它就是你的。

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

所以对我来说，我拥有星星，因为在我之前没有人想过要拥有它们。

"Yes, that is true," said the little prince. "And what do you do with them?"

“是的，那是真的。可是你用它们来干什么？”小王子说。

"I administer them," replied the businessman.

“我管理它们，”商人回答道。

"I count them and recount them. It is difficult. But I am a man who is naturally interested in matters of consequence."

“我计算并重复计算它们。这很难。但我是一个天生对重要的事情感兴趣的人。”

The little prince was still not satisfied.

小王子仍然不满足。

"If I owned a silk scarf," he said, "I could put it around my neck and take it away with me.

他说：“如果我拥有一条丝质围巾，我可以用它来围着我的脖子，并且带走它。

If I owned a flower, I could pluck that flower and take it away with me.

我拥有一朵花的话，我就可以摘下那朵花，并且把它带走。

But you cannot pluck the stars from heaven. . ."

可你却不能从天上摘下这些星星呀！

"No. But I can put them in the bank."

“我不能摘，但我可以把它们存在银行里。”

"Whatever does that mean?"

“那是什么意思呢？”

"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."

“那就是说，我把我的星星的数目写在一片小纸头上，然后把这片纸头放在一个抽屉里，用钥匙锁上。”

"And that is all?"

“就那样了吗？”

"That is enough," said the businessman.

“那就够了。”商人说。

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

小王子想道：“真好玩。这倒蛮有诗意。可是，并没有很重要。”

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

关于重要的事，小王子的看法与那些大人们的看法非常不同。

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

“我自己有一朵花，”他继续了他和商人的对话，“我每天都给它浇水。

I own three volcanoes, which I clean out every week (for I also clean out the one that is extinct, one never knows) .

我还有三座火山，我每星期把它们全都打扫一遍。（我也打扫死火山，人们从来不知道。）

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. . ."

我拥有它们，这对我的火山有些用处，对我的花也有有些用处。但是你对星星并没有用处……”

The businessman opened his mouth, but he found nothing to say in answer. And the little prince went away.

商人张口开了他的嘴巴，但是他找不到任何事情来说。于是小王子就走了。

"The grown-ups are certainly altogether extraordinary,”. he said simply, talking to himself as he continued on his journey.

“这些大人们真是奇怪极了。”他只是在继续他的旅行时自言自语地说了一句。