THE FIFTH PLANET was very strange. It was the smallest of all. There was just enough room for a street lamp and a lamplighter. The little prince couldn't quite understand what use a street lamp and a lamplighter could be up there in the sky, on a planet without any people and not a single house.
However, he said to himself, It's quite possible that this man is absurd. But he's less absurd than the king, the very vain man, the businessman, and the drunkard. At least his work has some meaning. When he lights his lamp, it's as if he's bringing one more star to life, or one more flower. When he puts out his lamp, that sends the flower or the star to sleep, which is a fine occupation. And therefore truly useful.
When the little prince reached this planet, he greeted the lamplighter respectfully. "Good morning. Why have you just put out your lamp?"
"Orders, "the lamplighter answered. "Good morning."
“ What orders are those?”
"To put out my street lamp. Good evening." And he lit his lamp again.
“ But why have you just lit your lamp again?”
“ Orders."
"I don't understand," said the little prince.
"There's nothing to understand, " said the lamplighter.
"Orders are orders. Good morning. " And he put out his lamp.
Then he wiped his forehead with a red-checked handkerchief.
"It's a terrible job I have. It used to be reasonable enough. I put the lamp out mornings and lit it after dark. I had the rest of the day for my own affairs, and the rest of the night for sleeping.”
"And since then orders have changed?"
"Orders haven't changed, "the lamplighter said. "That's just the trouble! Year by year the planet is turning faster and faster and orders haven't changed."
“ Which means?”
"Which means that now that the planet revolves once a minute, I don't have an instant's rest. I light my lamp and turn it out once every minute."
"That's funny! Your days here are one minute long."
"It's not funny at all, " the lamplighter said. "You and I have already been talking to each other for a month."
"A month?"
"Yes. Thirty minutes. Thirty days! Good evening. "And he lit his lamp.
The little prince watched him, growing fonder and fonder of this lamplighter who was so faithful to orders. He remembered certain sunsets that he himself used to follow in other days, merely by shifting his chair. He wanted to help his friend.
"You know.. I can show you a way to take a rest whenever you want to."
"I always want to rest, "the lamplighter said, for it is possible to be faithful and lazy at the same time.
The little prince continued, " Your planet is so small that you can walk around it in three strides, All you have to do is walk more slowly, and you'll always be in the sun. When you want to take a rest just walk.. and the day will last as long as you want it to."
"What good does that do me, "the lamplighter said,
"when the one thing in life I want to do is sleep?"
"Then you're out of luck, "said the little prince.
"I am," said the lamplighter. "Good morning. “ And he put out his lamp.
"Now that man," the little prince said to himself as he continued on his Journey, "that man would be despised by all the others, by the king, by the very vain man, by the drunkard, by the businessman. Yet he's the only one who doesn't strike me as ridiculous. Perhaps it's because he's thinking of something besides himself." He heaved a sigh of regret and said to himself, again, "That man is the only one I might have made my friend. But his planet is really too small. There's not room for two..."
What the little prince dared not admit was that he most regretted leaving that planet because it was blessed with one thousand four hundred forty sunsets every twenty-four hours!
第五颗行星非常奇怪，是这些星星中最小的一颗。行星上刚好能容得下一盏 路灯和一个点路灯的人。小王子怎么也解释不通：这个坐落在天空某一角落，既
没有房屋又没有居民的行星上，要一盏路灯和一个点灯的人做什么用。
但他自己猜想：“可能这个人思想不正常。但他比起国王，比起那个爱虚荣 的人，那个实业家和酒鬼，却要好些。至少他的工作还有点意义。当他点着了他 的路灯时，就象他增添了一颗星星，或是一朵花。当他熄灭了路灯时，就象让星 星或花朵睡着了似的。这差事真美妙，就是真正有用的了。”
小王子一到了这个行星上，就很尊敬地向点路灯的人打招呼：
“早上好。——你刚才为什么把路灯灭了呢？”
“早上好。——这是命令。”点灯的回答道。
“命令是什么？”
“就是熄掉我的路灯。——晚上好。”
于是他又点燃了路灯。
“那么为什么你又把它点着了呢？”
“这是命令。”点灯的人回答道。
“我不明白。”小王子说。
“没什么要明白的。命令就是命令。”点灯的回答说。“早上好。”
于是他又熄灭了路灯。
然后他拿一块有红方格子的手绢擦着额头。
“我干的是一种可怕的职业。以前还说得过去，早上熄灯，晚上点灯，剩下 时间，白天我就休息，夜晚我就睡觉……”
“那么，后来命令改变了，是吗？”
点灯的人说：“命令没有改，惨就惨在这里了！这颗行星一年比一年转得更 快，而命令却没有改。”
“结果呢？”小王子问。
“结果现在每分钟转一圈，我连一秒钟的休息时间都没有了。每分钟我就要 点一次灯，熄一次灯！”
“真有趣，你这里每天只有一分钟长？”
“一点趣味也没有，”点灯的说，“我们俩在一块说话就已经有一个月的时 间了。”
“一个月？”
“对。三十分钟。三十天！——晚上好。”
于是他又点着了了他的路灯。
小王子瞅着他，他喜欢这个点灯人如此忠守命令。这时，他想起了他自己从 前挪动椅子寻找日落的事。他很想帮助他的这位朋友。 “告诉你，我知道一种能使你休息的办法，你要什么时候休息都可以。”
“我老是想休息。”点灯人说。
因为，一个人可以同时是忠实的，又是懒惰的。
小王子接着说：
“你的这颗行星这样小，你三步就可以绕它一圈。你只要慢慢地走，就可以 一直在太阳的照耀下，你想休息的时候，你就这样走……那么，你要白天又多长它 就有多长。”
“这办法帮不了我多打忙，生活中我喜欢的就是睡觉。”点灯人说。
“真不走运。”小王子说。
“真不走运。”点灯人说。“早上好。”
于是他又熄灭了路灯。
小王子在他继续往前旅行的途中，自言自语地说道：
“这个人一定会被其他那些人，国王呀，爱虚荣的呀，酒鬼呀，实业家呀， 所瞧不起。可是唯有他不使我感到荒唐可笑。这可能是因为他所关心的是别的事， 而不是他自己。”
他惋惜地叹了口气，并且又对自己说道：
“本来这是我唯一可以和他交成朋友的人。可是他的星球确实太小了，住不 下两个人……”
小王子没有勇气承认的是：他留恋这颗令人赞美的星星，特别是因为在那里 每二十四小时就有一千四百四十次日落！
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