The Little Prince Chapter10

The Little Prince Chapter 10

He found himself in the neighborhood of the asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, and 330. He began, therefore, by visiting them, in order to add to his knowledge.

小王子发现在附近的宇宙中，还有 325、326、327、328、329、330 等几颗小行星。他开始访问这几颗星球，想在那里找点事干，并且学习知识。

The first of them was inhabited by a king. Clad in royal purple and ermine, he was seated upon a throne which was at the same time both simple and majestic.

第一颗星球上住着一个国王。国王穿着高贵的紫色貂皮长袍，坐在一个很简单却威严的宝座上。

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

当他看见小王子时，惊喜地喊了起来：“啊，来了一个臣民。”

And the little prince asked himself:

小王子思量着：

"How could he recognize me when he had never seen me before?"

“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，在那些国王的眼里，世界是非常简单的：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. So he remained standing upright, and, since he was tired, he yawned.

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。他只好站在那里，小王子太累了，便打起哈欠来。

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

国王对他说：“在一个国王面前打哈欠是有违礼仪的。我禁止你打哈欠。”

"I can't help it. I can't stop myself," replied the little prince, thoroughly embarrassed. "I have come on a long journey, and I have had no sleep…"

小王子羞愧地说道：“我实在忍不住，我长途跋涉来到这里，还没有休息呢。”

"Ah, then," the king said."I order you to yawn. It is years since I have seen anyone yawning. Yawns, to me, are objects of curiosity. Come, now! Yawn again! It is an order."

国王说：“那好吧，我命令你打哈欠。好些年来我没有看见过任何人打哈欠。对我来说，打哈欠倒是个新鲜事儿。来吧，再打个哈欠！这是命令。”

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

“这倒叫我有点紧张……我打不出哈欠来了……”小王子红着脸说。

"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……命令你时而打哈欠，时而……”

He sputtered a little, and seemed vexed.

他嘟嘟囔囔，似乎很生气。

For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected. He tolerated no disobedience. He was an absolute monarch. But, because he was a very good man, he made his orders reasonable.

因为国王最看重的就是他的权威有没有受到尊重。他不容许有任何违抗。他是一位绝对的君主。可是他又很善良，下的命令都是合情合理的。

"If I ordered a general," he would say, by way of example, "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 my fault."

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，一边庄重地把他华丽的貂皮大衣朝里拉了拉。

But the little prince was wondering… The planet was tiny. Over what could this king really rule?

可是小王子感到很奇怪。这么小的行星，国王对什么进行统治呢？

"Sire," he said to him, "I beg that you will excuse my asking you a question——"

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。”

"Sire——over what do you rule?"

 陛下……你统治什么呢？”

"Over everything," 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.

国王挥了挥手，示意这一切，包括他的星球，其他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，星星都服从您吗？”

"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. 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. 

这样的权力使小王子惊叹不已。如果掌握了这样的权力，那么，他一天就不只是看到四十四次日落，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 favor:

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 much require from each one the duty which each one can perform," the king went on. "Accepted authority rests first of all on reason. If you ordered your people to go and throw themselves into the sea, they would rise up in revolution. I have the right to require obedience because my orders are reasonable."

“对，”国王接着说，“向每个人提出的要求应该是他们所能做到的。权威首先应该建立在理性的基础上。如果命令你的老百姓去投海，他们非起来革命不可。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，他是不会忘记的。

"You shall have your sunset. I shall command it. But, according to my science of government, I shall wait until conditions are favorable."

 “日落么，你会看到的。我一定要太阳落山，不过按照我的统治方式，我得等到条件成熟的时候。”

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

小王子问道：“这要等到什么时候呢？”

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

 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：“嗯！嗯！日落大约……大约……在今晚七点四十分的时候！到时候你会看到我的命令服从得有多好。”

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

 小王子又打起哈欠来了。因为遗憾没有看到日落，他有点厌烦了。

"I have nothing more to do here," he said to the king. "So I shall set out on my way again."

他对国王说：“我没有必要再呆在这儿了，我要走了。”

"Do not go," said the king, who was very proud of having a subject. "Do not go. I will make you a Minister!"

“别走啊，”这位因为刚刚有了一个臣民，而十分骄傲自得的国王说道，“我封你为大臣。”

"Minister of what?"

“什么大臣？”

"Minster 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. "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."

 “很难说呀，”国王说道。“我很老了，我这地方又小，没有放马车的地方，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。没有一个人…

"Then you shall judge yourself," the king answered. "That is the most difficult thing of all. It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom."

“那么你就审判你自己呀！”国王回答他说。“这可是最难的了。审判自己比审判别人要难得多啊！你要是能审判好自己，你就是一个真正有智慧的人。”

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

“我吗？随便在什么地方我都可以审度自己。我没有必要留在这里。”

"Hum! Hum!" said the king."I have good reason to believe that somewhere on my planet there is an old rat. I hear him at night. You can judge this old rat. From time to time youwill condemn him to death. Thus his life will depend on your justice. But youwill pardon him on each occasion; for he must be treated thriftily. He is theonly one we have."

国王又说：“嗯……嗯……我想，在我的星球上有一只老鼠。夜里，我听见它的声音。你可以审判它，不时地判处它死刑。因此它的生命取决于你的判决。可是，你要有节制地使用这只老鼠，每次判刑后都要赦免它，因为只有这一只老鼠。”

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

“可是我不愿给别人判死刑，我想我还是走吧。”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 no wish to grieve the old monarch.

小王子虽然做好了离开的准备，但是他不想让老国王失望，他说道：

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

“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。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。小王子迟疑了一会儿，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。”国王急忙大声喊道。

He had a magnificent air of authority.

国王显出一副高高在上的样子。

"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。”继续踏上了他的里程。