13.The little prince

The fourth planet is the planet of an industrialist. This man was so busy that when the young prince arrived
He didn't even look up.
The little prince said to him, "Hello. Your cigarette is out."
"Three plus two equals five. Five plus seven equals twelve. Twelve plus three equals fifteen. Hello. Fifteen plus seven.
Twenty-two. Twenty-two plus six, twenty-eight. There's no time to light it up again. Twenty-six plus five, thirty-one. Ouch!
Ouch! That's a total of five hundred and sixty-two million, two hundred and seventy-three hundred and eleven."
"Five hundred million what?"
"Huh? You're still here? Five hundred and ten million... I don't know what it is anymore. I've got a lot of work...
I'm very serious, and I never have time for small talk! Two plus five makes seven..."
"Five hundred and one million what?" The little prince repeated the question. Once he had asked a question, he never
He never gave up.
The industrialist looked up and said, "In the fifty-four years I've lived on this planet, I've only been disturbed three times. The first time was twenty-two years ago, when a golden tortoise came from nowhere to disturb me. It made a terrible noise and caused me to make four mistakes in one account. The second time, eleven years ago, was an attack of rheumatism, caused by my lack of exercise.
I don't have the time to loiter. I'm a serious person. Now... this is the third time! My calculations came out to 500 million.
A million..."
"A few million what?"
The industrialist, knowing that it was hopeless to have peace, said.
"A few million of the little things that sometimes appear in the sky."
"Flies?"
"No, it's something small and shiny."
"Are they bees?"
"No, little golden things, little things that call the lazy bastards to their whims. I'm a strict
I'm a strict man. I don't have time for nonsense."
"Ah, are they stars?"
"That's right, the stars."
"What are you going to do with the five hundred million stars?"
"Five hundred and sixty-two million seven hundred and thirty-one stars. I am serious man, I am very precise."
"What are you doing with these stars?"
"What do I want it for?"
"Yes."
"Nothing. They all belong to me."
"The stars belong to you?"
"Yes."
"But I've seen a king who..."
"Kings don't possess, they just 'rule'. It's not the same thing."
"What's the use of having all these stars?"
"To be rich enough to buy other stars, if someone finds other stars."
The little prince said to himself, "This man thinks a bit like that drunkard."
But then he asked some more questions.
"How can you possess the stars?"
"Then who do you think owns the stars?" The industrialist unhappily contradicted the young prince.
"I don't know, they don't belong to anyone."
"Then they are mine, for it was I who first thought of the matter."
"Will that do?"
"Then of course. If you find a diamond that has no owner, then that diamond belongs to you.
When you find an island that has no owner, then that island is yours. When you first come up with a solution.
you go and get a patent for it, then that solution belongs to you. Since no one before me has ever thought
to take possession of the stars, then I will take possession of the stars."
"That's true. But what are you going to do with them?" The little prince said.
"I manage the stars. I count them over and over again. It is a difficult
thing. But I am a serious man!"
Still not satisfied, the little prince said.
"For me, if I had a scarf, I could use it around my neck and be able to take
it. If I had a flower, I could pluck my flower and take it away. But you cannot pluck these
stars!"
"I can't pick them, but I can put them in the bank."
"What does that mean?"
"It means that I write the number of stars on a little piece of paper and lock the piece of paper in a
drawer."
"And that's all there is to it?"
"That will do."
The little prince thought, "That's funny. It's quite poetic, but it's not really a serious thing."
The little prince had a very different view of what was serious than the adults. He went on to say.
"I have a flower, and I water her every day. I also have three volcanoes, and I clean them all every week.
I clean them all every week. Even the dead volcano. Who knows if it will come back to life. I have volcanoes and flowers, which is good for my
volcanoes and flowers, which is good for my volcanoes and good for my flowers. But you are no use to the stars..."
The industrialist was speechless with his mouth open. So the little prince went away.
During the journey, the little prince simply said to himself, "These grown-ups are so strange."
译文：
第四个行星是一个实业家的星球。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。
小王子对他说：“您好。您的烟卷灭了。”
“三加二等于五。五加七等于十二。十二加三等于十五。你好。十五加七，
二十二。二十二加六，二十八。没有时间去再点着它。二十六加五，三十一。哎
哟！一共是五亿一百六十二万二千七百三十一。”
“五亿什么呀？”
“嗯？你还待在这儿那？五亿一百万⋯我也不知道是什么了。我的工作很多⋯
我是很严肃的，我可是从来也没有功夫去闲聊！二加五得七⋯”
“五亿一百万什么呀？”小王子重复问道。一旦他提出了一个问题，是从来
也不会放弃的。
这位实业家抬起头，说：“我住在这个星球上五十四年以来，只被打搅过三次。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。它发出一种可怕的噪音，使我在一笔帐目中出了四个差错。第二次，在十一年前，是风湿病发作，因为我缺乏锻炼所致。
我没有功夫闲逛。我可是个严肃的人。现在⋯这是第三次！我计算的结果是五亿
一百万⋯”
“几百万什么？”
这位实业家知道要想安宁是无望的了，就说道：
“几百万个小东西，这些小东西有时出现在天空中。”
“苍蝇吗？”
“不是，是些闪闪发亮的小东西。”
“是蜜蜂吗？”
“不是，是金黄色的小东西，这些小东西叫那些懒汉们胡思乱想。我是个严
肃的人。我没有时间胡思乱想。”
“啊，是星星吗？”
“对了，就是星星。”
“你要拿这五亿星星做什么？”
“五亿一百六十二万七百三十一颗星星。我是严肃的人，我是非常精确的。”
“你拿这些星星做什么？”
“我要它做什么？”
“是呀。”
“什么也不做。它们都是属于我的。”
“星星是属于你的？”
“是的。”
“可是我已经见到过一个国王，他⋯”
“国王并不占有，他们只是进行‘统治’。这不是一码事。”
“你拥有这许多星星有什么用？”
“富了就可以去买别的星星，如果有人发现了别的星星的话。”
小王子自言自语地说：“这个人想问题有点象那个酒鬼一样。”
可是他又提了一些问题：
“你怎么能占有星星呢？”
“那么你说星星是谁的呀？”实业家不高兴地顶了小王子一句。
“我不知道，不属于任何人。”
“那么，它们就是我的，因为是我第一个想到了这件事情的。”
“这就行了吗？”
“那当然。如果你发现了一颗没有主人的钻石，那么这颗钻石就是属于你的。
当你发现一个岛是没有主的，那么这个岛就是你的。当你首先想出了一个办法，
你就去领一个专利证，这个办法就是属于你的。既然在我之前不曾有任何人想到
要占有这些星星，那我就占有这些星星。”
“这倒也是。可是你用它们来干什么？”小王子说。
“我经营管理这些星星。我一遍又一遍地计算它们的数目。这是一件困难的
事。但我是一个严肃认真的人！”
小王子仍然还不满足，他说：
“对我来说，如果我有一条围巾，我可以用它来围着我的脖子，并且能带走
它。我有一朵花的话，我就可以摘下我的花，并且把它带走。可你却不能摘下这
些星星呀！”
“我不能摘，但我可以把它们存在银行里。”
“这是什么意思呢？”
“这就是说，我把星星的数目写在一片小纸头上，然后把这片纸头锁在一个
抽屉里。”
“这就算完事了吗？”
“这样就行了。”
小王子想道：“真好玩。这倒蛮有诗意，可是，并不算是了不起的正经事。”
关于什么是正经事，小王子的看法与大人们的看法非常不同。他接着又说：
“我有一朵花，我每天都给她浇水。我还有三座火山，我每星期把它们全都
打扫一遍。连死火山也打扫。谁知道它会不会再复活。我拥有火山和花，这对我
的火山有益处，对我的花也有益处。但是你对星星并没有用处⋯”
实业家张口结舌无言以对。于是小王子就走了。
在旅途中，小王子只是自言自语地说了一句：“这些大人们真是奇怪极了。”