第十三章Chapter 13

The Little Prince: Chapter 13

The fifth planet was very strange. It was the smallest of all. There was just enough room on it for a street lamp and a lamplighter. The little prince was not able to reach any explanation of the use of a street lamp and a lamplighter, somewhere in the heavens, on a planet which had no people, and not one house. But he said to himself, nevertheless: 
"It may well be that this man is absurd. But he is not so absurd as the king, the conceited man, the businessman, and the tippler. For at least his work has some meaning. When he lights his street lamp, it is as if he brought one more star to life, or one flower. When he puts out his lamp, he sends the flower, or the star, to sleep. That is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful." 

When he arrived on the planet he respectfully saluted the lamplighter. 

"Good morning. Why have you just put out your lamp?" 

"Those are the orders," replied the lamplighter. "Good morning." 

"What are the orders?" 

"The orders are that I put out my lamp. Good evening." 

And he lighted his lamp again. 

"But why have you just lighted it again?" 

"Those are the orders," replied the lamplighter. 

"I do not understand," said the little prince. 

"There is nothing to understand," said the lamplighter. "Orders are orders. Good morning." 

And he put out his lamp. 

Then he mopped his forehead with a handkerchief decorated with red squares. 

"I follow a terrible profession. In the old days it was reasonable. I put the lamp out in the morning, and in the evening I lighted it again. I had the rest of the day for relaxation and the rest of the night for sleep." 

"And the orders have been changed since that time?" 

"The orders have not been changed," said the lamplighter. "That is the tragedy! From year to year the planet has turned more rapidly and the orders have not been changed!" 

"Then what?" asked the little prince. 

"Then-- the planet now makes a complete turn every minute, and I no longer have a single second for repose. Once every minute I have to light my lamp and put it out!" 

"That is very funny! A day lasts only one minute, here where you live!" 

"It is not funny at all!" said the lamplighter. "While we have been talking together a month has gone by." 

"A month?" 

"Yes, a month. Thirty minutes. Thirty days. Good evening." 

And he lighted his lamp again. 

As the little prince watched him, he felt that he loved this lamplighter who was so faithful to his orders. He remembered the sunsets which he himself had gone to seek, in other days, merely by pulling up his chair; and he wanted to help his friend. 

"You know," he said, "I can tell you a way you can rest whenever you want to..." 

"I always want to rest," said the lamplighter. 

For it is possible for a man to be faithful and lazy at the same time. 

The little prince went on with his explanation: 

"Your planet is so small that three strides will take you all the way around it. To be always in the sunshine, you need only walk along rather slowly. When you want to rest, you will walk-- and the day will last as long as you like." 

"That doesn't do me much good," said the lamplighter. "The one thing I love in life is to sleep." 

"Then you're unlucky," said the little prince. 

"I am unlucky," said the lamplighter. "Good morning." 

And he put out his lamp. 

"That man," said the little prince to himself, as he continued farther on his journey, "that man would be scorned by all the others: by the king, by the conceited man, by the tippler, by the businessman. Nevertheless he is the only one of them all who does not seem to me ridiculous. Perhaps that is because he is thinking of something else besides himself." 

He breathed a sigh of regret, and said to himself, again: 

"That man is the only one of them all whom I could have made my friend. But his planet is indeed too small. There is no room on it for two people..." 

What the little prince did not dare confess was that he was sorry most of all to leave this planet, because it was blest every day with 1440 sunsets!

《小王子》：第十三章

第五颗行星非常奇怪。这是最小的一颗。上面刚好只能容得下一盏路灯和一个点灯人。小王子好生纳闷，在天空的一个角落，在一个既没有房子也没有居民的行星上，要一盏路灯和一个点灯人，又能有什么用呢？不过他还是对自己说：

“很可能这个人是有点不正常。但是跟那个国王，那个爱虚荣的人，那个商人和那个酒鬼比起来，他还是要比他们正常些。至少他的工作还有意义。他点亮路灯，就好比唤醒了另一个太阳或者一朵花儿。他熄灭路灯，就好比让这朵花儿或这个太阳睡觉了。这是件很美的事情。既然很美，自然就有用！”

他一到这个星球，就很尊敬地向点灯人打招呼：

“早上好。你刚才为什么把路灯熄掉呢？”

“这是规定，”点灯人回答说，“早上好。”

“什么规定？”

“熄灭路灯呗。晚上好。”

说着他又点亮了路灯。

“那你刚才为什么又点亮路灯呢？”

“这是规定，”点灯人回答说。

“我弄不懂，”小王子说。

“没什么要弄懂的，”点灯人说，“规定就是规定。早上好。”

说着他熄灭了路灯。

然后他用一块有红方格的手帕擦了擦额头。

“我干的是件非常累人的差事。以前还说得过去。我早晨熄灯，晚上点灯。白天我有时间休息，夜里也有时间睡觉……”

“那么，后来规定改变了？”

“规定没有改变，”点灯人说，“惨就惨在这儿！这颗行星一年比一年转得快，可规定却没变！”

“结果呢？”小王子说。

“结果现在每分钟转一圈，我连一秒钟的休息时间都没有。我每分钟就要点一次灯，熄一次灯！”

“这可真有趣！你这儿一天只有一分钟！”

“一点也不有趣，”点灯人说，“我们说着话，就已经一个月过去了。”

“一个月？”

“对。三十分钟。三十天！晚上好。”

说着他点亮了路灯。

小王子瞧着他，心里喜欢上了这个忠于职守的点灯人。他想起了自己以前的挪椅子看日落。他挺想帮助这个朋友：

“你知道……我有一个办法，好让你想休息就能休息……”

“我一直想休息，”点灯人说。

因为，一个人可以同时是忠于职守的，又是生性疏懒的。

小王子接着说：

“你的星球小得很，你走三步就绕了一圈。所以你只要走得慢一些，就可以一直待在阳光下。你要想休息了，就往前走……你要白天有多长，它就有多长。”

“这办法帮不了我多少忙，”点灯人说，“我这人，平生就喜欢睡觉。”

“真不走运，”小王子说。

“真不走运，”点灯人说，“早上好。”

说着他熄灭了路灯。

“这个人呀，”小王子一边继续他的旅途，一边在想，“国王也好，爱虚荣的人也好，酒鬼也好，商人也好，他们都会瞧不起这个人。可是，就只有他没让我感到可笑。也许，这是因为他关心的是别的事情，而不是自己。”

他惋惜地叹了口气，又自言自语：

“只有这个人我可以跟他交朋友。可是他的星球实在太小了。两个人挤不下……”

小王子不敢承认的是，他留恋这颗受上苍眷顾的星球，是因为每二十四小时就有一千四百四十次日落！。