第十四章Chapter 14

The Little Prince: Chapter 14

The sixth planet was ten times larger than the last one. It was inhabited by an old gentleman who wrote voluminous books. 

"Oh, look! Here is an explorer!" he exclaimed to himself when he saw the little prince coming. 

The little prince sat down on the table and panted a little. He had already traveled so much and so far! 

"Where do you come from?" the old gentleman said to him. 

"What is that big book?" said the little prince. "What are you doing?" 

"I am a geographer," the old gentleman said to him. 

"What is a geographer?" asked the little prince. 

"A geographer is a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts." 

"That is very interesting," said the little prince. "Here at last is a man who has a real profession!" And he cast a look around him at the planet of the geographer. It was the most magnificent and stately planet that he had ever seen. 

"Your planet is very beautiful," he said. "Has it any oceans?" 

"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer. 

"Ah!" The little prince was disappointed. "Has it any mountains?" 

"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer. 

"And towns, and rivers, and deserts?" 

"I couldn't tell you that, either." 

"But you are a geographer!" 

"Exactly," the geographer said. "But I am not an explorer. I haven't a single explorer on my planet. It is not the geographer who goes out to count the towns, the rivers, the mountains, the seas, the oceans, and the deserts. The geographer is much too important to go loafing about. He does not leave his desk. But he receives the explorers in his study. He asks them questions, and he notes down what they recall of their travels. And if the recollections of any one among them seem interesting to him, the geographer orders an inquiry into that explorer's moral character." 

"Why is that?" 

"Because an explorer who told lies would bring disaster on the books of the geographer. So would an explorer who drank too much." 

"Why is that?" asked the little prince. 

"Because intoxicated men see double. Then the geographer would note down two mountains in a place where there was only one." 

"I know some one," said the little prince, "who would make a bad explorer." 

"That is possible. Then, when the moral character of the explorer is shown to be good, an inquiry is ordered into his discovery." 

"One goes to see it?" 

"No. That would be too complicated. But one requires the explorer to furnish proofs. For example, if the discovery in question is that of a large mountain, one requires that large stones be brought back from it." 

The geographer was suddenly stirred to excitement. 

"But you-- you come from far away! You are an explorer! You shall describe your planet to me!" 

And, having opened his big register, the geographer sharpened his pencil. The recitals of explorers are put down first in pencil. One waits until the explorer has furnished proofs, before putting them down in ink. 

"Well?" said the geographer expectantly. 

"Oh, where I live," said the little prince, "it is not very interesting. It is all so small. I have three volcanoes. Two volcanoes are active and the other is extinct. But one never knows." 

"One never knows," said the geographer. 

"I have also a flower." 

"We do not record flowers," said the geographer. 

"Why is that? The flower is the most beautiful thing on my planet!" 

"We do not record them," said the geographer, "because they are ephemeral." 

"What does that mean-- 'ephemeral'?" 

"Geographies," said the geographer, "are the books which, of all books, are most concerned with matters of consequence. They never become old-fashioned. It is very rarely that a mountain changes its position. It is very rarely that an ocean empties itself of its waters. We write of eternal things." 

"But extinct volcanoes may come to life again," the little prince interrupted. "What does that mean-- 'ephemeral'?" 

"Whether volcanoes are extinct or alive, it comes to the same thing for us," said the geographer. "The thing that matters to us is the mountain. It does not change." 

"But what does that mean-- 'ephemeral'?" repeated the little prince, who never in his life had let go of a question, once he had asked it. 

"It means, 'which is in danger of speedy disappearance.'" 

"Is my flower in danger of speedy disappearance?" 

"Certainly it is." 

"My flower is ephemeral," the little prince said to himself, "and she has only four thorns to defend herself against the world. And I have left her on my planet, all alone!" 

That was his first moment of regret. But he took courage once more. 

"What place would you advise me to visit now?" he asked. 

"The planet Earth," replied the geographer. "It has a good reputation." 

And the little prince went away, thinking of his flower.

《小王子》：第十四章

第六颗行星是一颗大十倍的行星。上面住着一个老先生，他在写一本本大部头的著作。

“瞧！来了一位探险家！”他一看见小王子，就喊道。

小王子坐在桌边，喘了喘气。他刚走了那么多路！

“你从哪儿来啊？”老先生问他。

“这一大本是什么书？”小王子说，“您在这儿干什么呢？”

“我是地理学家，”老先生说。

“什么叫地理学家？”

“地理学家是个学者，他知道哪儿有海洋，有河流，有城市，有山脉和沙漠。”

“这挺有趣，”小王子说，“啊，这才是真正的职业！”说着他朝地理学家的星球四周望了一眼。他还从没见过这么雄伟壮丽的星球哩。

“您的星球真美。它有海洋吗？”

“这我没法知道，”地理学家说。

“哦！”小王子有点失望。“那么山脉呢？”

[图片]

“这我没法知道，”地理学家说。

“城市、河流和沙漠呢？”

“这我也没法知道，”地理学家说。

“可您是地理学家呀！”

“一点不错，”地理学家说，“但我不是探险家。我这里一个探险家也没有。地理学家是不出去探测城市、河流、山脉、海洋和沙漠的。地理学家非常重要，他不能到处闲逛。他从不离开自己的书房。不过他会在那里接见探险家。他向他们提问，把他们的旅行回忆记下来。要是他觉得他们中间哪个人的回忆有意思，他就会让人对这个探险家的品行作一番调查。”

“这是为什么？”

“因为一个说谎的探险家会给地理书带来灾难性的后果。一个贪杯的探险家也是如此。”

“这是为什么？”小王子问。

“因为酒鬼会把一样东西看成两样东西。这样一来，地理学家就会把明明只有一座山的地方写成有两座山了。”

“我认识一个人，”小王子说，“他当探险家就不行。”

“这有可能。所以，要等到了解探险家品行良好以后，才对他的发现进行调查。”

“去看一下？”

“不。这太复杂了。地理学家只要求探险家提供物证。比如说，他发现了一座大山，地理学家就要求他带一块大石头来。”

地理学家忽然激动起来。

“嗨，你是大老远来的！你是探险家！你给我说说你的星球！”

说着，地理学家打开笔记本，削了支铅笔。地理学家一开始只用铅笔记下探险家讲的话。要等到这个探险家提供物证以后，才换用钢笔来记录。

“怎么样？”地理学家问。

“哦！我那儿，”小王子说，“并不很有趣，那是颗很小的星球。我有三座火山。两座活火山，一座死火山。不过这也说不定。”

“这可说不定，”地理学家说。

“我还有一朵花儿。”

“花儿我们是不记下来的，”地理学家说。

“这是为什么？花儿是最美的呀！”

“因为花是转瞬即逝的。”

“什么叫‘转瞬即逝’呢？”

“地理书，”地理学家说，“是所有的书中间最宝贵的。地理书永远不会过时。山脉移位的情形是极其罕见的。海洋干涸的情形也是极其罕见的。我们写的都是永恒的事物。”

“可是死火山说不定也会醒来，”小王子插话说，“什么叫‘转瞬即逝’呢？”

“火山睡也好，醒也好，对我们地理学家来说是一码事，”地理学家说，“我们关心的是山。山是一成不变的。”

“可是，什么叫‘转瞬即逝’呢？”小王子追问道，他向来提了问题就不肯放过。

“意思就是‘随时有消逝的危险’。”

“我的花儿随时有消逝的危险吗？”

“当然。”

“我的花儿是转瞬即逝的，”小王子想道，“她只有四根刺可以自卫，可以用来抵御这个世界！而我却丢下她孤零零地在那儿！”

想到这儿，他不由得感到了后悔。不过他马上又振作起来：

“依您看，我再去哪儿访问好呢？”他问。

“地球吧，”地理学家回答说，“它的名气挺响……”

于是小王子走了，一边走一边想着他的花儿。