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第四颗星球上住的是生意人。此人忙得不亦乐乎， 当小王子来到时，他甚至没有抬头看一眼。"您好，"小王子招呼致意，"您的烟灭了。" "三加二等于五。五加七，十二。十二加三，十五。您好。十五加七，二十二。 二十二加六，烟灭了就灭了吧，没工夫再去点着。二十六，三十一。哎呀呀！总共加在一起是五亿零，六十二万二千七百三十一。" "五亿什么？” "嘿，你还在这儿？五亿零一百万……我也搞不懂，我有这么繁重的业务！我，我这个人工作很认真 ，我可没有兴趣说废话！ 二加五是七……” "五亿零一百万的什么东西？”小王子重复问道，他一旦提出某个问题，就一定要问个水落石出。 生意人抬起头来，说："自从我住在这颗星球上以来，五十四年之中，我只被打扰过三次。第一次是在二十二年前，天知道从什么地方掉下来一只金龟子。它发出的噪音，吵得我实在头痛，以致在一项加法中竟出了四个错。第二次是在十一年前，我得了关节炎。因为我缺少体育运动，我实在没有时间外出闲逛。我这个人，工作起来可认真哩。第三次被打扰……就是现在！我说五亿零一百万……， "一百万什么呀？”小王子又问。 生意人总算明白了，面对这一个打扰者，自己别指望清静啦，他敷衍答了一句："就是成百万那种可以在天空里看见的小东西。" "那就是苍蝇啰？” "不是，是那些闪闪发亮的小东西。" "是蜜蜂吗？” "不是蜜蜂。就是令那些懒汉们胡思乱想的小玩意儿，金光闪闪的小玩意儿。但我是个严肃的正经人，我可没闲工夫去胡思乱想。" "啊呀！您讲的是不是星星呀？” "是的，就是星星！” "那你要拿五亿颗星星干什么？” "是五亿零一百六十二万二千七百三十一颗星星，我是个严肃认真的人，我对任何事情，都讲究精确。" "你究竟要拿这么多星星干什么呀？” "我干什么？” "是呀，你要干什么？”"什么也不干。我只想占有它们。" "你要把这么多星星占为己有？” "一点也没错。" "可是，我前不久已经见到一位国王，国王们不占有星球，他们是统治星球，这两者之间有极大的不同。你把这些星星都据为己有，是为了什么？” "这样我就非常非常富有啦！” "你要这么富有干什么？” "为了再去买下其他的星星，如果新发现有别的星球的话。" 小王子心想，这家伙讲起歪理来，倒有点像我见到过的酒鬼。但他仍不断地提问："你怎么才能占有星星呢？” "那你说它们归谁所有呢？”生意人气势汹汹地反问道。 "我不知道。它们不归任何人所有。" "那不得了嘛，它们就归我所有，因为我是头一个想占有的人。" "如此如此，难道就行了？” "当然。你发现了一颗无主的钻石，它自然就归你所有了，当你找到了一个没有主人的岛屿，你也就成为了这岛屿的主人。当你第一个产生一个主意，你就要取得它的所有权，它就成为你的专有物。而我昵，我占有星星，因为在我之前，从来就没有人想到要占有它们。" "这倒的确是真的，"小王子说，"那你要用它们干什么呢？” "我管理它们呀。我对它们进行核算，进行统计，然后再核算再统计，"生意人说，"这件工作可费劲啦，但我是一个严肃认真的人！” 小王子对他的回答还是不满意。"要是我呀，如果有一条围巾，我就会把它围在我的脖子上。如果有一朵花儿，我就会把它摘下来，佩戴在自己身上。可你总不可能去摘星星吧！” "是不可能，可是我能够把它们存到银行里去。" "这是什么意思？” "这就是说，我在一张小纸条上，写下我占有星星的总数，然后，把这张纸条锁进一个抽展里。" "这就齐了？” "这就齐了！” 小王子心想："这可真逗，这个做法倒有点诗意， 但是不大严肃正经。" 小王子对事情是否严肃正经的标准，与成年人对此的标准，的确相距很远。 "我呀，"他这样说，"我占有过一朵花儿，我曾天天给她浇水。我也占有过三座火山，我每个星期都替它们清扫喷发口。而且，我还给那已经熄灭的死火山清扫出口。谁能预料它会不会再喷发呢？我这样占有我的火山，对火山有利；我这样占有我的花儿，对花儿有利。但是，你这种占有方式，对星星毫无好处。" 那生意人张着大嘴，答不上话来。于是，小王子扬长而去，离开了这个星球。 "成人们真是古里古怪，无奇不有。"小王子这么想着，继续他的星际长途旅行。 The fourth planet belonged to a businessman. This man was so much occupied that he did not even raise his head at the little prince's arrival. "Good morning," the little prince said to him. "Your cigarette has gone out." "Three and two make five. Five and seven make twelve. Twelve and three make fifteen. Good morning. Fifteen and seven make twenty-two. Twenty-two and six make twenty-eight. I haven't time to light it again. Twenty-six and five make thirty-one. Phew ! Then that makes five-hundred-and-one-million, six-hundred-twenty-two-thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one." "Five hundred million what?" asked the little prince. "Eh? Are you still there? Five-hundred-and-one million—1 can't stop... I have so much to do! I am concerned with matters of consequence. I don't amuse myself with balderdash. Two and five make seven..." "Five-hundred-and-one million what?" repeated the little prince, who never in his life had let go of a question once he had asked it. The businessman raised his head. "During the fifty-four years that I have inhabited this planet, I have been disturbed only three times. The first time was twenty-two years ago, when some giddy goose fell from goodness knows where. He made the most frightful noise that resounded all over the place, and I made four mistakes in my addition. The second time, eleven years ago, I was disturbed by an attack of rheumatism. I don't get enough exercise. I have no time for loafing. The third time—well, this is it! I was saying, then, five-hundred-and-one millions—" "Millions of what?" The businessman suddenly realized that there was no hope of being left in peace until he answered this question. "Millions of those little objects," he said, "which one sometimes sees in the sky." "Flies?" "Oh, no. Little glittering objects." "Bees?" "Oh, no. Little golden objects that set lazy men to idle dreaming. As for me, I am concerned with matters of consequence. There is no time for idle dreaming in my life." "Ah! You mean the stars?" "Yes, that's it. The stars." "And what do you do with five-hundred millions of stars?" "Five-hundred-and-one million, six-hundred-twenty-two thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one. I am concerned with matters of consequence: I am accurate." "And what do you do with these stars?" "What do 1 do with them?" "Yes." "Nothing. I own them." "You own the stars?" "Yes." "But I have already seen a king who—" "Kings do not own, they reign over. It is a very different matter." "And what good does it do you to own the stars?" "It does me the good of making me rich." "And what good does it do you to be rich?" "It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are ever discovered." "This man," the little prince said to himself, "reasons a little like my poor tippler..." Nevertheless, he still had some more questions. "How is it possible for one to own the stars?" "To whom do they belong?" the businessman retorted, peevishly. "I don't know. To nobody." "Then they belong to me, because 1 was the first person to think of it." "Is that all that is necessary?" "Certainly. When you find a diamond that belongs to nobody, it is yours. When you discover an island that belongs to nobody, it is yours. When you get an idea before anyone else, you take out a patent on it: it is yours. So with me: 1 own the stars, because nobody else before me ever thought of owning them." "Yes, that is true," said the little prince. "And what do you do with them?" "I administer them," replied the businessman. "I count them and recount them. It is difficult. But I am a man who is naturally interested in matters of consequence." The little prince was still not satisfied. "If I owned a silk scarf," he said, "I could put it around my neck and talce it away with me. If I owned a flower, I could pluck that flower and talce it away with me. But you cannot pluck the stars from heaven..." "No. But I can put them in the bank." "Whatever does that mean?" "That means that I write the number of my stars on a little paper. And ken I put this paper in a drawer and lock it with a key." "And that is all?" "That is enough," said the businessman. "It is entertaining," thought the little prince. "It is rather poetic. But it is of no great consequence." On matters of consequence, the little prince had ideas which were very different from those of the grown-ups. "I myself own a flower," he continued his conversation with the businessman, "which I water every day. I own three volcanoes, which I :lean out every week (for I also clean out the one that is extinct; one never knows). It is of some use to my volcanoes , and it is of some use to my flower, that I own them. But you are of no use to the stars..." The businessman opened his mouth, but he found nothing to say in answer. And the little prince went away. "The grown-ups are certainly altogether extraordinary," he said simply, talking to himself as he continued on his journey. |
