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第六颗星球比第五颗星球要大十倍。那里住着一位老先生，他正在写一部大部头著作。 "瞧！来了一个勘察者！”他一见小王子，就这么喊道。 小王子往桌子上一坐，有些气喘吁吁，他已经在长途旅行中跑了很久！ "你是从哪里来的？”老先生问道。 "这是一本什么书，这么厚呀？”小王子问，"您在这儿干什么？” "我是个地理学家。"老先生说。 "地理学家是干什么的？” "就是学者，知道海洋、河流、城市、山脉与沙漠位于何处的学者。" "这太有意思了，"小王子发表评论说，"这是一种真正的职业！”他瞧了瞧地理学家这颗星球的情况，觉得自己从来没有见过一颗像这样有气魄的星球。 "您的星球真是太美啦！这儿有海洋吗？” "我不知道有没有。"地理学家答道。 "哦！”小王子对他的回答深感失望，又问，"那么，有没有山脉呢？ ^ "我也不知道有没有。"地理学家还是同一个回答。 "有城市、河流与沙漠吗？” "我也不知道有没有。"地理学家一问三不知。 "可您是地理学家呀！” "的确是，"地理学家说，"但我不是个勘察者。我这儿特别需要探险家。统计调查那些城市、山川、河流与沙漠，这些事不是地理学家应该去干的活儿，而是勘察者的活儿。地理学家太重要了，他没有时间去游山逛水。他从不离开办公室，但他接待那些勘察者，听取汇报，仔细询问，并把他们的陈述记录下来。如果他们之中某个人的陈述引起了他的重视，那么还得对陈述者的思想道德状况进行审查。" "为什么要这么做？” "因为一个勘察者如果撒了谎，那就会给地理学家写的书带来严重的错误。同样，一个嗜酒贪杯的勘察者，也会造成严重的后果。" "那是怎么回事昵？” "因为在酒鬼眼里，什么东西都会有重影。地理学家根据他的陈述，记录下来有两座山，其实那个地方只有一座。" "我认识一个人，"小王子说，"他一定是个坏事的勘察者。" "那完全可能，"地理学家说，"即使勘察者的思想道德状况完全正常，我还要对他陈述的结果进行调査核实。" "是去当地察看吗？” "不，那样太麻烦。只要勘察者提供证据，例如， 关于一座大山，就要求他带回若干块岩石。" 说到这里，地理学家突然打住。 "可是你呀，你是来自遥远的天边！你也是勘察者！你把你那个星球描述描述给我听吧！ ” 于是，地理学家打开他的笔记本，削尖他的铅笔。一般说来，他总是先用铅笔记录下勘察者的陈述，要等到勘察者提供了物证之后，他才用墨水笔正式记录。 "怎么样，说说吧！”地理学家问道。 "哦，在我那儿，"小王子说，"没有多少可说的，我那儿特别小，有三座火山，两座活火山，一座死火山，不过，是不是真死了，还难说。" "还难说。"地理学家重复了一句。 "我还有一株花儿。" "花卉不在我们的记录范围之列。"地理学家说。 "这是为什么呀？我的那株花儿要算是最美丽的了。" "因为花草都是朝生暮死，好景不常的。" "好景不常，这是什么意思？” "地理著作，"这位老先生说道，"是所有的书籍中最为珍贵的书籍。这类著作永远也不会过时。世上的山，从没有见过有移动搬家的；世上的海，也不见有干枯消失的。我们地理学家记载下来的，都是一些永世长存的东西。" "但是，死火山也可能重新喷发呀！”小王子打断他的话，又问，"您所说的'好景不常'是什么意思？” 地理学家答道："不论火山是死了还是仍在活动， 对我们这些人来说，其意义都是同样的，在我们看来，它就是山，在这个意义上它亘古不变。" "但您说的'好景不常'，究竟是什么意思呀？” 小王子再一次追问，他一旦提出一个问题，就一定要打破沙锅问到底，他一贯都是如此。 "这就是说，受到了某种威胁，不久就会消失。" "我的那朵花儿也是受到某种威胁，将要消失吗？” "当然。” "我的花儿好景不常，"小王子心想，"何况她只有四根刺可以保护自己，对付整个世界！而我，我竟然将她孤零零地扔在家里！” 这是小王子生平第一次感到后悔，但他仍打起精神，问那位老先生：“你建议我去看些什么呢？”他问。 “地球这颗行星，”地理学家说：“它具有良好的声誉。” 于是小王子就走了，想着他的花。 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 also have 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. |
