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"你好。"小王子说。 "你好。"扳道工答道。 "你在这里干什么呀？”小王子问。 "我正在对一大批一大批旅客进行调度，"板道工说，"我把他们乘坐的那些火车，有的调往左，有的调往右，让它们一一开走。" 只见一列灯光明亮的快车，发出雷鸣般的响声，急驶而来，震得板道工的那个木板屋微微颤抖。 "这些旅客真是急急匆匆的呀，"小王子说，"他们要追求什么东西昵？” "开火车的司机也不知道。"扳道工说。 从相反的方向，又有一列灯光明亮的快车呼啸而来。 "刚才那些旅客这么快就回来了？”小王子问道。 "这不是刚才那一列车，"扳道工说，"这是对开的另一列车。" "这些旅客是对他们原来待的那个地方不喜欢，不满意吗？” "人永远不会对自己原来待的地方感到满意。"扳道工答道。 这时，第三列灯光明亮的快车，又轰隆而过。"他们在追赶第一列火车里的旅客？"小王子问道。"他们不是在追赶谁，"扳道工答道，"他们都在车厢里睡大觉呢，要不就是在打哈欠。只有那些小孩把脸紧贴着玻璃窗朝车外观看。" "只有孩子才知道自己要寻找什么，"小王子说，"他们为了用碎布头做一个玩具娃娃，真舍得花时间。因此，这玩具娃娃就成为了他最珍贵的宝贝，如果被别人拿走，他就会伤心大哭……” "孩子们才真正有自己的乐趣。"扳道工感慨道。 "Good morning," said the little prince. "Good morning," said the railway switchman. "What do you do here?" the little prince asked. "I sort out travelers, in bundles of a thousand," said the switchman. "I send off the trains that carry them; now to the right, now to the left." And a brilliantly lighted express train shook the switchman's cabin as it rushed by with a roar like thunder. "They are in a great hurry," said the little prince. "What are they looking for?" "Not even the locomotive engineer knows that," said the switchman. And a second brilliantly lighted express thundered by, in the opposite direction. "Are they coming back already?" demanded the little prince. "These are not the same ones," said the switchman. "It is an exchange." "Were they not satisfied where they were?" asked the little prince. "No one is ever satisfied where he is," said the switchman. And they heard the roaring thunder of a third brilliantly lighted express. "Are they pursuing the first travelers?" demanded the little prince. "They are pursuing nothing at all," said the switchman. "They are asleep in there, or if they are not asleep they are yawning. Only the children are flattening their noses against the windowpanes." "Only the children know what they are looking for," said the little prince. "They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them; and if anybody takes it away from them, they cry..." 'They are lucky," the switchman said. |
