暖心小說《小王子》第15章

The sixth planet was ten times larger than the last one. It was inhabited by an old gentleman who wrote voluminous books.
第六顆行星則要大十倍。上面住著一位老先生，他在寫作大部頭的書。

"Oh, look! Here is an explorer!" he exclaimed to himself when he saw the little prince coming.
“瞧！來了一位探險家。”老先生看到小王子時，叫了起來。

The little prince sat down on the table and panted a little. He had already traveled so much and so far!
小王子在桌旁坐下，有點(diǎn)氣喘吁吁。他跑了多少路啊！

"Where do you come from?" the old gentleman said to him.
“你從哪里來的呀？”老先生問小王子。

"What is that big book?" said the little prince. "What are you doing?"
“這一大本是什么書？你在這里干什么？”小王子問道。

"I am a geographer," the old gentleman said to him.
“我是地理學(xué)家。”老先生答道。

"What is a geographer?" asked the little prince.
“什么是地理學(xué)家？”

"A geographer is a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts."
“地理學(xué)家，就是一種學(xué)者，他知道哪里有海洋，哪里有江河、城市、山脈、沙漠。”

"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.
“這倒挺有意思。”小王子說。“這才是一種真正的行當(dāng)。”他朝四周圍看了看這位地理學(xué)家的星球。他還從來沒有見過一顆如此壯觀的行星。

"Your planet is very beautiful," he said. "Has it any oceans?"
“您的星球真美呀。上面有海洋嗎？”

"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.
“這我沒法知道。”地理學(xué)家說。

"Ah！" The little prince was disappointed. "Has it any mountains?"
“啊！”小王子大失所望。“那么，山脈呢？”

"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.
“這，我沒法知道。”地理學(xué)家說。

"And towns, and rivers, and deserts?"
“那么，有城市、河流、沙漠嗎？”

"I couldn't tell you that, either."
“這，我也沒法知道。”地理學(xué)家說。

"But you are a geographer!"
“可您還是地理學(xué)家呢！”

"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."
“一點(diǎn)不錯，”地理學(xué)家說，“但是我不是探察家。我手下一個探察家都沒有。地理學(xué)家是不去計算城市、河流、山脈、海洋、沙漠的。地理學(xué)家很重要，不能到處跑。他不能離開他的辦公室。但他可以在辦公室里接見探察家。他詢問探察家，把他們的回憶記錄下來。如果他認(rèn)為其中有個探察家的回憶是有意思的，那么地理學(xué)家就對這個探察家的品德做一番調(diào)查。”

"Why is that?"
“這是為什么呢？”

"Because an explorer who told lies would bring disaster on the books of the geographer. So would an explorer who drank too much."
“因為一個說假話的探察家會給地理書帶來災(zāi)難性的后果。同樣，一個太愛喝酒的探察家也是如此。”

"Why is that?" asked the little prince.
“這又是為什么？”小王子說。

"Because intoxicated men see double. Then the geographer would note down two mountains in a place where there was only one."
“因為喝醉了酒的人把一個看成兩個，那么，地理學(xué)家就會把只有一座山的地方寫成兩座山。”

"I know some one," said the little prince, "who would make a bad explorer."
“我認(rèn)識一個人，他要是搞探察的話，就很可能是個不好的探察員。”小王子說。

"That is possible. Then, when the moral character of the explorer is shown to be good, an inquiry is ordered into his discovery."
“這是可能的。因此，如果探察家的品德不錯，就對他的發(fā)現(xiàn)進(jìn)行調(diào)查。”

"One goes to see it?"
“去看一看嗎？”

"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."
“不。那太復(fù)雜了。但是要求探察家提出證據(jù)來。例如，假使他發(fā)現(xiàn)了一座大山，就要求他帶來一些大石頭。”

The geographer was suddenly stirred to excitement.
地理學(xué)家忽然忙亂起來。

"But you-- you come from far away! You are an explorer! You shall describe your planet to me!"
“正好，你是從老遠(yuǎn)來的么！你是個探察家！你來給我介紹一下你的星球吧！”

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.
于是，已經(jīng)打開登記簿的地理學(xué)家，削起他的鉛筆來。他首先是用鉛筆記下探察家的敘述，等到探察家提出了證據(jù)以后再用墨水筆記下來。

"Well?" said the geographer expectantly.
“怎么樣？”地理學(xué)家詢問道。

"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."
“啊！我那里，”小王子說道，“沒有多大意思，那兒很小。我有三座火山，兩座是活的，一座是熄滅了的。但是也很難說。”

"One never knows," said the geographer.
“很難說。”地理學(xué)家說道。

"I have also a flower."
“我還有一朵花。”

"We do not record flowers," said the geographer.
“我們是不記載花卉的。”地理學(xué)家說。

"Why is that? The flower is the most beautiful thing on my planet!"
“這是為什么？花是我那個星球上最美麗的東西！”

"We do not record them," said the geographer, "because they are ephemeral."
“因為花卉是轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝的。”

"What does that mean-- 'ephemeral'?"
“什么叫轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝？”

"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."
“地理學(xué)書籍是所有書中最嚴(yán)肅的書。”地理學(xué)家說道，“這類書是從不會過時的。很少會發(fā)生一座山變換了位置，很少會出現(xiàn)一個海洋干涸的現(xiàn)象。我們要寫永恒的東西。”

"But extinct volcanoes may come to life again," the little prince interrupted. "What does that mean-- 'ephemeral'?"
“但是熄滅的火山也可能會再復(fù)蘇的。”小王子打斷了地理學(xué)家。“什么叫短暫？”

"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."
“火山是熄滅了的也好，蘇醒的也好，這對我們這些人來講都是一回事。” 地理學(xué)家說，“對我們來說，重要的是山。山是不會變換位置的。”

"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.
“但是，‘轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝’是什么意思？”小王子再三地問道。他一旦提出一個問題是從不放過的。

"It means, 'which is in danger of speedy disappearance.'"
“意思就是：有很快就會消失的危險。”

"Is my flower in danger of speedy disappearance?"
“我的花是很快就會消失的嗎？”

"Certainly it is."
“那當(dāng)然。”

"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!"
小王子自言自語地說：“我的花是短暫的，而且她只有四根刺來防御外侮！可我還把她獨(dú)自留在家里！”

That was his first moment of regret. But he took courage once more.
這是他第一次產(chǎn)生了后悔，但他又重新振作起來：

"What place would you advise me to visit now?" he asked.
“您是否能建議我去看些什么？”小王子問道。

"The planet Earth," replied the geographer. "It has a good reputation."
“地球這顆行星，”地理學(xué)家回答他說，“它的名望很高……”

And the little prince went away, thinking of his flower.
于是小王子就走了，他一邊走一邊想著他的花。

（來源：愛詞霸 編輯：丹妮）