路人书

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第十章（第2页）

“你可以审判自己，”国王回答说，“这可是世上最难的事情。审判自己比审判别人要难得多啊！如果你能正确地审判自己，你就是一个真正智慧的人。”

“是的，”小王子说，“但是我可以在任何地方审判我自己，我没有必要留在这个星球上。”

国王又说：“嗯！嗯！我想，这个星球的某个地方有一只老鼠。夜里，我听见它的声音。你可以审判它，每隔一段时间你就判处它死刑。因此它的生命取决于你的判决。但是，你每次判刑后都要赦免它，我们必须有节制地对待这只老鼠，因为我们只有这一只老鼠。”

“可是我不愿判任何人死刑，我想我还是应该走。”小王子回答道。

“不行。”国王说。

小王子做好离开的准备之后，他不想让这位老国主难过。

“如果国王陛下想要迅速地得到服从，你可以给我下一个合理的命令。比如说，你可以命令我，一分钟之内必须离开。我认为这个条件是成熟的……”

国王没有回答。小王子有些犹疑不决，随后叹了口气，就离开了……“我委任你当我的大使。”国王匆忙地喊道。

国王显出非常有权威的样子。

小王子继续他的旅途，心里想：“这些大人真奇怪。”

Chapter10

Hefoundhimselfintheneighborhoodoftheasteroids325，326，327，328，329，and330.Hebegan，therefore，byvisitingthem，inordertoaddtohisknowledge.

Thefirstofthemwasinhabitedbyaking.Cladinroyalpurpleandermine，hewasseateduponathronewhichwasatthesametimebothsimpleandmajestic.

"Ah!Hereisasubject，"exclaimedtheking，whenhesawthelittleprincecoming.

Andthelittleprinceaskedhimself:"Howcouldherecognizemewhenhehadneverseenmebefore"Hedidnotknowhowtheworldissimplifiedforkings.Tothem，allmenaresubjects.

"Approach，sothatImayseeyoubetter，"saidtheking，whofeltconsuminglyproudofbeingatlastakingoversomebody.

Thelittleprincelookedeverywheretofindaplacetositdown;buttheentireplanetwascrammedandobstructedbythekingsmagnificenterminerobe.Soheremainedstandingupright，and，sincehewastired，heyawned.

"Itiscontrarytoetiquettetoyawninthepresenceofaking，"themonarchsaidtohi"Iforbidyoutodoso.""Icanthelpit.Icantstopmyself，"repliedthelittleprince，thoroughlyembarrassed."Ihavecomeonalongjourney，andIhavehadnosleep...""Ah，then，"thekingsaid."Iorderyoutoyawn.ItisyearssinceIhaveseenanyoneyawning.Yawns，tome，areobjectsofcuriosity.Come，now!Yawnagain!Itisanorder.""Thatfrightensme...Icannot，anymore..."murmuredthelittleprince，nowcompletelyabashed.

"Hum!Hum!"repliedtheking."ThenI—Iorderyousometimestoyawnandsometimesto—"Hesputteredalittle，andseemedvexed.

Forwhatthekingfundamentallyinsisteduponwasthathisauthorityshouldberespected.Hetoleratednodisobedience.Hewasanabsolutemonarch.But，becausehewasaverygoodman，hemadehisordersreasonable.

"IfIorderedageneral，"hewouldsay，bywayofexample，"ifIorderedageneraltochangehimselfintoaseabird，andifthegeneraldidnotobeyme，thatwouldnotbethefaultofthegeneral.Itwouldbemyfault.""MayIsitdown"camenowatimidinquiryfromthelittleprince.

"Iorderyoutodoso，"thekingansweredhim，andmajesticallygatheredinafoldofhiserminemantle.

Butthelittleprincewaswondering...Theplanetwastiny.Overwhatcouldthiskingreallyrule"Sire，"hesaidtohim，"Ibegthatyouwillexcusemyaskingyouaquestion—""Iorderyoutoaskmeaquestion，"thekinghastenedtoassurehi

"Sire—overwhatdoyourule""Overeverything，"saidtheking，withmagnificentsimplicity.

"Overeverything"

Thekingmadeagesture，whichtookinhisplanet，theotherplanets，andallthestars.

"Overallthat"askedthelittleprince.

"Overallthat，"thekinganswered.

Forhisrulewasnotonlyabsolute:itwasalsouniversal.

"Andthestarsobeyyou"

"Certainlytheydo，"thekingsaid."Theyobeyinstantly.Idonotpermitinsubordination."Suchpowerwasathingforthelittleprincetomarvelat.Ifhehadbeenmasterofsuchcompleteauthority，hewouldhavebeenabletowatchthesunset，notforty-fourtimesinoneday，butseventy-two，orevenahundred，oreventwohundredtimes，withouteverhavingtomovehischair.Andbecausehefeltabitsadasherememberedhislittleplanetwhichhehadforsaken，hepluckeduphiscouragetoaskthekingafavor:"Ishouldliketoseeasunset...domethatkindness...Orderthesuntoset...""IfIorderedageneraltoflyfromoneflowertoanotherlikeabutterfly，ortowriteatragicdrama，ortochangehimselfintoaseabird，andifthegeneraldidnotcarryouttheorderthathehadreceived，whichoneofuswouldbeinthewrong"thekingdemanded."Thegeneral，ormyself""You，"saidthelittleprincefirmly.

"Exactly.Onemuchrequirefromeachonethedutywhicheachonecanperform，"thekingwenton."Acceptedauthorityrestsfirstofallonreason.Ifyouorderedyourpeopletogoandthrowthemselvesintothesea，theywouldriseupinrevolution.Ihavetherighttorequireobediencebecausemyordersarereasonable.""Thenmysunset"thelittleprinceremindedhim:forheneverforgotaquestiononcehehadaskedit.

"Youshallhaveyoursunset.Ishallcommandit.But，accordingtomyscienceofgovernment，Ishallwaituntilconditionsarefavorable.""Whenwillthatbe"inquiredthelittleprince.

"Hum!Hum!"repliedtheking;andbeforesayinganythingelseheconsultedabulkyalmanac."Hum!Hum!Thatwillbeabout—about—thatwillbethiseveningabouttwentyminutestoeight.AndyouwillseehowwellIamobeyed."Thelittleprinceyawned.Hewasregrettinghislostsunset.Andthen，too，hewasalreadybeginningtobealittlebored.

"Ihavenothingmoretodohere，"hesaidtotheking."SoIshallsetoutonmywayagain.""Donotgo，"saidtheking，whowasveryproudofhavingasubject."Donotgo.IwillmakeyouaMinister!""Ministerofwhat"

"Minsterof—ofJustice!"

"Butthereisnobodyheretojudge!""Wedonotknowthat，"thekingsaidtohi"IhavenotyetmadeacompletetourofmykingdoIamveryold.Thereisnoroomhereforacarriage.Andittiresmetowalk.""Oh，butIhavelookedalready!"saidthelittleprince，turningaroundtogiveonemoreglancetotheothersideoftheplanet.Onthatside，asonthis，therewasnobodyatall...

"Thenyoushalljudgeyourself，"thekinganswered."thatisthemostdifficultthingofall.Itismuchmoredifficulttojudgeoneselfthantojudgeothers.Ifyousucceedinjudgingyourselfrightly，thenyouareindeedamanoftruewisdo""Yes，"saidthelittleprince，"butIcanjudgemyselfanywhere.Idonotneedtoliveonthisplanet.

"Hum!Hum!"saidtheking."Ihavegoodreasontobelievethatsomewhereonmyplanetthereisanoldrat.Ihearhimatnight.Youcanjudgethisoldrat.Fromtimetotimeyouwillcondemnhimtodeath.Thushislifewilldependonyourjustice.Butyouwillpardonhimoneachoccasion;forhemustbetreatedthriftily.Heistheonlyonewehave.""I，"repliedthelittleprince，"donotliketocondemnanyonetodeath.AndnowIthinkIwillgoonmyway.""No，"saidtheking.

Butthelittleprince，havingnowcompletedhispreparationsfordeparture，hadnowishtogrievetheoldmonarch.

"IfYourMajestywishestobepromptlyobeyed，"hesaid，"heshouldbeabletogivemeareasonableorder.Heshouldbeable，forexample，toordermetobegonebytheendofoneminute.Itseemstomethatconditionsarefavorable..."Asthekingmadenoanswer，thelittleprincehesitatedamoment.Then，withasigh，hetookhisleave.

"ImadeyoumyAmbassador，"thekingcalledout，hastily.

Hehadamagnificentairofauthority.

"Thegrown-upsareverystrange，"thelittleprincesaidtohimself，ashecontinuedonhisjourney.

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