路人书

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第十三章（第2页）

“是这样的。可是你用星星来干什么？”小王子说。

“我经营管理它们。我一遍又一遍地计算它们的数目。这很困难。但我是一个正经的人！”

小王子仍然还不满足，他说：

“如果我有一条围巾，我可以围在脖子上带走它。如果我有一朵花，我可以摘下花朵带走它。可你却不能从天上摘下这些星星呀！”

“是的，我不能摘下来，但我可以把它们存在银行里。”

“存银行是什么意思？”

“这是说，我把星星的数目写在纸上，然后把这张重要的纸锁在一个抽屉里。”

“这样就行了吗？”

“这样就行了。”

“这倒很有诗意，也很好玩，可是，这并不算是了不起的正经事啊。”小王子想。

关于什么是正经事，小王子的看法与大人们的看法非常不同：“我有一朵花，我每天都给她浇水。我还有三座火山，我每星期清理它们，连死火山也清理。谁知道它会不会再复活呢！我拥有火山和花，这对我的火山有益处，对我的花也有益处。但是你对星星并没有用处……”

这个商人张口结舌、无言以对。于是小王子离开了。

再次开始自己的旅程，小王子心想：“这些大人们真是很特别，全部都奇怪极了。”

Chapter13

Thefourthplanetbelongedtoabusinessman.Thismanwassomuchoccupiedthathedidnotevenraisehisheadatthelittleprincesarrival.

"Goodmorning，"thelittleprincesaidtohi"Yourcigarettehasgoneout.""Threeandtwomakefive.Fiveandsevenmaketwelve.Twelveandthreemakefifteen.Goodmorning.Fifteenandsevenmaketwenty-two.Twenty-twoandsixmaketwenty-eight.Ihaventtimetolightitagain.Twenty-sixandfivemakethirty-one.Phew!Thenthatmakesfive-hundred-and-one-million，six-hundred-twenty-two-thousand，seven-hundred-thirty-one.""Fivehundredmillionwhat"askedthelittleprince.

"EhAreyoustillthereFive-hundred-and-onemillion—Icantstop...Ihavesomuchtodo!Iamconcernedwithmattersofconsequence.Idontamusemyselfwithbalderdash.Twoandfivemakeseven...""Five-hundred-and-onemillionwhat"repeatedthelittleprince，whoneverinhislifehadletgoofaquestiononcehehadaskedit.

Thebusinessmanraisedhishead.

"Duringthefifty-fouryearsthatIhaveinhabitedthisplanet，Ihavebeendisturbedonlythreetimes.Thefirsttimewastwenty-twoyearsago，whensomegiddygoosefellfromgoodnessknowswhere.Hemadethemostfrightfulnoisethatresoundedallovertheplace，andImadefourmistakesinmyaddition.Thesecondtime，elevenyearsago，IwasdisturbedbyanattackofrheumatisIdontgetenoughexercise.Ihavenotimeforloafing.Thethirdtime—well，thisisit!Iwassaying，then，five-hundred-and-onemillions—""Millionsofwhat"

Thebusinessmansuddenlyrealizedthattherewasnohopeofbeingleftinpeaceuntilheansweredthisquestion.

"Millionsofthoselittleobjects，"hesaid，"whichonesometimesseesinthesky.""Flies"

"Oh，no.Littleglitteringobjects.""Bees"

"Oh，no.Littlegoldenobjectsthatsetlazymentoidledreaming.Asforme，Iamconcernedwithmattersofconsequence.Thereisnotimeforidledreaminginmylife.""Ah!Youmeanthestars"

"Yes，thatsit.Thestars."

"Andwhatdoyoudowithfive-hundredmillionsofstars""Five-hundred-and-onemillion，six-hundred-twenty-twothousand，seven-hundred-thirty-one.Iamconcernedwithmattersofconsequence:Iamaccurate.""Andwhatdoyoudowiththesestars""WhatdoIdowiththem"

"Yes."

"Nothing.Iownthe"

"Youownthestars"

"Yes."

"ButIhavealreadyseenakingwho—""Kingsdonotown，theyreignover.Itisaverydifferentmatter.""Andwhatgooddoesitdoyoutoownthestars""Itdoesmethegoodofmakingmerich.""Andwhatgooddoesitdoyoutoberich""Itmakesitpossibleformetobuymorestars，ifanyareeverdiscovered.""Thisman，"thelittleprincesaidtohimself，"reasonsalittlelikemypoortippler..."Nevertheless，hestillhadsomemorequestions.

"Howisitpossibleforonetoownthestars""Towhomdotheybelong"thebusinessmanretorted，peevishly.

"Idontknow.Tonobody."

"Thentheybelongtome，becauseIwasthefirstpersontothinkofit.""Isthatallthatisnecessary""Certainly.Whenyoufindadiamondthatbelongstonobody，itisyours.Whenyoudiscoveranislandthatbelongstonobody，itisyours.Whenyougetanideabeforeanyoneelse，youtakeoutapatentonit:itisyours.Sowithme:Iownthestars，becausenobodyelsebeforemeeverthoughtofowningthe""Yes，thatistrue，"saidthelittleprince."Andwhatdoyoudowiththem""Iadministerthem，"repliedthebusinessman."IcountthemandrecounttheItisdifficult.ButIamamanwhoisnaturallyinterestedinmattersofconsequence."Thelittleprincewasstillnotsatisfied.

"IfIownedasilkscarf，"hesaid，"Icouldputitaroundmyneckandtakeitawaywithme.IfIownedaflower，Icouldpluckthatflowerandtakeitawaywithme.Butyoucannotpluckthestarsfromheaven...""No.ButIcanputtheminthebank.""Whateverdoesthatmean"

"ThatmeansthatIwritethenumberofmystarsonalittlepaper.AndthenIputthispaperinadrawerandlockitwithakey.""Andthatisall"

"Thatisenough，"saidthebusinessman.

"Itisentertaining，"thoughtthelittleprince."Itisratherpoetic.Butitisofnogreatconsequence."Onmattersofconsequence，thelittleprincehadideaswhichwereverydifferentfromthoseofthegrown-ups.

"Imyselfownaflower，"hecontinuedhisconversationwiththebusinessman，"whichIwatereveryday.Iownthreevolcanoes，whichIcleanouteveryweek（forIalsocleanouttheonethatisextinct;oneneverknows）.Itisofsomeusetomyvolcanoes，anditisofsomeusetomyflower，thatIowntheButyouareofnousetothestars..."Thebusinessmanopenedhismouth，buthefoundnothingtosayinanswer.Andthelittleprincewentaway.

"Thegrown-upsarecertainlyaltogetherextraordinary，"hesaidsimply，talkingtohimselfashecontinuedonhisjourney.

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