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第十五章（第2页）

“地理学书籍是最严谨的书。”地理学家说道，“这类书是从不会过时。很少会发生一座山变换位置，很少会出现一个海洋干涸的现象。我们记录永恒的东西。”

“但是熄灭的火山也可能会再复苏的。”小王子打断了地理学家，“什么叫短暂？”

“火山是熄灭了的也好，苏醒的也好，这对我们这些人来讲都是一回事。”地理学家说，“对我们来说，重要的是山。山是不会变换位置的。”

“但是，‘短暂’是什么意思？”小王子再三地问道。他一旦提出一个问题是从不放过的。

“意思就是有很快就会消失的危险。”

“我的花是很快就会消失的吗？”

“那当然。”

小王子自言自语地说：“我的花是短暂的，而且她只有四根刺来对抗这个世界！可我还把她独自留在我的星球上！”

这是他第一次产生了后悔，但他又重新振作起来：“您是否能建议我下一站去什么地方看看？”小王子问道。

“地球，”地理学家回答他说，“它很出名……”

于是小王子就走了，他一边走一边想着他的花。

Chapter15

Thesixthplanetwastentimeslargerthanthelastone.Itwasinhabitedbyanoldgentlemanwhowrotevoluminousbooks.

"Oh，look!Hereisanexplorer!"heexclaimedtohimselfwhenhesawthelittleprincecoming.

Thelittleprincesatdownonthetableandpantedalittle.Hehadalreadytraveledsomuchandsofar!

"Wheredoyoucomefrom"theoldgentlemansaidtohi

"Whatisthatbigbook"saidthelittleprince."Whatareyoudoing""Iamageographer，"theoldgentlemansaidtohi

"Whatisageographer"askedthelittleprince.

"Ageographerisascholarwhoknowsthelocationofalltheseas，rivers，towns，mountains，anddeserts.""Thatisveryinteresting，"saidthelittleprince."Hereatlastisamanwhohasarealprofession!"Andhecastalookaroundhimattheplanetofthegeographer.Itwasthemostmagnificentandstatelyplanetthathehadeverseen.

"Yourplanetisverybeautiful，"hesaid."Hasitanyoceans""Icouldnttellyou，"saidthegeographer.

"Ah!"Thelittleprincewasdisappointed."Hasitanymountains""Icouldnttellyou，"saidthegeographer.

"Andtowns，andrivers，anddeserts""Icouldnttellyouthat，either.""Butyouareageographer!"

"Exactly，"thegeographersaid."ButIamnotanexplorer.Ihaven’tasingleexploreronmyplanet.Itisnotthegeographerwhogoesouttocountthetowns，therivers，themountains，theseas，theoceans，andthedeserts.Thegeographerismuchtooimportanttogoloafingabout.Hedoesnotleavehisdesk.Buthereceivestheexplorersinhisstudy.Heasksthemquestions，andhenotesdownwhattheyrecalloftheirtravels.Andiftherecollectionsofanyoneamongthemseeminterestingtohim，thegeographerordersaninquiryintothatexplorer’smoralcharacter.""Whyisthat"

"Becauseanexplorerwhotoldlieswouldbringdisasteronthebooksofthegeographer.Sowouldanexplorerwhodranktoomuch.""Whyisthat"askedthelittleprince.

"Becauseintoxicatedmenseedouble.Thenthegeographerwouldnotedowntwomountainsinaplacewheretherewasonlyone.""Iknowsomeone，"saidthelittleprince，"whowouldmakeabadexplorer.""Thatispossible.Then，whenthemoralcharacteroftheexplorerisshowntobegood，aninquiryisorderedintohisdiscovery.""Onegoestoseeit"

"No.Thatwouldbetoocomplicated.Butonerequirestheexplorertofurnishproofs.Forexample，ifthediscoveryinquestionisthatofalargemountain，onerequiresthatlargestonesbebroughtbackfromit."Thegeographerwassuddenlystirredtoexcitement.

"Butyou—youcomefromfaraway!Youareanexplorer!Youshalldescribeyourplanettome!"And，havingopenedhisbigregister，thegeographersharpenedhispencil.Therecitalsofexplorersareputdownfirstinpencil.Onewaitsuntiltheexplorerhasfurnishedproofs，beforeputtingthemdowninink.

"Well"saidthegeographerexpectantly.

"Oh，whereIlive，"saidthelittleprince，"itisnotveryinteresting.Itisallsosmall.Ihavethreevolcanoes.Twovolcanoesareactiveandtheotherisextinct.Butoneneverknows.""Oneneverknows，"saidthegeographer.

"Ihavealsoaflower."

"Wedonotrecordflowers，"saidthegeographer.

"WhyisthatThefloweristhemostbeautifulthingonmyplanet!""Wedonotrecordthem，"saidthegeographer，"becausetheyareephemeral.""Whatdoesthatmean—‘ephemeral""Geographies，"saidthegeographer，"arethebookswhich，ofallbooks，aremostconcernedwithmattersofconsequence.Theyneverbecomeold-fashioned.Itisveryrarelythatamountainchangesitsposition.Itisveryrarelythatanoceanemptiesitselfofitswaters.Wewriteofeternalthings.""Butextinctvolcanoesmaycometolifeagain，"thelittleprinceinterrupted."Whatdoesthatmean—‘ephemeral""Whethervolcanoesareextinctoralive，itcomestothesamethingforus，"saidthegeographer."Thethingthatmatterstousisthemountain.Itdoesnotchange.""Butwhatdoesthatmean—‘ephemeral"repeatedthelittleprince，whoneverinhislifehadletgoofaquestion，oncehehadaskedit.

"Itmeans，‘whichisindangerofspeedydisappearance.""Ismyflowerindangerofspeedydisappearance""Certainlyitis."

"Myflowerisephemeral，"thelittleprincesaidtohimself，"andshehasonlyfourthornstodefendherselfagainsttheworld.AndIhaveleftheronmyplanet，allalone!"Thatwashisfirstmomentofregret.Buthetookcourageoncemore.

"Whatplacewouldyouadvisemetovisitnow"heasked.

"TheplanetEarth，"repliedthegeographer."Ithasagoodreputation."Andthelittleprincewentaway，thinkingofhisflower.

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