第十三章（2/2）

“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。”

Chapter 13

The fourth planet belonged to a businessman. This man was so much occupied that he did not even raise his head at the little prince's arrival.

"Good morning," the little prince said to him. "Your cigarette has gone out.""Three and two make five. Five and seven make twelve. Twelve and three make fifteen. Good morning. Fifteen and seven make twenty-two. Twenty-two and six make twenty-eight. I haven't time to light it again. Twenty-six and five make thirty-one. Phew! Then that makes five-hundred-and-one-million, six-hundred-twenty-two-thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one.""Five hundred million what" asked the little prince.

"Eh Are you still there Five-hundred-and-one million— I can't stop... I have so much to do! I am concerned with matters of consequence. I don't amuse myself with balderdash. Two and five make seven...""Five-hundred-and-one million what" repeated the little prince, who never in his life had let go of a question once he had asked it.

The businessman raised his head.

"During the fifty-four years that I have inhabited this planet, I have been disturbed only three times. The first time was twenty-two years ago, when some giddy goose fell from goodness knows where. He made the most frightful noise that resounded all over the place, and I made four mistakes in my addition. The second time, eleven years ago, I was disturbed by an attack of rheumatism. I don't get enough exercise. I have no time for loafing. The third time— well, this is it! I was saying, then, five -hundred-and-one millions—""Millions of what"

The businessman suddenly realized that there was no hope of being left in peace until he answered this question.

"Millions of those little objects," he said, "which one sometimes sees in the sky.""Flies"

"Oh, no. Little glittering objects.""Bees"

"Oh, no. Little golden objects that set lazy men to idle dreaming. As for me, I am concerned with matters of consequence. There is no time for idle dreaming in my life.""Ah! You mean the stars"

"Yes, that's it. The stars."

"And what do you do with five-hundred millions of stars""Five-hundred-and-one million, six-hundred-twenty-two thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one. I am concerned with matters of consequence: I am accurate.""And what do you do with these stars""What do I do with them"

"Yes."

"Nothing. I own them."

"You own the stars"

"Yes."

"But I have already seen a king who—""Kings do not own, they reign over. It is a very different matter.""And what good does it do you to own the stars""It does me the good of making me rich.""And what good does it do you to be rich""It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are ever discovered.""This man," the little prince said to himself, "reasons a little like my poor tippler..."Nevertheless, he still had some more questions.

"How is it possible for one to own the stars""To whom do they belong" the businessman retorted, peevishly.

"I don't know. To nobody."

"Then they belong to me, because I was the first person to think of it.""Is that all that is necessary""Certainly. When you find a diamond that belongs to nobody, it is yours. When you discover an island that belongs to nobody, it is yours. When you get an idea before any one else, you take out a patent on it: it is yours. So with me: I own the stars, because nobody else before me ever thought of owning them.""Yes, that is true," said the little prince. "And what do you do with them""I administer them," replied the businessman. "I count them and recount them. It is difficult. But I am a man who is naturally interested in matters of consequence."The little prince was still not satisfied.

"If I owned a silk scarf," he said, "I could put it around my neck and take it away with me. If I owned a flower, I could pluck that flower and take it away with me. But you cannot pluck the stars from heaven...""No. But I can put them in the bank.""Whatever does that mean"

"That means that I write the number of my stars on a little paper. And then I put this paper in a drawer and lock it with a key.""And that is all"

"That is enough," said the businessman.

"It is entertaining," thought the little prince. "It is rather poetic. But it is of no great consequence."On matters of consequence, the little prince had ideas which were very different from those of the grown-ups.

"I myself own a flower," he continued his conversation with the businessman, "which I water every day. I own three volcanoes, which I clean out every week (for I also clean out the one that is extinct; one never knows). It is of some use to my volcanoes, and it is of some use to my flower, that I own them. But you are of no use to the stars..."The businessman opened his mouth, but he found nothing to say in answer. And the little prince went away.

"The grown-ups are certainly altogether extraordinary," he said simply, talking to himself as he continued on his journey.