译《小王子》：第二十三章 神奇药丸

"Good morning," said the little prince. 

"Good morning," said the merchant. 

This was a merchant who sold pills that had been invented to quench thirst. You need only swallow one pill a week, and you would feel no need of anything to drink. 

“早上好！”小王子问好。

“早上好！”商人回应。

这位商人正在贩卖一种药丸，一种可以止渴的神奇药丸。你只要每周吞服一粒这样的药丸，便可以不用饮水止渴。

"Why are you selling those?" asked the little prince. 

"Because they save a tremendous amount of time," said the merchant. "Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week." 

"And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?" 

"Anything you like..." 

"As for me," said the little prince to himself, "if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water."

“您为什么出售这种玩意儿呢？”小王子问道。

“因为它们可以节省大量的时间。”商人说道，“据专家计算，服用这种药丸每周可以节约五十三分钟呢！”

“那我该怎么利用这省下来的五十三分钟呢？”

“随你心意……”

“换作是我的话……”小王子自言自语道，“要是拥有这可以任意支配的五十三分钟，那我便寻一股清泉，悠闲自在地信步而去。”