译《小王子》：第十三章 坐拥群星

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.

第四颗行星归一个生意人所有。

小王子抵达这个星球的时候，这位先生正忙得不可开交，就连头都顾不上抬一下。

企业家

"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."

“早上好呀！”小王子开口向他问好，“你的香烟已经熄灭了！”

“三加二等于五，五加七等于十二，十二加三等于十五。早上好。十五加七等于二十二，二十二加六等于二十八。我没空再将它点着。二十六加五等于三十一。唷!总共是五亿零一百六十二万两千七百三十一。”

"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.

“五亿多什么呀？”小王子问道。

“啊？你还没走？五亿零一百……我没功夫解释……实在太忙啦！我手头上还有一堆事情要做，哪有闲情跟你在这东拉西扯！二加五等于七……”

“到底五亿零一百多万什么呢？”小王子再次问道，一旦心存疑惑，他总喜欢追根究底。

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?"

这位商人终于抬起头来说道：

“在我移居到这个星球的五十四年里，只被打扰过三回。第一次是在二十二年前，鬼知道从哪里掉下来一只该死的家伙，它会发出一些令人抓狂的噪音，总是在耳边嗡嗡作响，最后导致我的账目上出现了四个错误。第二次则是在十一年前，当时风湿病发作给我带来了不少麻烦。我知道自己疏于运动，不过我哪有时间在那游手好闲呀。而第三次呢……好吧，就是现在。该说的我都说了，接下来是，五亿零一百万……”

“几百万什么呢？”

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."

商人突然意识到，如果不回答他的问题，就休想得到片刻安宁。

“几百万的小玩意儿，”他说，“有时候它们会出现在天空中。”

“苍蝇吗？”

“当然不是。一些会闪闪发光的小东西。”

“难道是蜜蜂？”

“也不是啦。这些小家伙金光闪闪会让好吃懒做的人对它们心存幻想。而我可是一个大忙人，完全没有那个闲功夫去胡思乱想。”

"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?"

“啊！你说的是星星吧！”

“没错，就是星星。”

“那你计算五亿多的星星做什么呢？”

“是五亿零一百六十二万两千七百三十一颗星星。作为一个正经的生意人，要做到严谨精确。”

“那你到底计算这些星星做什么呢？”

"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."

“你是说我为什么要计算它们吗？”

“对呀！”

“没有理由。我拥有它们。”

“你拥有这些星星？”

“是的。”

“可是我之前碰到过一个国王，他……”

“国王并不是拥有者，他们只是统治者。这是两码事。”

计算账目

"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…"

“那拥有这些星星对你有什么好处呢？”

“它们可以让我变得富有。”

“那变得富有之后对你又有什么好处呢？”

“如果有人发现其他星星的话，我就有机会可以将它们购买下来。”

“这位先生的脑回路和那位酒鬼先生有点像呢。”小王子喃喃自语道。

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?"

尽管得到了答复，小王子心中还是存在一些疑问。

“可是怎么证明星星是归某个人所有呢？”

“那你觉得星星属于谁？”商人将话顶了回去，语气有些不善。

“我也不清楚，谁都不能拥有它们吧”

“那它们就是我的，因为我是第一个想到星星所有权的人。”

“这都可以？”

"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?"

“当然可以！假如你发现一颗不属于任何人的钻石，那这颗钻石自然而然就归你所有。当你找到一座无主的荒岛，那你就是小岛的主人。当你率先想到一个创意，那你可以通过申请专利来拥有使用权。同样地，我之所以拥有星星，正是因为在我之前不曾有人想到过要占有星星。”

“嗯，确实如此。”小王子说道，“那你要拿星星来做什么呢？”

"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…"

“我得先统筹管理它们。”商人回答，“我一遍又一遍地统计它们的数目，这可是一件麻烦事。不过我天生就是一个追求严谨精细的人。”

小王子对这个答案依旧有些不甚满意，他又说道：

“如果我拥有一条丝巾，那我就能围上丝巾，随身携带；如果我拥有一朵花儿，那我就能摘下花儿，手留余香。可是你却无法从天空中摘下星星……”

"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."

“我虽然摘不下来，但是却可以将它们存在银行。”

“这又是什么意思呢？”

“意思就是，我在一张小纸条上记下所有星星的数目，然后将这张纸条放到抽屉里，再上把锁就可以了。”

“就这么简单？”

“这就完事了。”商人说道。

“真有意思！”小王子心想，“蛮有诗意的行为呢。只是这还算不上是什么正经事情吧。”

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…"

在什么是正经事的这个问题上，小王子的看法与大人们相差甚远，他对商人表达出自己独到的见解：

“我拥有一朵花儿，每天都会浇水；我拥有三座火山，每周都会打理，包括那座情况不明的死火山。我做的这些事情，多少对我的火山和花儿有些意义吧。但是你的行为对星星而言，毫无价值……”

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.

商人瞠目结舌，竟无言以对。于是，小王子只好选择离开。

小王子简单地对自己说了一句“大人们真是叫人琢磨不透啊”，便又开始了他的旅程。