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.
第四個(gè)行星是一個(gè)實(shí)業(yè)家的星球。這個(gè)人忙得不可開(kāi)交，小王子到來(lái)的時(shí)候， 他甚至連頭都沒(méi)有抬一下。

"Good morning," the little prince said to him. "Your cigarette has gone out."
小王子對(duì)他說(shuō)：“您好。您的煙卷滅了?！?/p>

"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."
“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， 二十二。二十二加六，二十八。沒(méi)有時(shí)間去再點(diǎn)著它。二十六加五，三十一。哎喲！一共是五億一百六十二萬(wàn)二千七百三十一?！?/p>

"Five hundred million what?" asked the little prince.
“五億什么呀？”

"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…"
“嗯？你還待在這兒哪？五億一百萬(wàn)……我也不知道是什么了。我的工作很多……我是很?chē)?yán)肅的，我可是從來(lái)也沒(méi)有功夫去閑聊！二加五得七……”

"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.
“五億一百萬(wàn)什么呀？”小王子重復(fù)問(wèn)道。一旦他提出了一個(gè)問(wèn)題，是從來(lái)也不會(huì)放棄的。

The businessman raised his head.
這位實(shí)業(yè)家抬起頭，說(shuō)：

"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--"
“我住在這個(gè)星球上五十四年以來(lái)，只被打攪過(guò)三次。第一次是二十二年前，不知從哪里跑來(lái)了一只金龜子來(lái)打攪我。它發(fā)出一種可怕的噪音，使我在一筆帳目中出了四個(gè)差錯(cuò)。第二次，在十一年前，是風(fēng)濕病發(fā)作，因?yàn)槲胰狈﹀憻捤?。我沒(méi)有工夫閑逛。我可是個(gè)嚴(yán)肅的人?，F(xiàn)在……這是第三次！我計(jì)算的結(jié)果是五億一百萬(wàn)……”

"Millions of what?"
“幾百萬(wàn)什么？”

The businessman suddenly realized that there was no hope of being left in peace until he answered this question.
這位實(shí)業(yè)家知道要想安寧是無(wú)望的了，就說(shuō)道：

"Millions of those little objects," he said, "which one sometimes sees in the sky."
“幾百萬(wàn)個(gè)小東西，這些小東西有時(shí)出現(xiàn)在天空中?！?/p>

"Flies?"
“蒼蠅嗎？”

"Oh, no. Little glittering objects."
“不是，是些閃閃發(fā)亮的小東西?！?/p>

"Bees?"
“是蜜蜂嗎？”

"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."
“不是，是金黃色的小東西，這些小東西叫那些懶漢們胡思亂想。我是個(gè)嚴(yán)肅的人。我沒(méi)有時(shí)間胡思亂想?！?/p>

"Ah! You mean the stars?"
“啊，是星星嗎？”

"Yes, that's it. The stars."
“對(duì)了，就是星星。”

"And what do you do with five-hundred millions of stars?"
“你要拿這五億星星做什么？”

"Five-hundred-and-one million, six-hundred-twenty-two thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one. I am concerned with matters of consequence: I am accurate."
“五億一百六十二萬(wàn)七百三十一顆星星。我是嚴(yán)肅的人，我是非常精確的?！?/p>

"And what do you do with these stars?"
“你拿這些星星做什么？”

"What do I do with them?"
“我要它做什么？”

"Yes."
“是呀?！?/p>

"Nothing. I own them."
“什么也不做。它們都是屬于我的?！?/p>

"You own the stars?"
“星星是屬于你的？”

"Yes."
“是的?！?/p>

"But I have already seen a king who--"
“可是我已經(jīng)見(jiàn)到過(guò)一個(gè)國(guó)王，他……”

"Kings do not own, they reign over. It is a very different matter."
“國(guó)王并不占有，他們只是進(jìn)行‘統(tǒng)治’。這不是一碼事?！?/p>

"And what good does it do you to own the stars?"
“你擁有這許多星星有什么用？”

"It does me the good of making me rich."
“它們讓我富裕?！?/p>

"And what good does it do you to be rich?"
“富裕對(duì)你有什么好處？”

"It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are ever discovered."
“富了就可以去買(mǎi)別的星星，如果有人發(fā)現(xiàn)了別的星星的話(huà)。”

"This man," the little prince said to himself, "reasons a little like my poor tippler…"
小王子自言自語(yǔ)地說(shuō)：“這個(gè)人想問(wèn)題有點(diǎn)像那個(gè)酒鬼一樣?！?/p>

Nevertheless, he still had some more questions.
可是他又提了一些問(wèn)題：

"How is it possible for one to own the stars?"
“你怎么能占有星星呢？”

"To whom do they belong?" the businessman retorted, peevishly.
“那么你說(shuō)星星是誰(shuí)的呀？”實(shí)業(yè)家不高興地頂了小王子一句。

"I don't know. To nobody."
“我不知道，不屬于任何人?！?/p>

"Then they belong to me, because I was the first person to think of it."
“那么，它們就是我的，因?yàn)槭俏业谝粋€(gè)想到了這件事情的?！?/p>

"Is that all that is necessary?"
“這就行了嗎？”

"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."
“那當(dāng)然。如果你發(fā)現(xiàn)了一顆沒(méi)有主人的鉆石，那么這顆鉆石就是屬于你的。當(dāng)你發(fā)現(xiàn)一個(gè)島是沒(méi)有主的，那么這個(gè)島就是你的。當(dāng)你首先想出了一個(gè)辦法，你就去領(lǐng)一個(gè)專(zhuān)利證，這個(gè)辦法就是屬于你的。既然在我之前不曾有任何人想到要占有這些星星，那我就占有這些星星。”

"Yes, that is true," said the little prince. "And what do you do with them?"
“這倒也是?？墒悄阌盟鼈儊?lái)干什么？”小王子說(shuō)。

"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."
“我經(jīng)營(yíng)管理這些星星。我一遍又一遍地計(jì)算它們的數(shù)目。這是一件困難的事。但我是一個(gè)嚴(yán)肅認(rèn)真的人！”

The little prince was still not satisfied.
小王子仍然還不滿(mǎn)足，他說(shuō)：

"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…"
“對(duì)我來(lái)說(shuō)，如果我有一條圍巾，我可以用它來(lái)圍著我的脖子，并且能帶走它。我有一朵花的話(huà)，我就可以摘下我的花，并且把它帶走?？赡銋s不能摘下這些星星呀！”

"No. But I can put them in the bank."
“我不能摘，但我可以把它們存在銀行里?！?/p>

"Whatever does that mean?"
“這是什么意思呢？”

"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."
“這就是說(shuō)，我把星星的數(shù)目寫(xiě)在一片小紙頭上，然后把這片紙頭鎖在一個(gè)抽屜里?！?/p>

"And that is all?"
“這就算完事了嗎？”

"That is enough," said the businessman.
“這樣就行了?！?/p>

"It is entertaining," thought the little prince. "It is rather poetic. But it is of no great consequence."
小王子想道：“真好玩。這倒蠻有詩(shī)意，可是，并不算是了不起的正經(jīng)事?！?/p>

On matters of consequence, the little prince had ideas which were very different from those of the grown-ups.
關(guān)于什么是正經(jīng)事，小王子的看法與大人們的看法非常不同。他接著又說(shuō)：

"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…"
“我有一朵花，我每天都給她澆水。我還有三座火山，我每星期把它們?nèi)即驋咭槐?。連死火山也打掃。誰(shuí)知道它會(huì)不會(huì)再?gòu)?fù)活。我擁有火山和花，這對(duì)我的火山有益處，對(duì)我的花也有益處。但是你對(duì)星星并沒(méi)有用處……”

The businessman opened his mouth, but he found nothing to say in answer. And the little prince went away.
實(shí)業(yè)家張口結(jié)舌無(wú)言以對(duì)。于是小王子就走了。

"The grown-ups are certainly altogether extraordinary," he said simply, talking to himself as he continued on his journey.
在旅途中，小王子只是自言自語(yǔ)地說(shuō)了一句：“這些大人們真是奇怪極了?！?/p>

（來(lái)源：愛(ài)詞霸 編輯：丹妮）