English
he little prince visits the businessman
"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.
中文
第四颗星球属于一个商人。这个人忙得不可开交，以至于在小王子到达时，他甚至连头都没有抬一下。
"你好，"小王子对他说，"你的烟已经灭了。"
"三加二等于五。五加七等于十二。十二加三等于十五。你好。十五加七等于二十二。二十二加六等于二十八。我没时间重新点着它。二十六加五等于三十一。呼！总共是五亿一百六十二万二千七百三十一。"
"五亿个什么？"小王子问。
"哎？你还没走吗？五亿一百万......我停不下来......我有太多事要做！我处理的都是正经事。我可没工夫闲聊。二加五等于七......"
"五亿一百万个什么呀？"小王子重复问道。一旦他提出了一个问题，是从来也不会放弃的。
商人这才抬起头来，说道：
"我住在这颗星球上的五十四年里，总共只被打扰过三次。第一次是二十二年前，不知从哪儿掉下来一个冒失鬼。他发出的那种可怕噪音响彻了整个地方，害得我在加法里算错了四处。第二次是十一年前，我犯了风湿病。我运动得不够，没时间到处闲逛。这第三次嘛------呐，就是现在！刚才我说到，五亿一百万......"
"几百万个什么？"
商人终于意识到，如果不回答这个问题，他就别想清静了。
"几百万个小东西，"他说，"就是有时候人们在天空里看到的那些。"
"是苍蝇吗？"
"噢，不是。是闪闪发光的小东西。"
"是蜜蜂吗？"
"噢，不。是那种金灿灿的小东西，会让那些懒汉想入非非。至于我，我处理的是正经事！我的生活里可没时间胡思乱想。"
"啊！你是说星星？"
"对，就是那个。星星。"
"那你拿这五亿颗星星做什么呢？"
"五亿一百六十二万二千七百三十一。我处理的是正经事，我追求精准。"
"那你拿这些星星做什么呢？"
"我拿它们做什么？"
"对。"
"什么也不做。我拥有它们。"
"你拥有这些星星？"
"是的。"
"可我已经见过一个国王，他------"
"国王不'拥有'，他们只是'统治'。这是两码事。"
"那拥有星星对你有什么好处呢？"
"好处就是让我变得富有。"
"那变得富有又有什么好处呢？"
"这样我就能去买更多的星星，如果有人发现了新星星的话。"
"这个人，"小王子心想，"他的逻辑倒有点像那个可怜的酒鬼......"
尽管如此，他还是有一些疑问。
"一个人怎么可能拥有星星呢？"
"那它们属于谁？"商人没好气地反驳道。
"我不知道。不属于任何人。"
"那就属于我，因为我是第一个想到这件事的人。"
"只要这样就行了吗？"
"当然。当你发现一颗不属于任何人的钻石时，它就是你的。当你发现一座不属于任何人的岛屿时，它就是你的。当你先于别人产生一个想法时，你就去申请专利：它就是你的。我也一样：我拥有这些星星，因为在我之前，从未有人想过要拥有它们。"
"嗯，这倒也是，"小王子说，"那你拿它们来做什么呢？"
"我管理它们，"商人回答，"我数了一遍又一遍。这很难。但我天生是一个对正经事感兴趣的人。"
小王子还是不满意。
"如果我拥有一条丝巾，"他说，"我可以把它围在脖子上带走。如果我拥有一朵花，我可以把它摘下来带走。可是你不能把星星从天上摘下来呀......"
"是不行。但我可以把它们存在银行里。"
"这是什么意思？"
"意思就是，我把星星的数量写在一张小纸片上。然后把这张纸锁进抽屉里，用钥匙锁好。"
"就这样？"
"这就足够了，"商人说。
"这倒挺好玩的，"小王子想，"也挺有诗意的。但算不上什么正经事。"
关于什么是"正经事"，小王子的想法与大人们截然不同。
"我拥有一朵花，"他继续对商人说，"我每天给她浇水。我拥有三座火山，我每周都给它们清理（连那座死火山我也清理；谁也说不准以后会怎样）。我拥有它们，对我的火山有好处，对我的花也有好处。但是，你对星星们却一点用处也没有......"
商人张了张嘴，却发现无言以对。于是小王子离开了。
"大人们确实全然不可理喻，"在继续旅程的途中，他只是简单地自言自语道。