🔊 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.

第四颗行星属于一个商人。这个人非常忙碌,甚至没有在小王子到来时抬头。

🔊

occupied /ˈɒkjupaɪd/

adj. 忙碌的,无空闲的➕

🔊 "Good morning," the little prince said to him. "Your cigarette has gone out."

“早上好,”小王子对他说。“你的香烟熄灭了。”

🔊 "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."

“三加二得五。五加七得十二。十二加三得十五。早上好。十五加七得二十二。二十二加六得二十八。我没时间再点它了。二十六加五得三十一。呼！那么就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.

“五亿什么？”小王子问道。

🔊 "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？你还在那里吗？五亿零一百万--我不能停……我有太多事要做！我关心的是重要的事情。我不拿废话来消遣。二加五得七。”

🔊

consequence /ˈkɒnsɪkwəns/

n. 重要性,重大意义➕

🔊

balderdash /ˈbɔːldədæʃ/

n. 胡言乱语,废话➕

🔊 "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.

“五亿零一百万什么？”小王子重复道,他一生中一旦问了问题就从不放手。

🔊 The businessman raised his head.

那个商人抬起了头。

🔊 "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 million-"

“在我居住在这个星球的五十四年间,我只被打扰过三次。第一次是二十二年前,当某个晕头鹅天知道从哪儿掉下来时。他发出了最可怕的声音,响彻整个地方,而我在加法上犯了四个错误。第二次,十一年前,我被风湿病发作打扰了。我没有足够的运动。我没时间闲逛。第三次--嗯,就是这次！我当时在说,五亿零一百万--”

🔊

inhabited /ɪnˈhæbɪtɪd/

v. 居住于,（动物）栖居于➕

🔊

disturbed /dɪˈstɜːbd/

v. 打扰,干扰➕

🔊

giddy /ˈɡɪdi/

adj. 轻率的,浮躁的；头晕的➕

🔊

frightful /ˈfraɪtf(ə)l/

adj. 可怕的,令人恐惧的➕

🔊

resounded /rɪˈzaʊndɪd/

v. 回响,回荡➕

🔊

addition /əˈdɪʃ(ə)n/

n. 加法；增加➕

🔊

rheumatism /ˈruːmətɪzəm/

n. 风湿病➕

🔊

loafing /ˈləʊfɪŋ/

v. 游手好闲,闲逛➕

🔊 "Millions of what?"

“百万什么？”

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

那个商人突然意识到,除非他回答这个问题,否则没有希望得到安宁。

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

“数百万那些小东西,”他说,“人们有时在天空中看到的。”

🔊 "Flies?"

“苍蝇？”

🔊 "Oh, no. Little glittering objects."

“哦,不。闪闪发光的小东西。”

🔊

glittering /ˈɡlɪtərɪŋ/

adj. 闪闪发光的,闪烁的➕

🔊 "Bees?"

“蜜蜂？”

🔊 "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."

“哦,不。让懒人做白日梦的小金东西。至于我,我关心的是重要的事情。我的生活中没有时间做白日梦。”

🔊

golden /ˈɡəʊldən/

adj. 金色的；极好的➕

🔊

idle /ˈaɪdl/

adj. 闲散的；懒惰的➕

🔊 "Ah! You mean the stars?"

“啊！你指的是星星？”

🔊 "Yes, that's it. The stars."

“是的,没错。星星。”

🔊 "And what do you do with five hundred million stars?"

“那你用五亿颗星星做什么？”

🔊 "Five hundred and one million, six hundred twenty-two thousand, seven hundred thirty-one. I am concerned with matters of consequence: I am accurate."

“五亿零一百六十二万两千七百三十一。我关心的是重要的事情:我很精确。”

🔊 "And what do you do with these stars?"

“那你用这些星星做什么？”

🔊 "What do I do with them?"

“我用它们做什么？”

🔊 "Yes."

“是的。”

🔊 "Nothing. I own them."

“什么也不做。我拥有它们。”

🔊 "You own the stars?"

“你拥有星星？”

🔊 "Yes."

“是的。”

🔊 "But I have already seen a king who-"

“但我已经见过一个国王,他--”

🔊 "Kings do not own, they reign over. It is a very different matter."

“国王不拥有,他们统治。这是非常不同的事情。”

🔊 "And what good does it do you to own the stars?"

“拥有星星对你有什么好处？”

🔊 "It does me the good of making me rich."

“它让我变得富有。”

🔊 "And what good does it do you to be rich?"

“变得富有对你有什么好处？”

🔊 "It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are discovered."

“它让我有可能买更多的星星,如果发现更多的话。”

🔊 "This man," the little prince said to himself, "reasons a little like my poor tippler ..."

“这个人,”小王子自言自语道,“推理有点像我那可怜的酒鬼……”

🔊

tippler /ˈtɪplər/

n. 酒鬼,嗜酒者➕

🔊 Nevertheless, he still had some more questions.

尽管如此,他还有更多的问题。

🔊

Nevertheless /ˌnevərðəˈles/

adv. 然而,不过➕

🔊 "How is it possible for one to own the stars?"

“一个人怎么可能拥有星星？”

🔊 "To whom do they belong?" the businessman retorted, peevishly.

“它们属于谁？”那个商人暴躁地反驳道。

🔊

retorted /rɪˈtɔːrtɪd/

v. 反驳,回嘴➕

🔊

peevishly /ˈpiːvɪʃli/

adv. 脾气坏地,易怒地➕

🔊 "I don't know. To nobody."

“我不知道。不属于任何人。”

🔊 "Then they belong to me, because I was the first person to think of it."

“那么它们属于我,因为我是第一个想到这个的人。”

🔊 "Is that all that is necessary?"

“这就足够了吗？”

🔊

necessary /ˈnesəseri/

adj. 必要的,必需的➕

🔊 "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."

“当然。当你找到一个不属于任何人的钻石时,它就是你的。当你发现一个不属于任何人的岛屿时,它就是你的。当你比别人先有一个想法时,你就为它申请专利:它就是你的。所以对我而言:我拥有星星,因为在我之前没有人想过要拥有它们。”

🔊

patent /ˈpætnt/

n. 专利➕

🔊 "Yes, that is true," said the little prince. "And what do you do with them?"

“是的,那是真的,”小王子说。“那你用它们做什么？”

🔊 "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."

“我管理它们,”那个商人回答道。“我数它们,再数它们。这很难。但我是一个天生对重要事情感兴趣的人。”

🔊

administer /ədˈmɪnɪstər/

v. 管理,执行➕

🔊

recount /rɪˈkaʊnt/

v. 重新计数,叙述➕

🔊 The little prince was still not satisfied.

小王子仍然不满意。

🔊

satisfied /ˈsætɪsfaɪd/

adj. 满意的➕

🔊 "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 ..."

“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,我可以摘下那朵花带走。但你不能从天上摘下星星……”

🔊

pluck /plʌk/

v. 采摘,拔➕

🔊 "No. But I can put them in the bank."

“不。但我可以把它们存进银行。”

🔊 "Whatever does that mean?"

“那是什么意思？”

🔊 "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."

“那意味着我把我的星星数量写在一张小纸上。然后我把这张纸放进抽屉,用钥匙锁起来。”

🔊

drawer /drɔːr/

n. 抽屉➕

🔊 "And that is all?"

“就这些吗？”

🔊 "That is enough," said the businessman.

“这就够了,”那个商人说。

🔊 "It is entertaining," thought the little prince. "It is rather poetic. But it is of no great consequence."

“这很有趣,”小王子想。“这相当诗意。但这并不重要。”

🔊

entertaining /ˌentərˈteɪnɪŋ/

adj. 有趣的,娱乐的➕

🔊

poetic /poʊˈetɪk/

adj. 诗意的,富有诗意的➕

🔊 On matters of consequence, the little prince had ideas which were very different from those of the grownups.

关于重要的事情,小王子的想法与成年人的非常不同。

🔊 "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 ..."

“我自己拥有一朵花,”他继续与那个商人的对话,“我每天给它浇水。我拥有三座火山,我每周清理它们（因为我也清理那座死火山；谁知道呢）。我拥有它们对我的火山有些用处,对我的花也有些用处。但你对星星没有用处……”

🔊

extinct /ɪkˈstɪŋkt/

adj. 灭绝的,熄灭的➕

🔊 The businessman opened his mouth, but he found nothing to say in answer. And the little prince went away.

那个商人张开了嘴,但找不到什么话回答。然后小王子走开了。

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

“大人们确实都非同寻常,”他简单地说,一边继续他的旅程,一边自言自语。

🔊

altogether /ˌɔːltəˈɡeðər/

adv. 完全,总共➕

🔊

extraordinary /ɪkˈstrɔːrdəneri/

adj. 非凡的,特别的➕

Chapter thirteen: (第十三章)

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