听书 | The Little Prince（小王子）- 12/13
《小王子》是法国作家安托万·德·圣·埃克苏佩里（Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ）于1942年写成的著名儿童文学短篇小说。本书的主人公是来自外星球的小王子。
书中以一位飞行员作为故事叙述者，讲述了小王子从自己星球出发前往地球的过程中，所经历的各种历险。作者以小王子的孩子式的眼光，透视出成人的空虚、盲目，愚妄和死板教条，用浅显天真的语言写出了人类的孤独寂寞、没有根基随风流浪的命运。同时，也表达出作者对金钱关系的批判，对真善美的讴歌。
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry （《小王子》作者）
圣埃克苏佩里（1900-1944），法国作家。他是法国最早的一代飞行员之一。1940年流亡美国，侨居纽约，埋头文学创作。1943年参加盟军在北非的抗战。1944年他在执行第八次飞行侦察任务时失踪。其作品主要描述飞行员生活，代表作有小说《夜航》，散文集《人类的大地》《空军飞行员》，童话《小王子》等。
Peter Ustinov（英）（《小王子》朗读者）
Peter Ustinov（英），生于英国伦敦，著名演员、导演。中国观众最为熟知的角色为《尼罗河惨案》《阳光下的罪恶》等电影里那位穿着白西装形象可爱，绅士又不失幽默的大侦探波洛。
往期目录
朗读 Peter Ustinov【英】 | 译者：周克希
The next planet was inhabited by a tippler. This was a very short visit, but it plunged the little prince into deep dejection.
"What are you doing there?" he said to the tippler, whom he found settled down in silence before a collection of empty bottles and also a collection of full bottles.
"I am drinking," replied the tippler, with a lugubrious air.
"Why are you drinking?" demanded the little prince.
"So that I may forget," replied the tippler.
"Forget what?" inquired the little prince, who already was sorry for him.
"Forget that I am ashamed," the tippler confessed, hanging his head.
"Ashamed of what?" insisted the little prince, who wanted to help him.
"Ashamed of drinking!" The tippler brought his speech to an end, and shut himself up in an impregnable silence.
And the little prince went away, puzzled.
"The grown-ups are certainly very, very odd," he said to himself, as he continued on his journey.
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.
"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.
下一颗行星上住着一个酒鬼。这次访问时间很短，却使小王子陷入了深深的怅惘之中。
他看见那个酒鬼静静地坐在桌前，面前有一堆空酒瓶和一堆装得满满的酒瓶，他就问：“你在那儿干什么呢？”
“我喝酒，”酒鬼神情悲伤地回答。
“你为什么要喝酒呢？”小王子问。
“为了忘记，”酒鬼回答。
“忘记什么？”小王子已经有些同情他了。
“忘记我的羞愧，”酒鬼垂下脑袋坦白说。
为什么感到羞愧？”小王子又问，他想帮助这个人。
“为喝酒感到羞愧！”酒鬼说完这句话，就再也不开口了。
小王子茫然不解地走了。
“这些大人真的很怪很怪，”一路上，他自言自语地说。
第四颗行星是个商人的星球。这个人实在太忙碌了，看见小王子来，连头也没抬一下。
“您好，”小王子对他说，“您的烟卷灭了。”
“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。二十二加六是二十八。没时间再去点着它。二十六加五，三十一。嚯！一共是五亿一百六十二万二千七百三十一。”
“五亿什么呀？”
“[图片]？你还在这儿？五亿一百万……我也不知道是什么……我的工作太多了！我做的都是正事，我没有工夫闲聊！二加五等于七……”
五亿一百万什么？”小王子又问一遍，他向来是不提问题则罢，提了就决不放过。
商人抬起头来：
“我在这个星球上住了五十四个年头，只被打搅过三次。第一次是二十二年以前，有只不知从哪儿跑来的金龟子，弄出一片可怕的声音，害得我在一笔账目里出了四个差错。第二次是十一年前，我风湿病发作。我平时缺乏锻炼。我没工夫去闲逛。我是干正事的人。第三次……就是这次！所以我刚才说了，五亿一百万……”
“五亿一百万什么？”
商人明白他是甭想太平了：
“五亿一百万个小东西，有时候在天空里看得见它们。”
“苍蝇？”
“不对，是闪闪发亮的小东西。”
“蜜蜂？”
“不对。是些金色的小东西，无所事事的人望着它们会胡思乱想。可我是干正事的人！我没工夫去胡思乱想。”
“噢！是星星？”
“对啦。星星。”
“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颗。我是个认真的人，我讲究精确。”
“那你拿这些星星来做什么呢？”
“我拿它们做什么？”
“是啊。”
“不做什么。我占有它们。”
“你占有这些星星？”
“对。”
“可我已经见到有个国王，他……”
“国王并不占有。他们只是‘统治’。这完全是两码事。”
“占有这些星星对你有什么用呢？”
“可以使我富有。”
“富有对你有什么用呢？”
“可以去买其他的星星——只要有人发现了这样的星星。”
“这个人，”小王子暗自思忖，“想问题有点像那个酒鬼。”
话虽这么说，他还是接着提问题：
“一个人怎么能够占有这些星星呢？”
“它们属于谁了？”商人没好气地顶了他一句。
“我不知道。谁也不属于。”
“那么它们就属于我，因为是我第一个想到这件事的。”
“这就够了？”
“当然。当你发现一颗不属于任何人的钻石，它就属于你。当你发现一个不属于任何人的岛屿，它就属于你。当你最先想出一个主意，你去申请发明专利，它就属于你。现在我占有了这些星星，因为在我以前没有人想到过占有它们。”
“这倒也是，”小王子说，“可你拿它们来做什么呢？”
“我经营它们。我一遍又一遍地计算它们的数目，”商人说，“这并不容易。可我是个干正事的人！”
小王子还是不满意。
“我呀，如果我有一块方围巾，我可以把它围在脖子上带走它。如果我有一朵花儿，我可以摘下这朵花儿带走它。可是你没法摘下这些星星呀！”
“没错，但是我可以把它们存入银行。”
“这是什么意思？”
“这就是说，我把我的星星的总数写在一张小纸片上。然后我把这张小纸片放进一个抽屉锁好。”
“就这些？”
“这就够了！”
“真有趣，”小王子心想，“倒挺有诗意的。可这算不上什么正事呀。”
小王子对正事的看法，跟大人对正事的看法很不相同。
“我有一朵花儿，”他又说道，“我每天都给她浇水。我有三座火山，我每星期都把它们疏通一遍。那座死火山我也疏通。因为谁也说不准它还会不会喷发。我占有它们，对火山有好处，对花儿也有好处。可是你占有星星，对它们没有好处。”
商人张口结舌，无言以对。小王子就走了。
“这些大人真的好古怪，”一路上，他只是自言自语说了这么一句。