The Little Prince (27) [The Little Prince]
Again the little prince disturbed my thoughts :
" And you actually believe that flowers ― "
" Oh, no ! " I cried.
" No, no, no ! Idon't believe anything. I answered you with the first thing that came into my head. Don't you see ー I am very busy with matters of consequence ! "
He stared at me, thunderstruck.
" Matters of consequence ! "
He looked at ne there, with my hammer in my hand, my fingers black with engine-grease, bending down over an object which seemed to him extremely ugly. . .
" You talk just like the grown-ups ! "
That made me a little ashamed.
But he went on, relentlessly :
" You mix everything up together. . . You confuse everything. . . "
he was really very angry. He tossed his golden curls in the breeze.
(26/30~)
The Little Prince (28) [The Little Prince]
" I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman.
He has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved anyone. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures. And all day he says over and over, just like you : ' I am busy with matters of consequence ! ' And that makes him swell up with pride. But he is not a man ー he is a mushroom ! "
" A what ? "
" A mushroom ! "
The little prince was now white with rage.
(28/30~)
遅くなり申し訳ありません。
明日、明後日は二本立てで出ます。
The Little Prince (29) [The Little Prince]
The Little Prince (29)
" The flowers have been growing thorns for millions of years. For millions of yeara the sheep have been eating them just the same. And it is not a matter of consequence to try to understand why the flowers go to so much trouble to grow thorns which are never of any use to them ?
Is the wafare between the sheep and the flowers not important ? Is this not of more consequence than a fat red-faced gentleman's sums ?
And I know ー I, myself - one flower which is unique in the world, which grows nowhere but on my planet, but which one little sheep can destroy in a single bite some morning, without even noticing what he is doing ー Oh !
You think that is not important ! "
His face turned from white to red as he continued.
(29/30~)
突然ですが、12月31日~1月2日は休載させていただきます。
3日より、1日1分再開いたします。
The Little Prince (30) [The Little Prince]
" If someone loves a flower, of which just one single blossom grows in all the millions and millions of stars, it is enough to make him happy just to look at the stars.
He can say to himself : ' Somewhere, my flower is there. . .'
But if the sheep eats the flower, in one moment all his stars will be darkened. . .And you think that is not important ! "
He could not say anything more.
His words were choked by sobbing.
The night had fallen.
I had let my tools drop from my hands.
Of what moment now was my hammer, my bolt, or thirst, or death ?
On one star, one planet, my planet, the Earth, there was a little prince to be comforted.
I took him in my arms, and rocked him. I said to him :
" The flower that you love is not in danger. I will draw you a muzzle for your sheep. I will draw you a railing to put around your flower. I will ― "
I did not know what to say to him.
I felt awkward and blundering.
I did not know how I could reach him, where I could overtake him and go on hand in hand with him once more.
It is such a secret place, the land of tears.
(30/30~まだ続きます)
The Little Prince (31) [The Little Prince]
The Little Prince (32) [The Little Prince]
But the shrub soon stopped growing, and began to get ready to produce a flower.
The little prince, who was present at the first appearance of a huge bud, fwlt at once that some sort of miraculous apparition must emerge from it.
But the flower was not satisfied to complete the preparations for her beauty in the shelter of her green chamber.
She chose her colors with the greatest care. She dressed herself slowly.
She adjusted her petals one by one.
She did not wish to get out into the world all rumpled, like the field poppies.
It was only in the full radiance of her beauty that she wished to appear.
Oh, yes ! She was a conquettish creature !
And her mysterious adornment lasted for days and days.
(32)
The Little Prince (33) [The Little Prince]
Then one morning, exactry at sunrise, she suddenly showed herself.
And after working with all this painstaking precision, she yawned and
said :
" Ah ! I am scarcely awake. I beg that you will excuse me. My petals are still all disarranged. . . "
But the little prince could not restrain his admiration :
" Oh ! How beautiful you are ! "
" Am I not ? " the flower responded, sweetly.
" And I was born at the same moment as the sun. . . "
The little prince could guess easily enough that she was not any too modest ー but how moving ー and exciting ー she was !
" I think it is tie for breakfast, " she added an instant later.
" If you would have the kindness to think of my needs ― "
And the little prince, completely abashed, went to look for a sprinkling-can of fresh water.
So he tended the flower.
(33)
The Little Prince (34) [The Little Prince]
The Little Prince (35) [The Little Prince]
The Little Prince (36) [The Little Prince]
So the little prince, in spite of all the good will that was inseparable from his love, had soon come to doubt her.
He had taken seriously words which were without importance, and it made him very unhappy.
One day, " I ought not to have listened her, " he confided to me.
" One never ought to listento the flowers. One should simply look at them and breathe their fragrance. Mine perfumed all my planet.
But I did not know how to take pleasure in all her grace.
This tale of claws, which disturbed me so much, should only have filled my heart with tenderness and pity. "
And he continued his confidences :
" The fact is that I did not know how to understand anything. I ought to have judged by deeds and not by words.
She cast her fragrance and her radiance over me. I ought never to have runaway from her. . . I ought to have guessed all the affection that lay behind her poor little stratagems.
Flowers are soinconsistent !
But I was too young to know how to love her. . . "
(36)
The Little Prince (37) [The Little Prince]
Ⅸ
I believe that for his escape he took advantage of the migration og a flock og wild birds.
On the morning of his departure he put his planet in perfect order.
He carefully cleaned out his active volcanors.
He possessed two active valcanoes ; and they were very convenient for heating his breakfast in the morning.
He also had one volcano that was extinct.
But, as he said, " One never knows ! "
So he cleaned out the extinct volcano, too.
If they are well cleaned out, volcanoes burn slowly steadily, without any eruptions. Volcanin eruptions are like fires in a chimney.
" He carefully cleaned out his active volcanoes. "
On our Earth we are obviously much too samll to clean out our volcanoes. That is why they bring no end of trouble upon us.
(37)
The Little Prince (38) [The Little Prince]
The Little Prince also pulled up, with a certain sense of dejection, the last little shoots of the baobabs.
He believed that he would never want to return.
But on this last morning all these familiar tasks seemed very presious to him.
And when he watered the flower for the last time, and prepared to place her under the shelter of her glass globe, he realized that he was very close to tears.
" Goodbye, " he said to the flower.
But she made no answer.
" Goodbye, " he said again.
The flower coughed. But it was not because she had a cold.
" I've been silly, " she said to him, at last.
" I ask your forgiveness. Try to be happy. . . "
He was surprised by this absence of reproaches.
He stood there all bewildered, the glass globe held arrested in mid-air.
he did not understand this quiet sweetness.
(38)
The Little Prince (39) [The Little Prince]
" Of course I love you, " the flower said to him.
" It is my fault that you have not known it all the while. That is of no importance. But you ー you have been just as foolish as I. Try to be happy. . . Let the glass globe be. I don't want it any more. "
" But the wind ー "
" My cold is not so bad as all that. . .The cool night air will do me good. I am a flower. "
" But the animals ― "
" Well, I must endure the presence of the two or three catepillars if I wish to become acquainted with the butterflies. It seems that they are very beautiful. And if not the butterflies ー and the caterpillars ― who will call upon me ? You will be far away. . . As for the large animals ー I am not at all afraid of any of them. I have my claws. "
And naively, she showed her four thorns.
Then she added : " Don't linger like this. You have decided to go away. Now go ! "
For she did not want him to see her crying. She was such a proud flower. . .
(39)
次回(明日)から新章Ⅹに入り、新たなPlanetが出てきます。
明日から当分の間、午後4時に戻します。
The Little Prince (40) [The Little Prince]
He found himself in the neighborhood of the asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, and 330.
He began, therefore, by visiting them, inorder to add to his knowledge.
The first of them was inhabited by a King.
Clad in royal purple and ermine, he was seated upon a throne which was the same time both simple and majesstic.
" Oh ! Here is a subject, " exclaimed the King, when he saw the little prince coming.
And the little prince asked himself :
" How could he recognize me when he had never seen me before ? "
He did not know how the world is simplified for the Kings.
To them, all med are subjects.
" Approach, so that I may see you better, " said the King, who felt consumingly proud of being at last a King over somebody.
(40)
The Little Prince (41) [The Little Prince]
The Little Prince (42) [The Little Prince]
The Little Prince (43) [The Little Prince]
TheLittle Prince(44) [The Little Prince]
The Little Prince (45) [The Little Prince]
The Little Prince (46) [The Little Prince]
The Little Prince (47) [The Little Prince]
The little prince (48) [The Little Prince]
But the little prince, having now completed his reparations for depature, had no wish to grieve the old monarch.
" if Your Mjesty wishes to be promptly obeyed, " he said, " he should be able to give me a reasonable order. He should be able, for ezample, to order me to be gone by the end of oine minute. it seems to me that conditions are favorable. . . "
As the King made no answer, the little prince hesitated a moment. Then, with a sigh, he took his leave.
" I make you my Ambassador, " the King called out, hastily.
" The grown-ups are very strange, " the little prince said to himself, as he continued on his journey.
(48)
次回より次の planet を訪問します。
The Little Prince (49) [The Little Prince]
The Little Prince (50) [The Little Prince]
" Clap your hands, one against the other, " the conceited man now directed him.
The little prince clapped his hands.
The conceited man raised his hat in a modest salute.
"This is more entertaining than the visit to the King, " the little prince said to himself.
And he began again to clap his hands, one against the other. The conceited man again raised his hat in salute.
After five minutes of this exercise the little prince grew tired of the game's monotony.
" And what should one do to make the hat come down ? " he asked.
But the conceited man did not hear him. Conceited ppeople never hear anything but praise.
" Do you really admire me very much ? " he demanded of the little prince.
" What does that mean ? ー ' admire ' ? "
" To admire means that you regard me as the handsomest, the best-dressed, the richest, and the most intelligent man on this planet. "
" But you are the only man on your planet ! "
" Do me this kindness. Admire me just the same. "
" I admire you, " said the little prince, shrugging his shoulders slightly,
" but what is there in that to interest you somuch ? "
And the little prince went away.
" The grown-ups are certainly very odd, " he said to himself, as he continued on his journey.
(50)
The Little Prince (51) [The Little Prince]
XⅡ
THE NEXT PLANET was inhabited by a tippler.
This was a veru 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 way, puzzled.
" The grown-ups are certainly very, very odd, " he said to himself, as he continued on his journey.
(51)
The Little Prince (51) [The Little Prince]
XⅢ
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 arraival.
" 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 ー 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 makes seven. . . "
" Five-hundred-and-onemillion what ? " repeated the little prince, who never in his life had let go of a question once he had asked it.
(51)
The Little Prince (52) [The Little Prince]
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 distracted by an attack of the rheumatism. I don't get enough excercise. I have no time for loafing.
The third time ー well, this is it ! I was saying, then, five-hundred-and-one millions ー "
" Millions of what ? "
The businessman suddenly realized that there was no hope of being left in peace that he answered this question.
" Millions of those little objects, " he said, " which one sometimes sees in the sky. "
" Flies ? "
" 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. "
(52)
The Little prince (53) [The Little Prince]
" 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 stars ? "
" Yes. "
" But I have already seen a King who ― "
" Kings do not own, they reign over, It is very different matter. "
" And what good does it do you to own stars ? "
" It does me the good of making me rich. "
" And what good does it do you to be rich ? "
" I makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are discovered. "
" This man, " the little prince said to himself, " reasons a little like my poor tippler. . . "
Nevertheless, he still had some more question.
(53)
The Little Prince (54) [The Little Prince]
Neverthless, 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 anyone 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 owing them. "
" Yes, that is true, " said the little prince.
" And what do you with them ? "
(54)
The Little Prince (55) [The Little Prince]
" 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 consecuence. "
The little prince was still 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's enough, " said the businessman.
(55)