小王子 chapter10

chapter 10

He found himself in the neighborhood of the asteroids 325,326,327,329,and 330. He began ,therefore,by visiting them,in order 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 at the same time both simple and majestic.
"Ah! 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 kings. To them, all men 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.
The little prince looked everywhere to find a place to sit down;but the entire planet was crammed and obstructed by the king's magnificent ermine robe. So he remained standing upright ,and,since he was tired,he yawned.
" It is contrary to etiquette to yawn in the presence of a king," the monarch said to him." I forbid you to do so."
" I cant't help it. I can't stop myself," replied the little prince,thoroughly embarrassed. " I have come on a long journey,and I have had no sleep..."
" Ah,then," the king said. " I order you to yawn. It is years since I have seen anyone yawning. Yawns,to me, are objects of curiosity. Come , now ! Yawn again! It is an order."
" That frightens me...I cannot, any more..." murmured the little prince,now completely abashed.
"Hum! Hum!" replied the king. "Then I - I order you sometimes to yawn and sometimes to - "
He sputtered a little,and seemed vexed.
For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected. He tolerated no disobedience. He was an absolute monarch. But, because he was a very good man,he made his orders reasonable.
"If I ordered a general," he would say, by way of example," If I ordered a general to change himself into a sea bird,and if the general did not obey me, that would not be the fault of the general. It would be my fault."
" May I sit down?" came now a timid inquiry from the little prince.
" I order you to do so," the king answered him,and majestically gathered in a fold of his ermine mantle.
But the little prince was wondering... The planet was tiny. Over what could this king really rule?
"Sire,"he said to him,"I beg that you will excuse my asking you a question - "
"I order you to ask me a question," the king hastened to assure him.
"Sire - over what do you rule?"
"Over everything,"said the king, with magnificent simplicity.
"Over everything?"
The king made a gesture,which took in his planet,the other planets,and all the stars.
"Over all that?" asked the little prince.
"Over all that," the king answered.
For his rule was not only absolute: it was also universal.
"And the stars obey you?"
"Certainly they do," the king said. " They obey instantly.I do not permit insubordination."
Such power was a thing for the little prince to marvel at. If he had been master of such complete authority ,he would have been able to watch the sunset,not forty-four times in one day,but seventy - two,or even a hundred,or even two hundred times, without ever having to move his chair. And because he felt a bit sad as he remembered his little planet which he had forsaken,he plucked up his courage to ask the king a favor:
" I should like to see a sunset...Do me that kindness... Order the sun to set..."
"If I ordered a general to fly from one flower to another like a butterfly,or to write a tragic drama, or to change himself into a sea bird,and if the general did not carry out the order that he had received,which one of us would be in the wrong?" the king demanded." The general, or myself?"
"You," said the little prince firmly.
"Exactly. One must require from each one the duty which each one can perform," the king went on." Accepted authority rests first of all on reason. If you ordered your people to go and throw themselves into the sea,they would rise up in revolution. I have the right to require obedience because my orders are reasonable."
"Then my sunset?" the little prince reminded him:for he never forgot a question once he had asked it.
" You shall have your sunset. I shall command it. But,according to my science of government ,I shall wait until conditions are favourable."
"When will that be?" inquired the little prince.
"Hum! Hum!" replied the king;and before saying anything else he consulted a bulky almanac."Hum!Hum!That will be about - about - that will be this evening twenty minutes to eight.And you will see how well I am obeyed."
The little prince yawned. He was regretting his lost sunset. And then,too, he was already beginning to be a little bored.
"I have nothing more to do here," he said to the king." So I shall set out on my way again."
" Do not go,"said the king,who was very proud of having a subject."Do not go.I will make you a Minister!"
"Minister of what?"
"Minister of  - of Justice!"
" But there is nobody here to judge!"
"We do not know that," the king said to him."I have not yet made a complete tour of my kingdom.I am very old.There is no room here for a carriage.And it tires me to walk."
"Oh,but I have looked already!" said the little prince, turning around to give one more glance to the other side of the planet.On the side,as on this,there was nobody at all...
" Then you shall judge yourself," the king answered."That is the most difficult thing of all. It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself rightly,then you are indeed a man of true wisdom."
"Yes,"said the little prince,"but I can judge myself anywhere. I do not need to live on this planet."
"Hum! Hum! "said the king." I have good reason to believe that somewhere on my planet there is an old rat. I hear him at night.You can judge this old rat.From time to time you will condemn him to death.Thus his life will depend on your justice.But you will pardon him on each occasion;for he must be treated thriftily.He is the only one we have."
"I," replied the little prince,"do not like to condemn anyone to death. And now I think I will go on my way."
"No,"said the king.
But the little prince,having now completed his preparations for departure,had no wish to grieve the old monarch.
"If Your Majesty wishes to be promptly obeyed,"he said,"he should be able to give me a reasonable order.He should be able ,for example, to order me to be gone by the end of one minute.It seems to me that conditions are favourable..."
As the king made no answer,the little prince hesitated a moment.Then,with a sigh,he took his leave.
"I made you my Ambassador," the king called out,hastily.
He had a magnificent air of authority.
"The grown-ups are very strange,"the little prince said to himself,as he continued on his journey.

第十章

小王子居住的行星附近，还有第325、326、327、328、329和330号小行星。为了增长知识，他开始拜访这些小行星。
第一个小行星上住着一位国王。国王身穿紫色的貂皮长袍，坐在一个简谱而威严的宝座上。
“啊！来了一个臣民。”他看到小王子来了，惊喜地说。
小王子心里想：
”他从未见过我，怎么会认识我呢？”
他不知道在国王眼中，世界其实很简单，所有人都是他的臣民。
“靠近点，让我看清楚你的样子，”国王说，他终于成了某个臣民的国王，格外自豪。
小王子环顾四周，想要找个位子坐下；但整个星球都被国王华丽的貂皮长袍铺得满满的。所以他只好继续站着，但他很累，打起哈欠来。
“在国王面前打哈欠是有违礼仪的。”这位君主说，“我禁止你打哈欠”
“可我忍不住啊。我控制不住我自己。”小王子尴尬地回答道，“我赶了很长很长时间的路才来到这里，又没有睡过觉。。。”
噢，那，”国王说，“那我命令你打哈欠。我已经很多年没见过别人打哈欠了。打哈欠对于我来说真是件新鲜事。来吧，打吧！再打一次哈欠！这是命令。”
“你吓到我了。。。我，我打不出来了。。。”小王子小声说道，害羞得涨红了脸。
“嗯！嗯！”国王说。那我。。。那我命令你，时而打哈欠，时而。。。“”
他结结巴巴地说着，似乎很生气。
因为国王最在乎的就是他的权威有没有得到尊重。他不容许有任何违抗。他是位专制的君主。但他很善良，他的命令总是合情合理。
“如果我命令一位将军，”他常常这样说，“如果我命令一位将军变成一只海鸟，而将军不服从我，那不是将军的错，那是我的错。”
“我可以坐下吗？”小王子怯怯地问。
“我命令你坐下。”国王回答说，同时很威风地把他那貂皮长袍的一角朝里拉了拉。
但是小王子感到很好奇。。。这个星球很小，国王到底能统治什么呢？
“陛下，”小王子说，“请原谅，我有个问题想问您。。。
“我命令你问我。”国王赶快忙着批准。
“陛下，您都统治些什么呢？”
“统治一切，”国王的回答简洁而威严。
“统治一切？”
国王挥了挥手，示意这一切包括他的星球、其他行星以及所有星星。
“统治这一切？”小王子问。
“统治这一切。”国王回答。
看来不仅是专制的君主，还是宇宙之王。
“那些星星都服从您吗？”
“当然！”国王说，“我的命令一下，他们就马上服从。我可不容许有任何违抗。”
这样的权利让小王子惊叹不已。如果他有这种权利，那他每天能看的就不只是四十四次日落了，就能看七十二次，甚至一百次、两百次，连椅子都不用挪动！小王子想到了那个被他遗弃的小星球，有些伤感，于是鼓足勇气想请国王帮他个忙：
“我想看看日落。。。请您帮帮忙。。。请命令太阳下山吧。。。”
“假如我命令一位将军，想蝴蝶一样在花丛中飞舞，或者写出一部悲剧，或者变成一只海鸟，而将军不服从命令，这是谁的错呢？是将军还是我自己？” 国王问。
“是您。”小王子斩钉截铁地说。
“没错。应该命令每个人做他能做到的事。权威首先要建立在理性的基础之上。如果你命令你的人民去跳海，他们就会发动起义。我有权要求他们服从，那是因为我的命令都是合情合理的。”
“那我的日落呢？”小王子提醒国王。他只要提了问题，不得到回答就不会罢休。
“你会有你的日落。我会命令太阳落山的。但是，依据我的统治方式，我要等到时机成熟。”
“那是什么时候啊？”小王子问道。
“呃，呃。。。”国王边回答，边翻开厚厚的日历查了查，他说：“呃，呃，这大约是在今晚的七点四十分！到时候你就会看到我的命令服从得多么好。”
小王子打了打哈欠。没看到日落，他感到很遗憾，也觉得有点无聊了。
“我在这无事可做了，”他对国王说，“我要继续赶路了。”
“别走啊，”国王说，他很骄傲终于有了一个臣民，“别走啊。我封你为大臣！”
“什么大臣？”
“司法大臣！”
“可是这连个需要审判的人都没有啊！”
“那可说不准，”国王说，”我还没完成地巡视过我的王国呢。我年纪大了。这里太小了，走不了马车，而且我又走不动了。”
“噢！但是我已经看过了！”小王子说着，探身看了看这个星球的另一边，那边也空无一人。。。
"那你就审判自己吧，"国王说，“这是最难的事了。审判自己可要比审判别人难多了。如果你能审判好自己，那你就是个真正的智者。”
“是啊！”小王子说，”不过我在哪里都能审判自己。我不用住在这个星球上。”
“呃，呃，”国王说，“我敢肯定，在我星球的某个地方有只老鼠。夜里我能听见他的动静。你可以审判这只老鼠，可以时不时处他死刑。所以他的生死大权就掌握在你的手里。不过你每次都要赦免他不死。这里可只有这么一只老鼠啊。”
“我啊，”小王子说，“我不喜欢判处别人死刑。我想我该出发了。”
“别走。”国王说。
小王子虽然已经做好了离开的准备，但又不想让这位年老的君主伤心。
“如果陛下您希望命令马上得以服从，您可以给我下一个合理的命令。比如，您可以命令我在一分钟之内离开。我觉得时机已经成熟了。。。”
国王没有回答，小王子迟疑了一会儿，然后叹了口气，离开了。
“我封你为大使！”国王急忙大声喊道。
他摆出一副高高在上的姿态。
“大人这是奇怪啊。”小王子心里想，继续踏上了他的旅程。