English
the little prince visits the lamplighter
The fifth planet was very strange. It was the smallest of all. There was just enough room on it for a street lamp and a lamplighter. The little prince was not able to reach any explanation of the use of a street lamp and a lamplighter, somewhere in the heavens, on a planet which had no people, and not one house. But he said to himself, nevertheless:
“It may well be that this man is absurd. But he is not so absurd as the king, the conceited man, the businessman, and the tippler. For at least his work has some meaning. When he lights his street lamp, it is as if he brought one more star to life, or one flower. When he puts out his lamp, he sends the flower, or the star, to sleep. That is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful.”
When he arrived on the planet he respectfully saluted the lamplighter.
“Good morning. Why have you just put out your lamp?”
“Those are the orders,” replied the lamplighter. “Good morning.”
“What are the orders?”
“The orders are that I put out my lamp. Good evening.”
And he lighted his lamp again.
“But why have you just lighted it again?”
“Those are the orders,” replied the lamplighter.
“I do not understand,” said the little prince.
“There is nothing to understand,” said the lamplighter. “Orders are orders. Good morning.”
And he put out his lamp.
Then he mopped his forehead with a handkerchief decorated with red squares.
“I follow a terrible profession. In the old days it was reasonable. I put the lamp out in the morning, and in the evening I lighted it again. I had the rest of the day for relaxation and the rest of the night for sleep.”
“And the orders have been changed since that time?”
“The orders have not been changed,” said the lamplighter. “That is the tragedy! From year to year the planet has turned more rapidly and the orders have not been changed!”
“Then what?” asked the little prince.
“Then– the planet now makes a complete turn every minute, and I no longer have a single second for repose. Once every minute I have to light my lamp and put it out!”
“That is very funny! A day lasts only one minute, here where you live!”
“It is not funny at all!” said the lamplighter. “While we have been talking together a month has gone by.”
“A month?”
“Yes, a month. Thirty minutes. Thirty days. Good evening.”
And he lighted his lamp again.
As the little prince watched him, he felt that he loved this lamplighter who was so faithful to his orders. He remembered the sunsets which he himself had gone to seek, in other days, merely by pulling up his chair; and he wanted to help his friend.
“You know,” he said, “I can tell you a way you can rest whenever you want to…”
“I always want to rest,” said the lamplighter.
For it is possible for a man to be faithful and lazy at the same time.
The little prince went on with his explanation:
“Your planet is so small that three strides will take you all the way around it. To be always in the sunshine, you need only walk along rather slowly. When you want to rest, you will walk– and the day will last as long as you like.”
“That doesn’t do me much good,” said the lamplighter. “The one thing I love in life is to sleep.”
“Then you’re unlucky,” said the little prince.
“I am unlucky,” said the lamplighter. “Good morning.”
And he put out his lamp.
“That man,” said the little prince to himself, as he continued farther on his journey, “that man would be scorned by all the others: by the king, by the conceited man, by the tippler, by the businessman. Nevertheless he is the only one of them all who does not seem to me ridiculous. Perhaps that is because he is thinking of something else besides himself.”
He breathed a sigh of regret, and said to himself, again:
“That man is the only one of them all whom I could have made my friend. But his planet is indeed too small. There is no room on it for two people…”
What the little prince did not dare confess was that he was sorry most of all to leave this planet, because it was blest every day with 1440 sunsets!
中文
小王子拜访了点灯人
第五颗星球非常奇怪。它是所有星球中最小的一颗。星球上的空间只够容纳一盏路灯和一个点灯人。小王子怎么也解释不通，在浩瀚的天际中，在一颗既没有人烟也没有房屋的星球上，路灯和点灯人到底有什么用。尽管如此，他还是自言自语道：
“或许这个人很荒唐。但他不像国王、爱虚荣的人、商人和酒鬼那么荒唐。因为至少他的工作还有某种意义。当他点亮路灯时，就好像他又赋予了一颗星星或一朵花生命。当他熄灭灯火时，他便送那朵花或那颗星星进入梦乡。这是一份美丽的职业。既然它是美丽的，那它就是真正有用的。”
当小王子到达这颗星球时，他恭敬地向点灯人行了个礼。
“你好。为什么你刚才把灯熄灭了？”
“这是规章，”点灯人回答道，“你好。”
“规章是什么？”
“规章就是让我把灯熄掉。晚上好。”
说完，他又点亮了灯。
“可你为什么又把它点着了呢？”
“这是规章，”点灯人回答。
“我不明白，”小王子说。
“没什么好明白的，”点灯人说，“规章就是规章。你好。”
接着，他熄灭了灯。
然后，他用一块印有红方格的手帕擦了擦额头。
“我干的是一份可怕的职业。以前这份工作还是合情合理的。我早上熄灯，晚上点灯。剩下的白天我可以休息，剩下的夜晚我可以睡觉。”
“那从那以后，规章改变了吗？”
“规章没有变，”点灯人说，“这就是悲剧所在！这颗星球一年比一年转得快，可规章却一点没变！”
“结果呢？”小王子问。
“结果——现在星球每分钟转一整圈，我连一秒钟休息的时间都没有了。每分钟我都得点一次灯，再熄一次灯！”
“这真有趣！你住在这里，一天竟然只有一分钟长！”
“这一点都不有趣！”点灯人说，“就在咱俩说话的时候，一个月已经过去了。”
“一个月？”
“是的，一个月。三十分钟。三十天。晚上好。”
他又点亮了路灯。
小王子看着他，心里不禁爱上了这个如此忠于规章的点灯人。他想起了以前，自己只要挪动椅子就能去寻找的那些日落。他很想帮帮这位朋友。
“你知道吗，”他说，“我可以告诉你一个法子，让你想休息的时候就能休息……”
“我一直都想休息，”点灯人说。
因为一个人完全可能既忠于职守，同时又很懒惰。
小王子继续解释道：
“你的星球这么小，走三步就能绕它一圈。你只要走得足够慢，就能一直待在阳光下。当你想要休息的时候，你就往前走——这样，你想让白天持续多久，它就能持续多久。”
“那对我没多大用处，”点灯人说，“我这辈子唯一爱好的就是睡觉。”
“那你就没法走运了，”小王子说。
“我是没法走运，”点灯人说，“你好。”
接着，他熄灭了路灯。
“那个人，”小王子在继续旅程的途中自言自语道，“他会被其他所有人瞧不起：被国王瞧不起，被爱虚荣的人瞧不起，被酒鬼瞧不起，也被商人瞧不起。然而，他是所有人中唯一一个我觉得不荒谬的人。或许这是因为，他思考的是除了他自己以外的事情。”
他惋惜地叹了口气，又对自己说道：
“他是所有人中，我唯一可以交成朋友的人。可是他的星球实在是太小了。上面根本容不下两个人……”
小王子不敢承认的是，他之所以如此遗憾地离开这颗星球，最重要的原因其实是：这颗星球每天都有 1440 次日落！
一部分内容摘录自《小王子》。 如有侵权， 请联系作者删除
