English
the little prince encounters a railway switchman
“Good morning,” said the little prince.
“Good morning,” said the railway switchman.
“What do you do here?” the little prince asked.
“I sort out travelers, in bundles of a thousand,” said the switchman. “I send off the trains that carry them; now to the right, now to the left.”
And a brilliantly lighted express train shook the switchman’s cabin as it rushed by with a roar like thunder.
“They are in a great hurry,” said the little prince. “What are they looking for?”
“Not even the locomotive engineer knows that,” said the switchman.
And a second brilliantly lighted express thundered by, in the opposite direction.
“Are they coming back already?” demanded the little prince.
“These are not the same ones,” said the switchman. “It is an exchange.”
“Were they not satisfied where they were?” asked the little prince.
“No one is ever satisfied where he is,” said the switchman.
And they heard the roaring thunder of a third brilliantly lighted express.
“Are they pursuing the first travelers?” demanded the little prince.
“They are pursuing nothing at all,” said the switchman. “They are asleep in there, or if they are not asleep they are yawning. Only the children are flattening their noses against the windowpanes.”
“Only the children know what they are looking for,” said the little prince. “They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them; and if anybody takes it away from them, they cry…”
“They are lucky,” the switchman said.
中文
小王子遇到了一个铁路扳道工
“你好，”小王子说。
“你好，”扳道工说。
“你在这里做什么？”小王子问。
“我负责分流旅客，每一千人为一批”扳道工说，“我发出一列列载着他们的火车；一会儿发往右边，一会儿发往左边。”
这时，一列灯火通明的快车如雷鸣般轰隆而过，震得扳道工的小屋不停晃动。
“他们可真匆忙啊，”小王子说，“他们在寻找什么呢？”
“连火车司机自己都不知道，”扳道工回答。
紧接着，第二列灯火通明的快车又朝着相反的方向雷鸣般驶过。
“他们这么快就回来了吗？”小王子问道。
“这不是同一批人，”扳道工说，“这是对向开的列车。”
“他们对原来待的地方不满意吗？”小王子问。
“人永远不会对自己待的地方感到满意。”扳道工说。
随后，第三列灯火通明的快车又如雷鸣般呼啸而过。
“他们在追赶第一批旅客吗？”小王子问。
“他们什么也不追，”扳道工说，“他们在车厢里睡觉，或者就在那儿打哈欠。只有小孩子们把鼻子贴在车窗玻璃上往外看。”
“只有小孩子知道自己在寻找什么，”小王子说，“他们把时间花在一个布娃娃身上，这娃娃就变得非常重要。如果有人把它拿走，他们就会哭……”
“他们是幸运的，”扳道工说。
一部分内容摘录自《小王子》。 如有侵权， 请联系作者删除
