小王子 第30期:购买星星

 Millions of what?

几百万什么？

The businessman suddenly realized that there was no hope of being left in peace until he answered this question.

这位实业家知道要想安宁是无望的了，就说道：

Millions of those little objects, he said, which one sometimes sees in the sky.

几百万个小东西，这些小东西有时出现在天空中。

Flies?

苍蝇吗？

Oh, no. Little glittering¹ objects.

不是，是些闪闪发亮的小东西。

Bees?

是蜜蜂吗？

Oh, no. Little golden² objects that set lazy men to idle³ dreaming.

不是，是金黄色的小东西，这些小东西叫那些懒汉们胡思乱想

As for me, I am concerned with matters of consequence.

我是个严肃的人。我没有时间胡思乱想。

There is no time for idle dreaming in my life.

我没有时间胡思乱想。

Ah! You mean the stars?

啊，是星星吗？

Yes, that's it. The stars.

对了，就是星星。

And what do you do with Five-hundred millions of stars?

你要拿这五亿星星做什么？

Five-hundred-and-one million, six-hundred-twenty-two thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one.

五亿一百六十二万七百三十一颗星星。

I am concerned with matters of consequence: I am accurate⁴.

我是严肃的人，我是非常精确的。

And what do you do with these stars?

你拿这些星星做什么？

What do I do with them?

我要它做什么？

Yes.

是呀

Nothing. I own them.

什么也不做。它们都是属于我的。

You own the stars?

星星是属于你的？

Yes.

是的。

But I have already seen a king who...

可是我已经见到过一个国王，他…

Kings do not own, they reign⁵ over. It is a very different matter.

国王并不占有，他们只是进行‘统治’。这不是一码事。

And what good does it do you to own the stars?

你拥有这许多星星有什么用？

It does me the good of making me rich.

它可以使我变得富有。

And what good does it do you to be rich?

变富有了你想干什么？

It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are ever discovered.

富了就可以去买别的星星，如果有人发现了别的星星的话。

"This man," the little prince said to himself, "reasons a little like my poortippler..."

小王子自言自语地说：“这个人想问题有点象那个酒鬼一样。”

1 glittering   

a.闪闪发亮

参考例句：

• He has a glittering career ahead of him. 他前程似锦。
• He strove for the glittering prizes of politics. 他力争在政界取得辉煌的成绩。

2 golden   

adj.金的，含金的，可贵的，金色的，贵重的，繁盛的

参考例句：

• My teacher is an Englishman with golden hair.我的老师是一个金黄色头发的英国人。
• It's a balmy evening,the golden time for lovers.这是一个暖和的夜晚，是恋人们的黄金时光。

3 idle   

adj.空闲的，闲置的；无用的；懒散的；v.空费

参考例句：

• Mike doesn't study at all.Instead,he sits idle all day.迈克根本不肯读书，相反地，他终日游手好闲。
• How much trouble in this life is caused by idle talk!生活中有多少麻烦不都是由闲谈引起的么！

4 accurate   

adj.正确无误的；准确的，精确的

参考例句：

• He has made an accurate measurement of my garden.他准确地丈量了我的花园。
• He is always accurate in what he says and does.他说的和做的总是正确无误。

5 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。