“这倒叫我有点紧张…我打不出哈欠来了…”小王子红着脸说。

"Hum! Hum!" replied the king. "Then I – I order you sometimes to yawn and sometimes to–"

“嗯！嗯！”国王回答道：“那么我…命令你忽而打哈欠，忽而…”

He sputtered a little, and seemed vexed.

他嘟嘟囔囔，显出有点恼怒。

For what the king fundamentally insisted upon was that his authority should be respected.

因为国王所要求的主要是保持他的威严受到尊敬。

He tolerated no disobedience.

他不能容忍不听他的命令。

He was an absolute monarch.

他是一位绝对的君主。

But, because he was a very good man, he made his orders reasonable.

可是，他却很善良，他下的命令都是有理智的。

"If I ordered a general," he would say, by way of example, "if I ordered a general to change himself into a sea bird,"

“如果我命令一个将军,”他会说,举个例子,“如果我命令一个将军改变自己变成一个海鸟,”

and if the general did not obey me, that would not be the fault of the general. It would be my fault.

而这位将军不服从我的命令，那么这就不是将军的过错，而是我的过错。”

"May I sit down?" came now a timid inquiry from the little prince.

小王子腼腆地试探道：“我可以坐下吗？”

"I order you to do so," the king answered him, and majestically gathered in a fold of his ermine mantle.

“我命令你坐下。”国王一边回答，一边庄重地把他那白底黑花皮袍大襟挪动了一下。

But the little prince was wondering...

可是小王子感到很奇怪。

The planet was tiny. Over what could this king really rule?

这么小的行星，国王他对什么进行统治呢？

"Sire," he said to him, "I beg that you will excuse my asking you a question..."

他对国王说：“陛下…请原谅，我想问您…”

"I order you to ask me a question," the king hastened to assure him.

国王急忙抢着说道：“我命令你问我。”

Sire–over what do you rule?

陛下…你统治什么呢？

"Over everything," said the king, with magnificent simplicity.

国王非常简单明了地说：“我统治一切。”

Over everything?

一切？

The king made a gesture, which took in his planet, the other planets, and all the stars.

国王轻轻地用手指着他的行星和其他的行星，以及所有的星星。

"Over all that?" asked the little prince.

小王子说：“统治这一切？”

"Over all that," the king answered.

“统治这一切。”国王回答。

For his rule was not only absolute: it was also universal.

原来他不仅是一个绝对的君主，而且是整个宇宙的君主。

And the stars obey you?

那么，星星都服从您吗？

"Certainly they do," the king said. "They obey instantly. I do not permit insubordination."

“那当然！”国王对他说，“它们立即就得服从。我是不允许无纪律的。”