这位因为刚刚有了一个臣民而十分骄傲自得的国王说道：“别走，别走。我任命你当大臣。”

Minister of what?

什么大臣？

Minster of–of Justice!

嗯……司法大臣！

But there is nobody here to judge!

可是，这儿没有一个要审判的人。

"We do not know that," the king said to him. "I have not yet made a complete tour of my kingdom."

“很难说呀，”国王说道。“因此我还没有巡视过我的王国呢！”

I am very old. There is no room here for a carriage.

我很老了，我这地方又小，没有放銮驾的地方，

And it tires me to walk.

另外，一走路我就累。

"Oh, but I have looked already!" said the little prince, turning around to give one more glance to the other side of the planet.

“噢！可是我已经看过了。”小王子说道，并探身朝星球的那一侧看了看。

On that side, as on this, there was nobody at all...

那边也没有一个人…

"Then you shall judge yourself," the king answered. "that is the most dificult thing of all.

“那么你就审判你自己呀！”国王回答他说。“这可是最难的了。

It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others.

审判自己比审判别人要难得多啊！

If you succeed in judging yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.

你要是能审判好自己，你就是一个真正有才智的人。

"Yes," said the little prince, but I can judge myself anywhere.

我吗，随便在什么地方我都可以审度自己。

I do not need to live on this planet.

我没有必要留在这里。

"Hum! Hum!" said the king. "I have good reason to believe that somewhere on my planet there is an old rat."

国王又说：“嗯…嗯…我想，在我的星球上有一只老耗子。”

I hear him at night.

夜里，我听见它的声音。

You can judge this old rat. From time to time you will condemn him to death.

你可以审判它，不时地判处它死刑。

Thus his life will depend on your justice.

因此它的生命取决于你的判决。

But you will pardon him on each occasion; for he must be treated thriftily.

可是，你要有节制地使用这只耗子，每次判刑后都要赦免它。

He is the only one we have.

因为只有这一只耗子。

"I," replied the little prince, "do not like to condemn anyone to death. And now I think I will go on my way."

“可是我不愿判死刑，我想我还是应该走。”小王子回答道。

"No," said the king.

“不行。”国王说。

But the little prince, having now completed his preparations for departure, had no wish to grieve the old monarch.

但是小王子，准备完毕之后，不想使老君主难过，

"If Your Majesty wishes to be promptly obeyed," he said, "he should be able to give me a reasonable order.

说道：“如果国王陛下想要不折不扣地得到服从，你可以给我下一个合理的命令。”

He should be able, for example, to order me to be gone by the end of one minute.

比如说，你可以命令我，一分钟之内必须离开。

It seems to me that conditions are favorable...

我认为这个条件是成熟的…

As the king made no answer, the little prince hesitated a moment.

国王什么也没有回答。起初，小王子有些犹疑不决，

Then, with a sigh, he took his leave.

随后叹了口气，就离开了…

"I made you my Ambassador," the king called out, hastily.

“我派你当我的大使。”国王匆忙地喊道。

He had a magnificent air of authority.

国王显出非常有权威的样子。

"The grown-ups are very strange," the little prince said to himself, as he continued on his journey.

小王子在旅途中自言自语地说：“这些大人真奇怪。”