第十五章
“甚么是地理学家？”
“恰好，你是从远方来的！你是个探险家！你来给我先容一下你的星球吧！”
“地理学册本是最松散的书。”地理学家说道，“这类书是从不会过期。很少会产生一座山变更位置，很少会呈现一个陆地干枯的征象。我们记录永久的东西。”
“火山是燃烧了的也好，复苏的也好，这对我们这些人来讲都是一回事。”地理学家说，“对我们来讲，首要的是山。山是不会变更位置的。”
"Because intoxicated men see double. Then the geographer would note down two mountains in a place where there was only one.""I know some one," said the little prince, "who would make a bad explorer.""That is possible. Then, when the moral character of the explorer is shown to be good, an inquiry is ordered into his discovery.""One goes to see it"
"It means, ‘which is in danger of speedy disappearance.'""Is my flower in danger of speedy disappearance""Certainly it is."
The little prince sat down on the table and panted a little. He had already traveled so much and so far!
“但是燃烧的火山也能够会再复苏的。”小王子打断了地理学家，“甚么叫长久？”
“因为一个扯谎话的探险家会给地理书带来灾害性的结果。一样，一个太爱喝酒的探险家也是如此。”
这是他第一次产生了悔怨，但他又重新抖擞起来：“您是否能建议我下一站去甚么处所看看？”小王子问道。
“地球，”地理学家答复他说，“它很着名……”
"What is that big book" said the little prince. "What are you doing""I am a geographer," the old gentleman said to him.
"A geographer is a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers, towns, mountains, and deserts.""That is very interesting," said the little prince. "Here at last is a man who has a real profession!" And he cast a look around him at the planet of the geographer. It was the most magnificent and stately planet that he had ever seen.
地理学家俄然镇静地慌乱起来。
“那当然。”
"No. That would be too complicated. But one requires the explorer to furnish proofs. For example, if the discovery in question is that of a large mountain, one requires that large stones be brought back from it."The geographer was suddenly stirred to excitement.
"Because an explorer who told lies would bring disaster on the books of the geographer. So would an explorer who drank too much.""Why is that" asked the little prince.
“这是斑斓的星球。上面有陆地吗？”
“不。那太庞大了。但是要求探险家提出证据来。比方，借使他发明了一座大山，就要求他带来一些大石头。”
"And towns, and rivers, and deserts""I couldn't tell you that, either.""But you are a geographer!"
“我不晓得。”地理学家说。
“去实地考查吗？”
“这一大本厚厚的是甚么书？你在这里干甚么？”小王子问道。
Chapter 15
"Oh, where I live," said the little prince, "it is not very interesting. It is all so small. I have three volcanoes. Two volcanoes are active and the other is extinct. But one never knows.""One never knows," said the geographer.
“可您还是地理学家呢！”
“我另有一朵花。”
“这确切难说。”地理学家说道。
因而，已经翻开记事簿的地理学家，削起他的铅笔来。他起首是用铅条记下探险家的论述，比及探险家提出了证据今后再用墨水条记下来。
"Your planet is very beautiful," he said. "Has it any oceans""I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.
"My flower is ephemeral," the little prince said to himself, "and she has only four thorns to defend herself against the world. And I have left her on my planet, all alone!"That was his first moment of regret. But he took courage once more.
"Well" said the geographer expectantly.
"But you― you come from far away! You are an explorer! You shall describe your planet to me!"And, having opened his big register, the geographer sharpened his pencil. The recitals of explorers are put down first in pencil. One waits until the explorer has furnished proofs, before putting them down in ink.
“我晓得的未几。”地理学家说。
“我们是不记录花草的。”地理学家说。
“啊！我那边，”小王子说道，“没有多粗心义，那儿甚么都很小。我有三座火山，两座是活的，一座是燃烧了的。但是也很难说它还会不会喷发。”
“这是能够的。是以，如果探险家的品德不错，就调查他的发明。”
“我的花是很快就会消逝的吗？”
“意义就是有很快就会消逝的伤害。”
“这是为甚么呢？”
小王子拜候的第六颗星球比上一颗要大十倍。这颗星球上面住着一名老先生，他写了一本庞大的书。
“我熟谙一小我，他如果搞探险的话，就很能够是个不好的探险员。”小王子说。
"The planet Earth," replied the geographer. "It has a good reputation."And the little prince went away, thinking of his flower.
小王子自言自语地说：“我的花是长久的，并且她只要四根刺来对抗这个天下！可我还把她单独留在我的星球上！”
“啊！”小王子大失所望，“那么，山脉呢？”
"What is a geographer" asked the little prince.
“甚么叫长久？”
"I have also a flower."
"Exactly," the geographer said. "But I am not an explorer. I haven’t a single explorer on my planet. It is not the geographer who goes out to count the towns, the rivers, the mountains, the seas, the oceans, and the deserts. The geographer is much too important to go loafing about. He does not leave his desk. But he receives the explorers in his study. He asks them questions, and he notes down what they recall of their travels. And if the recollections of any one among them seem interesting to him, the geographer orders an inquiry into that explorer’s moral character.""Why is that"
"What place would you advise me to visit now" he asked.
因而小王子就走了，他一边走一边想着他的花。
“在这里！瞧！来了一名探险家。”老先生看到小王子时喊道。
“我们不记录它们，”地理学家说，“因为花草是长久的。”
“地理学家就是一种学者，他晓得那里有陆地，那里有河道、都会、山脉、戈壁。”
"Where do you come from" the old gentleman said to him.
“但是，‘长久’是甚么意义？”小王子再三地问道。他一旦提出一个题目是从不放过的。
"We do not record flowers," said the geographer.
"Oh, look! Here is an explorer!" he exclaimed to himself when he saw the little prince coming.
“我是地理学家。”老先生说。
The sixth planet was ten times larger than the last one. It was inhabited by an old gentleman who wrote voluminous books.
小王子在桌旁坐下，有点气喘吁吁。他此次观光有点久。
“这又是为甚么？”小王子说。
“那么，有都会、河道、戈壁吗？”
“这太风趣了。”小王子说，“最后在这里终究遇见一小我有真正的专业啦。”他瞥了一眼这位地理学家星球的四周。他还向来没有见过一颗如此宏伟的行星。
“一点不错，”地理学家说，“但是我不是探险家。我部下一个探险家都没有。地理学家是不去计算都会、河道、山脉、陆地、戈壁的。地理学家很首要，不能到处跑。他不能分开他的办公室。但他能够在办公室里访问探险家。他扣问探险家，把他们的回想记录下来。如果他以为此中有个探险家的回想是成心机的，那么地理学家就对这个探险家的品德做一番调查。”
“我不晓得。”地理学家说。
“如何样？”地理学家充满等候地扣问道。
“这是为甚么？这朵花是我的星球上最斑斓的东西！”
“你从那里来的呀？”老先生问小王子。
"Ah!" The little prince was disappointed. "Has it any mountains""I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.
“因为喝醉了酒的人把一个当作两个，那么，地理学家就会把只要一座山的处所写成两座山。”
"Why is that The flower is the most beautiful thing on my planet!""We do not record them," said the geographer, "because they are ephemeral.""What does that mean― ‘ephemeral'""Geographies," said the geographer, "are the books which, of all books, are most concerned with matters of consequence. They never become old-fashioned. It is very rarely that a mountain changes its position. It is very rarely that an ocean empties itself of its waters. We write of eternal things.""But extinct volcanoes may come to life again," the little prince interrupted. "What does that mean― ‘ephemeral'""Whether volcanoes are extinct or alive, it comes to the same thing for us," said the geographer. "The thing that matters to us is the mountain. It does not change.""But what does that mean― ‘ephemeral'" repeated the little prince, who never in his life had let go of a question, once he had asked it.