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第十四章（第2页）

小王子接着解释：

“你的这颗行星这样小，你三步就可以绕它一圈。你只要慢慢地走，就可以一直在太阳的照耀下，你想休息的时候，你就这样走……那么，你要白天有多长它就有多长。”

“这办法帮不了我多少，生活中我喜欢的就是睡觉。”点灯人说。

“那你真不走运。”小王子说。

“真不走运。”点灯人说，“早上好。”

于是他又熄灭了路灯。

小王子在他继续往前旅行的途中，自言自语地说道：“这个人一定会被其他那些人，国王呀，狂妄自负的人呀，酒鬼呀，商人呀，所瞧不起。可是唯有他不使我感到荒唐可笑。这可能是因为他所关心的是别的事，而不是他自己。”

他惋惜地叹了口气，并且又对自己说道：“这个人是所有人当中唯一可能和我交朋友的，可是他的星球确实太小了，住不下两个人……”

小王子没有勇气承认，他之所以在离开这颗星球时感到最不舍，是因为这里每一个被祝福的日子里，有一千四百四十次日落！

Chapter14

Thefifthplanetwasverystrange。Itwasthesmallestofall。Therewasjustenoughroomonitforastreetlampandalamplighter。Thelittleprincewasnotabletoreachanyexplanationoftheuseofastreetlampandalamplighter，somewhereintheheavens，onaplanetwhichhadnopeople，andnotonehouse。Buthesaidtohimself，nevertheless:"Itmaywellbethatthismanisabsurd。Butheisnotsoabsurdastheking，theconceitedman，thebusinessman，andthetippler。Foratleasthisworkhassomemeaning。Whenhelightshisstreetlamp，itisasifhebroughtonemorestartolife，oroneflower。Whenheputsouthislamp，hesendstheflower，orthestar，tosleep。Thatisabeautifuloccupation。Andsinceitisbeautiful，itistrulyuseful。"Whenhearrivedontheplanetherespectfullysalutedthelamplighter。

"Goodmorning。Whyhaveyoujustputoutyourlamp""Thosearetheorders，"repliedthelamplighter。"Goodmorning。""Whataretheorders"

"TheordersarethatIputoutmylamp。Goodevening。"Andhelightedhislampagain。

"Butwhyhaveyoujustlighteditagain""Thosearetheorders，"repliedthelamplighter。

"Idonotunderstand，"saidthelittleprince。

"Thereisnothingtounderstand，"saidthelamplighter。"Ordersareorders。Goodmorning。"Andheputouthislamp。

Thenhemoppedhisforeheadwithahandkerchiefdecoratedwithredsquares。

"Ifollowaterribleprofession。Intheolddaysitwasreasonable。Iputthelampoutinthemorning，andintheeveningIlighteditagain。Ihadtherestofthedayforrelaxationandtherestofthenightforsleep。""Andtheordershavebeenchangedsincethattime""Theordershavenotbeenchanged，"saidthelamplighter。"Thatisthetragedy!Fromyeartoyeartheplanethasturnedmorerapidlyandtheordershavenotbeenchanged!""Thenwhat"askedthelittleprince。

"Then—theplanetnowmakesacompleteturneveryminute，andInolongerhaveasinglesecondforrepose。OnceeveryminuteIhavetolightmylampandputitout!""Thatisveryfunny!Adaylastsonlyoneminute，herewhereyoulive!""Itisnotfunnyatall!"saidthelamplighter。"Whilewehavebeentalkingtogetheramonthhasgoneby。""Amonth"

"Yes，amonth。Thirtyminutes。Thirtydays。Goodevening。"Andhelightedhislampagain。

Asthelittleprincewatchedhim，hefeltthathelovedthislamplighterwhowassofaithfultohisorders。Herememberedthesunsetswhichhehimselfhadgonetoseek，inotherdays，merelybypullinguphischair;andhewantedtohelphisfriend。

"Youknow，"hesaid，"Icantellyouawayyoucanrestwheneveryouwantto。。。""Ialwayswanttorest，"saidthelamplighter。

Foritispossibleforamantobefaithfulandlazyatthesametime。

Thelittleprincewentonwithhisexplanation:"Yourplanetissosmallthatthreestrideswilltakeyouallthewayaroundit。Tobealwaysinthesunshine，youneedonlywalkalongratherslowly。Whenyouwanttorest，youwillwalk—andthedaywilllastaslongasyoulike。""Thatdoesntdomemuchgood，"saidthelamplighter。"TheonethingIloveinlifeistosleep。""Thenyoureunlucky，"saidthelittleprince。

"Iamunlucky，"saidthelamplighter。"Goodmorning。"Andheputouthislamp。

"Thatman，"saidthelittleprincetohimself，ashecontinuedfartheronhisjourney，"thatmanwouldbescornedbyalltheothers:bytheking，bytheconceitedman，bythetippler，bythebusinessman。Neverthelessheistheonlyoneofthemallwhodoesnotseemtomeridiculous。Perhapsthatisbecauseheisthinkingofsomethingelsebesideshimself。"Hebreathedasighofregret，andsaidtohimself，again:"ThatmanistheonlyoneofthemallwhomIcouldhavemademyfriend。Buthisplanetisindeedtoosmall。Thereisnoroomonitfortwopeople。。。"Whatthelittleprincedidnotdareconfesswasthathewassorrymostofalltoleavethisplanet，becauseitwasblesteverydaywith1440sunsets!