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小王子到达的第四个星球属于一个商人。这个人忙得不可开交，小王子到来的时候，他甚至连头都没有抬一下。
小王子对他说：“您好。您的烟熄灭了。”
“三加二等于五。五加七等于十二。十二加三等于十五。你好。十五加七等于二十二。二十二加六等于二十八。我没有时间重新点着它。二十六加五，三十一。哎哟！一共是五亿零一百六十二万二千七百三十一。”
“五亿什么呀？”
“嗯？你还待在这儿？五亿零一百万……我也不知道是什么了。我的事情很多……我是个正经的人，没有工夫去闲聊！二加五等于七……”
“五亿零一百万什么呀？”小王子坚持问道。他提出问题之后，没有答案是从来不会放弃的。
这位商人抬起头，说：
“我生活在这个星球上五十四年以来，只被打搅过三次。第一次是二十二年前，不知从哪里掉下来一只蚱蜢。上帝知道，它发出一种可怕的噪音，害得我在一笔账目中出了四个差错。第二次，在十一年前，由于我缺乏锻炼所致，风湿病发作。我没有工夫闲逛。我很认真地做事，现在……这是第三次！我刚计算出五亿零一百万……”
“几百万什么？”
这位商人突然意识到如果不回答这个问题，他就得不到安宁。
“几百万个小东西，这些小东西有时出现在天上。”
“苍蝇吗？”
“不是，是些闪闪发亮的小东西。”
“蜜蜂吗？”
“不是，是金黄色的小东西，这些小东西可以让人们胡思乱想。我是个正经的人。我没有时间胡思乱想。”
“啊，星星吗？”
“是的，就是星星。”
“你要这五亿多的星星做什么？”
“五亿零一百六十二万二千七百三十一颗星星。我是正经的人，我注重精确。”
“你要这些星星做什么？”
“我要它做什么？”
“是呀。”
“什么也不做。它们都是属于我的。”
“这么多星星属于你？”
“是的。”
“可是我已经见到过一个国王，他……”
“国王并不拥有，他们只是进行‘统治’。这是不同的一码事。”
“你要这许多星星有什么用？”
“这可以让我变得富有。”
“那变得富有了，又有什么用？”
“富了就可以去买更多的星星，如果有人发现了这些星星的话。”
小王子想：“这个人想问题有点像那个酒鬼。”
不管这些，小王子还有更多的问题。
“你怎么样占有星星呢？”
“那你说星星是谁的呀？”商人不高兴地反驳小王子。
“我不知道，应该不属于任何人。”
“那么，它们就属于我，因为是我第一个想到这件事情的。”
“这也行吗？”
“那当然。如果你发现了一颗无主的钻石，这颗钻石就属于你。如果你发现一个无主的岛，这个岛就属于你。如果你首先想出一个创意，并且申请了专利，这个创意就属于你。既然在我之前不曾有任何人想到要占有这些星星，那么这些星星就属于我。”
“是这样的。可是你用星星来干什么？”小王子说。
“我经营管理它们。我一遍又一遍地计算它们的数目。这很困难。但我是一个正经的人！”
小王子仍然还不满足，他说：
“如果我有一条围巾，我可以围在脖子上带走它。如果我有一朵花，我可以摘下花朵带走它。可你却不能从天上摘下这些星星呀！”
“是的，我不能摘下来，但我可以把它们存在银行里。”
“存银行是什么意思？”
“这是说，我把星星的数目写在纸上，然后把这张重要的纸锁在一个抽屉里。”
“这样就行了吗？”
“这样就行了。”
“这倒很有诗意，也很好玩，可是，这并不算是了不起的正经事啊。”小王子想。
关于什么是正经事，小王子的看法与大人们的看法非常不同：“我有一朵花，我每天都给她浇水。我还有三座火山，我每星期清理它们，连死火山也清理。谁知道它会不会再复活呢！我拥有火山和花，这对我的火山有益处，对我的花也有益处。但是你对星星并没有用处……”
这个商人张口结舌、无言以对。于是小王子离开了。
再次开始自己的旅程，小王子心想：“这些大人们真是很特别，全部都奇怪极了。”
Chapter 13
The fourth planet belonged to a businessman. This man was so much occupied that he did not even raise his head at the little prince's arrival.
"Good morning," the little prince said to him. "Your cigarette has gone out.""Three and two make five. Five and seven make twelve. Twelve and three make fifteen. Good morning. Fifteen and seven make twenty-two. Twenty-two and six make twenty-eight. I haven't time to light it again. Twenty-six and five make thirty-one. Phew! Then that makes five-hundred-and-one-million, six-hundred-twenty-two-thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one.""Five hundred million what" asked the little prince.
"Eh Are you still there Five-hundred-and-one million— I can't stop... I have so much to do! I am concerned with matters of consequence. I don't amuse myself with balderdash. Two and five make seven...""Five-hundred-and-one million what" repeated the little prince, who never in his life had let go of a question once he had asked it.
The businessman raised his head.
"During the fifty-four years that I have inhabited this planet, I have been disturbed only three times. The first time was twenty-two years ago, when some giddy goose fell from goodness knows where. He made the most frightful noise that resounded all over the place, and I made four mistakes in my addition. The second time, eleven years ago, I was disturbed by an attack of rheumatism. I don't get enough exercise. I have no time for loafing. The third time— well, this is it! I was saying, then, five -hundred-and-one millions—""Millions of what"
The businessman suddenly realized that there was no hope of being left in peace until he answered this question.
"Millions of those little objects," he said, "which one sometimes sees in the sky.""Flies"
"Oh, no. Little glittering objects.""Bees"
"Oh, no. Little golden objects that set lazy men to idle dreaming. As for me, I am concerned with matters of consequence. There is no time for idle dreaming in my life.""Ah! You mean the stars"
"Yes, that's it. The stars."
"And what do you do with five-hundred millions of stars""Five-hundred-and-one million, six-hundred-twenty-two thousand, seven-hundred-thirty-one. I am concerned with matters of consequence: I am accurate.""And what do you do with these stars""What do I do with them"
"Yes."
"Nothing. I own them."
"You own the stars"
"Yes."
"But I have already seen a king who—""Kings do not own, they reign over. It is a very different matter.""And what good does it do you to own the stars""It does me the good of making me rich.""And what good does it do you to be rich""It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are ever discovered.""This man," the little prince said to himself, "reasons a little like my poor tippler..."Nevertheless, he still had some more questions.
"How is it possible for one to own the stars""To whom do they belong" the businessman retorted, peevishly.
"I don't know. To nobody."
"Then they belong to me, because I was the first person to think of it.""Is that all that is necessary""Certainly. When you find a diamond that belongs to nobody, it is yours. When you discover an island that belongs to nobody, it is yours. When you get an idea before any one else, you take out a patent on it: it is yours. So with me: I own the stars, because nobody else before me ever thought of owning them.""Yes, that is true," said the little prince. "And what do you do with them""I administer them," replied the businessman. "I count them and recount them. It is difficult. But I am a man who is naturally interested in matters of consequence."The little prince was still not satisfied.
"If I owned a silk scarf," he said, "I could put it around my neck and take it away with me. If I owned a flower, I could pluck that flower and take it away with me. But you cannot pluck the stars from heaven...""No. But I can put them in the bank.""Whatever does that mean"
"That means that I write the number of my stars on a little paper. And then I put this paper in a drawer and lock it with a key.""And that is all"
"That is enough," said the businessman.
"It is entertaining," thought the little prince. "It is rather poetic. But it is of no great consequence."On matters of consequence, the little prince had ideas which were very different from those of the grown-ups.
"I myself own a flower," he continued his conversation with the businessman, "which I water every day. I own three volcanoes, which I clean out every week (for I also clean out the one that is extinct; one never knows). It is of some use to my volcanoes, and it is of some use to my flower, that I own them. But you are of no use to the stars..."The businessman opened his mouth, but he found nothing to say in answer. And the little prince went away.
"The grown-ups are certainly altogether extraordinary," he said simply, talking to himself as he continued on his journey.