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第十五章（第2页）

“地理学书籍是最严谨的书。”地理学家说道，“这类书是从不会过时。很少会发生一座山变换位置，很少会出现一个海洋干涸的现象。我们记录永恒的东西。”

“但是熄灭的火山也可能会再复苏的。”小王子打断了地理学家，“什么叫短暂？”

“火山是熄灭了的也好，苏醒的也好，这对我们这些人来讲都是一回事。”地理学家说，“对我们来说，重要的是山。山是不会变换位置的。”

“但是，‘短暂’是什么意思？”小王子再三地问道。他一旦提出一个问题是从不放过的。

“意思就是有很快就会消失的危险。”

“我的花是很快就会消失的吗？”

“那当然。”

小王子自言自语地说：“我的花是短暂的，而且她只有四根刺来对抗这个世界！可我还把她独自留在我的星球上！”

这是他第一次产生了后悔，但他又重新振作起来：“您是否能建议我下一站去什么地方看看？”小王子问道。

“地球，”地理学家回答他说，“它很出名……”

于是小王子就走了，他一边走一边想着他的花。

Chapter15

Thesixthplanetwastentimeslargerthanthelastone。Itwasinhabitedbyanoldgentlemanwhowrotevoluminousbooks。

"Oh，look!Hereisanexplorer!"heexclaimedtohimselfwhenhesawthelittleprincecoming。

Thelittleprincesatdownonthetableandpantedalittle。Hehadalreadytraveledsomuchandsofar!

"Wheredoyoucomefrom"theoldgentlemansaidtohim。

"Whatisthatbigbook"saidthelittleprince。"Whatareyoudoing""Iamageographer，"theoldgentlemansaidtohim。

"Whatisageographer"askedthelittleprince。

"Ageographerisascholarwhoknowsthelocationofalltheseas，rivers，towns，mountains，anddeserts。""Thatisveryinteresting，"saidthelittleprince。"Hereatlastisamanwhohasarealprofession!"Andhecastalookaroundhimattheplanetofthegeographer。Itwasthemostmagnificentandstatelyplanetthathehadeverseen。

"Yourplanetisverybeautiful，"hesaid。"Hasitanyoceans""Icouldnttellyou，"saidthegeographer。

"Ah!"Thelittleprincewasdisappointed。"Hasitanymountains""Icouldnttellyou，"saidthegeographer。

"Andtowns，andrivers，anddeserts""Icouldnttellyouthat，either。""Butyouareageographer!"

"Exactly，"thegeographersaid。"ButIamnotanexplorer。Ihaven’tasingleexploreronmyplanet。Itisnotthegeographerwhogoesouttocountthetowns，therivers，themountains，theseas，theoceans，andthedeserts。Thegeographerismuchtooimportanttogoloafingabout。Hedoesnotleavehisdesk。Buthereceivestheexplorersinhisstudy。Heasksthemquestions，andhenotesdownwhattheyrecalloftheirtravels。Andiftherecollectionsofanyoneamongthemseeminterestingtohim，thegeographerordersaninquiryintothatexplorer’smoralcharacter。""Whyisthat"

"Becauseanexplorerwhotoldlieswouldbringdisasteronthebooksofthegeographer。Sowouldanexplorerwhodranktoomuch。""Whyisthat"askedthelittleprince。

"Becauseintoxicatedmenseedouble。Thenthegeographerwouldnotedowntwomountainsinaplacewheretherewasonlyone。""Iknowsomeone，"saidthelittleprince，"whowouldmakeabadexplorer。""Thatispossible。Then，whenthemoralcharacteroftheexplorerisshowntobegood，aninquiryisorderedintohisdiscovery。""Onegoestoseeit"

"No。Thatwouldbetoocomplicated。Butonerequirestheexplorertofurnishproofs。Forexample，ifthediscoveryinquestionisthatofalargemountain，onerequiresthatlargestonesbebroughtbackfromit。"Thegeographerwassuddenlystirredtoexcitement。

"Butyou—youcomefromfaraway!Youareanexplorer!Youshalldescribeyourplanettome!"And，havingopenedhisbigregister，thegeographersharpenedhispencil。Therecitalsofexplorersareputdownfirstinpencil。Onewaitsuntiltheexplorerhasfurnishedproofs，beforeputtingthemdowninink。

"Well"saidthegeographerexpectantly。

"Oh，whereIlive，"saidthelittleprince，"itisnotveryinteresting。Itisallsosmall。Ihavethreevolcanoes。Twovolcanoesareactiveandtheotherisextinct。Butoneneverknows。""Oneneverknows，"saidthegeographer。

"Ihavealsoaflower。"

"Wedonotrecordflowers，"saidthegeographer。

"WhyisthatThefloweristhemostbeautifulthingonmyplanet!""Wedonotrecordthem，"saidthegeographer，"becausetheyareephemeral。""Whatdoesthatmean—‘ephemeral""Geographies，"saidthegeographer，"arethebookswhich，ofallbooks，aremostconcernedwithmattersofconsequence。Theyneverbecomeold-fashioned。Itisveryrarelythatamountainchangesitsposition。Itisveryrarelythatanoceanemptiesitselfofitswaters。Wewriteofeternalthings。""Butextinctvolcanoesmaycometolifeagain，"thelittleprinceinterrupted。"Whatdoesthatmean—‘ephemeral""Whethervolcanoesareextinctoralive，itcomestothesamethingforus，"saidthegeographer。"Thethingthatmatterstousisthemountain。Itdoesnotchange。""Butwhatdoesthatmean—‘ephemeral"repeatedthelittleprince，whoneverinhislifehadletgoofaquestion，oncehehadaskedit。

"Itmeans，‘whichisindangerofspeedydisappearance。""Ismyflowerindangerofspeedydisappearance""Certainlyitis。"

"Myflowerisephemeral，"thelittleprincesaidtohimself，"andshehasonlyfourthornstodefendherselfagainsttheworld。AndIhaveleftheronmyplanet，allalone!"Thatwashisfirstmomentofregret。Buthetookcourageoncemore。

"Whatplacewouldyouadvisemetovisitnow"heasked。

"TheplanetEarth，"repliedthegeographer。"Ithasagoodreputation。"Andthelittleprincewentaway，thinkingofhisflower。