小王子-8-守灯人

核心词汇： 1. accurate /ˈækjərət/ (adj.) 准确的；精确的 2. own /oʊn/ (v.) 拥有 3. retort /rɪˈtɔːrt/ (v.) 反驳，回嘴 4. administer /ədˈmɪnɪstər/(v.) 掌管 5. pluck /plʌk/ (v.) 拔去 6. absurd /əbˈsɝːd/ (adj.) 荒谬的，荒唐的 7. mop /mɑːp/ (v.) 擦去（脸上的）汗水 8. tragedy /ˈtrædʒədi/ (n.) 悲剧 9. rapidly /ˈræpɪdli/ (adv.) 迅速地 10. seek /siːk/ (v.) 寻找 核心短语： 1. reign over 统治 2. take out 拿出，取出 3. take away 带走，拿走 4. put out 熄灭 5. the rest of 其余的；剩下的 6. go by 时间流逝 7. pull up 拔起；停下来 8. walk along 向前走；沿着…走 9. as long as 只要 正文 "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 amaccurate(精确的)." "And what do you do with these stars?" "What do I do with them?" "Yes." "Nothing. Iown(拥有)them." "You own the stars?" "Yes." "But I have already seen a king who--" "Kings do not own, theyreign 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."{1} "This man," the little prince said to himself, "reasons a little like my poor tippler(酒鬼)..." Nevertheless, he still had some more questions. "How is it possible for one to own the stars?" "To whom do they belong?" the businessmanretorted(反驳), peevishly(急躁地，暴躁地).{2}"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(钻石)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, youtake outa patent(专利)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?" "Iadminister(掌管)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 andtakeitawaywith me. If I owned a flower, I couldpluck(拔去)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(抽屉)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(诗意的). 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.{3} "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. - the little prince visits the lamplighter The fifth planet was very strange. It was the smallest of all. There was just enough room on it for a street lamp and a lamplighter(守灯人). The little prince was not able to reach any explanation of the use of a street lamp and a lamplighter, somewhere in the heavens, on a planet which had no people, and not one house. But he said to himself, nevertheless: "It may well be that this man isabsurd(荒谬的). But he is not so absurd as the king, the conceited man, the businessman, and the tippler. For at least his work has some meaning. When he lights his street lamp, it is as if he brought one more star to life, or one flower. When heputs outhis lamp, he sends the flower, or the star, to sleep.{4}That is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful." When he arrived on the planet he respectfully saluted the lamplighter. "Good morning. Why have you just put out your lamp?" "Those are the orders," replied the lamplighter. "Good morning." "What are the orders?" "The orders are that I put out my lamp. Good evening." And he lighted his lamp again. "But why have you just lighted it again?" "Those are the orders," replied the lamplighter. "I do not understand," said the little prince. "There is nothing to understand," said the lamplighter. "Orders are orders. Good morning." And he put out his lamp. Then hemopped(擦)his forehead with a handkerchief decorated with red squares. "I follow a terrible profession. In the old days it was reasonable. I put the lamp out in the morning, and in the evening I lighted it again. I hadthe rest ofthe day for relaxation and the rest of the night for sleep." "And the orders have been changed since that time?" "The orders have not been changed," said the lamplighter. "That is thetragedy(悲剧)! From year to year the planet has turned morerapidly(迅速地)and the orders have not been changed!"  "Then what?" asked the little prince. "Then-- the planet now makes a complete turn every minute, and I no longer have a single second for repose. Once every minute I have to light my lamp and put it out!" "That is very funny! A day lasts only one minute, here where you live!" "It is not funny at all!" said the lamplighter. "While we have been talking together a month hasgone by." "A month?" "Yes, a month. Thirty minutes. Thirty days. Good evening." And he lighted his lamp again. As the little prince watched him, he felt that he loved this lamplighter who was so faithful to his orders. He remembered the sunsets which he himself had gone toseek(寻找), in other days, merely bypulling uphis chair; and he wanted to help his friend. "You know," he said, "I can tell you a way you can rest whenever you want to..." "I always want to rest," said the lamplighter. For it is possible for a man to be faithful and lazy at the same time. The little prince went on with his explanation: "Your planet is so small that three strides will take you all the way around it. To be always in the sunshine, you need onlywalk alongrather slowly. When you want to rest, you will walk-- and the day will lastas long asyou like."{5}