第十五章[第2页/共6页]

"What is a geographer" asked the little prince.

“甚么是地理学家？”

"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"

The little prince sat down on the table and panted a little. He had already traveled so much and so far!

“这一大本厚厚的是甚么书？你在这里干甚么？”小王子问道。

小王子在桌旁坐下，有点气喘吁吁。他此次观光有点久。

“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。”

"Oh, look! Here is an explorer!" he exclaimed to himself when he saw the little prince coming.

“这又是为甚么？”小王子说。

"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"