"And what good does it do you to own the stars?"
“你拥有这许多星星有什么用?”
"It does me the good of making me rich."
“那将使我变得富有。”
"And what good does it do you to be rich?"
“你变得富有之后能做什么呢?”
"It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are ever discovered."
“富了就可以去买别的星星,如果有人发现了别的星星的话。”
"This man," the little prince said to himself, "reasons a little like my poor tippler..."
小王子自言自语地说:“这个人想问题有点象那个酒鬼一样。”
Nevertheless, he still had some more questions. "How is it possible for one to own the stars?"
可是他又提了一些问题:“你怎么能占有星星呢?”
"To whom do they belong?" the businessman retorted, peevishly.
“那么你说星星是谁的呀?”实业家不高兴地顶了小王子一句。
"I don't know. To nobody."
“我不知道,不属于任何人。”
"Then they belong to me, because I was the first person to think of it."
“那么,它们就是我的,因为是我第一个想到了这件事情的。”
"Is that all that is necessary?"
“这就行了吗?”
"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.
“那当然。如果你发现了一颗没有主人的钻石,那么这颗钻石就是属于你的。当你发现一个岛是没有主的,那么这个岛就是你的。
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.
"当你首先想出了一个办法,你就去领一个专利证,这个办法就是属于你的。既然在我之前不曾有任何人想到要占有这些星星,那我就占有这些星星。”