"And towns, and rivers, and deserts?"
“那么,有城市、河流、沙漠吗?”
"I couldn't tell you that, either."
“这,我也没法知道。”地理学家说。
"But you are a geographer!"
“可您还是地理学家呢!”
"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.
“一点不错,”地理学家说,“但是我不是探察家。我手下一个探察家都没有。地理学家是不去计算城市、河流、山脉、海洋、沙漠的。地理学家很重要,不能到处跑。
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.
他不能离开他的办公室。但他可以在办公室里接见探察家。他询问探察家,把他们的回忆记录下来。
And if the recollections of any one among them seem interesting to him, the geographer orders an inquiry into that explorer's moral character."
如果他认为其中有个探察家的回忆是有意思的,那么地理学家就对这个探察家的品德做一番调查。”
"Why is that?"
“这是为什么呢?”
"Because an explorer who told lies would bring disaster on the books of the geographer. So would an explorer who drank too much."
“因为一个说假话的探察家会给地理书带来灾难性的后果。同样,一个太爱喝酒的探察家也是如此。”
"Why is that?" asked the little prince.
“这又是为什么?”小王子说。
"Because intoxicated men see double. Then the geographer would note down two mountains in a place where there was only one."
“因为喝醉了酒的人把一个看成两个,那么,地理学家就会把只有一座山的地方写成两座山。”
"I know some one," said the little prince, "who would make a bad explorer."
“我认识一个人,他要是搞探察的话,就很可能是个不好的探察员。”小王子说。
"That is possible. Then, when the moral character of the explorer is shown to be good, an inquiry is ordered into his discovery."
“这是可能的。因此,如果探察家的品德不错,就对他的发现进行调查。”
"One goes to see it?"
“去看一看吗?”
"No. That would be too complicated. But one requires the explorer to furnish proofs. For example, if the discovery in question is that of a large mountain, one requires that large stones be brought back from it."
“不。那太复杂了。但是要求探察家提出证据来。例如,假使他发现了一座大山,就要求他带来一些大石头。”