-------------------------------TRANSLATION

-------------------------------# Capitolul 15
A asea planeta era zece ori mai mare dect ultima. Era locuit de un domn btrn care a s
cris cri voluminoase.
O, uite! Aici avem un explorator! a exclamat pentru sine cnd a vzut pe micul prin
enind.
Micul prin

s-a aezat la mas i-a gfit pu in. Cltorise deja att de mult i att de d

De unde vii? l-a ntrebat btrnul domn.

Ce-i cartea aia mare? a spus micul prin. Ce face i?
"Sunt un geograf," spuse domnul btrn.
Ce este un geograf? ntreab micul prin .

Un geograf e un savant care cunoate locaia tuturor mrilor, rurilor, oraelor, munilor,
deerturilor.
Asta e foarte interesant, a spus micul prin. Cel puin aici e un brbat care are o pr
ofesie adevrat! i arunc o privire n jurul lui la planeta geografului. Era cea mai mag
nific i impuntoare planet pe care o vzuse.
Planeta ta este foarte frumoasa, spuse el. Are oceane?
Nu pot s- i spun, a zis geograful.
Ah! Micul prin era dezamgit. Are muni?
N-a putea s-i spun, a zis geograful.
Si orase, i ruri, i deerturi?
N-a putea s-i spun, nici de stea.
Dar tu esti un geograf.

Exact, spuse geograful. Dar nu sunt un explorator. Nu am nici mcar un explorator

pe planeta mea. Nu este geograful care se duce s numere oraele, rurile, munii, mrile,
oceanele, i deerturile. Geograful e mult prea important s hoinreasc aa. El nu-i pr
roul. Dar el primete exploratorii n studioul su. Le pune ntrebri, i i noteaz ce-i
din cltoriile lor. Si dac amintirile despre unul dintre ei par interesante pentru
el, geograful ordona o ancheta n caracterul moral al exploratorilor.
De ce este acela?
"Pentru ca un explorator care a spus minciuni ar aduce dezastru pe cr ile de geogra
ful. Asa ar fi un explorator care a baut prea mult.
De ce este acela? a ntrebat micul prin .
"Deoarece omul intoxicat vede dublu." Apoi geograful ar nota doi mun i ntr-un loc u

nde a fost numai unul."

"tiu c unii o", a spus micul prin ", care ar face un explorator ru."
Acela este posibil. Apoi, cnd caracterul moral al exploratorului se arata sa fie
bun,o ancheta este ordonata in descoperirea lui.
"Unul merge sa-l vada?"
Nu. Asta ar fi prea complicat". Dar exploratorul cere sa-i furnizeze dovezile. D
e exemplu, dac descoperirea in cauza este un munte mare, o cere ca pietrele mari
sa fie aduse inapoi la el."
Geograful a fost deodata agitat la maximum.
"Dat to-tu vii de foarte departe! Tu esti un explorator! Tu ar trebui sa-mi desc
rii planeta ta, mie."
Si, deschizand registrul lui mare, geograful si-a ascutit creionul. Consideratii
le exploratorilor sunt puse prima data in creion. Unul asteapta pana cand explor
atorul a furnizat dovezile, nainte de a le pune in cerneala.
"Bine?" a zis geograful, asteptand.
"O,unde triesc eu", a spus micul prin ," nu este foarte interesant. Este totul aa de
mic. Am trei vulcani. Doi sunt activi si celalalt este stins. Dar nu se stie ni
ciodata."
"Nu se stie niciodata," a spus geograful.
Eu am, de asemenea, o floare.
"Noi nu inregistram flori," a spus geograful.
"De ce asta?" Floarea este cel mai frumos lucru de pe planeta mea!"
"Noi nu le nregistram," a spus geograful," deoarece ele sunt efemere."
"Ce inseamna-efemer?"
Se intampla foarte rar ca un numte sa isi schimbe pozitia. Se intampla foarte ra
r ca un ocean sa ramana fara apa. Noi scriem despre lucruri eterne.
nseamn, care este n pericol de dispari ie rapid.
Este floarea mea n pericol de dispari ie rapid?
"Desigur, este."
Ce loc m-ai sftui tu s vizitez acum? a ntrebat el.
Planeta Pmnt, a repetat geograful. Are o reputa ie bun.
Si micul print s-a dus departe, gandindu-se la floarea lui.
Capitolul 14 || Acas || Capitolul 16 >>
E-mail: littleprince@mailcity.com

-------------------------------ORIGINAL TEXT
-------------------------------# Chapter 15
The sixth planet was ten times larger than the last one. It was inhabited by an
old gentleman who wrote voluminous books.
"Oh, look! Here is an explorer!" he exclaimed to himself when he saw the little
prince coming.
The little prince sat down on the table and panted a little. He had already trav
eled so much and so far!
"Where do you come from?" the old gentleman said to him.
"What is that big book?" said the little prince. "What are you doing?"
"I am a geographer," said the old gentleman.
"What is a geographer?" asked the little prince.
"A geographer is a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers, towns
, mountains, and deserts."
"That is very interesting," said the little prince. "Here at last is a man who h
as a real profession!" And he cast a look around him at the planet of the geogra
pher. It was the most magnificent and stately planet that he had ever seen.
"Your planet is very beautiful," he said. "Has it any oceans?"
"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.
"Ah!" The little prince was disappointed. "Has it any mountains?"
"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.
"And towns, and rivers, and deserts?"
"I couldn't tell you that, either."
"But you are a geographer!"
"Exactly," the geographer said. "But I am not an explorer. I haven't a single ex
plorer on my planet. It is not the geographer who goes out to count the towns, t
he 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 re
ceives the explorers in his study. He asks them questions, and he notes down wha
t they recall of their travels. And if the recollections of any one among them s
eem interesting to him, the geographer orders an inquiry into that explorer's mo
ral character."
"Why is that?"
"Because an explorer who told lies would bring disaster on the books of the geog
rapher. So would an explorer who drank too much."

"Why is that?" asked the little prince.

"Because intoxicated men see double. Then the geographer would note down two mou
ntains 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?"
"No. That would be too complicated. But one requires the explorer to furnish pro
ofs. For example, if the discovery in question is that of a large mountain, one
requires that large stones be brought back from it."
The geographer was suddenly stirred to excitement.
"But you--you come from far away! You are an explorer! You shall describe your p
lanet to me!"
And, having opened his big register, the geographer sharpened his pencil. The re
citals of explorers are put down first in pencil. One waits until the explorer h
as furnished proofs, before putting them down in ink.
"Well?" said the geographer expectantly.
"Oh, where I live," said the little prince, "it is not very interesting. It is a
ll so small. I have three volcanoes. Two volcanoes are active and the other is e
xtinct. But one never knows."
"One never knows," said the geographer.
"I have also a flower."
"We do not record flowers," said the geographer.
"Why is that? The flower is the most beautiful thing on my planet!"
"We do not record them," said the geographer, "because they are ephemeral."
"What does that mean--'ephemeral'?"
"Geographies," said the geographer, "are the books which, of all books, are most
concerned with matters of consequence. They never become old-fashioned. It is v
ery rarely that a mountain changes its position. It is very rarely that an ocean
empties itself of its waters. We write of eternal things."
"But extinct volcanoes may come to life again," the little prince interrupted. "
What does that mean-- 'ephemeral'?"
"Whether volcanoes are extinct or alive, it comes to the same thing for us," sai
d the geographer. "The thing that matters to us is the mountain. It does not cha
nge."
"But what does that mean--'ephemeral'?" repeated the little prince, who never in
his life had let go of a question, once he had asked it.
"It means, 'which is in danger of speedy disappearance.'"

"Is my flower in danger of speedy disappearance?"

"Certainly it is."
"My flower is ephemeral," the little prince said to himself, "and she has only f
our thorns to defend herself against the world. And I have left her on my planet
, all alone!"
That was his first moment of regret. But he took courage once more.
"What place would you advise me to visit now?" he asked.
"The planet Earth," replied the geographer. "It has a good reputation."
And the little prince went away, thinking of his flower.
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