- the little prince visits the conceited man

the second planet was inhabited by a conceited man.

"ah! ah! i am about to receive a visit from an admirer!" he exclaimed from afar, when he first saw the little prince coming.

for, to conceited men, all other men are admirers.

"good morning," said the little prince. "that is a queer hat you are wearing."

"it is a hat for salutes," the conceited man replied. "it is to raise in salute when people acclaim me. unfortunately, nobody at all ever passes this way."

"yes?" said the little prince, who did not understand what the conceited man was talking about.

"clap your hands, one against the other," the conceited man now directed him.

the little prince clapped his hands. the conceited man raised his hat in a modest salute.

"this is more entertaining than the visit to the king," the little prince said to himself. and he began again to clap his hands, one against the other. the conceited man against raised his hat in salute.

after five minutes of this exercise the little prince grew tired of the game's monotony.

"and what should one do to make the hat come down?" he asked.

but the conceited man did not hear him. conceited people never hear anything but praise.

"do you really admire me very much?" he demanded of the little prince.

"what does that mean-- 'admire'?"

"to admire mean that you regard me as the handsomest, the best-dressed, the richest, and the most intelligent man on this planet."

"but you are the only man on your planet!"

"do me this kindness. admire me just the same."

"i admire you," said the little prince, shrugging his shoulders slightly, "but what is there in that to interest you so much?"

and the little prince went away.

"the grown-ups are certainly very odd," he said to himself, as he continued on his journey.

第二个行星上住着一个爱虚荣的人。

“喔唷！一个崇拜我的人来拜访了！”这个爱虚荣的人一见到小王子，老远就叫喊起来。

在那些爱虚荣的人眼里，别人都成了他们的崇拜者。

“你好！”小王子说道。“你的帽子很奇怪。”

“这是为了向人致意用的。”爱虚荣的人回答道，“当人们向我欢呼的时候，我就用帽子向他们致意。可惜，没有一个人经过这里。”

小王子不解其意。说道：“啊？是吗？”

爱虚荣的人向小王子建议道：“你用一只手去拍另一只手。”

小王子就拍起巴掌来。这位爱虚荣者就谦逊地举起帽子向小王子致意。

小王子心想：“这比访问那位国王有趣。”于是他又拍起巴掌来。爱虚荣者又举起帽子来向他致意。

小王子这样做了五分钟，之后对这种单调的把戏有点厌倦了，说道：

“要想叫你的帽子掉下来，该怎么做呢？”

可这回爱虚荣者听不进他的话，因为凡是爱虚荣的人只听得进赞美的话。

他问小王子道：“你真的钦佩我吗？”

“钦佩是什么意思？”

“钦佩么，就是承认我是星球上最美的人，服饰最好的人，最富有的人，最聪明的人。”

“可您是您的星球上唯一的人呀！”

“让我高兴吧，请你还是来钦佩我吧！”

小王子轻轻地耸了耸肩膀，说道：“我钦佩你，可是，这有什么能使你这样感兴趣的？”

于是小王子就走开了。

小王子在路上自言自语地说了一句：“这些大人，肯定是十分古怪的。”