「你好！」鐵道員說。
「你在這裡做什麼？」小王子問。
鐵道員說：「我把旅客分類，每個車廂一千個旅客。然後將他們送上火車，現在可以了，出發。」
這時正好有一列燈光通明的快車駛過，轟轟的聲音像雷吼似的，把鐵道員的看守室震得格格響。
小王子說：「他們很匆忙的樣子，他們在找什麼？」
「就連火車司機自己也不曉得。」鐵道員說。
這時又有一列燈火通明的快車從相反的方向，轟轟駛過。
「他們回來了？」小王子問。
「這不是剛才那列車，這是對開的另一列快車」鐵道員說。
「他們對他們所在的地方不滿意？」小王子問。
「從沒有人安於自己所在的地方。」鐵道員回答。
然後他們聽到第三列燈或通明轟轟駛來的快車。
小王子問：「他們在追第一列快車的旅客嗎？」
鐵道員說：「他們什麼也不追。他們在列車裡睡覺或打呵欠，只有孩子們會把鼻子壓扁在玻璃窗上。」
小王子說：「只有小孩知道什麼是他們要的。他們對布娃娃付出，因此布娃娃對他們來說變得很重要，假如有人拿走他們的布娃娃，他們就會哭...」
「他們很幸運。」鐵道員說。
"Good morning," said the little prince.
"Good morning", said the railway switchman.
"What do you do here?" the little prince asked.
"I sort out travelers, in bundles of a thousand" , said the switchman. "I send off the trains that carry them: now to the right, now to the left."
And a brilliantly lighted express train shook the switchman's cabin as it rushed by with a roar like thunder.
"They are in a great hurry," said the little prince. "What are they looking for?"
"Not even the locomotive engineer knows that," said the switchman.
And a second brilliantly lighted express thundered by, in the opposite direction.
"Are they coming back already?" demanded the little prince.
"These are not the same ones," said the switchman. "It is an exchange."
"Were they not satisfied where they were?" asked the little prince.
"No one is ever satisfied where he is," said the switchman.
And they heard the roaring thunder of a third brilliantly lighted express.
"Are they pursuing the first travelers?" demanded the little prince.
"They are pursuing nothing at all," said the switchman. "They are asleep in there, or if they are not asleep they are yawning. Only the children are flattening their noses against the windowpanes."
"Only the children know what they are looking for," said the little prince. "They waste their time over a rag doll and it becomes very important to them; and if anybody takes it away from them, they cry . . ."
"They are lucky," the switchman said.
註：《小王子》是法國童話，法文原書名為Le Petit Prince，作者是聖艾修伯里，1943年在紐約出版，被譯成超過 180種語言，銷售量超過8千萬冊，還有拍成電影和動畫片、改編成話劇和音樂劇演出。
圖片出處：http://www.odaha.com
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