Маленький принц / The Little Prince. Антуан де Сент-Экзюпери

do not know that,” the king said to him. “I did not make a complete tour of my kingdom. I am very old. And it is difficult for me to walk.”

      “Oh, but I looked already!” said the little prince, He turned around to look at the other side of the planet. On that side, there was nobody at all.

      “Then you will judge yourself,” the king answered. “that is the most difficult thing of all. It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you can judge yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.”

      “Yes,” said the little prince, “but I can judge myself anywhere. I do not need to live on this planet.”

      “Hum! Hum!” said the king. “I believe that somewhere on my planet there is an old rat. I hear him at night. You can judge this old rat. From time to time you can condemn him to death[26]. Thus his life will depend on your justice. But you will pardon him. We don’t have any more rats.”

      “I,” replied the little prince, “do not like to condemn anyone to death. And now I think I will go on my way.”

      “No,” said the king.

      But the little prince had no wish to grieve the old monarch.

      “If Your Majesty wishes,” he said, “you can give me a reasonable order. It seems to me that conditions are favorable.”

      As the king made no answer, the little prince hesitated a moment. Then, with a sigh, he went away.

      Примечания

      1

      That doesn’t matter. – Это неважно.

      2

      it took me a long time – у меня заняло много времени

      3

      little man – малыш

      4

      to wander off – забрести

      5

      to get lost – потеряться

      6

      once upon a time – однажды

      7

      to grow old – стареть

      8

      to put them one on top of one another – поставить их друг на друга

      9

      Oh, come, come! – А как же!

      10

      as soon as possible – как можно скорее

      11

      to get rid of – избавиться

      1

Примечания

1

That doesn’t matter. – Это неважно.

2

it took me a long time – у меня заняло много времени

3

little man – малыш

4

to wander off – забрести

5

to get lost – потеряться

6

once upon a time – однажды

7

to grow old – стареть

8

to put them one on top of one another – поставить их друг на друга

9

Oh, come, come! – А как же!

10

as soon as possible – как можно скорее

11

to get rid of – избавиться

12

watch out for the baobabs! – берегитесь баобабов!

13

I am very fond – я очень люблю

14

what use are they? – какая от них польза?

15

just for spite – просто от злости

16

matters of consequence – серьёзное дело

17

sprinkling-can – лейка

18

drafts – сквозняки

19

by deeds – по делам

20

by words – по словам

21

will do me good – пойдёт мне на пользу

22

found himself – оказался

23

a subject – подданный

24

to carry out the order – выполнить приказ

25

to throw themselves into the sea – броситься в море

26

to condemn him to death – приговаривать его к смерти

26

to condemn him to death – приговаривать его к смерти