小王子英文版閱讀筆記 Chapter 15 the little prince visits the geographer
小王子第十五章影片推薦：
《小王子》全集 （中英對照） （大人更應該讀的童話）_嗶哩嗶哩_bilibili
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 traveled 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，” the old gentleman said to him。
“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 has a real profession！” And he
cast
a look around him at the planet of the geographer。 It was the most magnificent and
stately
planet that he had ever seen。
Words:
1、voluminous -
adj. （衣服）寬鬆的；浩繁的，長篇的，冗長的；（容器、傢俱等）容量大的；（作家）多產的。
Something that is
voluminous
is very large or contains a lot of things。
The FBI kept a voluminous file on Pablo Picasso。 聯邦調查局儲存了有關巴勃羅·畢加索的大量檔案。
2、pant -
v. 氣喘，喘息；氣喘吁吁地說；氣喘吁吁地跑；渴望（pant for）；<文>（心）劇跳，（胸部）劇烈起伏；n. 氣喘，喘息；<文> 心跳，胸部的起伏；噴氣聲。
If you
pant
， you breathe quickly and loudly with your mouth open， because you have been doing something energetic。
At first we
pant
like a little doggy， and then we close our mouth。 一開始我們要像小狗一樣喘息，然後閉上嘴。
3、cast -
vt. 投射（光，影）；將（視線，目光）投向。
If you
cast
your eyes or
cast
a look in a particular direction， you look quickly in that direction。
He cast a stern glance at the two men。 他嚴厲地瞪了那兩名男子一眼。
4、stately -
adj. 莊嚴的；堂皇的，宏偉的。
Something or someone that is
stately
is impressive and graceful or dignified。
The building rose before him， tall and
stately
。 那棟大樓聳立在他面前，高大而又雄偉。
Ideas: 本文是小王子到訪地球之前遊歷的最後一個星球。咱們總結一下小王子到訪這幾個星球的對話是誰先說的。我印象裡的小王子特別主動，喜歡打破砂鍋問到底，好像每到訪一個星球都是小王子先說的，真的如此麼？
小王子從第9章離開自己的星球，到現在為止已經到訪過5個星球了，分別遇到了國王、自負的人、酒鬼、商人、點燈人和地理學家，如果翻看之前的文章，可以發現只有在酒鬼、商人和點燈人的星球，小王子是主動寒暄的；而第一次見到國王、自負的人和地理學家，都是這些星球主先熱情地招呼小王子。六個星球主，兩種寒暄方式，作者分的還挺平均，細想一下好像還挺合理。
酒鬼一直用喝酒去忘記喝酒的羞恥感，商人忙著數星星，點燈人要一分鐘之內完成點燈和熄燈，連休息的空閒都沒有，誰有工夫搭理小王子。國王只有一隻老鼠作伴，以為小王子是來覲見的；自負的人以為小王子是自己的仰慕者；地理學家以為小王子是探險家，自己終於有料可寫了，所以這仨人看到小王子都很激動，一激動就先露了底。
“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 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。 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。 And if the recollections of any one among them seem interesting to him， the geographer orders an inquiry into that explorer‘s
moral character
。”
“Why is that？”
“Because an explorer who told lies would bring disaster on the books of the geographer。 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 mountains 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
proofs。 For example， if the discovery in question is that of a large mountain， one requires that large stones be brought back from it。”
Words:
5、moral character -
品德。
Moral character or character is an evaluation of a particular individual’s stable moral qualities。
In some states， for example， jury duty was limited to persons of supposedly superior intelligence， education， and
moral
character
。
例如，在一些州，陪審團的職責僅交付給一些人們普遍認為具有高智力、高教育水平和優秀道德品質的人。
6、intoxicated -
adj. 喝醉的；極度興奮的；v. 沉醉；中毒（intoxicate 的過去分詞）。
Someone who is
intoxicated
is drunk。
The beauty of the night
intoxicated
me。 美麗的夜色讓我沉醉。（今晚，沒戴眼鏡數星星，大概數了20個）
7、furnish -
v. 為（房間或房屋）配備傢俱；提供，供應。
If you
furnish
someone
with
something， you provide or supply it。
They‘ll be able to furnish you with the rest of the details。 他們將能夠給你提供其餘的細節。
Ideas: 這段很有意思。地理學家開始還說自己知道海洋、河流、城鎮、山川、沙漠的位置，結果小王子問了3個簡單的問題，都沒問位置，只是問這個星球有沒有......，地理學家是一問三不知，啪啪啪打臉。但是人家地理學家不愧是個大家，自己振振有詞，說了一大堆，意思就是自己只負責編書，不負責探險，雖然我連自己星球的地理都不知道，但透過探險家我知道其他星球的地理。這就跟我不知道自己家的東西都放哪了，但我天天跟朋友影片聊天，我知道朋友家的東西放哪一個道理，這怎麼感覺這麼奇怪呢。之前的星球主都沉浸在自己的世界裡，人家地理學家簡直放飛自我，不關心自己的一畝三分地，天天沉浸在其他星球的地理上，感覺好像美國的懂王。
這個地理學家挺聰明，足不出戶就可以透過探險家們瞭解其他星球。像不像《哈利·波特與密室》裡的黑魔法防禦教授-吉德羅·洛哈特，魔法世界裡的暢銷書作家，在書中吹噓自己的歷險故事，實際是盜用了其他巫師的經歷，還施咒抹掉了這些巫師的記憶。與吉德羅·洛哈特不同的是，地理學家大大方方地表明瞭自己所書內容精選自探險家們的口述內容，也沒有抹去探險家們的記憶，為了確保內容的真實性，還要調查探險家們的品德，像酒鬼之流絕不錄用；除此之外，還收集探險家們的探險證據比如山上的一塊石頭。從這些方面看，這個地理學家對自己的作品還挺負責的。
The geographer was suddenly
stirred
to excitement。
“But you—— you come from far away！ You are an explorer！ You shall describe your planet to me！”
And， having opened his big register， the geographer sharpened his pencil。 The
recitals
of explorers are put down first in pencil。 One waits until the explorer has 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 all so small。 I have three volcanoes。 Two volcanoes are active and the other is extinct。 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 very 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，” said the geographer。 “The thing that matters to us is the mountain。 It does not change。”
“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 four 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。
Words:
8、stirred -
v. 攪動（stir 的過去式和過去分詞）。
If a particular memory， feeling， or mood
stirs
or
is stirred in
you， you begin to think about it or feel it。
Then a memory stirs in you and you start feeling anxious。 接著你腦海中湧現出一段回憶，並開始感到不安。
9、recital -
n. 朗誦，吟誦；獨奏會；背誦；獨唱會。
A
recital
is a performance of music or poetry， usually given by one person。
She learned to play the instrument when she was a small child and gave her first public
recital
at age 9。
當她還是個小孩子的時候，就學會了演奏樂器，並在9歲時舉行了她的第一次公開獨奏會。
10、ephemeral -
adj. 短暫的；朝生暮死的；n. 只生存一天的事物；短生植物。
If you describe something as
ephemeral
， you mean that it lasts only for a short time。
He talked about the country’s ephemeral unity being shattered by the defeat。
他談到戰敗徹底粉碎了國家的短暫統一。
Ideas: 小王子每次描述玫瑰都帶著驕傲，彷彿玫瑰一直在他的星球上活的很好，地理學家的話讓小王子意識到了：與海洋、海洋、河流、城鎮、山川、沙漠相比，玫瑰的生命顯得多麼短暫易逝。出來玩了這麼久，小王子終於想玫瑰了，想家了，第一次後悔自己一氣之下跑出來。但是緊接著，小王子又鼓起了勇氣，打算繼續旅行，為什麼小王子不回家呢？
小王子這次出來旅行的原因：一是跟玫瑰過的不如意，想散散心，解解惑；二是從來沒出過家門，想去遠方看看。到現在為止，小王子去過六個星球了，看到的盡是無趣的人和事，沒遇到靠譜的人談心、解惑；再加上出來的時間不算長；自己又隨時能回去，回家的想法不強烈，肯定還想繼續旅行。
就像我之前一個人爬山總喜歡走自己沒走過的路線，一是知道山上有監控很安全；二是知道自己隨時可以原路返回。假如，我知道一個人爬山不安全，我肯定是走人多的路線，也不會走很遠。小王子如果預知自己繼續旅行會回不了家，可能會立馬回家；也可能繼續旅行，誰讓他是打破砂鍋問到底的小王子呢。
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