"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.
“早上好！”小王子打招呼。
“早上好！”铁路扳道员回答道（铁路上岔道路口更改火车行进道路的人）。
“请问您在这儿做什么呢？”小王子疑惑道。
“我要将乘客进行分类，每千人为一批次。”扳道员说道，“我还得送别运载旅客的火车，有时令其向右行驶，有时令其向左行驶。”
正在这时，一班灯火通明的快车呼啸而过，轰鸣声如雷鸣般响彻云霄，使得整个扳道房一阵颤动。
"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.
“他们这样匆匆忙忙地赶路……”小王子说道，“到底是在寻找什么呢？”
“甚至连火车司机自己都搞不清楚。”扳道员说。
接着第二班灯光明亮的列车如雷霆般朝着相反的方向疾驰而去。
"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.
“他们怎么又返回来了？”小王子问道。
“他们不是原来的那班人，”扳道员说，“这是另一列相向而行的快车。”
“难道他们对自己所处的地方不甚满意吗？”小王子又问。
“同一个地方呆久了自然就会觉得厌倦。”扳道员解释道。
此时，第三班的快车又伴随着灯光电闪雷鸣般飞驰而过。
"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.
“他们是在追逐第一班旅客吗？”小王子一脸迷惑。
“他们谁也不追。”扳道员说，“车里的人们或打盹小憩，或沉睡休息，亦或是哈欠连天，力尽筋疲。唯有小孩子才会将脸紧贴车窗玻璃上，四处张望。”
“唯独小孩子才清楚他们的所寻之物。”小王子说，“孩子们会为一个布娃娃费尽心思，于是布娃娃自然变得弥足珍贵。这时要是有人夺走这个心爱之物，他们就会伤心痛哭……”
“孩子们真幸运！”扳道员感叹道。
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