"Where do you come from" the old gentleman said to him.

“啊！我那邊，”小王子說道，“冇有多粗心義，那兒甚麼都很小。我有三座火山，兩座是活的，一座是燃燒了的。但是也很難說它還會不會噴發。”

“那麼，有都會、河道、戈壁嗎？”

“我的花是很快就會消逝的嗎？”

“恰好，你是從遠方來的！你是個探險家！你來給我先容一下你的星球吧！”

"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.

小王子拜候的第六顆星球比上一顆要大十倍。這顆星球上麵住著一名老先生，他寫了一本龐大的書。

"I have also a flower."

因而小王子就走了，他一邊走一邊想著他的花。

"What place would you advise me to visit now" he asked.

“地理學家就是一種學者，他曉得那裡有陸地，那裡有河道、都會、山脈、戈壁。”

“去實地考查嗎？”

“我們不記錄它們，”地理學家說，“因為花草是長久的。”

"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.