- the little prince encounters a railway switchman

"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.

“你好。”小王子说道。

“你好。”扳道工说道。

“你在这里做什么？”小王子问。

“我一包包地分选旅客，按每千人一包。”扳道工说，“我打发这些运载旅客的列车，一会儿发往右方，一会儿发往左方。”

这时，一列灯火明亮的快车，雷鸣般地响着，把扳道房震得颤颤悠悠。

“他们真匆忙呀，”小王子说，“他们要寻找什么？”

“开机车的人自己也不知道。”扳道工说道。

于是，第二列灯火通明的快车又朝着相反的方向轰隆轰隆地开过去。

“他们怎么又回来了呢？”小王子问道。

“他们不是原来那些人了。”扳道工说，“这是一次对开列车。”

“他们不满意他们原来所住的地方吗？”

“人们是从来也不会满意自己所在的地方的。”扳道工说。

此时，第三趟灯火明亮的快车又隆隆而过。

“他们是在追随第一批旅客吗？”小王子问道。

“他们什么也不追随。”扳道工说，“他们在里面睡觉，或是在打哈欠。只有孩子们把鼻子贴在玻璃窗上往外看。”

“只有孩子知道他们自己在寻找什么。”小王子说，“他们为一个布娃娃花费不少时间，这个布娃娃就成了很重要的东西，如果有人夺走的他们的布娃娃，他们就哭泣…”

“他们真幸运。”扳道工说。