This week I was disturbed by many trival things. Having no time to make the mind map, I decided to translate some of my favorite parts in chapter 10 from the book——The Little Prince.
Chapter 10
The little prince left his planet and began his travel. The first place was asteroid 325, which was inhabited by a king. The following is part of the conversation between the little prince and the king.
If I ordered a general to fly from one flower to another like a butterfly, or to write a tragic drama, or to change himself into a sea bird, and if the general did not carry out the order that he had received, which one of us would be in the wrong?” the king demanded, “The general, or myself?”
"You,"said the little prince firmly.
“Exactly. One much require from each one the duty which each one can perform, ”the king went on. “Accepted authority rests first of all on reason. If you ordered your people to go and throw themselves into the sea, they would rise up in revolution. I have the right to require obedience because my orders are reasonable.”
譯:
“如果我命令一位將軍像蝴蝶那樣從一朵花飛到另一朵花，或是讓他創(chuàng)作悲慘的戲劇，又或是命他將自己變成一只海鳥(niǎo)，倘若將軍沒(méi)有執(zhí)行他接到的指令，我倆是誰(shuí)做錯(cuò)呢？”國(guó)王問(wèn)?！笆菍④? 還是我自己？”
“你!”小王子肯定地說(shuō)。
“正是這樣。一個(gè)人只能要求他人履行能力范圍之內(nèi)的義務(wù)?！眹?guó)王繼續(xù)說(shuō)?！澳鼙槐娙私邮艿臋?quán)威，首先是建立在合理基礎(chǔ)上的。如果你命令你的臣民投海自盡，他們就會(huì)奮起發(fā)動(dòng)革命。我有權(quán)利要求臣民聽(tīng)命于我，因?yàn)槲业拿钍呛侠淼??！?/p>
I think the king's interpretation of “abosolute ?authority” is very interesting，even though it's not true. But one thing is for sure——if there had been more kings like him，there must be fewer revolutions in the history.
