better,” said the king. He was very proud to be a king over somebody.
The little prince looked everywhere to find a place to sit down; but the entire planet was obstructed by the king’s magnificent robe. So he was standing upright, and, since he was tired, he yawned.
“It is contrary to etiquette to yawn in the presence of a king,” the monarch said to him. “I forbid you to do so.”
“Sorry, I can’t stop myself,” replied the little prince, embarrassed. “I came on a long journey, and I had no sleep.”
“Ah, then,” the king said. “I order you to yawn. Come, now! Yawn again! It is an order.”
“That frightens me. I cannot yawn any more,” murmured the little prince.
“Hum! Hum!” replied the king. “Then I—I order you sometimes to yawn and sometimes to—”
He seemed vexed. The king hated disobedience. He was an absolute monarch. But, because he was a very good man, he made his orders reasonable.
“If I ordered a general,” he said, “if I order a general to change himself into a bird, and if the general does not obey me, that is not the fault of the general. It is my fault.”
“May I sit down?” came a timid inquiry from the little prince.
“I order you to do so,” the king answered him.
But the little prince was wondering. The planet was tiny. Over what did this king really rule?
“Your majesty,” he said to him, “may I ask you a question—”
“I order you to ask me a question,” the king assured him.
“Your majesty, over what do you rule?”
“Over everything,” said the king, with magnificent simplicity.
“Over everything?”
The king made a gesture, which pointed at his planet, the other planets, and all the stars.
“Over all that?” asked the little prince.
“Over all that,” the king answered.
For his rule was not only absolute: it was also universal.
“And the stars obey you?”
“Certainly they do,” the king said. “They obey instantly. I do not permit insubordination.”
Such power was marveling. “If I am so powerful,” the little prince thought, “I will be able to watch the sunset, not forty-four times in one day, but seventy-two, or even a hundred, or even two hundred times.” And because he remembered his little planet, he asked the king a favor:
“I want to see a sunset. Do me that kindness. Order the sun to set.”
“If I order a general to fly from one flower to another like a butterfly, or to write a tragic drama, or to change himself into a bird, and if the general does not carry out the order[24], which one of us is wrong?” the king demanded. “The general, or myself?”
“You,” said the little prince firmly.
“Exactly. One must require from each one the duty which each one can perform,” the king said. “If you order your people to go and throw themselves into the sea[25], they will make a revolution. My orders are reasonable.”
“And what about my sunset?” the little prince reminded him.
“You will have your sunset. I shall command it. But I shall wait until conditions are favorable.”
“When will that be?” inquired the little prince.
“Hum! Hum!” replied the king; and he consulted a bulky almanac. “Hum! Hum! That will be about—about—that will be this evening about twenty minutes to eight!”
The little prince yawned. He was already a little bored.
“I have nothing more to do here,” he said to the king. “So I shall go away.”
“Do not go,” said the king, because wanted to have a subject. “Do not go. I will make you a Minister!”
“Minister of what?”
“Minister of—of Justice!”
“But there is nobody here to judge!”
“We do not know that,” the king said to him. “I did not make a complete tour of my kingdom. I am very old. And it is difficult for me to walk.”
“Oh, but I looked already!” said the little prince, He turned around to look at the other side of the planet. On that side, there was nobody at all.
“Then you will judge yourself,” the king answered. “that is the most difficult thing of all. It is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you can judge yourself rightly, then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.”
“Yes,” said the little prince, “but I can judge myself anywhere. I do not need to live on this planet.”
“Hum! Hum!” said the king. “I believe that somewhere on my planet there is an old rat. I hear him at night. You can judge this old rat. From time to time you can condemn him to death[26]. Thus his life will depend on your justice. But you will pardon him. We don’t have any more rats.”
“I,” replied the little prince, “do not like to condemn anyone to death. And now I think I will go on my way.”
“No,” said the king.
But the little prince had no wish to grieve the old monarch.
“If Your Majesty wishes,” he said, “you can give me a reasonable order. It seems to me that conditions are favorable.”
As the king made no answer, the little prince hesitated a moment. Then, with a sigh, he went away.
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to carry out the order – выполнить приказ
to throw themselves into the sea – броситься в море
to condemn him to death – приговаривать его к смерти
