英中英20_TheLittlePrince小王子_林_乐明无念

"Hum! Hum!" said the king. "I have good reason to believethat somewhere on my planet there is an old rat. I hear him at night. You canjudge this old rat. From time to time you will condemn him to death. Thus hislife will depend on your justice. But you will pardon him on each occasion; forhe must be treated thriftily. He is the only one we have.""I," replied the little prince, "do not like to condemnanyone to death. And now I think I will go on my way.""No," said the king.But the little prince, having now completed his preparations fordeparture, had no wish to grieve the old monarch."If Your Majesty wishes to be promptly obeyed," he said,"he should be able to give me a reasonable order. He should be able, forexample, to order me to be gone by the end of one minute. It seems to me thatconditions are favorable..."As the king made no answer, the little prince hesitated a moment. Then,with a sigh, he took his leave."I made you my Ambassador," the king called out, hastily.He had a magnificent air of authority."The grown-ups are very strange," the little prince said tohimself, as he continued on his journey.