172'

I had thus learned a second fact of great importance: this was that the planet the little prince came from was scarcely any larger than a house!
But that did not really surprise me much. I knew very well that in addition to the great planets--such as the Earth Jupiter Mars Venus--to which we have given names there are also hundreds of others some of which are so small that one has a hard time seeing them through the telescope. When an astronomer discovers one of these he does not give it a name but only a number. He might call it for example "Asteroid 325. "
我就是这样又知道了件重要的事：小王子的星球比房子大不了多少！
但我也不是很吃惊。我非常清楚除了大的行星——地球，木星，火星，金星等我们起了名字的，还有数百个其他的星球，小到用望远镜都看不到。天文学家发现这种星球后不会起名字，只会给它一个编号。比如说，325号小行星。

I have serious reason to believe that the planet from which the little prince came is the asteroid known as B-612.
This asteroid has only once been seen through the telescope. That was by a Turkish astronomer in 1909.
我非常有理由相信小王子来自B-612号小行星。
这颗小行星只被人用望远镜观测到过一次。是在1909年，一位土耳其天文学家发现的。

On making his discovery the astronomer had presented it to the International Astronomical Congress in a great demonstration. But he was in Turkish costume and so nobody would believe what he said.
Grown-ups are like that . . .
Fortunately however for the reputation of Asteroid B-612 a Turkish dictator made a law that his subjects under pain of death should change to European costume. So in 1920 the astronomer gave his demonstration all over again dressed with impressive st<x>yle and elegance. And this time everybody accepted his report.
他发现后，马上郑重地展示给国际天文学会。但他穿着土耳其的服装，所以没人相信他。
大人们就是这样…
幸运的是，为了B-612号小行星，土耳其的君主通过了一条法律，他的臣民，无论多痛苦，都必须穿欧洲的服装。1920年，这位天文学家又展示了一次，他着了盛装，十分优雅。这次大家都接受了他的报告。

If I have told you these details about the asteroid and made a note of its number for you it is on account of the grown-ups and their ways. When you tell them that you have made a new friend they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you "What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?" Instead they demand: "How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?" Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.
If you were to say to the grown-ups: "I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof" they would not be able to get any idea of that house at all. You would have to say to them: "I saw a house that cost $20000." Then they would exclaim: "Oh what a pretty house that is! "
我告诉你小行星的这些细节，再告诉你它的编号，都是因为大人们的行事方式。你告诉他们你交了个新朋友，他们不会问什么有意义的问题。他们不会问“他的声音什么样？他最喜欢什么游戏？他收集蝴蝶吗？”他们会问：“他多大了？几个哥哥？多重？他爸收入多少？”他们觉得，只有通过这些数字才能了解别人。
如果我告诉大人们：“我看到了一座玫红色的砖房，窗户上有天竺葵，屋顶上还有鸽子。”他们根本不会知道房子是什么样。一定得说“我看到一座两万美元的房子。”这样他们才会惊呼：“这房子好美啊！”