Chapter 11

The second planet was inhabited by a conceited man.

“Ah! Ah! I am about to receive a visit from an admirer!” he exclaimed from afar, when he first saw the little prince coming.

For, to conceited men, all other men are admirers.

“Good morning,” said the little prince. “That is a queer hat you are wearing.”

“It is a hat for salutes,” the conceited man replied. “It is to raise in salute when people acclaim me. Unfortunately, nobody at all ever passes this way.”

“Yes?” said the little prince, who did not understand what the conceited man was talking about.

“Clap your hands, one against the other,” the conceited man now directed him.

The little prince clapped his hands. The conceited man raised his hat in a modest salute.

“This is more entertaining than the visit to the king,” the little prince said to himself. And he began again to clap his hands, one against the other. The conceited man against raised his hat in salute.

After five minutes of this exercise the little prince grew tired of the game’s monotony.

“And what should one do to make the hat come down?” he asked.

But the conceited man did not hear him. Conceited people never hear anything but praise.

“Do you really admire me very much?” he demanded of the little prince.

“What does that mean−− ‘admire’?”

“To admire mean that you regard me as the handsomest, the best−dressed, the richest, and the most intelligent man on this planet.”

“But you are the only man on your planet!”

“Do me this kindness. Admire me just the same.”

“I admire you,” said the little prince, shrugging his shoulders slightly, “but what is there in that to interest you so much?”

And the little prince went away.

“The grown−ups are certainly very odd,” he said to himself, as he continued on his journey.

Appendix

小王子来到旅程中的第二个星球，他遇到了一个自负的男人。

这个自负的男人头上戴着一顶礼帽，每当小王子拍手，男人就会对小王子敬礼。

小王子觉得这个比拜访老国王有意思，就反复拍手，然后男人会反复给小王子敬礼。

玩了 5 分钟后，小王子觉得无聊了。

男人问小王子，你仰慕我吗？你仰慕我，就说明我是这个星球上穿着最华丽、最富有、最聪明的人。

小王子说，我仰慕你，不过这个星球上就你一个人。

小王子心想，为什么要在意“仰慕”这种事情呢，大人们真奇怪。然后就离开这个星球。