Such power was a thing for the little prince to marvel at. If he hadbeen master of such complete authority. he would have been able to watch the sunset， not forty—four times in one day， but seventy-two， or even a hundred， or even two hundred times， without ever having to move his chair. And because he felt a bit sad as he remembered his little planet which he had forsaken， he plucked up his courage to ask the king a favor：
“I should like to see a sunset…Do me that kindness…Order the sun to set…”
“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.“fhe 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 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 tight to require obedience because my orders are reasonable.”
“Then my sunset？” the little prince reminded him： for he never forgot a question once he had asked it.
“You shall have your sunset. I shall command it. But， according to my science of government， I shall wait until conditions are favorable.”
“When will that be？” inquired the little prince.
“Hum！ Hum！ ”replied the king； and before saying anything else he consulted a bulky almanac. “Hum！ Hum！ That will be about—about— that will be this evening about twenty minutes to eight. And you will see how well I am obeyed！”
The little prince yawned. He was regretting his lost sunset. And then， too， he was already beginning to be a little bored.
“I have nothing more to do here，” he said to the king. “So I shall set out on my way again.”
“Do not go，” said the king， who was very proud of having a subject. “Do not go. I will make you a Minister！”
“Minister of what？” “Minster of—of Justice！”
“But there is nobody here to judge！”
“We do not know that，” the king said to him. “I have not yet made a complete tour of my kingdom. I am very old. There is no room here for a carriage. And it tires me to walk.”
“Oh， but I have looked already！” said the little prince， turning around to give one more glance to the other side of the planet. On that side， as on this， there was nobody at all…“Then you shall 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 succeed in judging 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 have good reason to 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 will condemn him to death. Thus his life will depend on your justice. But you will pardon him on each occasion； for he must be treated thriftily. He is the only one we have.”
“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， having now completed his preparations for departure， 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， for example， to order me to be gone by the end of one minute. 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 took his leave.
“I make 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 to himself， as he continued on his journey.
The fourth planet belonged to a businessman. This man was so much occupied that he did not even raise his head at the little prince’s arrival.
“Good morning，” the little prince said to him. “Your cigarette has gone out.”
“Three and two make five. Five and seven make twelve. Twelve and three make fifteen. Good morning.
Fifteen and seven make twenty-two. Twenty-two and six make twenty- eight. I haven’t time to light it again. Twenty-six and five make thirty- one. Phew！ Then that makes five-hundred-and-one million， six-hundred- twenty-two-thousand， seven-hundred-thirty-one.”
“Five hundred million what？” asked the little prince.
“Eh？ Are you still there？ Five-hundred-and-one million—I can’t stop... I have so much to do！ I am concerned with matters of consequence. I don’t amuse myself with balderdash. Two and five make seven...”
“Five-hundred-and-one million what？” repeated the little prince， who never in his life had let go of a question once he had asked it.
The businessman raised his head.
“During the fifty-four years that I have inhabited this planet， I have been disturbed only three times. The first time was twenty-two years ago， when some giddy goose fell from goodness knows where. He made the most frightful noise that resounded all over the place， and I made four mistakes in my addition. The second time， eleven years ago. I was disturbed by an attack of rheumatism. I don’t get enough exercise. I have no time for loafing. The third time—well， this is it！ I was saying， then， five- hundred-and-one millions—”
“Millions of what？”
The businessman suddenly realized that there was no hope of being left in peace until he answered this question.
“Millions of those little objects，” he said， “which one sometimes sees in the sky.” “Flies？”
“Oh. no. Little glittering objects.” “Bees？”
“Oh， no. Little golden objects that set lazy men to idle dreaming. As for me， I am concerned with matters of consequence. There is no time for idle dreaming in my life.”
“Ah！ You mean the stars？” “Yes， that’s it. The stars.”
“And what do you do with five-hundred millions of stars？”