How would you decline an invitation without being rude?
Here is a useful idiom to decline an offer politely or say that you would like to accept it, but at a later time.

Join me on this episode and learn how to use "take a rain check" in context!



English with Serena

Take a rain check (Rimandare l'invito)

第六颗行星则要大十倍。
The sixth planet was ten times larger than the last one.
上面住着一位老先生，他在写作大部头的书。
It was inhabited by an old gentleman who wrote voluminous books.
“瞧！来了一位探险家。”老先生看到小王子时，叫了起来。
"Oh, look! Here is an explorer!" he exclaimed to himself when he saw the little prince coming.
小王子在桌旁坐下，有点气喘吁吁。
The little prince sat down on the table and panted a little.
他跑了多少路啊！
He had already traveled so much and so far!
“你从哪里来的呀？”老先生问小王子。
"Where do you come from?" the old gentleman said to him.
“这一大本是什么书？你在这里干什么？”小王子问道。
"What is that big book?" said the little prince. "What are you doing?"
“我是地理学家。”老先生答道。
"I am a geographer," the old gentleman said to him.
“什么是地理学家？”小王子问。
"What is a geographer?" asked the little prince.
地理学家，就是一种学者，他知道哪里有海洋，哪里有江河、城市、山脉、沙漠。
A geographer is a scholar who knows the location of all the seas, rivers,towns, mountains, and deserts.
“这倒挺有意思。”小王子说。“这才是一种真正的行当。”
"That is very interesting," said the little prince. "Here at last is a man who has a real profession!"
他朝四周围看了看这位地理学家的星球。
And he cast a look around him at the planet of the geographer.
他还从来没有见过一颗如此壮观的行星。
It was the most magnificent and stately planet that he had ever seen.
“您的星球真美呀。上面有海洋吗？”他说。
"Your planet is very beautiful," he said. "Has it any oceans?"
“这我没法知道。”地理学家说。

"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.
“啊！”小王子大失所望。“那么，山脉呢？”
"Ah!" The little prince was disappointed. "Has it any mountains?"
“这，我没法知道。”地理学家说。
"I couldn't tell you," said the geographer.
“那么，有城市、河流、沙漠吗？”
"And towns, and rivers, and deserts?"
这，我也没法知道。
I couldn't tell you that, either.
可您还是地理学家呢！
But you are a geographer!
“一点不错，”地理学家说，
"Exactly," the geographer said.
但是我不是探察家。我手下一个探察家都没有。
But I am not an explorer. I haven't a single explorer on my planet.
地理学家是不去计算城市、河流、山脉、海洋、沙漠的。
It is not the geographer who goes out to count the towns, the rivers, the mountains, the seas, the oceans, and the deserts.
地理学家很重要，不能到处跑。
The geographer is much too important to go loafing about.
他不能离开他的办公室。
He does not leave his desk
但他可以在办公室里接见探察家

小王子-The Little Prince-Read in Chinese

小王子第36章：有趣的地理学家

小王子接着说,
The little prince went on with his explanation,
你的这颗行星这样小，你三步就可以绕它一圈。
Your planet is so small that three strides will take you all the way around it.
你只要慢慢地走，就可以一直在太阳的照耀下，
To be always in the sunshine, you need only walk along rather slowly.
你想休息的时候，你就这样走,那么，你要白天又多长它就有多长。
When you want to rest, you will walk,and the day will last as long as you like.
“这办法帮不了我多打忙。”点灯人说。
"That doesn't do me much good," said the lamplighter.
“生活中我喜欢的就是睡觉。”
The one thing I love in life is to sleep.
“真不走运。”小王子说。
"Then you're unlucky," said the little prince.
“真不走运。”点灯人说。“早上好。”于是他又熄灭了路灯。

"I am unlucky," said the lamplighter. "Good morning." And he put out his lamp.
小王子在他继续往前旅行的途中，自言自语地说道：
"That man," said the little prince to himself, as he continued farther on his journey,
这个人一定会被其他那些人，国王呀，爱虚荣的呀，酒鬼呀，实业家呀，所瞧不起。
that man would be scorned by all the others: by the king, by the conceited man, by the tippler, by the businessman.
可是唯有他不使我感到荒唐可笑。
Nevertheless he is the only one of them all who does not seem to me ridiculous.
这可能是因为他所关心的是别的事，而不是他自己。
Perhaps that is because he is thinking of something else besides himself.
他惋惜地叹了口气，并且又对自己说道：
He breathed a sigh of regret, and said to himself, again,
本来这是我唯一可以和他交成朋友的人。
That man is the only one of them all whom I could have made my friend.
可是他的星球确实太小了，住不下两个人。
But his planet is indeed too small. There is no room on it for two people.
小王子没有勇气承认的是：他留恋这颗令人赞美的星星，
What the little prince did not dare confess was that he was sorry most of all to leave this planet,
特别是因为在那里每二十四小时就有一千四百四十次日落！
because it was blest every day with 1440 sun sets!

小王子第35章：留恋这颗星

然后他拿一块有红方格子的手绢擦着额头。
Then he mopped his forehead with a handkerchief decorated with red squares.
我干的是一种可怕的职业。
I follow a terrible profession.
以前还说得过去，
In the old days it was reasonable.
早上熄灯，晚上点灯，
I put the lamp out in the morning, and in the evening I lighted it again.
剩下时间，白天我就休息，夜晚我就睡觉.
I had the rest of the day for relaxation and the rest of the night for sleep."
那么，后来命令改变了，是吗？
And the orders have been changed since that time?
点灯的人说：“命令没有改."
"The orders have not been changed," said the lamplighter.
"惨就惨在这里了！这颗行星一年比一年转得更快，而命令却没有改。”
"That is the tragedy! From year to year the planet has turned more rapidly and the orders have not been changed!"
“结果呢？”小王子问。
"Then what?" asked the little prince.
结果现在每分钟转一圈，我连一秒钟的休息时间都没有了。
Then the planet now makes a complete turn every minute, and I no longer have a single second for repose.
每分钟我就要点一次灯，熄一次灯！

Once every minute I have to light my lamp and put it out!
真有趣，你这里每天只有一分钟长？
"That is very funny! A day lasts only one minute, here where you live!
“一点趣味也没有，”点灯的说，
"It is not funny at all!" said the lamplighter.
我们俩在一块说话就已经有一个月的时间了。
While we have been talking together a month has gone by.
一个月？
A month?
“对。三十分钟。三十天！——晚上好。”于是他又点着了了他的路灯。
"Yes, a month. Thirty minutes. Thirty days. Good evening." And he lighted his lamp again.
小王子瞅着他，他喜欢这个点灯人如此忠守命令。
As the little prince watched him, he felt that he loved this lamplighter who was so faithful to his orders.
这时，他想起了他自己从前挪动椅子寻找日落的事。
He remembered the sunsets which he himself had gone to seek,in other days, merely by pulling up his chair;
他很想帮助他的这位朋友。
and he wanted to help his friend.
“告诉你，我知道一种能使你休息的办法，你要什么时候休息都可以。”
"You know," he said, "I can tell you a way you can rest whenever you want to... "
“我老是想休息。”点灯人说。
"I always want to rest," said the lamplighter.
因为，一个人可以同时是忠实的，又是懒惰的。
For it is possible for a man to be faithful and lazy at the same time.

小王子第34章：既忠实又懒惰

第五颗行星非常奇怪，
The fifth planet was very strange.
是这些星星中最小的一颗。
It was the smallest of all.
行星上刚好能容得下一盏路灯和一个点路灯的人。
There was just enough room on it for a street lamp and a lamplighter.
小王子怎么也解释不通,要一盏路灯和一个点灯的人做什么用,
The little prince was not able to reach any explanation of the use of a street lamp and a lamplighter,
这个坐落在天空某一角落，既没有房屋又没有居民的行星上。
somewhere in the heavens, on a planet which had no people, and not one house.
但他自己猜想，可能这个人思想不正常。
But he said to himself, nevertheless, It may well be that this man is absurd.
但他比起国王，比起那个爱虚荣的人，那个实业家和酒鬼，却要好些。
But he is not so absurd as the king,the conceited man, the businessman, and the tippler.
至少他的工作还有点意义。
For at least his work has some meaning.
当他点着了他的路灯时，就象他增添了一颗星星，或是一朵花。
When he lights his street lamp, it is as if he brought one more star to life, or one flower.
当他熄灭了路灯时，就象让星星或花朵睡着了似的。
When he puts out his lamp, he sends the flower, or the star, to sleep.
这差事真美妙，就是真正有用的了。

That is a beautiful occupation. And since it is beautiful, it is truly useful.
小王子一到了这个行星上，就很尊敬地向点路灯的人打招呼.
When he arrived on the planet he respectfully saluted the lamplighter.
早上好。你刚才为什么把路灯灭了呢？
Good morning. Why have you just put out your lamp?
“早上好。这是命令。”点灯的回答道。
"Those are the orders," replied the lamplighter. "Good morning."
命令是什么？
What are the orders?
就是熄掉我的路灯。晚上好。
The orders are that I put out my lamp. Good evening.
于是他又点燃了路灯。
And he lighted his lamp again.
那么为什么你又把它点着了呢？
But why have you just lighted it again?
“这是命令。”点灯的人回答道。
"Those are the orders," replied the lamp lighter.
“我不明白。”小王子说。
"I do not understand," said the little prince.
“没什么要明白的。命令就是命令。”点灯的回答说。“早上好。”
"There is nothing to understand," said the lamplighter."Orders are orders. Good morning."
于是他又熄灭了路灯。
And he put out his lamp.

小王子第33章：命令就是命令

小王子仍然还不满足，
The little prince was still not satisfied.
他说，对我来说，如果我有一条围巾，
"If I owned a silk scarf," he said,
我可以用它来围着我的脖子，并且能带走它。
I could put it around my neck and takeit away with me.
我有一朵花的话，我就可以摘下我的花，并且把它带走。
If I owned a flower, I could pluck that flower and take it away with me.
可你却不能摘下这些星星呀！
But you cannot pluck the stars from heaven.
我不能摘，但我可以把它们存在银行里。
No. But I can put them in the bank.
这是什么意思呢？
Whatever does that mean?
这就是说，我把星星的数目写在一张小纸条上，
That means that I write the number of my stars on a little paper.
然后把这张小纸条锁在一个抽屉里。
And then I put this paper in a drawer and lock it with a key.
这就算完事了吗？
And that is all?
“这样就行了。”商人说。
"That is enough," said the businessman.
小王子想道：“真好玩。这倒蛮有诗意，可是，并不算是了不起的正经事。”

"It is entertaining," thought the little prince. "It is rather poetic. But it is of no great consequence."
关于什么是正经事，小王子的看法和大人们的看法非常不同。
On matters of consequence, the little prince had ideas which were very different from those of the grown-ups.
我有一朵花，我每天都给她浇水。
I myself own a flower, he continued his conversation with the businessman, which I water every day.
我还有三座火山，我每星期把它们全都打扫一遍。连死火山也打扫。谁知道它会不会再复活。
I own three volcanoes, which I clean out every week (for I also clean out the one that is extinct; one never knows.
我拥有火山和花，这对我的火山有益处，对我的花也有益处。
It is of some use to my volcanoes, and it is of some use to my flower, that I own them.
但是你对星星并没有用处…
But you are of no use to the stars...
实业家张口结舌无言以对。
The businessman opened his mouth, but he found nothing to say in answer.
于是小王子就走了。
And the little prince went away.
在旅途中，小王子只是自言自语地说了一句：“这些大人们真是奇怪极了。”
"The grown-ups are certainly altogether extraordinary," he said simply, talking to himself as he continued on his journey.