English
the little prince converses with the snake; the little prince consoles the narrator; the little prince returns to his planet
Beside the well there was the ruin of an old stone wall. When I came back from my work, the next evening, I saw from some distance away my little price sitting on top of a wall, with his feet dangling. And I heard him say:
“Then you don’t remember. This is not the exact spot.”
Another voice must have answered him, for he replied to it:
“Yes, yes! It is the right day, but this is not the place.”
I continued my walk toward the wall. At no time did I see or hear anyone. The little prince, however, replied once again:
”–Exactly. You will see where my track begins, in the sand. You have nothing to do but wait for me there. I shall be there tonight.”
I was only twenty metres from the wall, and I still saw nothing.
After a silence the little prince spoke again:
“You have good poison? You are sure that it will not make me suffer too long?”
I stopped in my tracks, my heart torn asunder; but still I did not understand.
“Now go away,” said the little prince. “I want to get down from the wall.”
I dropped my eyes, then, to the foot of the wall– and I leaped into the air. There before me, facing the little prince, was one of those yellow snakes that take just thirty seconds to bring your life to an end. Even as I was digging into my pocked to get out my revolver I made a running step back. But, at the noise I made, the snake let himself flow easily across the sand like the dying spray of a fountain, and, in no apparent hurry, disappeared, with a light metallic sound, among the stones.
I reached the wall just in time to catch my little man in my arms; his face was white as snow.
“What does this mean?” I demanded. “Why are you talking with snakes?”
I had loosened the golden muffler that he always wore. I had moistened his temples, and had given him some water to drink. And now I did not dare ask him any more questions. He looked at me very gravely, and put his arms around my neck. I felt his heart beating like the heart of a dying bird, shot with someone’s rifle…
“I am glad that you have found what was the matter with your engine,” he said. “Now you can go back home–”
“How do you know about that?”
I was just coming to tell him that my work had been successful, beyond anything that I had dared to hope.
He made no answer to my question, but he added:
“I, too, am going back home today…”
Then, sadly–
“It is much farther… it is much more difficult…”
I realised clearly that something extraordinary was happening. I was holding him close in my arms as if he were a little child; and yet it seemed to me that he was rushing headlong toward an abyss from which I could do nothing to restrain him…
His look was very serious, like some one lost far away.
“I have your sheep. And I have the sheep’s box. And I have the muzzle…”
And he gave me a sad smile.
I waited a long time. I could see that he was reviving little by little.
“Dear little man,” I said to him, “you are afraid…”
He was afraid, there was no doubt about that. But he laughed lightly.
“I shall be much more afraid this evening…”
Once again I felt myself frozen by the sense of something irreparable. And I knew that I could not bear the thought of never hearing that laughter any more. For me, it was like a spring of fresh water in the desert.
“Little man,” I said, “I want to hear you laugh again.”
But he said to me:
“Tonight, it will be a year… my star, then, can be found right above the place where I came to the Earth, a year ago…”
“Little man,” I said, “tell me that it is only a bad dream– this affair of the snake, and the meeting-place, and the star…”
But he did not answer my plea. He said to me, instead: “The thing that is important is the thing that is not seen…”
“Yes, I know…”
“It is just as it is with the flower. If you love a flower that lives on a star, it is sweet to look at the sky at night. All the stars are a-bloom with flowers…”
“Yes, I know…”
“It is just as it is with the water. Because of the pulley, and the rope, what you gave me to drink was like music. You remember– how good it was.”
“Yes, I know…”
“And at night you will look up at the stars. Where I live everything is so small that I cannot show you where my star is to be found. It is better, like that. My star will just be one of the stars, for you. And so you will love to watch all the stars in the heavens… they will all be your friends. And, besides, I am going to make you a present…”
He laughed again.
“Ah, little prince, dear little prince! I love to hear that laughter!”
“That is my present. Just that. It will be as it was when we drank the water…”
“What are you trying to say?”
“All men have the stars,” he answered, “but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems . For my businessman they were wealth. But all these stars are silent. You– you alone– will have the stars as no one else has them–”
“What are you trying to say?”
“In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night… you– only you– will have stars that can laugh!”
And he laughed again.
“And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure… and your friends w ill be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, ‘Yes, the stars always make me laugh!’ And they will think you are crazy. It will be a very shabby trick that I shall have played on you…”
And he laughed again.
“It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh…”
And he laughed again. Then he quickly became serious:
“Tonight– you know… do not come,” said the little prince.
“I shall not leave you,” I said.
“I shall look as if I were suffering. I shall look a little as if I were dying. It is like that. Do not come to see that. It is not worth the trouble…”
“I shall not leave you.”
But he was worried.
“I tell you– it is also because of the snake. He must not bite you. Snakes– they are malicious creatures. This one might bite you just for fun…”
“I shall not leave you.”
But a thought came to reassure him:
“It is true that they have no more poison for a second bite.”
That night I did not see him set out on his way. He got away from me without making a sound. When I succeeded in catching up with him he was walking along with a quick and resolute step. He said to me merely:
“Ah! You are there…”
And he took me by the hand. But he was still worrying.
“It was wrong of you to come. You will suffer. I shall look as if I were dead; and that will not be true…”
I said nothing.
“You understand… it is too far. I cannot carry this body with me. It is too heavy.”
I said nothing.
“But it will be like an old abandoned shell. There is nothing sad about old shells…”
I said nothing.
He was a little discouraged. But he made one more effort:
“You know, it will be very nice. I, too, shall look at the stars. All the stars will be wells with a rusty pulley. All the stars will pour out fresh water for me to drink…”
I said nothing.
“That will be so amusing! You will have five hundred million little bells, and I shall have five hundred million springs of fresh water…”
And he too said nothing more, because he was crying…
“Here it is. Let me go on by myself.”
And he sat down, because he was afraid. Then he said, again:
“You know– my flower… I am responsible for her. And she is so weak! She is so naive! She has four thorns, of no use at all, to protect herself against all the world…”
I too sat down, because I was not able to stand up any longer.
“There now– that is all…”
He still hesitated a little; then he got up. He took one step. I could not move.
There was nothing but a flash of yellow close to his ankle. He remained motionless for an instant. He did not cry out. He fell as gently as a tree falls. There was not even any sound, because of the sand.
中文
小王子与蛇交谈；小王子安慰叙述者；小王子回到自己的星球
井旁边有一堵破旧的石墙残骸。第二天傍晚，当我干完活回来时，远远地看见我的小王子坐在墙头，两条腿悬空晃荡着。我听见他在说话：
“难道你不记得了吗？”小王子说，“这不是确切的地点。”
一定有另一个声音回答了他，因为他接着说道：
“没错，没错！日子是对的，但地点不是这里。”
我继续朝着石墙走去。我始终没看到，也没听到任何人在那儿。然而，小王子又一次开口回答道：
“……那当然。你会在沙上看到我的脚印是从什么地方开始的。你在那里等着我就行了。今天夜里我去那里。”
我离石墙只有二十米远了，可依然什么也没看见。
沉默了一会儿，小王子再次开口说道：
“你的毒液管用吗？你确定它不会让我痛苦太久吗？”
我停下脚步，心如刀绞，却依然不明所以
“现在，你走吧，”小王子说，“我要从墙上下来了。”
于是，我也朝墙脚下看去，我吓了一跳！就在那儿，面对着小王子的，是一条能在三十秒内要人性命的黄色毒蛇。我一边手忙脚乱地在口袋里掏左轮手枪，一边急急往后撤。可是蛇听见我掏枪的响动，便如一道即将消散的喷泉水柱，不慌不忙地游过沙地，随着一阵金属般的轻响，消失在乱石丛中。
我到达墙边的时候，正好把我的这位小王子接在我的怀抱中。他的脸色雪一 样惨白。
“这是怎么回事？”我追问道，“你为什么要跟蛇说话？”
我解开他从不离身的金色围巾，用水打湿他的太阳穴，又喂他喝了点水。此刻我不敢再多问什么。他神情凝重地看着我，用胳膊环住我的脖子。我感觉到他的心跳，像一只被子弹击中的垂死小鸟般微弱……
“真高兴你修好了发动机，”他说，“现在你可以回家了——”
“你是怎么知道的？”
我来正是要告诉他，我的维修取得了超乎想象的成功。
他没有回答我的问题，只是补充道：
“我也一样，今天，我要回家了……”
接着，他忧伤地说道：
“路途要远得多……也要艰难得多……”
我清楚地意识到某种非同寻常的事情正在发生。我紧紧地把他抱在怀里，就像抱着一个年幼的孩子；然而在我看来，他正头也不回地坠向一个深渊，而我却无力阻止……
他的眼神非常严肃，仿佛迷失在遥远的远方。
“我有你的绵羊。我有羊的箱子。我还有嘴套……”
他对我露出一个忧伤的微笑。
我等了很久。我能看出他正一点点恢复过来。
“亲爱的小家伙，”我对他说，“你害怕了……”
他确实在害怕，这是毋庸置疑的。但他却轻轻地笑了。
“今晚，我会更加害怕……”
那种“无可挽回”的感觉再次让我感到通体冰凉。我发现自己无法忍受再也听不到那笑声的想法。对我来说，那笑声就像沙漠里的一汪清泉。
“小家伙，”我说，“我想再听听你的笑声。”
但他对我说：
“今晚，就满一年了……到时候，我的那颗星就会刚好出现在我一年前降临地球的地方……”
“小家伙，”我说，“告诉我这只是个噩梦——关于蛇、关于约定的地点、还有关于星星的这一切……”
但他没有回应我的请求。相反，他对我说：
“重要的东西，是看不见的……”
“是的，我知道……”
“就像那朵花一样。如果你爱上了一朵生长在某颗星星上的花，那么夜间仰望星空时，你就会感到甜蜜。所有的星星上，都仿佛开满了鲜花……”
“是的，我知道……”
“就像那水一样。因为辘轳和绳子，你给我喝的水，就如同音乐一般美妙。你记得吗——那水多么甘甜。”
“是的，我知道……”
“夜晚，你会仰望星空。我住的地方太小了，我没法指给你看我的那颗星在哪儿。但这样反而更好。对你来说，我的那颗星就只是万千繁星中的一颗。这样一来，你就会喜欢观察天上的所有星星……它们都会成为你的朋友。而且，我还要送给你一份礼物……”
他又笑了起来。
“啊，小家伙，亲爱的小家伙！我太喜欢听这个笑声了！”
“这就是我的礼物。仅仅是这个。它就像我们喝水时那样……”
“你想说什么？”
“所有的人都拥有星星，”他回答道，“但对于不同的人，星星的意义也不同。对旅行者来说，星星是向导；对其他人来说，星星不过是天空中微弱的小亮光；对学者来说，星星是研究课题；对我遇到的那个商人来说，星星是财富。但所有的这些星星都是沉默的。而你——唯独你——拥有的星星将和任何人的都不一样——”
“你想说什么？”
“因为我就住在其中的一颗星星上，因为我就在其中的一颗星星上笑着，那么当你夜里仰望星空时，就好像所有的星星都在笑……你——只有你——拥有的星星是会笑的！”
他又一次笑了起来。
“当你不再那么悲伤的时候（时间会抚平所有的伤痛），你会因为认识了我而感到欣慰。你永远是我的朋友。你会想和我一起开心地笑。有时你会为了这种快乐而打开窗户……你的朋友们看到你望着天空发笑，一定会感到莫名其妙！到那时，你会对他们说：‘是的，星星总是能让我笑出来！’而他们会以为你疯了。那我可真是跟你开了一个相当恶作剧的玩笑……”
他又笑了起来。
“这就好像，我送给你的不再是星星，而是许多会笑的小铃铛……”
他又笑了，随即立刻变得严肃起来：
“今晚……你知道的……别来，”小王子说。
“我不会离开你的，”我说。
“我会看起来像是很痛苦的样子。看起来会有一点像是在死去。就是那样。别来看我，没那个必要……”
“我不会离开你的。”
可是他担心起来。
“我告诉你——这也是因为那条蛇。它绝不能咬到你。蛇这种生物，是很恶毒的。这一条可能只是为了好玩就咬你一口……”
“我不会离开你的。”
这时，他突然想起什么，似乎安心了些：
“确实，它们在咬第二口的时候，就没有毒液了。”
那天晚上，我没有看见他动身。他悄无声息地溜走了。当我终于追上他时，他正迈着坚定而快速的步子走着。他只是对我说了句：
“啊！你还是来了……”
他拉住了我的手。但他仍在担心：
“你真不该来。你会难受的。我会看起来像是死了一样，但那不是真的……”
我沉默不语。
“你明白的……路途太远了。我没法带着这副身体。它太重了。”
我沉默不语。
“但这就像丢掉一个破旧的蝉壳。旧蝉壳没什么好伤心的……”
我沉默不语。
他有些气馁，但还是试着安慰我：
“你知道，那会很美好的。我也能仰望星星。每颗星星都会是带着生锈辘轆的水井。所有的星星都会为我涌出甘泉……”
我强忍着泪水。
“那该多有趣啊！你将拥有五亿个小铃铛，而我将拥有五亿口清泉……”
接着，他也不再说话了，因为他在哭泣……
“到了。让我自己走完最后这段路吧。”
他坐了下来，因为他在害怕。接着，他又说了一句：
“你知道的……我的那朵花……我得对她负责。她是那么弱小！她又是那么天真！她只有四根毫无用处的刺，用来保护自己免受整个世界的伤害……”
我也坐了下来，因为我再也站立不住了。
“好了……就这些了……”
他最后犹豫了一下，然后站起身，向前走了一步。我却动弹不得。
只见一道黄光闪过，掠过他的脚踝。他凝滞了片刻，没有呼喊，便像一棵树那样，缓缓地倾倒了。由于是沙地，甚至连一点声响都没有。
一部分内容摘录自《小王子》。 如有侵权， 请联系作者删除
