小王子第24章

It was now the eighth day since I had had my accident in the desert,
这是我在沙漠上出了事故的第八天。


and I had listened to the story of the merchant as I was drinking the last drop of my water supply.
我听着有关这个商人的故事，喝完了我所备用的最后一滴水。


"Ah," I said to the little prince, these memories of yours are very charming; but I have not yet succeeded in repairing my plane;
“啊！”我对小王子说，你回忆的这些故事真美。可是，我还没有修好我的飞机。


I have nothing more to drink;and I, too, should be very happy if I could walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water!
我没有喝的了，假如我能悠哉游哉地走到水泉边去，我一定也会很高兴的！


"My friend the fox–" the little prince said to me.
小王子对我说：“我的朋友狐狸…”


"My dear little man, this is no longer a matter that has anything to do with the fox!"
我的小家伙，现在还说什么狐狸！


"Why not?"
为什么？




"Because I am about to die of thirst..."
因为这就要渴死人了。


He did not follow my reasoning, and he answered me:
他不理解我的思路，他回答我道：


"It is a good thing to have had a friend, even if one is about to die.
即使快要死了，有过一个朋友也好么！


I, for instance, am very glad to have had a fox as a friend..."
我就为我有过一个狐狸朋友而感到很高兴…


"He has no way of guessing the danger," I said to myself. "He has never been either hungry or thirsty.
“他不顾危险。”我自己思量着，“他从来不知道饥渴。


A little sunshine is all he needs..."
只要有点阳光，他就满足了…”


But he looked at me steadily, and replied to my thought:" I am thirsty, too. Let us look for a well... "
但他稳步看着我,回答我的想法:“我渴了。让我们找一口井...”


I made a gesture of weariness.
我做了一个疲倦的姿态。


It is absurd to look for a well, at random, in the immensity of the desert.
是荒谬的找一口井,随机地,在无垠的沙漠。


But nevertheless we started walking.
但是我们开始行走。


When we had trudged along for several hours, in silence, the darkness fell,and the stars began to come out.
当我们默默地走了好几个小时以后，天黑了下来，星星开始发出光亮。


Thirst had made me a little feverish, and I looked at them as if I were in a dream.
由于渴我有点发烧，我看着这些星星，象是在做梦一样。


The little prince's last words came reeling back into my memory:
小王子的话在我的脑海中跳来跳去。


"Then you are thirsty, too?" I demanded.
“你也渴吗？”我问他。


But he did not reply to my question. He merely said to me:" Water may also be good for the heart... "
他却不回答我的问题，只是对我说：“水对心也是有益处的…”


I did not understand this answer, but I said nothing. I knew very well that it was impossible to cross-examine him.
我不懂他的话是什么意思，可我也不做声…我知道不应该去问他。


He was tired. He sat down. I sat down beside him.
他累了，他坐下来。我在他身旁坐下。


And, after a little silence, he spoke again: "The stars are beautiful, because of a flower that cannot be seen."
沉默了一会，他又说道：“星星是很美的，因为有一朵人们看不到的花…”


I replied, "Yes, that is so." And, without saying anything more,
我回答道：“当然。”


I looked across the ridges of sand that were stretched out before us in the moonlight.
而我默默地看着月光下沙漠的褶皱。


"The desert is beautiful," the little prince added.
“沙漠是美的。”他又说道。


And that was true. I have always loved the desert.
确实如此。我一直很喜欢沙漠。


One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing.
坐在一个沙丘上，什么也看不见、听不见。


Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams...
但是，却有一种说不出的东西在默默地放着光芒…


"What makes the desert beautiful," said the little prince, "is that somewhere it hides a well..."
使沙漠更加美丽的，就是在某个角落里，藏着一口井…


I was astonished by a sudden understanding of that mysterious radiation of the sands.
我很惊讶，突然明白了为什么沙漠放着光芒。


When I was a little boy I lived in an old house, and legend told us that a treasure was buried there.
当我还是一个小孩子的时候，我住在一座古老的房子里，而且传说，这个房子里埋藏着一个宝贝。


To be sure, no one had ever known how to find it; perhaps no one had ever even looked for it.
当然，从来没有任何人能发现这个宝贝，可能，甚至也没有人去寻找过。


But it cast an enchantment over that house.
但是，这个宝贝使整个房子着了魔似的。


My home was hiding a secret in the depths of its heart...
我家的房子在它的心灵深处隐藏着一个秘密…


"Yes," I said to the little prince. "The house, the stars, the desert– what gives them their beauty is something that is invisible!"
我对小王子说道：“是的，无论是房子，星星，或是沙漠，使它们美丽的东西是看不见的！”


"I am glad," he said, "that you agree with my fox."
“我真高兴，你和我的狐狸的看法一样。”小王子说。


As the little prince dropped off to sleep, I took him in my arms and set out walking once more.
小王子睡觉了，我就把他抱在怀里，又重新上路了。


I felt deeply moved, and stirred. It seemed to me that I was carrying a very fragile treasure.
我很激动。就好象抱着一个脆弱的宝贝。


It seemed to me, even, that there was nothing more fragile on all Earth.
就好象在地球上没有比这更脆弱的了。


In the moonlight I looked at his pale forehead, his closed eyes, his locks of hair that trembled in the wind, and I said to myself:
我借着月光看着这惨白的面额，这双紧闭的眼睛，这随风飘动的绺绺头发，这时我对自己说道：


"What I see here is nothing but a shell. What is most important is invisible..."
我所看到的仅仅是外表。最重要的是看不见的…


As his lips opened slightly with the suspicious of a half-smile,
由于看到他稍稍张开的嘴唇露出一丝微笑，


I said to myself, again: "What moves me so deeply, about this little prince who is sleeping here,
我又自言自语地说：在这个熟睡了的小王子身上，


is his loyalty to a flower– the image of a rose that shines through his whole being like the fame of a flamp, even when he is asleep..."
使我非常感动的，是他对他那朵花的忠诚，是在他心中闪烁的那朵玫瑰花的形象。


And I felt him to be more fragile still.
我就感觉到他更加脆弱。


I felt the need of protecting him, as if he himself were a flame that might be extinguished by a little puff of wind...
应该保护灯焰这朵玫瑰花，即使在小王子睡着了的时候，也象一盏灯的火焰一样在他身上闪耀着光辉。一阵风就可能把它吹灭…


And, as I walked on so, I found the well, at daybreak.
于是，就这样走着，我在黎明时发现了水井。