第12章01 Where Is the Prince? / 王子在哪里？

12. Where Is the Prince?

Never since the night when the princess left him so abruptly had the prince had a single interview with her. He had seen her once or twice in the lake; but as far as he could discover, she had not been in it any more at night. He had sat and sung, and looked in vain for his Nereid; while she, like a true Nereid, was wasting away with her lake, sinking as it sank, withering as it dried. When at length he discovered the change that was taking place in the level of the water, he was in great alarm and perplexity. He could not tell whether the lake was dying because the lady had forsaken it; or whether the lady would not come because the lake had begun to sink. But he resolved to know so much at least.

He disguised himself, and, going to the palace, requested to see the lord chamberlain. His appearance at once gained his request; and the lord chamberlain, being a man of some insight, perceived that there was more in the prince's solicitation than met the ear. He felt likewise that no one could tell whence a solution of the present difficulties might arise. So he granted the prince's prayer to be made shoeblack to the princess. It was rather cunning in the prince to request such an easy post, for the princess could not possibly soil as many shoes as other princesses.

He soon learned all that could be told about the princess. He went nearly distracted; but after roaming about the lake for days, and diving in every depth that remained, all that he could do was to put an extra polish on the dainty pair of boots that was never called for.

For the princess kept her room, with the curtains drawn to shut out the dying lake, But she could not shut it out of her mind for a moment. It haunted her imagination so that she felt as if the lake were her soul, drying up within her, first to mud, then to madness and death. She thus brooded over the change, with all its dreadful accompaniments, till she was nearly distracted. As for the prince, she had forgotten him. However much she had enjoyed his company in the water, she did not care for him without it. But she seemed to have forgotten her father and mother too.

12.王子在哪里？

自从那一夜，公主匆匆地离开以后，王子就再也没有和公主打过一个照面。他在湖里看见过她一两次，但是每到他可以看清楚的时候，公主又消失在夜里了。他坐下来唱着歌，徒劳无功地找着他的涅瑞伊得斯。而她就像真的涅瑞伊得斯，和她的湖一起消失不见了——随着它下沉而下沉，随着它干涸而干涸。最终王子也发现了湖的水位在发生变化，他感到了震惊和困惑。

他不知道是因为一位姑娘抛弃了湖，所以湖水就消失了；还是因为湖水干涸了，所以姑娘才不再来了。不过他决定，一定要弄明白这一切。

王子乔装打扮了一番，前往王宫，要求见王宫总管。他的要求立刻得到了满足，王宫总管是一个有些洞察力的人，感觉出王子的求见远非他自己所 说的那么简单。他同样感觉得出，目前有一个大麻烦，还没有人能够知道从何处找到解决办法。就这样，他同意了王子的请求，允许他为公主擦鞋。王子要求这份轻巧的工作实在是很聪明，因为公主可不像其他的公主那样整天脚沾地。

他很快就知道了所有关于公主的事情。他有些六神无主，不过在湖边漫步了几日，又在仅存的一点湖水中游过泳之后，剩下可以做的，只是把一双双从来都不会被穿到的精美靴子擦得锃亮而已。

公主一直就待在她的房间里，窗帘放下来，遮掩住日渐干涸的湖泊，而公主的想法却一时一刻也无法被遮住。她魂牵梦萦的湖仿佛就是她的灵魂，带着她一起干枯了，先成为泥土，然后成为狂乱和死亡。她反复想着这一变化，以及所有将紧随而来的可怕后果，直到心烦意乱。关于那个王子，她已经把他给忘了。无论她和王子一起在水里时是多么地快活，如果湖没了，她对他一点都不在乎。并且，她似乎也同样把父王和母后都给忘了。