小王子第25章

"Men," said the little prince, "set out on their way in express trains, but they do not know what they are looking for. Then they rush about, and get excited, and turn round and round…"

“那些人，”小王子说，“他们挤进特快列车里，却不知道自己要追寻什么。他们忙碌奔波，烦躁不安，不停的来回兜圈子……”

And he added:

他接着又说：

"It is not worth the trouble…"

“其实不用这么麻烦的……”

The well that we had come to was not like the wells of the Sahara. The wells of the Sahara are mere holes dug in the sand. This one was like a well in a village. But there was no village here, and I thought I must be dreaming…

我们找到的这口水井与撒哈拉的水井并不一样。撒哈拉沙漠中的水井只是在沙地上挖个洞。这口水井像是村庄里的井。可这附近并没有村庄，我觉得自己一定是在做梦。

"It is strange," I said to the little prince. "Everything is ready for use: the pulley, the bucket, the rope…"

“真奇怪，”我对小王子说，“这里什么都准备好了：辘轳、水桶还有绳子......”

He laughed, touched the rope, and set the pulley to working. And the pulley moaned, like an old weathervane which the wind has long since forgotten.

他笑了笑，拉着绳子，转动了辘轳。辘轳发出咯吱咯吱的声音。像是一个被风久久遗忘的古老的风向标。

"Do you hear?" said the little prince. "We have wakened the well, and it is singing…"

“你听到了吗？”小王子说，“我们唤醒了这口水井，它现在正在唱歌......”

I did not want him to tire himself with the rope.

我不想累倒他。

"Leave it to me," I said. "It is too heavy for you."

“让我来吧，”我对他说，“这活儿对你来说太重了。”

I hoisted the bucket slowly to the edge of the well and set it there-- happy, tired as I was, over my achievement. The song of the pulley was still in my ears, and I could see the sunlight shimmer in the still trembling water.

我把水桶慢慢的提到井口，把它放在井沿上。我感到既开心又疲倦。辘轳的歌声还在我的耳边回荡，我可以看到波光粼粼的水面上阳光在闪耀。

"I am thirsty for this water," said the little prince. "Give me some of it to drink…"

“我想要喝这样的水。”小王子说，“给我喝点吧......”

And I understood what he had been looking for.

我明白他一直寻找的是什么了！

I raised the bucket to his lips. He drank, his eyes closed. It was as sweet as some special festival treat. This water was indeed a different thing from ordinary nourishment. Its sweetness was born of the walk under the stars, the song of the pulley, the effort of my arms. It was good for the heart, like a present. When I was a little boy, the lights of the Christmas tree, the music of the Midnight Mass, the tenderness of smiling faces, used to make up, so, the radiance of the gifts I received.

我把水桶举到他的嘴边。他闭着眼睛喝了几口。就像在品尝某个盛大节日的美味。这水的确非比寻常。它的甘甜来自星空下的跋涉，来自辘轳的歌声，来自我双臂的努力。它就像礼物对心灵有益。在我小的时候，就是圣诞树上的灯光，子夜弥撒的歌声，和那些温暖的笑容，才让我收到的圣诞礼物熠熠生辉。

"The men where you live," said the little prince, "raise five thousand roses in the same garden-- and they do not find in it what they are looking for."

“你这里的人，”小王子说，“在一座花园里就种着五千朵玫瑰花，却找不到自己想要的东西......”

"They do not find it," I replied.

“他们确实找不到。”我答道。

"And yet what they are looking for could be found in one single rose, or in a little water."

“可他们寻找的东西，却可以在一朵玫瑰花或是一点清水中找到......”

"Yes, that is true," I said.

“一点也不错。”我说。

And the little prince added:

小王子接着又说：

"But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart…"

“但眼睛是看不见的。要用心灵去寻找......”

I had drunk the water. I breathed easily. At sunrise the sand is the color of honey. And that honey color was making me happy, too. What brought me, then, this sense of grief?

我已经喝了水，呼吸变得顺畅了。在晨曦之中，沙漠泛着蜂蜜般的光泽，而这蜂蜜般的光泽，也使我感到幸福。可我为什么又感到悲伤呢？

"You must keep your promise," said the little prince, softly, as he sat down beside me once more.

“你一定要信守你的承诺。”小王子又一次坐在了我的身旁，轻轻地对我说。

"What promise?"

“什么承诺？”

"You know-- a muzzle for my sheep… I am responsible for this flower…"

“你知道的......给我的小羊一个嘴套......我可要对我的花负责呀！”

I took my rough drafts of drawings out of my pocket. The little prince looked them over, and laughed as he said:

我从口袋里掏出了画稿的草图。小王子看了看，他笑着说："Your baobabs-- they look a little like cabbages."

“你的猴面包树......他们看起来有点像卷心菜......”

"Oh!"

“哦！”

I had been so proud of my baobabs!

我还很为我画的猴面包树洋洋自得呢！

"Your fox-- his ears look a little like horns; and they are too long."

“你画的这只狐狸......它的耳朵......看起来有点像犄角......而且也太长了！”

And he laughed again.

说着，他又笑了起来。

"You are not fair, little prince," I said. "I don't know how to draw anything except boa constrictors from the outside and boa constrictors from the inside."

“你太不公平了，小家伙。除了合着肚皮的和敞着肚皮的蟒蛇我什么都不会画。”

"Oh, that will be all right," he said, "children understand."

“哦，这没关系的，”他说，“孩子们是能看明白的。”

So then I made a pencil sketch of a muzzle. And as I gave it to him my heart was torn.

于是，我就用铅笔勾画出了一个嘴套。当我把它递给小王子的时候，我的心里感到很难受。

"You have plans that I do not know about," I said.

“你一定有什么计划，是我不知道的......”我说

But he did not answer me. He said to me, instead:

但他没有回答。

"You know-- my descent to the earth… Tomorrow will be its anniversary."

他只是对我说，“你知道我落在地球上......明天就满一周年了......”

Then, after a silence, he went on:

沉默的片刻，他接着又说：

"I came down very near here."

“我当时就降落在这附近......”

And he flushed.

说完，他的脸红了。

And once again, without understanding why, I had a queer sense of sorrow. One question, however, occurred to me:

不知道为什么，我又感到一阵莫名其妙的酸楚。我突然想到了一个问题：

"Then it was not by chance that on the morning when I first met you-- a week ago-- you were strolling along like that, all alone, a thousand miles from any inhabited region? You were on the your back to the place where you landed?"

“这么说，一个星期前我遇见你的那天早上，你独自一人在荒无人烟的地方走着，这并不是偶然的了？你是要回到你降落的地方去吗？”

The little prince flushed again.

小王子的脸又红了。

And I added, with some hesitancy:

我犹豫不一定的又问了他一句

"Perhaps it was because of the anniversary?"

“也许是因为周年纪念吧？”

The little prince flushed once more. He never answered questions-- but when one flushes does that not mean "Yes"?

小王子的脸又一次红了，他从来不回答这些问题，但脸红不就等于回答是“吗？”

"Ah," I said to him, "I am a little frightened--"

“啊，”我对他说，“我有些害怕......”

But he interrupted me.

但他没等我说完就打断了我。

"Now you must work. You must return to your engine. I will be waiting for you here. Come back tomorrow evening…"

“你现在该去工作了，你要回到你的机器那里去。我会在这里等你。明天晚上你再来吧......”

But I was not reassured. I remembered the fox. One runs the risk of weeping a little, if one lets himself be tamed…

但是我放心不下，我想起来那只狐狸。如果被人驯服了，就可能会哭的......