第二十一章Chapter 21

The Little Prince: Chapter 21

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 prince 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 will 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.

《小王子》：第二十一章

在水井边上，有一堵残败的旧石墙。第二天傍晚，我干完活儿回来，远远地看见小王子两腿悬空地坐在断墙上。我还听见他在说话：

“难道你不记得了？”他说，“根本不是这儿！”

想必有一个声音在回答他，只见他在反驳：“对！对！是今天，可不是这个地方……”

我往石墙走去。我既没看见人影，也没听见人声。但是小王子又在说：

“……那当然。在沙地上，你会看到我的足迹从哪儿开始的。你只要等着我就行了。今天夜里我就去那儿。”

我离石墙只有二十米了，可还是什么也没看见。

停了一会儿，小王子又说道：“你的毒液管用吗？你有把握不会让我难受很久吗？”

我心头猛地揪紧，停下了脚步，可我还是什么也不明白。

“现在，来吧，”小王子说，“……我要下来了！”

“这是怎么回事！你居然跟蛇在谈话！”

我解开他一直戴着的金黄色围巾。我用水沾湿他的太阳穴，给他喝了点水。可此刻我不敢问他什么。他神色凝重地望着我，用双臂搂住我的脖子。我感觉到他的心跳，就像被枪弹击中濒临死亡的小鸟的心跳。他对我说：

“我很高兴，你找到了飞机上缺少的东西。你可以回家了……”

“你怎么知道的？”

我正想告诉他，就在刚才，在眼看没有希望的情况下，我修好了飞机！

他没回答我的问题，但接着说：“我也一样，今天，我要回家了……”

然后，忧郁地说：“那要远得多……难得多……”

我意识到发生了一件非同寻常的事情。我把他像小孩那样抱在怀里，只觉得他在笔直地滑入一个深渊，而我全然无法拉住他……

他的目光很严肃，视线消失在很远很远的地方。

“我有你的绵羊。我有绵羊的箱子。还有嘴罩……”说着，他忧郁地微微一笑。

我等了很久。我感到他的身子渐渐暖了起来：

“小家伙，你受惊了……”

他刚才受惊了，可不是！但他轻轻地笑了起来：“今天晚上我要受更大的惊……”

一种无法补救的感觉，再一次使我凉到了心里。想到从此就再也听不到他的笑声，我感到受不了。他的笑声对我来说，就像沙漠中的清泉。

“小家伙，我还想听到你咯咯地笑……”

可是他对我说：“到今天夜里，就是一年了。我的星星就在我去年降落的地方顶上……”

“小家伙，蛇啊，相约啊，星星啊，敢情只是场噩梦吧……”

可是他不回答我的问题。他对我说：“重要的东西是看不见的……”

“可不是……”

“这就好比花儿一样。要是你喜欢一朵花儿，而她在一颗星星上，那你夜里看着天空，就会觉得很美。所有的星星都像开满了花儿。”

“可不是……”

“这就好比水一样。昨天你给我喝的水，有了那辘轳和吊绳，就像一首乐曲……你还记得吧……那水真好喝。”

“可不是……”

“夜里，你要抬头望着满天的星星。我那颗实在太小了，我都没法指给你看它在哪儿。这样倒也好。我的星星，对你来说就是满天星星中的一颗。所以，你会爱这满天的星星……所有的星星都会是你的朋友。我还要给你一件礼物……”

他又笑了起来。

“呵！小家伙，小家伙，我喜欢听到这笑声！”

“这正是我的礼物……就像那水……”

“你想说什么？”

“人们眼里的星星，并不是一样的。对旅行的人来说，星星是向导。对有些人来说，它们只不过是天空微弱的亮光。对另一些学者来说，它们就是要探讨的问题。对我那个商人来说，它们就是金子。但是所有这些星星都是静默的。而你，你的那些星星是谁也不曾见过的……”

“你想说什么呢？”

“当你在夜里望着天空时，既然我就在其中的一颗星星上面，既然我在其中一颗星星上笑着，那么对你来说，就好像满天的星星都在笑。只有你一个人，看见的是会笑的星星！”

说着他又笑了。

“当你感到心情平静以后（每个人总会让自己的心情平静下来），你会因为认识了我而感到高兴。你会永远是我的朋友。你会想要跟我一起笑。有时候，你会心念一动，就打开窗子……你的朋友会惊奇地看到，你望着天空在笑。于是你会对他们说：‘是的，我看见这些星星就会笑！’他们会以为你疯了。我给你闹了个恶作剧……”

说着他又笑了。

“这样一来，我给你的仿佛不是星星，而是些会笑的小铃铛……”

说着他又笑了。随后他变得很严肃：“今天夜里……你知道……你不要来。”

“我决不离开你。”

“我看上去会很痛苦……会有点像死去的样子。就是这么回事。你还是别看见的好，没这必要。”

“我决不离开你。”

可是他担心起来。

“我这么说……也是因为蛇的缘故。你可别让它咬着了……蛇，都是很坏的。它们无缘无故也会咬人……”

“我决不离开你。”

不过，他想到了什么，又觉得放心了：“可也是，它们咬第二口时，已经没有毒液了……”

当天夜里，我没看见他启程。他悄没声儿地走了。我好不容易赶上他时，他仍然执著地快步往前走。他只是对我说：“啊！你来了……”

说完他就拉住我的手。可是他又感到不安起来：

“你不该来的。你会难过的。我看上去会像死去一样，可那不是真的……”

我不作声。

“你是明白的。路太远了。我没法带走这副躯壳。它太沉了。”

我不作声。

“可这就像一棵老树脱下的树皮。脱下一层树皮，是用不着伤心的……”

我不作声。

他有点气馁。但他重又打起精神：

“你知道，这样挺好。我也会望着满天星星的。每颗星星都会有一个生锈辘轳的水井。所有的星星都会倒水给我喝……”

我不作声。

“这真是太有趣了！你有五亿个铃铛，我有五亿个水井……”

他也不作声了，因为他哭了……“到了。让我独自跨出一步吧。”

说着他坐了下来，因为他害怕。

他又说：“你知道……我的花儿……我对她负有责任！她是那么柔弱！她是那么天真。她只有四根微不足道的刺，用来抵御整个世界……”

我也坐下，因为我没法再站着了。他说：“好了……没别的要说了……”

他稍微犹豫了一下，随即站了起来。他往前跨出了一步，而我却动弹不得。